Convicted sex offender Philip Sturm did not identify as gay and did not appreciate being labelled as such during police investigations. 48-year-old restauranteur Sturm was convicted on 10 charges of sexual violation of four men aged between 19 and 24 last week. All claimed that they were heterosexual, and only participated in the sex under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Sturm told police he had been single most of his life, had had “the odd sexual encounter with women” and didn't “label” himself as anything. Heterosexual men less than half his age were among the many types of people to whom he was attracted, he said. Although he said he was not ashamed or embarrassed, he seemed to deliberately downplay gay references, according to a review of the case in yesterday's New Zealand Herald. When asked if he poured beer for some of the complainants, he replied, no, "men drink beer out of bottles". He said that some people might find his sex life different but he did not want to turn straight men gay. “I don't like gay,” he said.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 25th November 2003 - 12:00pm