Tim Farron says ‘respect my beliefs as a Christian’ on gay sex Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has insisted critics need to respect his views as a Christian. Mr Farron said he […]

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has insisted critics need to respect his views as a Christian.

Mr Farron said he did not understand why some people were concerned by his continued refusal to say whether he believes gay sex is sinful.

Asked if he understood why critics are irked by his repeated reluctance to clarify his stance, Mr Farron told the Press Association: “I think it’s a peculiar one.

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“I don’t go around pointing the finger at anybody else” Tim Farron

“No, is the honest answer, because I think people look at my liberalism, my desire to support people’s rights to make whatever choices they want, and I kind of also expect in the same way people – maybe it’s a naive expectation – to respect my beliefs as a Christian.

Voting on same-sex marriage

“And obviously that means a whole range of things about how I then choose to live my life. It also means that I don’t go around pointing the finger at anybody else.

“I don’t go making pronouncements on theological matters. And I think as someone who is a liberal, everybody has the right to marry who they want to marry, love who they want to love, and that’s the position we take.”

Mr Farron voted in favour of same-sex marriage legislation in February 2013, but later abstained at a third reading of the marriage bill in May of the same year.

In 2015, he expressed his regret for abstaining, telling the Observer that it wasn’t because he is opposed to equal marriage.

He explained that “there were a couple of amendments that were about the protection of essentially religious minorities, conscience protections and I kind of voted for those”.

Decriminalising sex work

He said he wouldn’t make the same decision again and regrets that it made people think he was “lukewarm on equal marriage”.

On Saturday, a Lib Dem conference consultative meeting overwhelmingly backed decriminalising sex work. Mr Farron said he would support such a move if the evidence endorsed it.