Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has described parliament as a “weird, backwards place” for LGBTQ people after coming as pansexual.

Moran, believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual, told Pink News that she had previously only had relationships with men but about six months ago, she started a relationship with a woman who she had met through work.

“It was really wonderful on the one hand, but also quite surprising for me in how I had identified before,” she told the publication.

“We’re in a really committed, loving, supportive, relationship and I feel now is the time to talk about it, because as an MP I spend a lot of my time defending our community and talking about our community. I want people to know I am part of our community as well.”

While her family had been supportive of the news, Moran said, it had been “slightly more difficult” coming out in the context of being an MP in public life. Some of the reactions to her new relationship had shocked her, such as people questioning whether the relationship was “serious” or could harm her career.

“That was the moment where I realised – we like to think everything is equal, that no one cares, that it wouldn’t be a detriment. The reason I’m not speaking out is because I want to prove it’s not a detriment. It’s a great thing,” she said.

Moran described parliament as a “weird, backwards place” and said she often caught herself wondering what colleagues would think of her new relationship. “But I don’t really care – because I know that in wider society it’s more than just fine. It’s something that we now all accept.”

The Oxford West and Abingdon representative said it hadn’t struck her to “work out which box I fit into” until colleagues started asking if she was gay. 

She added, “But when I’ve looked at the definitions of what I’m comfortable with – pan is more about the person and less the gender. That, if I was going to force myself to have a label, that would be how I would identify.”

When asked what pansexuality means to her, Moran said it was not about “physical attributions of the person you fall in love with, it’s about the person themselves”. 

“It doesn’t [matter] if they’re a man or a woman or gender non-conforming, it doesn’t matter if they identify as gay or not. In the end, these are all things that don’t matter – the thing that matters is the person, and that you love the person.”

Image: Getty