Allegedly, organisations receiving funding from the Scottish Government support lowering the age of consent.
It has been claimed that proponents of Queer Theory support lowering the age of consent according to Margaret Lynch, this tweet claims.
The tweet has since been deleted.
However, further investigation yielded further insight. Margaret Lynch is an Alba candidate for Central Scotland, and according to The Times, claimed proponents of Queer Theory want to lower the age of consent to 10. The Times goes on to report that Alba stated her claims were “based on fact”.
The issue has come from the supposedly incorrect use of the term “adolescent” by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (IGLA). The organisation supposedly follows guidelines from the World Health Organisation, which declares: “Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood, from ages 10 to 19. It is a unique stage of human development and an important time for laying the foundations of good health.”
The IGLA is an association of many international groups, including Stonewall Scotland and LGBT Youth Scotland. According to Wings Over Scotland, the IGLA released a feminist declaration over a year ago. Part of this declaration was this paragraph, which according to Wings Over Scotland states: “End the criminalisation and stigmatisation of adolescants’ sexuality that enables, recognises, and respects their agency to make informed and independent decisions on matters concerning their bodily autonomy, pleasure and fundamental freedoms.”
They also stated, according to both The Times and Wings Over Scotland, thatthey wanted the repeal of “laws limiting legal capacity of adolescents, people with disabilities or other groups to provide consent to sex”.
Both Stonewall Scotland and LGBT Youth Scotland are supposedly receiving funding from the Scottish Government, according to Wings Over Scotland. It also reports that LGBT Youth Scotland was linked 12 years ago to the biggest paedophile scandal in Scotland, with former leader James Rennie being sentenced to life in jail, due to his involvement with a paedophile ring.
IGLA has since released a statement saying that it “categorically, and in no uncertain terms, does not advocate to eliminate or lower the general age of consent, nor supports paedophilia in any way, shape or form”, with Stonewall Scotland also condemning the comments made by Lynch according to The Times.
However, research into a statement from LGBT Youth Scotland has yielded no results.
The incident and subsequent allegations were shared by Paul Mclafferty, the AllforUnity candidate for the West Scotland Region:
