DUP Cllr suspended for linking LGBT community with Hamas support

A Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor has been suspended for three months by a standards watchdog over comments linking the LGBT community with support for Hamas. Colin Kennedy made the remarks at a meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council in 2023 during a debate on the Israel-Gaza war. The Northern Ireland local government standards commissioner found his comments "overstepped what may be regarded as acceptable political speech". Margaret Kelly found it therefore "went beyond the protections afforded as a political representative under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights". The DUP has been approached for comment. Kennedy was speaking in October 2023 as councillors debated a DUP motion condemning attacks by Hamas on Israel and expressing hope for "an end to the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza". During the debate he said: "Do not be surprised when those who enthusiastically endorse the LGBTQIA alphabet soup agenda in the West are the very same people who are now seeking to defend Hamas." Former Alliance Party councillor Hannah Irwin, who was the council's deputy mayor at the time, had urged Mr Kennedy to retract his comments. "As a member of the LGBTQ com