The Scottish Government has given assurances that it will be illegal
for anyone to be discriminated against because they hold to the
traditional definition of marriage as a union between one man and one
woman.
The assurances were given in a meeting last week at the Scottish
Parliament between Alex Neil, the minister overseeing the same-sex
marriage bill, and the Reverend David Robertson, a Free Church minister
in Dundee.
Mr Robertson, a director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity,
was concerned that Christians could be persecuted because of their
views after same-sex marriage has been legalised.
He also feared churches would have their charity status revoked by
OSCR, Scotland's charity watchdog, for breaking new equality laws.
Mr Robertson said it felt like Christianity was the religion that
"dare not speak its name in Scotland" and that many Christians are
deeply concerned that pro-marriage equality groups want to banish
Christians and other people with a traditional understanding of marriage
from the public square.
"Mr Neil categorically said it would be unlawful for any individual
or organisation to be discriminated against because they believe
marriage is between a man and a woman," he said after the meeting.
"Supporters of the gay lobby have accused people like me of hate
crimes and being bigoted for continuing to insist that marriage is
between a man and a woman, and I am grateful that the Scottish
Government agrees these kind of claims for litigation have no place in
21st century Scotland."
The Free Church is strongly opposed to the redefinition of marriage.
During the meeting, Mr Neil conceded that if he were to poll the general
public on Princes Street, the main shopping street in Edinburgh, gay
marriage would not feature in people's top ten list of concerns for
modern Scotland.
Mr Robertson suggested a referendum should be held on the issue.
He concluded: "I am grateful for Mr Neil's frank honesty, and the
Scottish Government's own consultation showed that many Scots are
opposed to this proposal. We are continually told that the majority of Scots are for this - if
this were the case why are the politicians so scared to let the people
have their say in a referendum on this subject?
"Meanwhile the Government has paid the Equality Network to produce a
video which shows leading politicians and celebrities saying 'yes' to
what they term equal marriage. I would challenge any one of these politicians and celebrities to
tell us what their new version of marriage actually is and why they
consider it to be equal."