Manx Radio, the public service broadcaster of the Isle of Man, reports that a General Election to the popularly elected assembly of Island's Parliament, the House of Keys, will take place on Thursday 24th September.

The Isle of Man government says "The Isle of Man is divided into 12 constituencies that each elect two members to the House of Keys. The House of Keys is the popularly elected branch of Tynwald, the Island’s parliament. A national election for all constituencies takes place on the fourth Thursday in September, every five years. At this point, all elected positions become vacant, and the people of the Isle of Man have an opportunity to vote to choose who will represent them in the House of Keys."

Five parties are registered to contest the seats of the House. The Green Party of Isle of Man, Manx Labour and Liberal Vannin are all broadly centrist or left of centre and have policies that support LGBTQIA civil rights. Transform Isle of Man is a newly registered party which describes itself as on the progressive part of the political spectrum. And Change Party is more traditionally conservative, although it says little about LGBTQIA people generally. No explicitly homophobic party is standing, although the Isle of Man has a large number of independent candidates, some of whom may be hostile to our community.

The Isle of Man has come a long way since 1991, when the persistence of anti-gay laws on the Island prompted demonstrations and direct action protests. Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1992, and since those days, the Island has followed the United Kingdom in enacting equalities legislation and marriage rights.

For the benefit of our overseas listeners and readers, Wikipedia reports that "Ellan Vannin (Manx language for Isle of Man) is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, King Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The government of the United Kingdom is responsible for the Isle of Man's military defence and represents it abroad, but the Isle of Man still has a separate international identity."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man