Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Ruth Davidson walked out of an interview with Channel 4 News yesterday, after being asked about the Democratic Unionist Party’s stance on LGBT issues, ahead of today’s talks between the DUP and senior members of the Conservative Party in Downing Street.
Davidson, who is openly gay and engaged to her long time partner Jen Wilson, met last week with Theresa May to seek assurances that LGBT rights would not be scaled back in Great Britain. Davidson later reported that the Prime Minister assured the Scots Tory leader that LGBT rights would not be a bargaining chip in negotiations with the DUP as an informal coalition arrangement is discussed. Furthermore, Davidson told the BBC that Mrs May had agreed that the Conservative Party would use their influence in Northern Ireland to advance LGBT rights.
Same-sex marriage remains outlawed in Northern Ireland, where several high profile DUP members have made their feelings about same-sex marriage and adoption very clear. In 2015, DUP Health Minister Jim Wells was forced to resign after claiming that children brought up in same-sex households were more likely to be abused or neglected, while Member of Parliament for North Antrim Ian Paisley Jr, son of Ian Paisley, has previously referred to homosexual acts as “repulsive”.