The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has personally blocked a
homophobic advert from appearing on the city's buses.
The ad, booked on behalf of the Core Issues Trust and Anglican
Mainstream, was a parody of the Stonewall posters 'Some People Are
Gay. Get Over It!', which currently appear on public transport
vehicles across the capital.
Featuring the same colour-scheme and font, the advert was due to
say: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!"
In essence, it was promoting the idea that conversion therapy
was effective in making people heterosexual.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Johnson said: "London is one
of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of
intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is
an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have
that suggestion driven around London on our buses."
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, said the
adverts were "clearly homophobic" and added: "The only reason some
gay people might want to stop being gay is because of the prejudice
of the people who are publishing the ad.
"The promotion of this voodoo therapy is hugely irresponsible
given the damage that it appears to do to some people."
Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate, said:
"From personal experience as a gay Christian, I can tell you that
it's much better to be out than in. We should be celebrating the
diversity for which London is known, not denigrating it."
