Lord Trimble’s daughter in same-sex marriage

By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jul 2019, 14:06 BST
Lord David Trimble during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at Queen's University in Belfast last year. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA WireLord David Trimble during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at Queen's University in Belfast last year. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Lord David Trimble during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at Queen's University in Belfast last year. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Former First Minister Lord Trimble has revealed in the House of Lords that his daughter is in a same-sex marriage.

He was speaking on Tuesday night as peers debated the vote by MPs to introduce same sex marriage into NI.

The former UUP leader, now a Tory peer, said they were “delicate matters”.

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He added: “I have found myself taking a particular position with regard to same-sex marriage, which was forced upon me when my elder daughter got married to her girlfriend.

“I cannot change that and I cannot now go around saying that I am opposed to it because I acquiesced to it. There we are.”

It’s understood Mr Trimble’s London-based daughter married her partner two years ago.

The website Theyworkforyou.com said Lord Trimble has “generally voted against equal gay rights” having voted against civil partnerships in 2004 and against reducing the age of homosexual consent from 18 to 16 in 1998.

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Gay rights campaigner and former UUP councillor Jeffrey Dudgeon said he had only got to know the peer after he left Stormont.

“However he was always very supportive and empathetic regarding my 1981 legal case, which decriminalised homosexuality in NI,” he said.

Mr Dudgeon said he firmly supported the Westminster vote, adding that Stormont had proven that it was unable to legislate.

Related topics:House of LordsUUPMPsLondon