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'The National Front. Homosexuality equals AIDS. The Queer Plague'
Canal Street is the heart of Manchester's gay village
National Front's homophobic stickers in Manchester's gay village
The National Front has been placing homophobic stickers in and around Canal Street, the heart of Manchester's gay village, according to a north west-based LGB charity.
The Lesbian and Gay Foundation reports that they began appearing in recent weeks, and read: "The National Front. Homosexuality Equals AIDS. The Queer Plague." They include a phone number directing callers to an answerphone
message about membership of the National Front.
They have been defaced or torn down by locals and Greater Manchester Police received several complaints on Monday.
One man told the charity: "As a positive gay man walking through our community on Canal Street last weekend, I was appalled to find a sticker placed there by the National Front attacking us as a community. The ignorance and prejudice held by the National Front is just shocking, if it wasn't so ludicrous.
"Why should I, let alone anyone else in our gay community, or even Manchester, have to deal with such stigma, discrimination or hatred in 2009? This offensive and disturbing sticker was thankfully defaced by myself and my good friends."
The National Front, whose members picketed London Pride earlier this year, has stated that if it is elected, "Gay bars will be closed, soaps will have their gay story lines removed and public displays of homosexuality, lesbianism and transgenderism will also be made illegal."
