KaleidoScot The Northern end of the rainbow
In an exclusive video-interview, Scottish government minister, Joe FitzPatrick, talks about the prospects for Scotland’s independence and being one of its high profiled out gay men.
FitzPatrick said: “I think the great … progress that Scotland has made, when I was appointed a minister, my sexuality was pretty irrelevant… That’s the kind of progress I hope we are going to continue to make.
“But I do think its very very important that people in positions like myself, do come out, in order to give confidence to other young LGBTI people, so they can realise that these barriers that maybe used to be there are being swept away by society.”
He added that from an LGBTI perspective he thinks “one of the biggest opportunities is the idea that we will have a written constitution… and I certainly expect the LGBTI community to be part of that process.”
FitzPatrick was also questioned about anti-gay billionaire Brian Souter who donated to the SNP, replying: “as we move our journey forward we have to try and take people who have different views with us.”
He stressed that “the referendum is a huge opportunity for everyone, including the LGBTI community and I hope we all can grasp it with both hands and move forwards to build a better and fairer Scotland.”
Watch the video here:
