Forbes says she was advised to lie about same-sex marriage views

Kate Forbes said she was advised to lie about her views on same-sex marriage at an Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London. The former deputy first minister said she chose honesty over political expediency after being pressed over a stance that had already shaped her failed bid for the party leadership.

Those comments came during the SNP’s 2023 leadership contest, which began after Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation on 15 February 2023. Nominations closed on 24 February, and the race came down to three candidates: Forbes, Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan. Forbes entered as an early frontrunner, but her campaign lost momentum after she said she would have voted against same-sex marriage in Scotland if she had been an MSP at the time, while making clear she would not seek to overturn the law.

Yousaf won on 27 March 2023 with 24,336 first-preference votes, or 48.2 per cent, and 26,032 votes, or 52.1 per cent, after transfers. Forbes received 20,559 first-preference votes, or 40.7 per cent, while Regan took 5,599 votes, or 11.1 per cent. Turnout was 70 per cent among 72,169 eligible SNP members.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Scotland since 16 December 2014, after the Scottish Parliament approved the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 on 4 February 2014 and it received royal assent on 12 March that year. Her admission during the leadership race prompted criticism from within and beyond the party, including from Mhairi Black, who said the views were extreme and archaic and risked alienating young people.

In May 2024, John Swinney appointed Forbes deputy first minister, drawing backlash from parts of the SNP’s LGBT wing. Forbes has since said she was greatly burdened that offence had been caused by her views and has linked her stance to her Christian faith, while religious supporters argued she had a right to express those beliefs.