by John Swinney is facing a backlash from the SNP’s LGBT wing over his decision to appoint Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister after she said she would vote against gay marriage.
The party’s official LGBT group Out for Independence said it shared “serious concerns” about her appointment and would seek “urgent clarification” from Mr Swinney and Mr Forbes.
The group said they wanted assurances from the First Minister that the controversial plans to ban conversion therapy would not be scrapped. The Scottish Government plans to make it a criminal offense to try to “change or suppress” someone’s gender identity.
His statement was issued shortly after the Scottish Greens warned Mr Swinney that his appointment risked reviving “relatable” 1950s social attitudes.
Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Greens, said Mr Swinney had sacked “progressive” ministers from his front team and promoted someone who “opposed legal equality for LGBT people” as his second-in-command.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions from Mr Swinney after he replaced Humza Yousaf, Mr Harvie said Ms Forbes had “expressed a judgmental view of abortion”.
He said the new Deputy First Minister, who is a devout Christian, had also “expressed the view that people who have families without being married are doing something wrong.”
Mr Harvie, who was a minister in the Humza Yousaf administration, asked Mr Swinney: “Is this the Scottish Government’s vision for the future of Scotland – taking us back to the brutal values of the 1950s?”
The Greens later voted against Ms Forbes becoming Deputy First Minister, claiming that LGBT people were “scared” of Ms Forbes’ inclusion. However, her appointment was approved by 63 votes to 57.
Mr Swinney said he wanted to be “First Minister for everyone in Scotland”, regardless of their sexuality or marital status. He and Miss Forbes later said they “support those values”.
Ms Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, sparked a row in last year’s SNP leadership contest with Mr Yousaf when she opposed gay marriage and children born out of wedlock.
She made it clear she would not seek to roll back any rights but Mr Swinney questioned at the time whether her views made her “the right person to be SNP leader and prime minister”.
The statement from Out for Independence said: “We are aware of the real concerns within the LGBTQ+ community with the appointment of Kate Forbes as DFM. [Deputy First Minister], given the views she has previously presented. We share those concerns.
“We will be seeking urgent clarification from the FM and the DFM that our progressive LGBTQ+ policies such as banning conversion practices will not be stopped or removed from the government register.”
He said the group “will want to speak directly to FM John Swinney to address these concerns and to make it clear that while we support him in his goal of uniting the party with independence, it requires trust , unity requires clarity and equality.”
Mr Yousaf was forced to announce his resignation last week after the handling of his decision to end the SNP’s power-sharing deal with the Greens.
Mr Swinney was crowned as his successor as SNP leader and Prime Minister after Ms Forbes agreed not to stand against him.
She got a high price for her cooperation, and Mr. Swinney made her Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary in a minority government.
Mr Swinney has indicated that he wants to drag the SNP back to the center of politics and away from the Greens’ hard-left agenda, which is focused on environmental and gender issues.
‘A lot of LGBT people are worried’
Mr Harvie challenged him to come clean about “the direction his Government will take”, before attacking Ms Forbes’ views on gay marriage, abortion and out-of-wedlock births.
“I’m still not sure if the Prime Minister acknowledges or understands how worried many LGBT people and others in Scotland are right now,” he said.
Mr Swinney told Mr Harvie: “I want to lead a modern, dynamic and diverse Scotland, a place for everyone, where everyone feels at home, at peace, where they belong and belong a place in our society protected by my leadership. of this country.”
Describing his “very deep Christian faith”, he later told BPA: “Nothing can separate us from God’s love and we are equal in God’s eyes, all of us.”
Pressed by reporters if Ms Forbes shared her progressive values, Mr Swinney said: “Yes, she really does.”
Miss Forbes said: “I am here to support the First Minister and together we serve all communities in Scotland as we advance the rights of all communities in Scotland and promote the rights of all communities in Scotland, and I look forward to to do my part to achieve the Government’s aims in that regard. .
“Not only that, but when I joined the Government yesterday in a clear role to support the First Minister, I accepted a collective responsibility, so I stand by the Government’s decisions and agenda to improve the rights of all the people of Scotland and to promote.”
