A British politician is getting the last laugh after being trolled by homophobes on Twitter over the weekend.
Luke Pollard is an openly gay Member of Parliament. On Valentine’s Day, he posted a sweet picture of himself and his boyfriend, Sydney Robertson, along with the caption, “Happy Valentine’s Day to my lovely boyfriend! X”
Happy Valentine’s Day to my lovely boyfriend! X pic.twitter.com/X6ZJsIFQI4
— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) February 14, 2021
NBD, right?
Wrong!
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Homophobes on Twitter quickly attacked 40-year-old Pollard, accusing him of being a pervert and a pedophile for dating someone who appears to be younger than him.
One person wrote, “Love a father and son photo.” Another said, “What toy did he get with his happy meal??” And another commented, “He looks 12 years old, you should be locked up.”
Queerty was unable to verify Robertson’s exact age, but, honestly, it doesn’t matter. He’s clearly a grown ass man. And the guys have been together for several years, posting photos with one another on social media since at least 2017.
Thankfully, others on Twitter came to Pollard’s defense, rallying around the politician with messages of love and support.
You are lucky to have found each other. Gorgeous couple. Have a wonderfully romantic day! ❤❤
— Steve Holland (@SteveHolland666) February 14, 2021
I wonder how any people would be commenting on the age difference if you were with a younger woman… like Trump, or Johnson (both with women young enough to be their daughters)?? Thanks for being open and honest about who you are.
— Anthony Duncalf (@Gallovidian) February 14, 2021
What a cute couple! 🥰🥰 My partner and I are 23 years apart, we’ve been together for 9 years now. It makes me so happy when I see other intergenerational couples post on here. Wishing you a cozy and fun Valentines from California ☀️
— J 🌈 (@JohnnyofCali) February 14, 2021
Looks like a man of 40 has a boyfriend in his 20’s shock horror. I’ve not seen anything like that in a hetro couple. Happy Valentines
— Animal Farm (@AnimalFarmN15) February 14, 2021
Happy Valentines to you both. It’s so refreshing and important seeing an LGBT+ politician being so open about their sexuality and their relationship. Thank you Luke. ❤️🏳️🌈
— Dylan B. 🏳️🌈 (@DylanBrownie1) February 14, 2021
To all the people who worry about age differences: I’m 65, my husband is just coming up to 70 – and our gorgeous boyfriend is 31 …..
— Paul Ryan (@pauljaryan) February 15, 2021
Speaking to PlymouthLive, Pollard said the negative reaction to the photo caught him a little off guard.
“In my mind, Valentine’s Day is all about love. My newsfeed was full of people sharing messages and pictures of their other halves,” he explained.
“Me sharing a picture of me and Sydney going on a walk with Plymouth Sound in the background, it’s no different to any of my friends’ pictures. It’s exactly the same thing [but we just happen to be gay].”
Pollard added that, in addition to be attacked for their age difference and for being gay, the trolls also criticized Robertson for his Chinese heritage.
“When you’re in the public eye, there will always be people who jump on you,” he said. “But there’s simply no place for this homophobic or racist comments.”
Ultimately, however, the couple didn’t let the haters get the best of them.
“I feel very sorry for the people who led the attacks,” Pollard added. “They must be pretty lonely if seeing other people happy is a threat to them.”
In the end, he ended up getting the last laugh when he saw his number of followers skyrocket, accumulating over 1,000 new ones in less than 24 hours.
Hello to the 1,000+ new followers from the last day. If you don’t like my page on Facebook why not follow me there too? https://t.co/aiuJvz1B4B or hop over to instagram for a more personal take on what I get up to https://t.co/GxLCDKHr3Q
— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) February 15, 2021
Scroll down for pics from Pollard’s and Robertson’s Instagram pages…
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
kevininbuffalo
Two things.
1) They’re a handsome couple. I wish them well.
2) I wish people would stop paying so much attention to Twitter, isn’t there enough meanness in the world already?
Cam
No surprise that the same people lashing out also attacked one for being Asian.
Bigots are usually racists too.
trojanboy
Way to go. I would call it a result.
Gourmet Guy
I hope you two had a very loving Valentine’s Day. And as my mother said to me when I told her I was involved with a younger guy, “Age is just a number.”
tjack47
I wish them nothing but happiness. I’m 57. I’ve been with men in their 20s to 70s casually. Legal consenting adults. Those who wrote those terrible messages about pedophilia are most likely so ignorant as to not know the difference. Bless their little pea pickin’ hearts of stone.
