Do people actually care what politicians think about gay sex?
A poll has found that most people donāt care if politicians think that gay sex is a sin.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has been embroiled in a row this month after he was asked in an interview with Channel 4 last week whether he believes gay sex is sinful.
The politician evaded the question, and subsequently dodged it dozens of times across an entire week before proclaiming in a BBC interview that gay sex is not inherently sinful.
Following the row, pollster ComRes was commissioned to find out what the public thinks.
It found that one in four (25 per cent) of people think that politicians who believe gay sex is a sin should not be allowed to hold office, while 67 per cent said they should be.
Meanwhile, two thirds of Brits agreed with the statement āIf a politician believes that gay sex is a sin they should be free to express itā. One third (32 per cent) disagreed.
The polling was paid for by the Christian Institute, which holds a number of anti-LGBT stances.
The data was seized on by the body to assert that Christianity is being āforced out from the public squareā.
Colin Hart, Director of the Christian Institute said: āThe intolerance shown towards a politician, just because he was thought to believe that gay sex is wrong, is deeply troubling.
āThe poll shows Mr Farron neednāt have worried. Most voters think politicians should be free to speak on such matters.
āHistoric Christian belief holds that gay sex, adultery and sex before heterosexual marriage (fornication) are wrong.
āThis belief is also shared by virtually all the other world faiths including Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.
āPoliticians should not be silenced or hounded out of office just for holding these views, otherwise we diminish our democracy and risk marginalising millions of ordinary people.
āWe are deeply concerned at the way those with beliefs out of kilter with dominant secular thought are being targeted and forced out from the public square.ā
Mr Farron doesnāt actually think gay sex is a sin.
He said: āI donāt believe gay sex is a sin. I take the view that as a political leader, my job is not to pontificate on theological matters but this has become a talking point, an issue ā and in that case, if people have got the wrong opinion of what I think of those issues, itās right to correct it.
āAsked why his answer had changed, he said: āIām quite careful about how I talk about my faithā¦ I donāt bang on about it, but I donāt make a secret of it either.
āWhen I get asked theological questions, which I donāt think many other politicians do get asked, I took the view that it would be better for me to say this is a matter of theological nitpicking, and letās talk about the politics.ā
He added: āItās really important I answer it clearly today, and say, itās not [a sin]. I donāt feel it is.ā
Asked about his previous evasiveness, he said: āI didnāt want to get into a series of questions unpicking the Bible. What I want is to make sure we deal with something thatās become an issue.
āI think thatās something thatās important to say when they get the wrong idea of you.ā
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