Out Tory Leader Ruth Davidson: ‘I didn’t want to be gay’
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has spoken out about her personal struggles with reconciling her faith with her sexuality.
She told BBC Radio Scotland that whilst growing up she always expected to have a “big white wedding and the chap on my arm.”
“I didn’t come out until my mid twenties,” she told presenter Edi Stark.
“I didn’t want to be gay – I’m not sure how many people do. It’s been amazing the difference even in my lifetime how things have changed.
“I struggled with it for a number of years actually before I would admit it to myself, never mind to anybody else.
“But there comes a point at which you make a decision and that decision is either that you’re going to live a lie for the rest of your life, or you’re going to trust yourself, and that’s what I had to do.”
She went on to talk about how her Church of Scotland upbringing and her faith added to her struggle to accept herself, recalling how hard it was to read certain parts of the Bible.
“To read Paul’s letter to various churches around the globe talking about ‘homosexual offenders’ – the phrase in the international version…and talking about idolaters and adulterers and thieves being ranked together was very, very difficult.”
Ms Davidson, who is the first openly lesbian leader of a UK political party, has previously revealed the extent of the homophobic abuse she has suffered online.
Ruth Davidson was voted Member of The Year at the PinkNews awards last month – an award she shared with Maria Miller MP.
