I am a gay man – but I welcome Kate Forbes’s return to the Cabinet

I am a 23-year-old gay man. I am unbelievably lucky that I have grown up in a society that has been fairly tolerant to the gay community, especially compared with previous decades.

The circumstances in which I grew up quite possibly frame the views I will go on to outline.

It is OK for people to read what I have to say and disagree. It is equally OK for me to hold this view.

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Some of the online commentary has caused me some kind of internal dilemma.

By welcoming Kate Forbes to her role I am being made to feel, in some way, that I’ve turned my back of the LGBT+ community. This could not be further from the truth.

For me, it is quite simple. I do not want my politics to have to be decided for me because I am a gay man. I do not want to have to consider my sexuality in every decision I take.

I welcome Kate Forbes back to Cabinet for two reasons.

One, I believe it will help the Scottish National Party reunite in very difficult times. I make no apologies for thinking of the party.

Two, I believe Kate Forbes is well received by the public, and her experience, coupled with her economic views, align with the priorities of the Scottish people.

I do not want, and would not support, a Scottish Government led by Kate Forbes, but that is not what we have here.

I have been consistently disappointed by the way Kate has shared her socially conservative views.

I fundamentally believe she is entitled to hold these views, I just do not like the way in which they are handled by her and her team and I can understand why that has caused some alarm for people.

I was in the same boat during the SNP’s leadership contest last year. I think the statement released by Out For Independence, the SNP’s LGBT+ affiliate group, is very reasonable.

It is right to seek assurances from the Scottish Government and I look forward to hearing the outcome.

Ultimately, John Swinney is the First Minister. It is down to him to set the Programme for Government and he has been nothing but supportive of the LGBT+ community throughout his many decades in elected politics.

I believe that the rights of everyone in Scotland are in very safe hands with him at the helm and I’d encourage people to trust him. Trust that he will do what is right and respect that Kate Forbes, as she has always done while in a Cabinet role, will support the government.

Logan Unwin

via email

I NOTE with interest that some of those commentating about Kate Forbes’s appointment as deputy First Minister have gone on about the UN’s Declaration on Human Rights and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, with regards, in particular, to equal marriage.

I wonder why these same commentators do not mention the fact that these also guarantee freedom of religious belief.

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Why then the criticism of Kate Forbes? Is her “right” not as equally valid as other people’s? I am reminded of Orwell’s Animal Farm – all are equal but some are more equal than others.

Andrew Haddow

Glasgow

THAT Kate Forbes, with her anti-gay equality views, has been appointed deputy First Minister is terrifying. It’s like the end of the horror movie when you wrongly think the danger is past.

Whatever your position on Scottish independence, the SNP had always seemed pretty progressive. Nobody should deny Forbes her private beliefs but in government, where might her religious views next be manifest?

It is concerning that we are again being asked to shrug off unrepentant homophobia because of its religious derivation.

Neil Barber

Edinburgh Secular Society

DOUGLAS Ross and Anas Sarwar both used the same attack line at John Swinney’s first FMQs as First Minister – education, education, education, as they stole Tony Blair’s mantra from 1997.

BBC Radio Scotland only carried FMQs for the first two leaders which was disappointing.

I do wish the whole hour would be broadcast, as often the later questions are more interesting rather than what MP Alyn Smith referred to as the yah, boo, sucks of the opposition leaders.

Once more the narrative being sold to the Scottish public is that Scottish education, health, police and roads are in crisis and it is all the Scottish Government’s fault. Let’s take a step back and look at this from afar.

I think all Scottish people and politicians agree that things need to improve. However, Messrs Ross and Sarwar seek to blame all of Scotland’s ills on the Scottish Government, if it was responsible then England and Wales would be the “sunlit uplands” promised by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

It is not true, though, is it?

We all know that services England and Wales are also in crisis, so the common factor here is the Westminster government and its policies.

Its austerity policies stemming from the 2008 and 2010 financial crises are the root cause.

Covid didn’t help but the UK was taken to the cleaners. Brexit put handcuffs on those who trade with our biggest neighbours and trading partners. Then there have been project failures such as HS2, the Ajax military vehicles, Hinkley C...

I wish the Bank of England had done the same as Iceland and prosecuted the bankers. Iceland recovered far quicker than the UK.

Ah but! I hear you say, Iceland is a smaller country. Correct – that is one of the benefits of a small country, nimbleness.

Sure, the Scottish Government could improve its focus to reduce the harms being done to the undervalued, and many steps have been taken to do that. But to say it is all down to the SNP Scottish Government, as Ross and Sarwar allege, is an Orwellian distortion of the truth and we know it.

Alistair Ballantyne

Angus