Congratulations Scotland.
Scotland has just reaffirmed its position as the only country in the world where the greater part of its political party leaders are openly lesbian, gay or bisexual. Kezia Dugdale, the leader of the Scottish labour party, recently became Scotland's fourth party leader, and fifth key political figure, to come out as gay.
In an interview in the Fabian Review, Dugdale, 34, said:
'I have a female partner. I don't talk about it very much because I don't feel I need to.'
She joins the ranks of Patrick Harvie, the leader of the Scottish Green party; Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservative party and David Coburn, the leader of Ukip Scotland who have also come out as gay. This is on top of David Blundell, Scotland's secretary of state and only Conservative MP, who publicly came out in January 2016.
Dugdale, who was elected to Scottish parliament in 2011 and became party leader in 2015, explained her decision to keep her private life separate from her public one in the interview:
'I don't get easily stressed or battered. But I need a bit of stability to do that and that means my private life is my private life. That's the thing I just have to have that nobody gets to touch, and that gives me the strength to be calm elsewhere.'
Dugdale responded to well-wishers on social media with appropriate girlfriend twin and rainbow emojis.
Hooray for these politicians for being open and comfortable in their sexuality. Increased gay representation in politics can only ever be a good thing, and Dugdale is undoubtedly inspiring a few Scots by talking about about her sexuality.
