26/09/2023
Pink News reports that bisexual Member of the Scottish Parliament, and the principal speaker for the Green Party of Scotland at Holyrood, was verbally attacked by a foul mouthed member of the public, during a live television interview with BBC Scotland. Mr Harvie fought back, branding the hatchet faced abuser a "bigot". Nevertheless, the Green Party in Scotland has reported the incident to the Police. Furthermore, Mr Harvie is in no doubt as to who is responsible for this abuse - the anti-gay culture wars waged by the Westminster Conservative Party, and their supporters in the right wing press. "“There are some pretty toxic forces in politics at the moment that have unleashed homophobia and transphobia in a way that we haven’t seen in many, many years. Those who have cultivated this nasty kind of culture war against minorities need to take responsibility for verbal abuse like that, but also for violence that we’ve seen rising against LGBT+ people.” he remarked to the BBC News Channel. A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens told PinkNews politicians are to blame for growing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in Scotland and across the UK. "While this worrying incident consisted of verbal abuse, the current wave of homophobia and transphobia has included far worse, borne out by recent crime statistics,” they said. “It is truly shocking that in 2023 such a threat is once again being deliberately stirred up by politicians every bit as reactionary as those who created Section 28 back in the 1980s, or who backed the homophobic “Keep the Clause” campaign in the early days of devolution. “Incidents of hatred against LGBTQ+ people have been growing steadily in recent years. Some of this comes as a direct result of the “culture war”, misinformation and hostility being manufactured by the UK Government and other politicians".
https://greens.scot/team/patrick-harvie-msp