TheAbsoluteTRUTH
He’s not the first sugar daddy to have a twink boyfriend nothing too see here
Den
Actually, there is something very amusing to see here, a regressive minded right winger who gives himself the name “absolute truth” despite constantly demonstrating an inability to separate actual truth, or accurate observation, from his own imagination.
Fact is, child, you have no idea what the profession of the younger man is, or what the basis for their relationship is. All you have is childish assumptions.
Mack
So you call your hero Trump a sugar daddy since his wife is 20 years younger than him?
Cam
And as always one of the screenames of the same old right wing troll will ALWAYS attack LGBTQ people and always defend bigots.
Ya boring.
Cam
Weird, I never saw you mock Melania Trump for being decades younger than Donald. You kept trying to claim she was “Accomplished” even though she lied about graduating school, lied about being a successful model, lied about speaking 5 languages, and had to steal the one speech she gave from Michelle Obama.
AZ71
They’re super cute together. I’d love to know how they met!
trsxyz
They look so happy!! Congrats on finding each other, and best of luck!
Phillip
Quite the handsome couple; I wish them all the best!
Ignore the negative people who have nothing better to do with their lives than try and tear others down.
RyanMBecker
The real mystery to me is why there is a statue of Mary Poppins in London’s Chinatown. See 2nd photo in Chinatown Instagram.
rray63
What hypocrites we are and how sad. Just last year there was a millionaire that married his daughter’s ex-boyfriend. We called them both all kinds of names. As if we personally knew them and knew what was in their hearts. The couple in this article are put on a pedestal, can you truly tell the difference? One man has a lot more money? Does this make him and his relationships suspect? Are we all perfect, or only the ones we choose to be?
Cam
Yeah, one group was angling for reality shows and this one wasn’t and was the victim of attacks simply because they put up a picture.
Donald Dork
Was no. 5 taken at a Dr. Who convention?
RyanMBecker
This story reminds me of CNN’s Miguel Marquez, who got married in December to a cute twinkie boyfriend who is literally less than half his age. Marquez is his mid-50s while his British husband, Michael Hager, is in his 20s. He is in New York getting his PhD in the medical sciences. While many gays commented on how brainy yet cute his husband is, many also made unkind comments about the age difference. I agree with his defenders in that unlike other such relationships, it’s highly unlikely that the young husband is a fortune hunter.
As an aside, it was truly heartwarming to hear so many of Marquez’s CNN anchors congratulate him on the nuptials on the air. Indeed, I think all the anchors were straight, e.g. Wolf Blitzer.
And for what it’s worth, both Marquez and Hager are my type (especially after the boyfriend cut his hair). Heh. Love the brainy type (Marquez has a Masters from Columbia University). Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have said that because there a good chance that they read Queerty and we have friends in common. Haven’t met either one yet but I also do medical research and NYC is a lot smaller than a lot of people think…
RyanMBecker
You can see the handsome, yet very normal, couple here. Michael had his hair cut short, which I prefer over his longer hair. Get rid of spaces in the below link
htt ps:/ /tinyurl. com/1j4er2fz
Here is his CV on LinkedIn
h ttps:/ /tiny url.c om/d8t4vrov
nm4047
WTF? Explain what your ‘coded’ message is in reference to. Clearly nothing associated with the above article.
john.k
My boyfriend is less than half my age. We’ll have been together 15 years later this year. I was never a sugar-daddy and he was never a gold-digger. Far from it. Not long after we met I went through a number years of financial stress and he stayed with me throughout. My circumstances have greatly improved again but he earns nearly as much as me now. (And he has a science PhD!).
cutemikey
nm4047,
Not sure what the confusion is, and what you mean by “coded.” If you read Ryan’s post carefully, it’s pretty clear how it’s relevant to the above article. In fact, the answer is in the first sentence.
jockboy1986
Nm4048, you must be new here. Otherwise, you wouldn’t find that message coded or in any way deserving of a “WTF.” Lol. It was unusual only in that it was long and well-researched. But it certainly was relevant.
expressionlessanger
Nm4047 … Qu’la umbro lu Miguel Marquez l’boom boom. Vulopicia Luke Pollard, “love is love” no bolumba chechun? Sgamanjo, first think then post, m’shemp. Shame on you.
Openminded
From the pics he’s old enough to have a beer so I think he’s plenty old enough to know who he cares about.
