London Mayor Bans 'Gay Cure' Bus Ads

We're 'intolerant of intolerance,' says Boris Johnson
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2012 1:50 AM CDT
Updated Apr 13, 2012 2:09 AM CDT
London Mayor Bans 'Gay Cure' Bus Ads
Mayor of London Boris Johnson meets voters in Richmond after launching his re-election bid this month. He has yanked anti-gay ads from London buses.   (Getty Images)

London Mayor Boris Johnson has stepped in to stop the city's buses from carrying ads suggesting that homosexuality can be "cured." The ads—mimicking a "Some people are gay. Get over it!" campaign from the Stonewall gay rights group—read: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!" The bus ads, bought by a Christian group which funds "reparative therapy" for gay Christians, had been scheduled to start appearing on buses in the British capital on Monday, reports the BBC.

"London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world, and intolerant of intolerance," Johnson said. "It is clearly offensive to suggest being gay is an illness someone recovers from, and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses." Stonewall's chief executive slammed the "clearly homophobic" ads, saying that the "promotion of this voodoo therapy is hugely irresponsible, given the damage that it appears to do to some people." (More London stories.)

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