Gay media representatives have hit back at homophobic slurs from Labour MP John Tamihere, given in an interview to a fundamentalist Christian journalist. Tamihere labelled gay MPs Chris Carter and Tim Barnett "those two queers", said gay sex was "unhealthy" and "violating", and implied that a cabal of lesbians were running the country. "I think that's utter rot and I think it's a conspiracy theory," says Claire Gummer of media watchdog group GayWatch. "It's been around for a while. I guess a small segment of society will always feel that women and gay people are getting too much power, and I really think that that's more a reflection on those people than on the reality that exists today." The editor of Out magazine, Warren Chapman-Taylor, says the comments are disturbing. "I think anybody that had any respect for John up to this point, I think he will have lost respect form the gay community," he says. "I think politicians have a bit of a duty to at least show some form of support or respect for minority groups."