A DUP politician said he would “rather walk up the Falls Road in a Rangers shirt” than take part in a Belfast Pride event.
The staunch Ulster Unionists were the only Northern Ireland political party not to take part in a debate on equal marriage on Monday evening, despite being invited.
The party, who agreed to a £1 billion trade-off to prop up Theresa May’s minority government in the Commons, have an old-fashioned approach to LGBT rights.
Ian Paisley Jr – currently suspended by the party – has previously called homosexuality “immoral, offensive and obnoxious” and said he was “repulsed” by gays and lesbians.
The party once championed a campaign called “Save Ulster from Sodomy”.
DUP politician Trevor Clarke last year said he thought only gay people could contract AIDS or HIV, while Jim Wells, the Member of Northern Ireland Assembly who told organisers he would rather walk up the predominantly Catholic Falls Road in a Rangers shirt, previously told a hustings in 2015: “The gay lobby is insatiable, they don’t know when enough is enough.”
He also said children who were raised in a homosexual relationship were more likely to be abused or neglected. He later apologised for the comments.
At the event on Monday, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald called for the British government to intervene and introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland if the Stormont deadlock cannot be broken.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland which has not introduced equal marriage.
McDonald told the Pride Talkback event: “If it is the case that Westminster has to intervene then so be it.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel