One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion, and the other one is paedophilia’.
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Fury has been accused of homophobia after he gave an interview with the Daily Mail during which he said “there are only three things that need to be accomplished before the Devil comes home”.
‘Homophobia has always been a barrier to the participation of LGBTI people in Sport. Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalised?’
Chris Bryant, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and one of Labour’s most senior gay MPs, brought up the comments in Parliament today after the boxer was nominated for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
A petition started by Scott Cuthbertson, calling for Fury’s nomination to be revoked, has already attracted over 35,000 signatures.
Fury responded to his critics on RTÉ Radio One on Tuesday morning, saying that the comments were all misquotes and that “what people do is none of my business”. The bible tells me the end is near.
“Of course, there are ways and means of doing it, but I’ll be speaking to the people involved to try and find a solution as it’s a very, very important belt”, he added.
Fury (25-0-KO18) won the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight straps by upsetting Wladimir Klitschko on points in Dusseldorf last Saturday, but when the news broke that Klitschko would exercise his contractual right to a rematch, the IBF made clear the title would be vacated if Fury fails to face mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov first.
He was chosen by a panel of BBC executives, sports journalists and former award nominees.
“I gather Mr Fury has subsequently said that some of his best friends are gay”.
As it stands, Fury will be invited to attend the Sports Personality of the Year ceremony on 20 December.
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The star-studded event will be hosted by Gabby Logan, Gary Linekar and Clare Balding and will be live on BBC One.
