Reverend who heckled Jeremy Corbyn in Glasgow thinks being gay is a ‘perversion’, ‘abhorrent’ and ‘wrong’
Jeremy Corbyn (L) was heckled by a Church of Scotland minister who has frequently referred to being gay as a “perversion”. (Screen captures via Twitter)
A Church of Scotland pastor who heckled British opposition party leader Jeremy Corbyn also believes that being gay is a “perversion”.
Reverend Richard Cameron jeered at the Labour Party premier today as he entered the Heart of Scotstoun community centre in Glasgow.
In the aftermath, a trove of tweets from the minister were hastily unearthed, showing a timeline wrought with homophobic and Islamophobic remarks.
Cameron has been a minister at the Scotstoun Parish since 2000, according to the district’s website.
But the Church of Scotland “deplored” his comments and social media activity amid boiling backlash in a press statement.
Jeremy Corbyn heckler called being gay a ‘perversion’, ‘abhorrent’ and ‘wrong’.
The minister’s time on Twitter since 2013 is one dotted by discriminatory comments.
Calls to “ban gay priests”, persistently tagging homosexuality a “perversion” and praising homophobic individuals froth out of Cameron’s feed. Nestled between an array of antisemitic and anti-Islamic tweets.
Cameron himself doesn’t believe being gay is a sin, he tweeted in 2014, “however, engaging in homosexual activity is a sin”.
The man who heckled Jeremy Corbyn today was Rev. Richard Cameron.
This longstanding account links to his church and says they're Richard Cameron. Here are some of his tweets. pic.twitter.com/Uvao62OGR3
— Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) November 13, 2019
“It’s not homophobic to believe homosexual behaviour is wrong,” he later clarified in 2017. When fellow users questioned this logic, he clarified that he has “gay friends”.
Although, he has since tweeted: “Christ has the power to help and change anyone.
“Obviously many gays hate this because want to carry on in their perversion.”
In one tweet, shortly after the Church of Scotland announced it will appoint married gay ministers, Cameron described the move as giving “a clean bill of health to perversion” and in another, called it “tragic”.
Moreover, he voiced his support for Israel Folau, a rugby player whose contact was torn after he tweeted “hell awaits” gay people.
What happened?
On a chilly Autumn morning, Jeremy Corbyn kicked-off his 48-hour tour of Scotland to target local seats ahead of the UK general election.
His plaid scarf, give to him by the charity Who Cares Scotland, drew the attention of a reporter who asked where it was from.
https://twitter.com/RaynerSkyNews/status/1194572882644480001
“I thought you’d be wearing your Islamic Jihad scarf?” the roiled reverend shouted off-camera, according to mobile footage.
As members of the press scrambled with their cameras, Cameron continued: “Do you think the man that’s going to be prime minister of this country should be a terrorist sympathiser?”
Corbyn, standing beside Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, then ducked into the community centre.
Cameron carried on slinging accusations at the lawmaker as he hurried inside.
Church of Scotland ‘deplores’ reverend’s comments and actions.
Scottish lawmakers and LGBT+ activists lampooned the minister’s actions and the exhumed tweets, while religious figureheads sought to distance themselves from Cameron.
Bigoted nonsense directed at Corbyn today doesnt represent the @churchscotland. The bigoted tweets surfacing certainly don't.
Do I wish the Kirk were robust in rejecting fringe figures like this guy? Yes. We must do so much better to say this isn't who we are & isn't acceptable— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) November 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/Liam_O_Hare/status/1194606861196111872
An ignorant bigot shouts rubbish at Jeremy Corbyn today – he does not represent the good people I know in the Church of Scotland, people who are caring compassionate and warm to others – he is just an embarrassment https://t.co/tA0p2mKMbA— Neil Findlay (@Neilsocialist) November 13, 2019
Detractors piled on their concern towards the Church of Scotland, one of the largest religious organisations in the country, which later released a statement denouncing the reverend.
“There has been significant concern raised today about the comments made by Rev Richard Cameron and his social media use,” a Church of Scotland spokesperson said in a news release.
“At this stage all we can say is that there is a formal complaints process and that any complaints we receive in relation to this matter will be taken seriously and addressed.
“We do deplore any comments which are Islamophobic or homophobic.
“The Church of Scotland works closely with our Islamic neighbours and the General Assembly has taken a strong position and said formally that we decry homophobia in any form. “
