GLASGOW, Scotland — A Church of Scotland chaplain has been sacked from a Glasgow school after describing being gay as a “perversion” and “disorder” during a discussion about marriage equality.
Reverend Donald Michael MacInnes made the comments on a Facebook page of Glasgow Gaelic School’s, in reference to the Scottish Government’s proposed marriage equality legislation, reported the Evening Times.
“The overwhelming support of our Scottish politicians in creating same-sex marriage is very disappointing,” he wrote. “Many of us, myself included, agreed that the creation of civil partnerships was necessary so that individuals suffering from this disorder were not legally penalized in any way because of their sexuality.
“We can now expect to see the school curriculum changed to the end that our children will be taught this perversion as if it were a good thing,” added MacInnes.
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MacInnes’s remarks drew complaints by parents to school and educational authorities.
One parent was quoted as saying: “I don’t want my children exposed to any sort of prejudice from a person in authority and I would not be confident of other views he might express directly to the children.”
Another commented: “Absolutely disgraceful. It is not a disorder, you cannot choose your sexuality.”
A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council stated on Monday that MacInnes was fired from his post: “The man is no longer the Chaplain at the school and this decision was taken by the headteacher as soon as we received the complaints from parents and reviewed the situation.”
Colin Macfarlane, Director of Stonewall Scotland, told LGBTQ Nation: “Our research shows that 99 per cent of young people in Scottish schools have heard homophobic abuse in the classroom and for a school Chaplin to use such language is a clear breach of their pastoral responsibilities and has no place in our schools.
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Tim Hopkins, Director of the Equality Network, a Scottish charity, told LGBTQ Nation: “People are entitled to their views, but not to harm others they have a professional responsibility for.”
“It is completely unacceptable for a school chaplain to refer to LGBT people as disordered or perverted, and we welcome that Glasgow Council is taking action on this,” said Hopkins.
In November, Scottish lawmakers overwhelmingly voted for the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill at stage one.
If the bill passes at stage two later this month, the final stage three vote is likely to happen around February, with the queen signing it into law by March.
