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Gay Clapham Common Festival opponents are ‘blatantly homophobic’
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UK- Ex-mayor slams Clapham Common friends group after it sides against 18-day gay event
A FORMER mayor has accused an influential park group of homophobia after it objected to a gay festival.
Lambeth councillor Christopher Wellbelove blasted the Friends of Clapham Common for claiming that Pride House would bring “undesirable elements” to the area.
He has also questioned whether the group should now be involved in overseeing park events in the future under plans being considered by the borough council.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) festival is due to run for 18 days during this summer’s Olympics and include live music, art and screenings of the Games.
Organisers say up to 20,000 people a day will attend and – including time to set up and dismantle the site – it would run from July 23 to August 15.
It would be on the same site as other festivals to be held on the common, such as the SW4, Ben and Jerry’s Sundae On The Common and Get Loaded In The Park.
A Lambeth council report quoted the Friends’ objections.
In it, the group said: “The Pride House event, taking place in the same month as Gay Pride, is highly likely to become a magnet for undesirable elements of that [LGBT] community.
“The event is unlikely to raise a decent income for Lambeth since much of it will be for charitable purposes benefiting LGBT causes.”
Cllr Wellbelove, who is openly gay and was borough mayor in 2009-10, told the South London Press: “To be quite so blatantly homophobic is beyond belief.
“Reference to ‘undesirables’ is incredibly offensive.” The friends group is also opposed because of the size of the event and claims organisers have no way of telling how many people will attend.
Chairwoman Melanie Oxley told this newspaper: “We have absolutely nothing to hide and are emphatically not homophobes.
“Our objections are based on the scale and length of the event.
“There are undesirable elements in any community.
“We fear greatly that numbers will get out of hand and the availability of alcohol for such a long duration will simply fuel an impossible situation for the police and the event organisers.” The row comes in the same week that council leader Cllr Steve Reed told the South London Press friends groups would take control of the common under Lambeth’s so-called “co-operative council” plans.
He was unavailable for comment in light of the latest development.
Cllr Wellbelove questioned whether the Clapham group should be considered as a suitable contender to run the common. He said: “It does bring into question whether they are representative of the community, because this view does not reflect the area where we live.” The town hall report said Pride House should be “approved in principle”.
The council would be paid £134,000, with a further £32,500 being spent on the common.
A licensing committee will decide whether the event goes ahead at a date yet to be set.
Pride House organisers were unavailable for comment as we went to press.
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For the full story, you can get a full online edition at www.slp-e-edition.co.uk By Sam Masters http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/News.cfm?id=2583&headline=Gay%20Clapham%20Common%20Festival%20opponents%20are%20%E2%80%98blatantly%20homophobic%E2%80%99 Quote this article on your site
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