Praised for her involvement in legalising same-sex marriage in Britain, prime minister-in-waiting Theresa May is often regarded as one of the more progressive, moderate Conservatives. Even more so when compared to her former leadership rival Andrea Leadsom, who pulled no punches in airing her views against gay marriage.

As LGBT rights activists have pointed out, however, Britain's new prime minister has a mixed record when it comes to equality. As May prepares to move into 10 Downing Street, we have a look at her voting history on gay marriage, civil partnerships and adoption.

How has May voted on LGBT equality?

1998: May voted against reducing the age of consent for homosexual acts from 18 to 16, which would have brought it in line with the age of consent for heterosexual acts.

1999: May voted against equal age of consent.

2000: May voted against the repeal of Section 28, introduced by the Thatcher government in the late 1980s. It prohibited local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality or gay "pretended family relationships" – and prevented councils from spending money on education materials allegedly used to promote an LGBT lifestyle.

2002: May voted against same-sex adoption. However, the Adoption and Children Act passed into law and came into effect at the end of 2005. For the first time it allowed unmarried couples – including same-sex couples – to apply for joint adoption.

2003: May missed a vote on repealing Section 28.

2004: Marking a pivotal change on her stance on LGBT equality, May voted yes on the Civil Partnership Bill. The act allowed same-sex couples to register a civil partnership, which had almost the same legal effects, rights and obligations as marriage does for heterosexual couples.

2004: May did not attend Parliament for any of the four votes that led to the Gender Recognition Act.

2007: May was absent for a vote on Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations. It outlawed discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services and education on the grounds of sexual orientation.

2008: May voted in favour of a bill which said IVF rights should require a male model – which effectively discriminated against lesbian fertility rights.

2010: Ahead of the general election, May promised a review of same-sex marriage in the Conservative Party's "Contract for Equalities".

Speaking on Question Time later that year, she said she had "changed her mind" on gay adoption. "I think it's more important that [a] child is in [a] stable and loving environment and I have genuinely changed my mind on that," she said. Her announcement was embraced by some and criticised as insincere and a ploy to attract voters by others.

2013: May voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage in the UK. The first gay marriages were held in summer 2014.

2014: May ordered a review into how border officials dealt with asylum cases made by homosexual applicants, following reports that some claimants had handed over videos as "proof" of their sexuality.

2014: May voted to allow the courts to deal with proceedings for the divorce or annulment of same-sex marriages.

2014: May voted to allow same-sex marriage to armed forces personnel outside the UK.

What about the future?

LGBT rights groups have called for May to tackle issues faced by transgender people in Britain, including better access to legal gender recognition, transphobia and the official recognition of gender on the basis of self-declaration rather than a medical assessment.

"Theresa May has been clear that acceptance and rights for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people will be an important priority for her new Government and she was one of the key sponsors of same-sex marriage in the last Parliament," Paul Twocock, Stonewall's directors of campaigns, policy and research told IBT UK.

"We look forward to working with her to maintain progress on LGBT acceptance and equality, and a key part of that will be legislative changes to improve legal equality for trans people, which currently lags significantly behind protections in place now for lesbian, gay and bi people in the UK."

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