Gary McLelland becomes fourth humanist to address Scottish Parliament

May 6, 2014

Our Charity

25 year old Gary McLelland is the HSS Education Officer and at 2pm today, he will become only the 4th ever humanist to lead a Time for Reflection at The Scottish Parliament.

His reflection will take the form of a parable on the dangers of segregated schooling, which will be the first time the issue has been raised in Time for Reflection.

Gary’s speech is timely, as various committees of the Parliament will today discuss petitions for equal representation for atheists at Time for Reflection, changes to Religious Observance in schools and unelected religious representatives on Local Education Committees.

Douglas McLellan, HSS Chief Executive says, “We’re delighted that the Scottish Parliament has invited Gary to speak. We value the existence of Time for Reflection, but think it’s high time it reflected the increasingly secular society in which we now live. That he is only the fourth humanist to speak in the fifteen years since the Parliament was founded highlights the need for the institution to embrace the democratic values that brought it into existence in the first place.”

Video of Gary