Tim Farron regrets saying gay sex isn’t sinful
The former Lib Dem leader and Christian politician has voiced regret over his comments.
Tim Farron has voiced regrets over saying that gay sex isn’t sinful.
The former Lib Deam leaders and Christian politician’s views came under scrutiny in the run-up to last year’s general when he repeatedly dodged press questions about whether homosexuality was a sin.
Farron was later asked in parliament by gay Conservative MP Nigel Evans whether he thought being being gay was a sin, to which he replied: “I do not. I do not.”
Now, Farron has admitted he regrets making the comments.
Speaking on Premier’s Inspirational Breakfast radio show, Farron claimed all journalists wanted to do was “talk about my Christian beliefs”.
He said: “Foolishly and wrongly, [I] attempted to push it away by giving an answer that, frankly, was not right.”
Asked if felt under pressured to say gay sex was not a sin, Farron replied: “Yes of course I did. There are things including that which I regret.”
Farron also claimed he felt “isolated” during the controversy surrounding his views.
He said: “I know that others were praying for me but there is a sense in which I was isolated.”
“I had a wonderful team around me at HQ but with one exception, there were no Christians, it was not their fault they didn’t understand the issue.”
Farron resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats less than two month after June’s general election, claiming he felt “torn” between his faith and job.
He said at the time: “A better, wiser person than me may have been able to deal with this more successfully, to have remained faithful to Christ while leading a political party in the current environment”.
Farron also suggested that it was ‘impossible’ for him to stay on in his role while staying true to the Bible’s teachings: “To be a political leader – especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017 – and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bible’s teaching, has felt impossible for me.”