The First Minister is in a dither about it; the cabinet is split over it; church figures call for a referendum as gay rights activists take to the streets. No, not Tuesday's aborted cabinet decision on same-sex marriage, but the Labour-Liberal Democrat cabinet in 2000 during the row over the abolition of Section 2A on the teaching of homosexuality in schools. It is remarkable that the first real split faced by the SNP First Minister, Alex Salmond, is over homosexual equality, just as it was for the late Donald Dewar.
I recall that episode very well, not least because I was close, perhaps too close, to the ministers, led by the former Communities Minister, Wendy Alexander, who were leading the campaign to abolish Section 2A. The ferocity of the response took them by surprise. They thought Scotland was a tolerant nation and that abolishing the clause would be a foregone conclusion. Then came Brian Souter, Cardinal Winning and Keep the Clause. Donald Dewar, a conservative liberal, if that isn't a contradiction in terms, found it an almost impossible conundrum.
And so, it appears, does Alex Salmond. Roll on 12 years and the SNP First Minister is caught between liberals in the cabinet led by the Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon who believe that homosexuals should have equal rights, and Catholic ministers like Roseanna Cunningham, who think that gay marriage might be an equality too far. Salmond clearly hasn't made up his mind and since nothing happens without his say so, the government seems paralysed.
