Letter: Souter honour

The NUS Scotland LGBT Campaign condemns the knighthood for Brian Souter in the Queen's Birthday Honours list (your report, 11 June).

Mr Souter was a prominent leader of the Keep the Clause campaign in 2000, where he sought to keep Section 28, which forbade local authorities to "intentionally promote homosexuality"

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said of Mr Souter: "His support for Section 28 is the moral equivalent of the business-funded campaign to maintain racial segregation in the Deep South of the US in the 1950s."

He was implicit in the running of the first privately-funded postal referendum in Scotland to "gauge public opinion" on Section 28 and over 60 per cent of the ballots where not returned. The poll was criticised as "an exercise in chequebook democracy" and the then communities minister, Wendy Alexander said: "I think what is significant about the ballot is that two out of three voters rejected, or binned or simply ignored this glorified opinion poll."

Honouring a known homophobe in this manner for his services to transport and the voluntary sector is despicable.

The NUS Scotland LGBT Campaign is calling for this knighthood to be retracted.

NATHAN SPARLING

Forth Street

Edinburgh