Exclusive: UKIP investigates official who compared homosexuality to bestiality
The UKIP Chairman for Oxford has been put under review after she compared homosexuality to bestiality and paedophilia on the official members’ forum of the party’s website.
Dr Julia Gasper, a former Oxford city council candidate previously wrote that gay people needed to stop “complaining about persecution” and start expressing “gratitude” to straight people, on whom they are reliant to be born.
She previously said that PinkNews readers should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and used the UKIP forum to brand the gay rights movement a “lunatics charter”.
She went on to claim that some gay people preferred sex with animals, and said: “As for the links between homosexuality and paedophilia, there is so much evidence that even a full-length book could hardly do justice to the subject.”
A spokesperson for UKIP told PinkNews that Dr Gasper was under a review, which was described as “rapid”, with a decision expected in the next two days. Her position as Chairman of the Branch in Oxford is at risk.
UKIP went on to say that she would not be asked to leave the party, but that she was welcome to resign.
A statement from UKIP to PinkNews.co.uk: “Dr Gasper’s status in the party is under review according to the rules and procedures of the party’s constitution. However, we would reiterate that these comments were made in a private discussion and do not in any way reflect the views of the party. Their publication is in breach of both data protection and privacy laws.”
Nigel Farage, party leader, said the party didn’t condone racism, that he would investigate and said out of the commenters mentioned, he had only heard of Dr Gasper.
He said: “I have never even heard of these people. Julia Gasper is the only one… We’ve had problems with her and her position in the Oxford branch is not acceptable and is being changed. Her war against homosexuals is unacceptable.”
Richard Lowe, a former UKIP Parliamentary candidate who was forced to resign following his support for equal marriage, tweeted about Dr Gasper’s review. He said: “Let me know if/when JuliaGasper ever gets disciplined.”
When approached about the comments, which may mean her removal from the party, she said: “I’m not going to talk about them. It’s none of your business.”
UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) last week removed the chairman of its youth wing, Young Independence, in part due to his support for same-sex marriage. It has not however removed officials before for stating that gay couples adopting is “child abuse” or that people who read PinkNews should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
