Vanishing Poof

Piers Morgan apologizes for calling gay men “yuppie poofs”

Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan, via Cow PR on Flickr (CC 2.0).

Piers Morgan has issued an apology following the resurfacing of a 1989 essay in which he used homophobic language.

Morgan, host of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, originally penned the op-ed in response to a same-sex kiss on the popular British soap opera EastEnders. The episode, broadcast in 1989, first showed the characters Colin Russell and Guido Smith (Michael Cashman and Nicholas Donovan) kiss. Morgan wasn’t having it.

“Furious MPs last night demanded a ban on EastEnders as the BBC soap showed two men kissing full on the lips,” he wrote in The Sun. “The homosexual love scene between yuppie poofs was screened in the early evening when millions of children were watching.” He went on to further comment on Michael Cashman being gay in real life, and quote Tory MPs who called the scene both “revolting” and “perverted.” He also questioned whether gay content should appear on TV at all.

Related: Former intern claims Piers Morgan used him to try to frame gay youth group for pedophilia

Now, 30 years on, Morgan has apologized to the British LGBTQ site PinkNews. “I’m ashamed of some of the inappropriate language I used in The Sun 30 years ago about gay stars,” he said. “They were different times, but that’s no excuse – it was offensive, it was wrong, and I apologize for it.”

To his credit, Morgan also highlighted an apology he made in 2005 for his previous anti-gay remarks, in which he did acknowledge his criticism of EastEnders, as well as attempts to out closeted stars.

Though he has come to accept gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, Morgan still continues to attack non-binary individuals. He recently ranted on Good Morning Britain that non-binary people are “damaging to society.”

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