Anti-gay marriage group on ‘high alert’ admits being ‘pretty quiet’ amid Scottish equal marriage vote
A group adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage in the UK which said it would continue to be on “high alert”, has now admitted it is “pretty quiet” a week ahead of Scotland’s final parliamentary vote on equal marriage.
Speaking to PinkNews, the Coalition for Marriage (C4M), which last year vowed to stay on “high alert” and to “continue to press the government” to oppose equal marriage appears to have gone quiet.
Despite insisting that it had not closed up shop, and that it would continue to campaign, a C4M administrator who would not give her name admitted that the group had ceased to put out its videos and information publicly in lieu of sending newsletter members updates to do with Ireland.
She said Scotland for Marriage (S4M) had been set up specifically to deal with the equal marriage bill in Scotland, however the News section of S4M’s site has not been updates since December 2013, and it has not tweeted since December 2011 (it was set up in November of that year).
Despite having over 600,000 signatures on its petition (compared to 54,000 on S4M), the Coalition for Marriage has not tweeted since September, put its last video on YouTube in October, and in its News section has only linked to one (PinkNews) article in January announcing the date of the final vote for equal marriage in Scottish parliament, on 4 February.
In the video, Dr James says: “A few weeks ago, we announced that the Coalition For Marriage will continue to defend and promote real marriage. I want to share with you our plan for the way ahead. C4M will regularly provide supporters with news, information and action alerts. We will promote respect for traditional beliefs about marriage in the public sector, including schools. We will help people who are in difficulty because of their convictions about marriage, and expose injustice.
“We will continue to press the government for civil liberties for people who believe in real marriage. We will be on high alert, ready to resist further erosions of marriage. We will make the case for real marriage in the media in a calm and rational way, but with clarity and force.
“And we will hold politicians and public bodies to account, and inform voters at election time where candidates and parties stand on the issue of marriage. The political elite just want to put this issue behind them. In their arrogance they think everyone should fall into line, and change their deeply held beliefs.
“Please stand with us as we continue to tell the truth about marriage,” she concludes.
