Horse McDonald: I came home to get married, even though I was bullied for being gay
Scottish singer-songwriter, Horse McDonald, returned to the hometown she left because of homophobia, even from police, in order to wed her fiance in a civil partnership.
Horse, whose real name is Sheena, married her fiance Alanna, last Friday in a private ceremony in her home town of Lanark, which she left as a teenager because of homophobic bullying, reports the Daily Record.
Speaking about her experiences of bullying, the singer, 54, said:
“I used to get chased by gangs. I had physical encounters. I was attacked by people with broken bottles but the verbal abuse was the worst.
She went on to say that she had felt too ashamed to tell her family about the bullying. She continued:
“People would call me names and I was afraid when I was growing up… I didn’t tell anyone at the time, not even my dad because I felt I was bringing shame on the family.
“It got so bad that one day I was walking and a police patrol car was sitting across the street.
“The policeman shouted, ‘There’s that lezzie’. I thought, ‘I’m in trouble now. If something happens, who is going to help me?’ I left the town shortly after that.”
Going on to talk about her wedding, and the possibility of having a church wedding in the future, she said:
“We are very happy. I would have loved for us to have got married in a church. I have a strong faith but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”
The move comes after the UK Government unveiled its formal plans to allow gay couples to marry in England and Wales from 2013. This does not include the Church of England or Church in Wales, which would be banned.
