London Mayor Pulls “Offensive” Christian Ads From Public Buses

Posted by Christopher Welch on Apr 12, 2012 in World | 12 comments

London Mayor Boris Johnson

London mayor Boris Johnson has ordered the removal of anti-gay advertisements that were set to debut on 25 iconic double-decker buses next week. The ads in question said “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!”

Johnson, who is a Conservative, had this to say about the advertisements:

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.

The group responsible for the advertisements is the Core Issues Trust which is backed by Anglican Mainstream, an Orthodox Anglican group which has consistently suggested a connection between homosexuality and alcoholism.

Mayor Johnson is currently running for re-election next month against an openly gay candidate, Brian Paddick. When asked about Johnson’s decision to pull the ads Paddick 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.”

(via The Guardian)

Evelyn Drolet

that’s awesome ^,^
http://www.facebook.com/DannyZephronic Danny Brown

Holy shit, Boris did something useful?!
Good on ‘im!
http://www.facebook.com/functionofjames James T Burchfield

Lord Mayor, btw.

http://www.facebook.com/william.kotarski William Kotarski

Lord Mayor of the City of London =/= Mayor of London. Current Lord Mayor is David Wootton, which I had to look up, because no one knows or cares who the Lord Mayor is (it’s not voted for by the electorate for a start).

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592796245 Trenton Flock

The cynic (or is it “the realist”) in me wonders if he would have done this if his opponent weren’t gay. After all, he has little to lose (bigots won’t be voting for the opposition, obviously) and something to gain (from swing voters). The optimist in me says “STFU and enjoy small victories.” I’ll give them equal airtime here because these token gestures do not buy politicians amnesty in regards to the larger issues that affect us all, but if we don’t cheer they won’t have incentive to do the right thing. Politics… :p

http://www.facebook.com/william.kotarski William Kotarski

Brian Paddick isn’t Boris’ main competition though, former mayor Ken Livingston is. Few people know or care who Brian Paddick is. There are at least eight people running, and other than Boris and Ken, the others have barely received any attention (except for a short news segment about some of the more extreme candidates I saw).

The Conservatives are coming around to LGBT rights (look back to David Cameron supporting equal marriage, and more recently Eric Pickles admitting on Question Time that he’s changed his mind in favour of equal marriage).
http://www.facebook.com/stewart.hird Stewart Hird

Nah I don’t think this is the case, the Conservatives are actually pretty gay-friendly now.
http://twitter.com/aerix88 Brett Porter

The British Tories or Conservatives are not quite the same as American Republican. Not even close, actually. While I don’t agree with the heart of Conservative policies, there are several things that are sacrosanct even for Tories, including universal healthcare and tolerance/acceptance for all.

http://www.facebook.com/joshelder Josh Elder

I think when the “Ex-Gay” community of the world realizes that maybe they were never in fact “gay” in the first place that the LGBT community will be more accepting of them.
My issue is the fact that they continually claim that everyone can change. If you “changed” you’re either lying to yourself (because if you still have sexual attraction to the same gender, you’re still gay/bi) or you were never actually gay in the first place.
I think if the Ex-Gay community approached it in a sense of explore other options, see if this is really what makes you happy instead of everyone can, and should, change! this world will be a better place.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Poppa-Rotzi/100000164942517 Poppa Rotzi

GOOD GOING NON OF US SHOULD ATTACK EACH OTHER
http://twitter.com/bassavina Giuliana S

Gay and drink? They kid! What they meant:
“Proud Brit. Not ex-Drinker. Not post-Drinker. Drunk. Get Over It! ps – Could use a ride home”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Hans-Geiger/100001092301905 Hans Geiger

There is not such combination as “gay Christian”.That is making your own rules under the ‘God’ umbrella.yea when wrong becomes right and bad becomes good than time is running out for the wicked.

Tags

London Mayor Pulls “Offensive” Christian Ads From Public Buses

Pages

Tags

London Mayor Pulls “Offensive” Christian Ads From Public Buses

Yo Categories

Pages