Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, a front-runner to become Scotland’s next leader, faced backlash over her opposition to same-sex marriage. Forbes, a member of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland, said that her faith would have prevented her from voting in favor of legalizing same-sex unions. Scottish Parliament legalized same-sex marriage in 2014, prior to Forbes’ time as a lawmaker. Forbes said that having children outside marriage “would be wrong according to my faith.”
Several Scottish National Party (SNP) lawmakers withdrew their support for Forbes following her marriage comments. Forbes had been considered a favorite to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who announced her resignation last week after leading the SNP for eight years. Forbes said that she would continue her campaign “at the moment,” adding that she would “defend to the hilt everybody’s rights in a pluralistic and tolerant society, to live and to love free of harassment and fear.”
Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, who is also vying for the leader’s job, criticized Forbes, saying, “I’m somebody who’s proud of my faith. I’ll be fasting during Ramadan in a few weeks’ time. But what I don’t do is, I don’t use my faith as a basis of legislation.” Two other candidates, Yousaf and legislator Ash Regan, are also running to replace Sturgeon. The winner of the leadership contest will be announced on March 27.
The subject of personal religious beliefs is often avoided by British politicians. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair rarely talked about his Christianity while in office, and his spin doctor Alastair Campbell once shut down a journalist’s question about Blair’s faith. Tim Farron, who led the Liberal Democrats between 2015 and 2017, was dogged throughout his term by questions about his attitude to LGBTQ rights after he failed to deny that he considered homosexual sex a sin.
