The Conservative leadership last night gave its backing to frontbencher Mr Alan Duncan after he became his party's first openly gay sitting MP. And Conservative "modernisers" associated with Mr Michael Portillo's failed leadership bid last year welcomed that fact as signalling a turning point in the party's move toward greater tolerance and inclusivity.
Although his sexual orientation had never been a secret among friends and colleagues, the shadow foreign affairs spokesman used a newspaper interview to make a "clear and unequivocal" statement about his position and to invite his party "to catch up with the world as it is".
Homophobia, he said, had created "a glass ceiling" for MPs like himself. And he warned that voters, particularly those under 35, were "repelled" by the politics of intolerance and condemnation.
"The Conservative Party has taken a long time to catch up with the world as it is. Nobody under 35 gives a damn about being gay these days but they feel repelled by people who sneer or condemn," he told the Times of London.
Mr Duncan said: "Why on earth should the self-esteem of perfectly decent people be so permanently derided?
"The attitude of politicians can make a real difference. Who knows how many teenagers go through agonies, or even top themselves, when they can't cope with the inner turmoil of being gay?"
Amid the continuing fallout from last week's shadow cabinet reshuffle, Mr Duncan's announcement seemed set to trigger another round of bitter words between Conservative modernisers and traditionalists. However, it quickly became clear that he had notified Conservative central office of his intentions, and was assured a warm response.
The Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, wrote to Mr Duncan promising his "personal support" and telling him: "What you have done is honest and will not affect you in any way politically in the future." Meanwhile Mrs Theresa May, who last week replaced Mr David Davis to become the party's first woman chairman, said Mr Duncan's decision confirmed the extent to which the party had changed.
Inevitably, however, not all Mr Duncan's colleagues were impressed. Former Home Office minister Miss Ann Widdecombe said Conservatives should be concentrating their fire on the Labour government and not allow themselves to be distracted by issues of "idealogical purity".