Labour councillor suspended after calling LGBT people ‘deviants’
A Labour councillor in Scotland has been suspended after allegedly referring to LGBT people as “deviants”.
Tom McAughtrie, a senior Labour councillor of more than 30 years in Dumfries and Galloway, was placed under administrative suspension by Scottish Labour after he made the comments on social media.
Though it is unclear what exactly was said, it is understood that Mr McAughtrie referred to the chair of the local LGBT group as a “deviant.”
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Mr McAughtrie has been placed under administrative suspension from holding office or representing the Labour Party, and from Dumfries and Galloway Labour Group. It is important that these allegations are investigated.”
A source added: “There is absolutely no place in the Labour Party for homophobia.”
Despite his suspension from the party and the local Labour group, the National reports that Mr McAughtrie still attended a full council meeting this week.
Labour’s leader in Scotland, Kezia Dugdale, came out earlier this year when she revealed she was in a same-sex relationship.
She is one of four out leaders in Scotland, joining Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Greens’ Patrick Harvie and UKIP’s David Coburn.
