Online article describing Prince George as ‘gay icon’ sparks outrage
London: An online news article has sparked outrage after it labelled Prince George a “gay icon”. The description of the young royal featured in a piece on the online PinkNews site. It was condemned by TUV leader Jim Allister as “misjudged” and “sick”.
Mr Allister was backed by former party colleague Edwin Poots of the DUP.
The article referred to a photo of the four-year-old with his hands on his face in a helicopter during a family tour of an aviation factory in Germany last month.
It sparked a formal complaint from a Northern Ireland politician who described the article as “outrageous and sick”, the BBC NI reported.
Traditional unionist voice leader Jim Allister wrote to the UK LGBT online news site requesting they remove the article and make a formal apology.
In his complaint, Allister wrote that “sexualising a young child in this fashion is entirely inappropriate,” the BBC NI reported. “To take an image of a little boy and to fantasise of him being an icon for a life defined by sex is outrageous and sick.”
PinkNews chief executive Benjamin Cohen said the feature was based on the comments of “hundreds” of social media users and that he had no intentions of removing the article at the request of Allister who, he said, opposed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The article, People think Prince George looks fabulous in this new photo, was published on July 25 and written by Josh Jackman.
The article was written as a commentary, spurred by Twitter users who referred to the child as a gay icon. The article read: “Prince George has become a gay icon overnight. The monarchto-be has always been cute and well-dressed, but one day before his fourth birthday, a photo of him excitedly holding his face changed everything.
“At least, that’s what the people — sorry, his subjects — are saying.”