This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-20175530

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Storm over Stonewall's Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'bigot' award Storm over Stonewall's Cardinal Keith O'Brien 'bigot' award
(about 5 hours later)
A row has broken out after the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland was named Bigot of the Year by gay rights charity Stonewall.A row has broken out after the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland was named Bigot of the Year by gay rights charity Stonewall.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien's stance on gay marriage was singled out at Stonewall's annual awards in London.Cardinal Keith O'Brien's stance on gay marriage was singled out at Stonewall's annual awards in London.
Sponsors Barclays and Coutts have said they will axe their funding if the category is not dropped next year.Sponsors Barclays and Coutts have said they will axe their funding if the category is not dropped next year.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson won Politician of the Year, but was booed for also criticising the bigot award.Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson won Politician of the Year, but was booed for also criticising the bigot award.
Ms Davidson, who is gay, has been among cross-party support for a same-sex marriage bill which is being brought forward by the Scottish government, while Cardinal O'Brien has been a strong critic of the plans. Ms Davidson, who is gay, has been among those giving cross-party support to a same-sex marriage bill which is being brought forward by the Scottish government, while Cardinal O'Brien has been a strong critic of the plans.
Speaking at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Ms Davidson said it was important for young people to see that politics, gender or sexuality should be no barrier to success. In a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9121424/We-cannot-afford-to-indulge-this-madness.html#" >newspaper article earlier this year, the cardinal wrote that the proposal for same-sex marriage represented a "grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right".
He also said same-sex partnerships were "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved".
Speaking at the award ceremony at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Ms Davidson said it was important for young people to see that politics, gender or sexuality should be no barrier to success.
She added: "But where I disagree with Stonewall in these awards is the need to call people names like 'bigot'. It is simply wrong.She added: "But where I disagree with Stonewall in these awards is the need to call people names like 'bigot'. It is simply wrong.
"The case for equality is far better made by demonstrating the sort of generosity, tolerance and love we would wish to see more of in this world.""The case for equality is far better made by demonstrating the sort of generosity, tolerance and love we would wish to see more of in this world."
Decisive vote Previous winners of the Stonewall Bigot of the Year award include Daily Mail columnists Melanie Phillips and Jan Moir, Tory MP Chris Grayling and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party MLA Iris Robinson.
Lobbying group Christian Concern has accused Stonewall of trying to shut down legitimate debate about the introduction of gay marriage. Ms Davidson later told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that Stonewall "doesn't do itself any favours" by having the bigot award.
Stonewall Scotland director Colin Macfarlane said: "As Britain's first openly gay leader of a mainstream political party, Ruth has shown thousands of young gay Scots that they can aspire to be what they want to be." She said: "I think the organisation does much more to advance equality by demonstrating good practice, to celebrate people who have broken new ground, and also by demonstrating the sort of generosity, tolerance and love that as an organisation it wants to see more of in this world."
He added: "It's fitting that Stonewall's 10,000 supporters voted decisively to name Cardinal O'Brien as Bigot of the Year. But Stonewall Scotland director Colin Macfarlane said: "The people that were nominated for Bigot of the Year have this year called gay people Nazis, they have compared them to bestialitists and to paedophiles, and one of the nominees suggested that gay people should be put in front of a firing squad and shot dead.
"We've never called anyone a bigot just because they don't agree with us, but in just the past 12 months the cardinal has gone well beyond what any normal person would call a decent level of public discourse." "So I think what we are doing is highlighting the very cruel, very nasty, very pernicious language that is being used by some people - and in particular by the cardinal, who won.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: "Stonewall's decision to award their Bigot of the Year award to Cardinal O'Brien reveals the depth of their intolerance and their willingness to attack and demean those who don't share their views. "I think we are right to highlight that and to shine a light on that kind of discrimination, and hence why bigot of the year was one of our award categories.
"Stonewall and others have promoted terms like bigot and homophobe relentlessly, in order to intimidate and vilify anyone who dares oppose their agenda. It is an agenda which the wider public does not endorse and which their excessive language has undermined." "In the past year the cardinal has likened the campaign for same-sex marriage to slavery, he has called it grotesque."
John Deighan, the Roman Catholic Church's parliamentary officer for Scotland, said Stonewall's award to Cardinal O'Brien was an "outrage" that showed a lack of judgement.
'Brazen attitude'
He also said the comments highlighted by Mr Macfarlane had been taken out of context.
He claimed Stonewall was "massively funded by the public purse" - which the charity denies - and questioned whether that funding should continue.
Mr Deighan said: "Stonewall wants to shut down anyone who doesn't agree with them in the public discourse."
Christian Concern's Andrea Minichiello Williams said she regarded Cardinal Keith O'Brien as "a courageous Christian leader who has stood for the truth".Christian Concern's Andrea Minichiello Williams said she regarded Cardinal Keith O'Brien as "a courageous Christian leader who has stood for the truth".
"Neither he nor any faithful Christian is homophobic. Stonewall's attack on him reveals their contempt and brazen attitude to this who will not capitulate to their agenda." She said: "Neither he nor any faithful Christian is homophobic. Stonewall's attack on him reveals their contempt and brazen attitude to those who will not capitulate to their agenda."