A Church of Scotland minister has revealed he was criticised by his fellow clergymen for launching Perthshire’s first Pride event.
The Rev Scott Burton of St Matthew’s Church apologised for the Kirks’ historical treatment of the LGBTQ+ community at Saturday’s gatering outside Perth Concert Hall.
Mr Burton became the first Church of Scotland minister to open an LGBTQ+ celebration.
Following his speech, he said the response has been overwhelming, including some negative feedback from fellow ministers.
He said: “As you might expect, the response has been a mixed bag.
“There has been some negative responses from ministers, but there has also been an overwhelmingly positive response from churches across the country.
“People have been contacting me from churches who have children that are gay or other family members and they have been thanking me.
“I didn’t do the speech for that reason.
“Firstly, I attended as a local minister in the community supporting a local event, as I do for many events across Perth.
“Also, it was telling people in the community that God loves them, as do other people in the church.”
The first Perthshire Pride included a packed line-up for the day-long event.
A huge rainbow flag was raised above the plaza, with performances from drag queens and an operatic sing-a-long of Disney showtunes.
Mr Burton was subjected to a negative comment on Facebook claiming his stance is “an expression of hatred to God” and that gays have a “filthy lifestyle”.
Mr Burton said the comments on his Facebook page following the event were incredible.
He added: “I was very warmly welcomed into the pride community.
“A big chunk of the conversations I had there was to listen to people’s stories.
“People’s beliefs are at the heart of who they are and it is how they should live their lives.
“There is passion in all the differences on both sides of this argument.
“What I said at my speech is as much as there can be passion, there should be compassion.
“I have my own personal Facebook page and the comments have been incredible.
“What I have done is not lasting change, it is a step forward.
“It would be up to my colleagues if they wanted to attend future events.”
