Gay marriage row hits SNP leadership frontrunner

Kate Forbes also says having children out of wedlock’s wrong

- ADAM FORREST

The favourite to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader has been engulfed by controversy after saying she would have voted against gay marriage. Kate Forbes, a devout Christian, said she would have opposed it as “a matter of conscience” if she had been an MSP when it became law in Scotland in 2014.

But the comments by Scottish finance minister Ms Forbes looked to have destroyed her leadership campaign before it had got off the ground. At least four prominent SNP colleagues withdrew their support, with saying the frontrunner had crossed a “red line”.

Former Lib Dem MP leader Tim Farron’s political career never recovered from him saying gay sex was “not a sin”. He made the statement in the 2017 election after coming under pressure over his own stance on homosexuality, which he said reflected his Christian beliefs.

Ms Forbes later told Sky News that she believes having children outside of marriage is “wrong”, saying it was something she would personally “seek to avoid”. She added: “For me, it would be wrong according to my faith, but for you I have no idea what your faith is. So, in a free society you can do what you want.”

Ms Forbes hit back at criticism over her comments, saying politics was “moving into dangerous days” if people of faith like her were “barred from high offie”. Marriage was “between a man and a woman”, she said, but she was “not a dictator” and would respect democratic support for gay marriage.