Catholic leaders have reacted furiously after members of the gay rights group Stonewall named Cardinal Keith O'Brien "bigot of the year" for his vigorous attacks on gay marriage.
Stonewall said its 10,000 members had voted "decisively" to give the title to O'Brien, head of the Scottish Catholic church, after he described gay marriage as a "grotesque subversion" of the universal human right which defines marriage as solely heterosexual.
The church, which also alleges that people in gay marriages suffer greater risks of mental illness and premature death, demanded that the Scottish government and two sponsors – the banks Barclays and Coutts – withdraw their sponsorship of the group.
Barclays and Coutts have already warned they will stop financing Stonewall, the UK's largest gay rights group, if the bigot award is proposed again next year. The Scottish parliament is expected to vote to legalise gay marriages next year, despite intense opposition from religious groups. » | Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent | Friday, November 02, 2012
