The National Union of Students Scotland this week dismissed claims that businessman Brian Souter's referendum on Section 28 reflected the majority view of Scottish society.
More than a million Scots, almost 87 per cent of those voting, voted against repealing the controversial legislation that forbids the promotion of homosexuality in schools. But Willie MacKenzie, NUS Scotland's campaign officer for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, said students had effectively been disenfranchised in the "discredited poll" because they would have changed address since 1998, when the electoral register that formed the basis of the ballot had been compiled.
The union also estimates that at least 25,000 current students would not be on the register. "The poll has been a desperate bid for popularity by a campaign that has lost all the arguments. It would be a travesty if the Scottish Executive allowed them to succeed," Mr MacKenzie said.