AN SNP MSP has spoken out about homophobic abuse after a troll blamed his sexuality for a devastating fire at a church.

Kevin Stewart described the incident as "utterly abhorrent" after St Simon's catholic church in Glasgow went up in flames in Wednesday.

In a screenshot of the email Stewart shared on Twitter, the troll claimed the fire was God "confirming his prophetic word" to the Aberdeen Central MSP.

"We urgently need to discuss your deliverance from homosexuality. I look forward to your response," the message added.

Stewart said: "It’s rare that I receive homophobic rants, but it seems that someone believes that my sexuality “caused” the devastating fire at St Simon’s in Glasgow & that I need to be “delivered from my homosexuality”. Unsurprisingly, I’ve refused the offer to “pray the gay” out of me."

He added: "It is galling that in 2021 that a small minority of people still think this way and it is utterly abhorrent that this person believes that they can pray the gay' out of me or anyone else.

“Scotland has made huge progress on equality issues in the past couple of decades and long may that continue.

"We should strive to ensure that today's LGBT+ young people can live their best lives without facing the discrimination that many faced in the past and we should unite to consign prejudice to the dustbin of history."