Tory candidate for Soho accused of suggesting gay sex is immoral loses election
Voters have rejected a Tory council candidate who ran to represent London’a gay district while being forced to deny suggesting sex between two men or women is immoral.
Hillary Su, who ran for election in the borough of Westminster, weighed in to a debate on Twitter last May over the former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron’s views on gay sex.
A tweeter posted: “Why the intense scrutiny of Tim Farron’s stance on gay sex – but none for Theresa May?”
In a reply to her followers, Su wrote: “The right to private life, however immoral, is what free society offers – so long it doesn’t [sic] interfere with others or break laws.”
Tim Farron eventually said he did not believe gay sex was a sin but later admitted regretting compromising his faith (Ben Stansall/Getty)
She also accused Farron, a committed Christian, of failing “to defend his own faith because it was too inconvenient.” Ahead of the May 2017 general election, Farron faced criticism over his reluctance to say gay sex was not a sin.
The Conservative Party candidate failed to be one of the local area’s three councillors to win in Thursday’s local elections.
While her two fellow Conservatives were voted in by local people, Su limped home with 868 votes and was beaten by the Labour Party.
She received more than 100 fewer votes than the other Tory candidates in the area.
Su denied making a moral judgment on the matter.
She told the Daily Mirror in a statement: “I do not make judgements about people’s relationships or what people do in private and it was never my intention to suggest otherwise. As a Christian, I believe we should embrace love and celebrate it wherever it is found.
“I am proud of the Conservative Party’s record on equality, including the historic step of legalising equal marriage and I will always support equal rights and the people I represent.”
Su’s remarks were first revealed by BuzzFeed. Su reportedly told the website, “Who I am to judge?” in answer to the question of whether she thought gay sex was immoral.
The Admiral Duncan pub, a gay venue in Soho, was the target of a homophobic bomb attack in 1999
Su’s Twitter account, which is now private, describes her as a broker, FinTech StartUp director and Nasa fan.
She has also tweeted about her support for Jacob Rees-Mogg, a prominent anti-abortion Conservative MP and devout Catholic who once said he was “completely opposed” to abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
In the run-up to Theresa May’s snap election in 2017, former Lib Dem leader Farron eventually said he did not believe gay sex was a sin after days of pressure. However, in January, he said he regretted being forced to compromise his faith.
