Orangeman Grand Master walks lesbian daughter down the aisle in spite of organisation’s anti-gay views
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND – JULY 12: Members of the Orange Order and their supporters take part in the Twelfth of July parade on July 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The controversial flashpoint has seen many outbreaks of serious public disorder in the past due to contentious parades. This mornings parade passed off peacefully with no nationalist protestors lining the Orangemen’s route past the interface, a move which many political commentators regard as progress between the two communities. The annual 12th of July parades mark the anniversary of the protestant King William of Orange’s victory over the catholic forces of King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
An Orangeman has been praised for attending his daughter’s civil ceremony in spite of the fact that the organisation forbids homosexual members.
The Orange Order’s Grand Master, Spencer Beattie, who is the leader of the Protestant fraternal group, proudly walked his daughter Lesa Beattie down the aisle as she married her partner, Melanie Atkinson in a service in Carrickfergus on Saturday.
“I’m all for equality and people having the right to make their own choices,” said the father to the Belfast Telegraph.
Beattie, who was installed as the society’s Grand Master on Valentine’s Day, has been praised for being “a father first and an Orangeman second.”
This would do your heart good, fair play to Spencer Beattie, a loving father first and foremost pic.twitter.com/ia2LVTXvl3— Allison Morris (@AllisonMorris1) February 25, 2018
“Fair play to Spencer, it proves we aren’t all dinosaurs and shows how much love he has for his daughter,” said an Orange Order member to to the publication.
“The Orange Order may have its rules, but these really don’t matter when it comes to ensuring the happiness of your child.
“As Spencer has rightly shown, he’s a father first and Orangeman second.”
As it stands, LGBT+ people are banned from the Protestant fraternal order, which could mean that the Grand Master will land himself in trouble with some fellow Orangemen.
The previous Grand Master of the organisation, Stuart Brooker, said that gay people could no join the protestant order because “homosexuality is wrong”.
He added: “We’re a Christian organisation and therefore we believe in what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong,” he said in 2015.
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