Over a thousand marchers took to Edinburgh's Royal Mile to
demonstrate their support for equal marriage on Valentine's Day,
today.
The march was part of the Scottish Youth Parliament's Love
Equally Campaign.
The Love Equally March saw supporters from across Scotland,
including the Equality Network, NUS Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland
and Stonewall Scotland, join Members of the Scottish Youth
Parliament (MSYPs) to demonstrate publicly and positively their
support for equal marriage.
The march finished with a rally outside Parliament, where the
crowd were addressed by: SYP Chair Grant Costello, Marco Biagi MSP,
Patrick Harvie MSP and Marilyn Jackson, Registered Celebrant from
the Humanist Society of Scotland.
Grant Costello MSYP, SYP Chair, said: "All the evidence shows the
majority of Scots support marriage equality, and the historic
response to the Government's consultation on same sex marriage
demonstrates they are prepared to speak out for equality.
Scotland's young people are determined that the consultation is not
the end, but just the beginning of the journey to a better nation
with equality at its heart. We need all those supporters of
marriage equality to march with us, be our Valentines and Love
Equally on February 14th!"
Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network,
said;
"This Valentine's Day hundreds of equal marriage supporters from
across the country will be marching on Holyrood to send a clear
message to the Scottish Government; we demand full equality for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, and we will settle
for nothing less. With the backing of a majority of Scots and
cross-party support in parliament, the Scottish Government now have
all the backing they need to bring forward legislation to lift the
ban on same-sex marriage."
Colin Macfarlane, Director, Stonewall Scotland said: "This
Valentine's Day hundreds of young people will be making their
message clear to the Scottish Government that they want to live in
modern, forward thinking and fair Scotland.
"The majority of Scots support equal marriage and the Love
Equally March will give young Scots the chance to say to the
Government that the time is now right to say "I do" to full
equality for Scotland's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people."
