Gay twin who owns London’s cereal café comes out as a ‘homosexual homophobe’
One of the gay twins who owns the Cereal Killers Cafe in London, has opened up about being a “homosexual homophobe”.
Gary Keely, who opened the cafe in London with his twin brother Alan to much controversy, opens up in a new column for Gay Times (GT).
The twins opened up about being gay last December, and called for equal marriage in their native Northern Ireland.
Keely now writes in GT about growing up in Belfast, saying “there was still a divide between Catholics and Protestants, and the only thing the two religions had in common was hating homosexuals.”
He recalls being 17, and locked in a gay bar with blacked out windows “because there were people waiting outside to beat up the gays”.
Although he says he has an “amazing boyfriend”, Keely goes on to say that he and his other half, when they see two men kiss on screen “simultaneously let out a screech, ‘eeeeeeuuuuggghhhh – two men kissing? Gross!’”
“Anytime I meet my boyfriend in public I would cringe at the act of kissing him, even if it’s just a peck, because I feel other people would look on as I would. I much prefer a manly hug so as not to arouse any suspicions, and I’m of the belief it’s much better to save your affections for the bedroom,” he adds.
He reflects on coming out, wearing “tank tops, acted up my gay side and did drag”, saying that “these things… aren’t me”. He says despite having been trapped in a gay bar with blacked out windows that homophobia “didn’t affect me at all”, adding: “I am my own person, and I don’t see myself as a gay man – I see myself as a man who happens to be gay.”
Of his recent discovery, Keely writes: “I feel homophobia, towards other people of the same sexual preference as me, I find the concept pretty confusing.”
He asks: “Until I can start kissing my boyfriend in public and stop cringing at other people kissing each other, then how can I expect others to accept that?”
The businessman concludes: “Am I happy in my sexuality? Yes. If I could shake a magic wand and make myself straight tomorrow would I? Yes. Am I happy about that? NO.
“But until the day the game of life accepts that all sexualities are genuine and equal, then I would rather choose the easy level.”
The cereal café, which charges up to £4.40 a bowl, boasts over 120 different kinds of cereal from around the world, along with 30 different varieties of milk and 20 different toppings.
It was targeted by protesters and vandals earlier this year, who saw the café as a symbol for the gentrification of the local area.
