The Awkward Liberal

Tim Farron, the newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, found himself in awkward situation last week when he refused to say that homosexual sex was not a sin. In an interview with Channel 4 News' Cathy Newman (video above) Farron was asked if he personally believed that homosexual sex was a sin and his response has seen many question his liberal values. After having abstained on voting on the third reading of the marriage bill in 2013, Farron was asked three times on what he personally thought of homosexuality but he never gave a direct response. Instead, what we got was a odd mish-mash of liberal criteria and Bible quotes.

Mr Farron responded to one question:

“To understand Christianity is to understand that we are all sinners, and perhaps the Bible phrase that I use most, particularly with my kids, but actually on myself, is that 'you don't pick out the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye when there is a plank in your own'... My understanding is that we are all sinners.”

This is an interesting quotation that I think deserves some contemplation. It was made with reference to homosexuality: are gays and lesbians blind in some way? Farron believes in the religious doctrine that we are all sinners, but it came across as if he believed that this is especially true with homosexuals – all men and women are born sinners but some have sinned more than others! I asked a Christian relative what this quote means exactly and they simply said “don't be a hypocrite”. I struggle to find Farron's logic: don't judge gay people because nobody's perfect? Unfortunately, we can only glean that Farron does believe that homosexuality is a sin, but he can't say it out loud because that wouldn't be politically correct. In other words: LGBT people deserve equality, but they'll always have that slight tarnish, that wee bit of sawdust in their eye; fear not, Farron won't judge openly, he's a good Christian – that's God's job.

The answer most of us were expecting to Newman's question was simply “No. Being homosexual is not a sin.” But it never came and now many of us are left questioning Farron's commitment to LGBT equality.

A lot of people have pointed out that Tim Farron is entitled to his opinion and that this is just journalists trying to fabricate news where a story doesn't exist. But now, many more journalists and news readers have questioned Farron and he still insists that his focus is liberalism, but he refuses to make his private views clear. Farron's inability to successfully support equality over his own religious beliefs causes a number of significant problems.

Most profoundly, is Britain's liberal movement being lead by someone who isn't actually very liberal? The problem isn't so much the opinion itself (although to consider homosexuality a 'sin' is very strange and regressive), but the fact that this view is likely held by a man who is the leader of a liberal party. Equality has always been championed by liberals so the prime duty of the leader of Britain's liberal party is to uphold and further these values. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, but if Tim Farron's belief is in fact that homosexuality is a sin then his legitimacy as a liberal leader begins to look questionable. It seems disingenuous to support LGBT equality in public, but to privately believe that gays and lesbians are sinners – you might expect this from career politicians of big parties but not the close knit fraternity of the Lib Dems.

Farron's potential viewpoint has reinvigorated a wider debate about religion and its relationship with politics. It seems as though his religious convictions are clouding his judgement and creating a prejudice when it comes to matters of sexual equality. Unfortunately, Farron's implication that we are all sinners, gay people especially, is the antithesis of liberal values. In a liberal democracy, somebody can only ever be judged in the eyes of the law; and the laws are made (or at least should be) to keep people safe, free, and equal.   In democratic countries, laws are founded on reason and rational thinking, not what the bible considers to be 'sinful'.     

I took to Twitter to clarify Farron's viewpoint but had little success. I was pleased that he replied to my comments but, like everyone else, I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether or not he thought homosexuality was sin. He told me that his view is that “theological discussions are for priests! For me, Love is Love. Simple as.” I then put it down to the crunch question: “but when asked if you thought gay sex was a sin why did you not just say 'no'?” Farron moved the discussion over to direct messaging to answer my question and told me he wouldn't say homosexual sex was not a sin “Because I would spend 5 years answering every question everyone has about the bible. That's not my job. I think Love is Love.” Farron said he supports LGBT equality, but never commented when I asked him if he would make a public statement saying homosexual sex/relationships was not a sin.

 Despite Farron's ambiguity, what is clear is that Tim Farron has landed himself in a PR mess. He might not want to spend the next 5 years being questioned abut the bible, but now he could spend the next 5 years being questioned about his liberal values. I think his plan seems to be to wait for this issue to blow over but I'm not convinced that it will. A recent survey in Scotland found that LGBT people overwhelmingly feel that they face prejudice and inequality in their everyday lives: 82% of respondents said they had experienced homophobic, biphobic or transphobic comments or attitudes. The intolerence that many think is gone still exists. Will the leader of the UK's Liberal party be ready to challenge prejudice and change attitudes if he himself believes that being homosexual is 'sinful'?