Paul Flynn
Vaz sting shows our view of sex workers — not unlike those on drugs — is hypocritical, shameful nonsense
WORDS: JUNO DAWSON
ON 4 SEPTEMBER,The Sunday Mirror ran an old-school political sex sting on Keith Vaz, the MP for Leicester East. Vaz is a symbolic local hero. When he was elected in 1987, he was our first British-Asian Member of Parliament for more than 60 years, coming from a glorious community ritualistically culturally side-lined, stereotyped and tokenised. As gay folk, we understand the importance of figures such as Vaz. He’s the living emblem of a whole swathe of the country’s promise that becoming part of The Establishment is not just for other people, it’s for you, too. The door Keith Vaz inched open just slammed in his face. Here was his supposed downfall.