By Katie Coyne
An Anglo-Asian entertainment weekly has come under fire for “homophobia”
from gay rights groups and may be forced to issue its second apology in a month.
Desi Xpress first provoked criticism after it published a column describing civil partnerships as “a great way of evading tax”.
It
was forced to issue a retraction and apology on its website after it
received complaints, but the same week printed another column which
attacked prominent gay rights activist Peter Tatchell.
The column
compared Tatchell to far-right BMP leader Nick Griffin and the head of
radical group Al- Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Mohammed, who allegedly
praised the London 7/7 bombings.
Both columns were written by
Adam Yosef. In the 9 December issue he wrote: “Hmmm… gay weddings… Gay
people and commitment? I don’t think so… They’ll be shagging the
neighbours before they even cut the cake. Bad idea.
Great way of avoiding tax though…”
Gay Action Media Watch (GAMW)
lobbied
the paper for a retraction and spokesman Stewart C Dawson said: “This
type of journalism is offensive and unacceptable, and not only
demonises the gay community but panders to ridiculous stereotypes.”
Yosef
issued the retraction, but then ran a second column attacking Tatchell,
which claimed he deserved “a good slap in the face”. Mugshots of
Tatchell, Griffin and Omar Bakri Mohammed featured in the 6 January
column with the words “vile” stamped across them above the headline
“hate-filled bigots”.
Aaron Saeed, from Peter Tatchell’s gay
rights group Outrage, described the column as “xenophobic” and
“inciting violence and homophobia” and said he was pushing for a full
retraction and apology.
Yosef stood by his comments. He said the slap phrase was a “figure of speech”
and
he did not condone any such violence. He added that Desi Xpress
contained LGBT club listings and events and was the only British Asian
publication to actively promote Pride.
Desi Xpress sparked
controversy among the Jewish community last June after it published an
interview with Bollywood actress Rani Mukherji. In the article,
Mukherji was asked to name an idol and replied: Adolf Hitler.
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