George Galloway accuse of 'blatant homophobia' after the Workers Party leader says gay relationships are 'not normal' and he does not want his children taught that they are
Hard Left politician George Galloway has been accused of 'blatant homophobia' after saying that gay relationships are 'not normal' and he does not want his children taught that they are.
The Workers Party of Britain leader and Rochdale MP was criticised over comments he made on the eve of the local elections.
In an interview with Novara Media, to be broadcast in full this weekend, he said he didn't want children to be taught 'that gay relationships are exactly the same and as normal as a mum, a dad and kids'.
He added: 'I want my children to be taught that the normal thing in Britain, in society across the world, is a mother, a father and a family.
'I want them to be taught that there are gay people in the world and that they must be treated with respect and affection as I treat my own gay friends and colleagues with respect and affection but I don't want my children to be taught that these things are equal because I don't believe them to be equal.'
As a clip of the interview was shared on social media he later doubled down on his remarks, tweeting that without 'hetero-normative relationships.... there would be societal collapse.'
Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant tweeted: 'A while ago I was heavily criticised for saying that I feel more fearful as a gay man than in years gone by. Gay bashing and prejudice has never stopped but my sense of deep unease has increased significantly recently with moments like this.'
The Workers Party of Britain leader and Rochdale MP was criticised over comments he made on the eve of the local elections.
Mr Galloway became the MP for Rochdale in February, gaining almost 40 per cent of the vote in a contest mired in chaos and controversy and dominated by the Gaza conflict.
A large proportion of his base support comes from the socially conservative local Muslim population.
In his interview he also lashed out at sex education teaching, saying: 'I don't want my children prematurely sexualised at all, I don't want them taught that some things are normal when their parents don't believe that they're normal.'
'Now there's lots of things not normal, doesn't mean you have to hate something that isn't normal. But if my children are taught that there's - whatever the current vogue number is - 76 or 97 or whatever the number of purported genders that exist, I don't want my children taught that.'
Momentum, the leftwing grassroots organisation closely linked to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, responded in a tweet that Galloway's comments were 'shameful.'
'This kind of blatant homophobia and opposition to LGBT rights has no place on the Left,' the left-wing pressure group said.
Mr Galloway has previously represented seats in Glasgow, east London and Bradford in the Commons, for Labour and later the Respect Party.
