Scottish singer Michelle McManus: ‘I’m Catholic and I support equal marriage’
Scottish singer and TV presenter Michelle McManus has said she disagrees with the Catholic Church’s opposition to equal marriage, in a video recorded for the Equality Network’s It’s Time campaign.
In her video, the Glaswegian singer who is best known for winning Pop Idol said: “I disagree with how my own religion views same-sex marriages, but then being a modern Catholic, most modern Catholics do disagree with a lot of these man-made laws.”
She added: “I support equal marriage for all because we live in 2013 and I don’t think any human should be treated any differently from another. I think it’s absolutely absurd that we all don’t have the same human rights.”
McManus is a devout Roman Catholic and performed two songs for Pope Benedict XVI at a Mass in Bellahouston Park as part of the former Pope’s visit to Scotland in 2010.
Studies suggest that a majority of Catholics in Scotland support equal marriage, including the respected Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (2010) which showed 54% of Scottish Catholics support same-sex marriage while only 25% oppose.
McManus has urged MSPs to vote in favour of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill. “Passing the law to allow equal marriage will say so much about Scotland, it will show that we’re not afraid to come into the 21st century, and we’re not afraid to say that we support each other. My message to the MSPs who are going to vote on this is listen to the people of Scotland and look into your own conscience.”
Key public figures in Scotland including: Scottish National Party leader and First Minister Alex Salmond, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont, Breakfast TV star Lorraine Kelly, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, Hollywood actor Alan Cumming, and former Scottish Socialist Party MSP Colin Fox and Scottish Green Party Co-Convenor Patrick Harvie, TV presenter Carol Smillie and comedian Susan Calman and Coronation Street actor John Michie, singer Sharleen Spiteri and writer Hardeep Singh Kohli and Rab C Nesbitt actress Elaine C Smith have all recorded videos for the Equality Network’s It’s Time campaign.
The campaign is modelled on PinkNews’ Out4Marriage campaign.
