Belfast church's anti-gay ad banned

A press campaign with the headline "The word of God against Sodomy" run by a church and timed to spark a protest against Belfast's Gay Pride parade has been banned for being offensive.

The full-page press ad, which appeared in the Belfast Newsletter, was run by the Sandown Free Presbyterian Church and claimed that the previous year's Gay Pride parade in the city had included a banner stating "Jesus is a fag" and that the church was "obliged under God to publicly challenge the vices of this generation".

Homosexuality is referred to in the ad as an "abomination", "God's judgment upon a sin" and "a cause for regret that a section of the community desire to be known for a perverted form of sexuality".

The Advertising Standards Authority received seven complaints about the ad.

Four complainants to the ASA said the ad was homophobic and therefore offensive; and six that it was likely to provoke hatred and violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.