Some Tim Farron quotes on LGBT+ issues
thnpgalaxyfour:
Because the media (especially channel 4) make me very angry. All of these are taken from an interview lgbt+ lib dems did with both candidates during the election (aka before the media decided they wanted a witch hunt) Read the full thing here.
“Whilst I am and will remain a committed Christian, I take the same approach as Charles Kennedy did - I hold my faith firmly but impose it on no one. I am running to be leader of the Liberal Democrats, not to be Archbishop of Canterbury (which is lucky given that I believe in disestablishment of the Church of England!).” “Just a couple of the things I can see coming on the horizon that I am keen to get involved with is making Equal Marriage truly equal with the ending of the spousal veto and some other amendments; and ending the discriminatory gay blood ban that does so much harm when our Blood Service is crying out for more stocks.“
“I was one of 100 MPs who signed the letter to the Ugandan President calling on him to drop the horrific legislation which outlaws homosexuality in his country.” “On Equal Marriage I voted in favour of the principle at second reading (and I am passionately so) but asked for more time for Parliament to debate the legislation to make sure we got it right, for a number of reasons. I was absent from the third reading vote (but would have voted in favour). After third reading I voted in favour at all the deferred divisions. Later I also voted in favour of a number of consequential amendments to other bits of legislation and to allow members of the Armed Forces serving abroad to marry.” “I want to create a Trans working group - firstly to allow politicians within the party to talk about the issues facing the Trans community (including the spousal veto that I would work to overturn) and second to reach out to Trans communities who don’t currently engage with politicians. I think another role for this working group would be to look at our processes and things like conference to see what we can do straight away to improve our party. I will also make it a priority to press for the full and total implementation of the Trans Action Plan created under the coalition.“
This is so important.
I’ve seen so much media attention regarding Tim’s faith, most of it questioning his credentials to be a liberal politician as a practicing Christian. Even the BBC seem determined to focus on one particular abstained vote and one particular (since publicly regretted) quote while completely disregarding the above points. I’d call it lazy journalism if it wasn’t such a concentrated barrage. I have seen no coverage of his policies, which would not only be much more relevant and newsworthy, but would also dispel any concern over the role of his faith and his ability to be liberal. Instead I see headlines such as ‘Lib Dems nervy over Farron’s beliefs’, which is unbelievably odd considering his recent election as leader by Liberal Democrats, who were undoubtedly already aware of his beliefs.
The most concerning aspect of this however, is that the media appear determined to portray Tim as a homophobic pro-lifer, when actually he is the most high profile politician to clearly state his ambition of equal rights for LGBT+ and BAME. The media are systematically aligning him as an enemy to the people that need him the most, which is awful. Just to check I’m not being paranoid, while Tim publicly stated he keeps his religion and politics separate, yet is persistently made to defend his faith, David Cameron escapes any scrutiny as Prime Minister despite wanting to ‘put the Christianity back into politics’ and attempting to block the abolition of Section 28. Granted they are at opposing ends of the political spectrum, but I don’t like to think of human rights as solely a left-wing concern.
tl;dr; Tim’s faith absolutely no bearing on his ability to be leader of the Liberal Democrats. He has stated very clearly his commitment to equal rights and freedom of belief, both of which contribute to the very definition of Liberalism. Please do not get sucked into the media hyperbole.
