Boris Johnson has called gay men 'tank-topped bumboys', and referred to gay marriage as 'three men and a dog'.
JOHNSON, who this week won a hard-fought battle to become the new leader of the Conservative Party, has a very public history of anti-LGBT slurs, and has never issued a direct apology for his past comments.
Image via YouTube
According to a PinkNews report, during his leadership campaign, Johnson was challenged over his slurs in 1990s newspaper columnon multiple occasions, but has declined to apologise.
He said:
If you’re going to excavate and disinter every single quotation from the millions of words I have written, you can of course try and twist things one way or another but I have a very proud record.
Colm Howard-Lloyd, Chairman of LGBT+ Conservatives commented:
As Mayor Boris funded pride and banned anti-gay tube ads. In parliament he backed same-sex marriage, and as Foreign Secretary encouraged UK embassies to fly the rainbow flag, and had robust discussions with Commonwealth colleagues on progress needed.
However as a journalist he used some distinctly hurtful and unhelpful language, and that has dented the confidence of many in the LGBT community. I expect him to address that at an early opportunity.
During the Leadership race Boris made a number of commitments via LGBT+ Conservatives, and I look forward to working closely with the new Prime Minister and his team. We have work to do!
The Author
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July 24, 2019
As a gay activist (now 86) I attended a Pride event hosted by Boris when he was Mayor of London and he gave a very supportive speech.
July 25, 2019
Boris Johnson is not fit to be PM. Period.
July 26, 2019
As a gay humanist activist (now 86) I was invited to a Pride event hosted by Boris when he was major of London. He gave a very supportive speech.
July 30, 2019
His mayoral activities are what he should be judged by, not a few colourful remarks. He was pro-active in his support for LGBT people whilst London mayor, and unlike his prececessor – the slime-ball Ken Livingstone – he never invited Islamists to London’s City Hall, such as the cleric Al Qaradawi who has publicly supported regimes that punish gay people and has also condoned “proportionate” domestic violence towards women by their husbands. A gay immigrant friend of mine was so grateful for the support he had received from Boris, that he wrote to him, thanking him – Boris responded by making a private visit to my friend’s flat, where he sat on the bed chatting for a full 20 minutes!