The Catholic Church in Scotland is outraged after its leader, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, was named Bigot of the Year by Britain’s largest gay advocacy.
Stonewall, a charity which claims 10,000 members, made the award at an annual ceremony in London in reaction to the cardinal’s stance against the Scottish government’s intention to legalise same-sex marriage.
In a newspaper article, Cardinal O’Brien said the proposed law represented a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right”. He said same-sex partnerships were “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved”.
John Deighan, the Catholic Church’s parliamentary officer for Scotland, said the award to Cardinal O’Brien was an “outrage” that showed a lack of judgement. “Stonewall wants to shut down anyone who doesn’t agree with them in the public discourse,” he said.
The Catholic Church in Scotland called for the withdrawal of public funding for Stonewall.
While the Scottish government said it would not cut funding for the group, First Minister Alex Salmond said it was wrong to call the cardinal a bigot. “Personal insults are not conducive to a proper and dignified debate on the important issue of equality in Scotland,” he said.
Two major banks that support Stonewall’s awards ceremony, Barclays and Coutts, have said they will discontinue their funding if the Bigot of the Year category is not dropped.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, won the award of Politician of the Year, but was booed for criticising the bigot award.
“The case for equality is far better made by demonstrating the sort of generosity, tolerance and love we would wish to see more of in this world,” she said.
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Image: DICI