THE leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said she is prepared to "step up" to encourage same-sex marriage to be extended to Northern Ireland.
Ruth Davidson said she has been invited by Amnesty International to given their annual Pride lecture in Belfast this year "to talk about the situation in Northern Ireland, and I'm going to take my Irish partner with me".
She said: "I think we've come a really long way - but we shouldn't forget there's still a part of the UK where our citizens do not share the same rights, just a few miles away."
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where gay marriage is not legal.
When asked if Scottish and British governments should do more to encourage Northern Ireland to introduce similar legislation, she said: "I would like to see people right across the UK take a more active role - I'm certainly prepared to step up myself."
The first openly gay leader of the Scottish Tories, who is a member of the Church of Scotland, also said it had "come a really long way in a short time already" and "we already have practising ministers in Scotland who are openly gay".
In an interview with PinkNews, she said allowing same-sex marriages to conducted by the Church is "issue that the Church will take in its own time" but added: "I believe I'll see it in my lifetime, absolutely. I certainly hope so."