WindChime
It’s intolerably revolting to see an old guy hanging out with a young man half his age. I just can’t bear the picture! I don’t think it’s the younger guy’s fault but it sure looks like there are lots of older men out there to take advantage of unsuspecting young men.
The big sky
I don’t wish to be rude but are you mad?
Cam
They’ve been together for years. Please point out any details on how one is being taken advantage of.
RyanMBecker
Very cute couple. Luke still looks great at 40 and he was a real stud at 20 and 30. One of his Instagrams show him as a bunny when he was a 20 yo. Also loved the Instagram video where he cut his dancer boyfriend’s hair during COVID, both in their underwear. Finally, one of his latest Instagrams listed his highlights of 2020. Two were about his boyfriend, and #3 was “Biden defeats Trump.” He also has an Instagram with “Orlando Strong.” Love the guy.
enlightenone
There’s nothing homophobic about seeing a “couple” that looks incestuous and KNOWS that a YOUNG man aborts his freedom to develop and have experienced free of responsibility and accountability that a MUCH OLDER GAY man more than likely experienced stagnated emotional growth and maturity, making it difficult sustaining a level of intimacy and commitment a healthy ADULT relationship requires that has not been supported, nurtured or validated in a society that is still homophobic and can be at times/situations dangerous! The OLDER man had the freedom to make mistakes and make poor choices without the level of attentiveness, consideration, selflessness, sensitivity, and empathy a “committed” relationship requires. The age-different gay male “couples” are the exception, not the rule, especially if they are homosexual in this society. When the workplace, the military, and the NFL, for example, is without homophobia will be a measure of a more healthy society for “homosexuals!”
WindChime
What a bunch of laughable excuses for gay men to behave recklessly!
Cam
Great, now do straight men and young women.
Openminded
Sorry, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what you are trying to explain. What I could see in the article is that two adult men find each other attractive and apparently decided to have a relationship. It’s on them if it does or doesn’t work out.
The big sky
WhingeCrime – They look like a perfectly happy couple to me. Personally I find it quite easy to tell when any relationship is unbalanced and potentially exploitive, gay or straight but I don’t see it here. I think it’s safe to assume you are a troll or a fool.
Donston
A couple of randoms throwing shade doesn’t really equate to a “homophobic attack”. This is just an excuse to post a bunch of pictures of this couple.
Georgeiv2
I have no problem at all with them being a couple Good luck to them if thats what they want ,but why oh why do they feel the need to share private moments with the world Its almost as if the were trying to seek validation . I dont care what the heck they do either in the bedroom or anywhere else .
Donston
Loads and loads of hetero couples do the same thing. Load of single people do the same thing. Tons of people go on social media for validation and to craft an image. It’s hardly a “gay” thing Furthermore, as far as I know they’re not sharing what they do in the bedroom. They’re not on OnlyFans or anything and they’re not talking about their sex life. Your kind of comments read as internalized homophobia and resenting people being unabashed about their commitment and reducing relationships, love and where someone is in the gender, romantic, sexual, affection, commitment spectrum as merely “what goes on in the bedroom”.
Knick
When I was 67 years old I began a long-term relationship with a man who was 38 at the time. We were together for twelve wonderful years. He has never been in a relationship with a man under 55, even when he was in his early twenties. As long as the two men are adults, love each other, and mutually consent to make a life together, they have a match made in heaven. At least, that’s my view of things.
cuteguy
It’s only acceptable if the politician was on a semi successful reality show, and his much younger gold digger is from Slovenia. And of course heterosexual. Oh wait, that’s only ok for the GQP, or the KKK, same thing at this point
CityguyUSA
Because of the haters many LGTBIQs never grow up until they are much older. They have trouble accepting love from their partners and conversely giving love to their partners as a result of suffering from insecurities that were created by years of people openly hating. This often causes a lack of available partners at younger ages that instead choose to live a life of loose sexual relations instead of deeper committed relationships. We survive how we can.
leo1008
Just avoid twitter. Stop using it. Stop reporting on it. It’s not news. It’s not the real world. It’s not an accurate reflection of reality. Get a grip.
“Speaking to PlymouthLive, Pollard said the negative reaction to the photo caught him a little off guard.”
How is it possible, even after the trump years, that anyone could be surprised by the negativity of twitter?
I don’t use it, never will. It belongs to the trolls, and, by all means, they can have it.