HUMZA Yousaf, the First Minister of Scotland, said that being a member of a minority group “gives you an important perspective” as he accused the UK Government of attempting to “roll back” rights.
Yousaf, the first Muslim First Minister of Scotland, discussed his experiences as he addressed an event staged by the LGBTQ+ wing of the Scottish National Party (SNP).
He stated: “Whether we are independent or not, I will use every single day to try and make Scotland a better country, a more equal country,” before delivering a speech at the Out For Independence Annual Conference in Glasgow on Saturday (27).
“But in the face of a Westminster Government that seems determined not to advance rights, but to roll back on them, independence is now more important than ever,” he argued.
Following the UK government’s use of section 35 of the Scotland Act to obstruct controversial gender recognition legislation approved by Holyrood, the SNP leader said last month that his government will file a legal challenge against the UK government.
He described to Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) this week how when he was younger, the police stopped and searched him multiple times.
He stated: “Everybody’s different but I think being a minority gives you an important perspective.”
The SNP leader said that he “didn’t always feel accepted” as a child.
He added: “I certainly know how it feels to be judged by people around you simply for what you are – or what you look like, and not for what you do. I have faced that my whole life.”
“And sometimes, I had people questioning my loyalty to the only country that I have ever called home.
“Even people who I considered to be decent people, who held no personal animosity towards me, sometimes unintentionally made comments which were ignorant or hurtful.”
Yousaf affirmed that he had become “the person I am today” as a result of experiences like this.
But he also stressed the “positive difference we can make when we come together and demand real change for minority groups”.
He continued: “I firmly believe that minority rights don’t exist in a vacuum.
“The fight for equality affects all of us.
“You know, when you boil it down, whatever group we’re talking about, that fight for equality really has a simple aim at its heart.
“It’s about helping every single person appreciate that, in their lives, they’ll come across people who may be a bit different to them in some respects – but being a bit different is not only OK, it’s something to be celebrated.
“It’s about reminding us all that even if we’re a bit different from each other, those differences are tiny compared to the huge amount that we have in common.
“And just because someone is a bit different to you, or to me, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have the same hopes, dreams, and ambitions for their lives, for their families, and for their country.”
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