Respected British LGBT equality activist Peter Tatchell has spoken out to defend Prince Harry against claims he might be homophobic after reports of a video surfacing in which he teases his army squad about being "queer on the side". "Enlightened and accepting": Prince Harry "I cannot see anything offensive about the context and manner in which Harry used the word queer. It wasn't said with hate, aggression or malice," Tatchell said in a statement. "Later in his video diary the prince mouths to another soldier 'I love you' before kissing him on the cheek and licking his face. Kissing another bloke in front of his mates and putting it on film doesn't seem very homophobic to me. On the contrary, Harry comes across as quite gay-friendly. "We should kick up a fuss about real homophobia, not imagined prejudice," he adds. "The prince is third in line to the British throne. For him to happily give his soldier friend a public kiss and lick his face strikes me as rather liberated and enlightened, for a straight man. If only more heterosexual men were relaxed about same-sex affection like Harry, the world would be a better place."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Thursday, 15th January 2009 - 10:14am