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Under-fire Gunn 'wild and bigoted'
THE councillor under fire for verbally attacking gays and 'damned to hell' atheists on a radio phone-in has rejected calls for his resignation, writes Andrew Keddie.
Kenneth Gunn, who represents Selkirkshire on Scottish Borders Council and is a high-ranking SNP official, has been branded homophobic, bigoted and narrow-minded, while the SNP has sought to distance itself from the row.
Mr Gunn says his critics have taken his remarks out of context, but maintains he has received many messages of support since he called BBC Radio Scotland’s Morning Extra show last Thursday.
The debate concerned a Glasgow exhibition, aimed at promoting gay rights within the church, at which visitors were encouraged to scribble comments in the margins of the Bible if they felt excluded from the holy book.
Comments included “F... the Bible” and “I am bi, female and proud: I want no god who is disappointed in this.”
Introduced by presenter Graham Stewart as “Kenneth from Selkirk”, Mr Gunn said defacing the Bible was sacrilege and that people in this country had lost respect for the teachings of the church.
Asked by Mr Stewart why non-believers should treat the book with reverence, Mr Gunn replied: “Well, non-believers are damned to hell anyway, so why should we bother?”.
He added: “Look where it [the country] is going. We have got so-called gays who are really very sad people and we have non-believers and heathens ... running the country and running down Christianity.”
After the show, Mr Gunn, chairman of the SNP’s constituency association for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and election agent for prospective Westminster candidate Paul Wheelhouse, told our sister paper The Selkirk Weekend Advertiser he saw no conflict between his personal views and representing all members of his ward, including ‘non-believers’ and gay people.
“I also represent people who didn’t vote for me at the election,” he added.
Angry responses to Mr Gunn’s remarks have featured on several gay websites and, on Monday, a call for his resignation came from Lib Dem councillor Vicky Davidson, SBC’s executive member for economic development, who also represents Selkirkshire.
“Kenneth Gunn should keep his wild and ill-informed ramblings to himself and not air them on national radio,” said Ms Davidson. “That is an astonishing forfeit of his democratic privilege.
“Selkirk is a pleasant, friendly place and his homophobic views will have shocked many of its residents. Such bigoted and narrow-minded views have no place in 21st century Scotland.
“I think Mr Gunn should resign and that he and the SNP should apologise immediately to his constituents, to the gay and lesbian community and non-Christians and Christians alike in the Borders.”
Asked to comment, SNP HQ in Edinburgh released the following statement: “The SNP is clear on its policies in support of equality issues. Councillor Gunn’s religious beliefs are a personal matter.”
And the party’s South of Scotland list MSP Christine Grahame added: “The views expressed by Councillor Gunn are his own and not mine.”
At the time of going to press, SBC leader David Parker said no official complaint about Mr Gunn had been received.
“If that happens, any alleged breach of the councillors’ code of conduct with go through our internal complaints procedure and could possibly be referred to the Standards Commission,” he added.
“Obviously, it is difficult for me to say anything which may prejudice such a process, but from the council’s point of view, we encourage all members to behave responsibly and ensure the highest standards of conduct. We also encourage them to be tolerant of other people’s views and opinions.”
This week, Mr Gunn admitted to TheSouthern he had not given his full name on the show, although he acknowledged he took part.
“I quoted from the Bible and that is where it says non-believers will be damned to hell. I see no harm in believing that. I was brought up a Christian and still respect Christian values even if nowadays you can be pilloried for your faith.
“I have received many, many messages of support from Christians and Muslims in this country and abroad for what I said.
“When elected, I said I would represent all in my ward and I continue to do that. I do pray regularly, but don’t force others to do the same. I certainly do not feel like the odd man out.”
In a statement after its AGM on Tuesday, the Scottish Borders Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Forum said Mr Gunn’s remarks did “a disservice to the people of the Borders who are, in the main, friendly, welcoming and inclusive”.
More reaction and phone-in transcript – page 6.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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