Scotland's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community would benefit from greater equality under independence, it has been claimed.
LGBT Yes, which is campaigning for a Yes vote in September's referendum, said the country could be transformed into a "progressive beacon" after separation.
LGBT Together, part of the pro-Union Better Together campaign, countered that the UK is the best place to be LGBT in Europe.
Both sides in the debate will be out in force at tomorrow's annual Glasgow Pride parade in the hope of attracting support from about 7,000 expected attendees.
Stewart McDonald, of Yes LGBT, said: "Just this week the Prime Minister has appointed a Minister for Equality who voted against equal marriage, a Foreign Secretary who wants to take us out of the EU and a Treasury Minister who wants to cut Scotland's budget.
"If ever you needed proof of how out of touch Westminster is, then David Cameron showed it this week.
"The opportunities of independence, however, allow our country to do things differently and better.
"It gives us, for the first time ever, the chance to enshrine LGBT rights into a written constitution.
"That in itself is a huge opportunity to make a bold statement as a nation and advance the cause of equality."
LGBT Together activist Darren Young said: "The UK's LGBT rights record is something that people right across these isles can be proud of.
"The UK has now been voted the best place to be LGBT in Europe three years running.
"When we march we will be making the positive case that it's good to be LGBT in the UK and that we can do even more to further LGBT rights by working together.
"The UK has the largest diplomatic network of any nation on Earth and our embassies fight for LGBT rights across the globe.
"We will be marching in solidarity with LGBT people across the UK. Where is the sense in breaking up something that works well?"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article