London Pride has ditched a series of posters following complaints that they were “demeaning” and “too focused on straight people.”
Each poster featured slogans and messages inside hearts and included: “People think I’m gay which I think is cool,” “Being homophobic is sooo gay,” “Befriend a gay person and win a prize. Friendship,” “I’m a straight man with gay pride,” “My sister is gay. I’m straight. Together we’re g-raight,” “My gay friends make me more attractive by association,” and “Gay man, straight man, we’re all human.”
Following the debut of the posters, Twitter users quickly criticized the designs.
In response to complaints, London Pride removed four poster designs and addressed criticism in a statement.
“As part of our theme to celebrate Love Happens Here we asked people, whether LGBT+ or straight, to send their messages of love for Pride. We then asked some wonderful artists to turn some of these messages into a series of posters,” explained London Pride. “It is clear we misjudged the content of some of the messages in this poster series, undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community. This was never our intention, and we are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community, and have removed these four images from our campaign.”
“London’s LGBT+ community is vibrant, diverse and strong, with incredible activists at its heart. Our ambition is, and always will be to promote and celebrate the visibility and diversity of London’s LGBT+ community, to stand up against hate, and campaign for true equality at home and abroad,” they continued. “This year has seen our largest ever LGBT+ campaign, taking our messages of love around the world, breaking new ground in the UK, launching new services to tackle hate crime and raising awareness of the persecution of LGBT+ people around the world.”
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.