DUP's Jim Wells quits National Trust because of its support for gay rights at Belfast's Pride parade

Aug 07, 2017, 08:38 AM

The DUP MLA Jim Wells has quit the National Trust over its support for gay rights. The former health minister has said he will not donate the the National Trust anymore and is no longer considering leaving money in his will. He cited one of the reasons as being the very fact that the National Trust took part in gay pride. Meanwhile his party colleague - South Belfast MP Emma Little-Pengelley appeared to be at odds with his stance and showed support for the parade. She tweeted: "best wishes to all my friends and constituents celebrating today - all should be able to live a proud life free from hate, abuse or persecution." And the British and Irish governments have also put themselves in the mix - a rainbow Pride flag was raised for the first time at a UK government building here, at Stormont House, while the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar declared it was "only a matter of time" before same-sex marriage is introduced in Northern Ireland.