A SCOTTISH Government minister has called for police to investigate “vile abuse” seen at an anti gender reform protest held outside the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.
Hundreds of protesters were outside Holyrood, with representatives from the Scottish Family Party, Unionist Clubs Scotland and supporters of the Glasgow Cabbie to show opposition to legislation making it easier for transgender people to have their gender legally recognised.
As a pro-LGBT counter-protest attempting to drown out the group with a lively disco, The National recorded one protester calling them “child molesters” and “paedophiles”.
Now, Scottish Greens co-leader and minister Patrick Harvie has intervened to encourage the Scottish Parliament and police to look into the situation.
“As far back as 2009, all parties in Parliament passed my Bill to take homophobic and transphobic hate crime more seriously. Now this vile abuse is taking place right outside Holyrood,” he wrote.
“I expect @ScotParl and @PoliceScotland to examine the video evidence and take urgent action.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland told The National:
"Officers were in attendance at a protest and counter protest outside the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, 12 January, 2023.
"No complaints were received from any member of the public and no crimes were recorded.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel