Meet Jared O’Mara. He’s a Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam who was outed last year for calling gay people “poofters,” “heterophobes,” and “fudge packers” in an online forum.
The comments were actually made back in 2009 but weren’t discovered until last October. During a town hall meeting held earlier this week, O’Mara was asked about the remarks.
The 36-year-old MP denied being homophobic and instead tried playing the victim, saying ever since his comments were made public, people have been “bullying” him.
“They made false accusations of sexism and homophobia,” he lamented. “They did not listen to the interviews I had done. They did not listen to me talk about how I am an intersectional feminist and about equality.”
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O’Mara went on to say that his local pub, which he’s been frequenting “all the time for 12 years”, is a gay bar.
Things really got weird when he tried blaming rapper Eminem for his use of antigay slurs.
“I used homophobic words,” he admitted, “but they were the words of the time. They were on the Eminem record that I listened to at the time.”
He added: “There is no doubt that I made mistakes as a young man using distasteful language as a clumsy attempt at satire and sarcasm online. But that does not mean that is who I am today.”
“I didn’t commit any crimes,” O’Mara said, “yet I have been made unfairly to feel like a criminal.”
Vince
What about the n-word? Rappers use it in just about every other sentence. I’d be willing to throw this guy a Mulligan but he’s just a bullshitter.
sacha99
Has Eminem used the n word? Stop comparing the atrocities black people have faced with those gay people have. There is no comparison at all
natekerchel
Idiot. I grew up hearing many many racist, homophobic, sexist words and phrases but I would never use them. People ( adults I should say) use these words because they choose to use them, in the full knowledge of their capacity to hurt and demean. Yes, when younger we can do things that we regret – but we must take responsibility for those things, not try to blame others.