Criticism of Kate Forbes’ views on equal marriage, transgender rights and sex outside marriage has nothing to do with faith but is about her suitability to lead the Scottish National party, according Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney.
Swinney – himself a committed Christian and one of the party’s most respected figures – told BBC Radio Scotland that he “profoundly disagreed” with Forbes, a member of the socially conservative, evangelical Free Church of Scotland. She told reporters she would not have voted for the SNP’s equal marriage legislation had she been an MSP at the time, hours after launching her campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon on Monday.
