Emmerdale Star Apologises For Anti-Gay Verbal Attack On Fan, British Advertising Standards Bans Ad Featuring Two Priests About To Kiss For Mocking Catholic Church, Gay New York City Detective Suing Department For Workplace Harassment

Adam Thomas, an actor appearing on the British series Emmerdale, has apologised after allegedly abusing a gay fan, the Sun reporting that Thomas, who stars as a Adam Barton, was in a McDonalds in Leeds when 22 year old Ricky Platts approached him to say hello. Thomas apparently replied “Yeah, what about it gay boy?” Platts says that then Thomas began “hopping up and down like a madman” and called him and friend, who were dressed in drag, “queers.” Platts, a student, videotaped the incident, and said “I couldn’t believe that someone who is meant to be a role model would do something like that.” Thomas, who appears as Adam Barton on the show, a character who is struggling with his best friend’s revelation that he is gay, released a statement that in part read “I deeply apologise for my actions and I am horrified to realise that I have caused offence.”

An advertisement for Antonio Federici ice cream that appeared in the British magazine Look, showing two rather attractive priests eating from a tub of ice cream appearing about to kiss accompanied by the text “We Believe in Salvation” has been banned after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled it was offensive to Catholics, reports the Telegraph. According to the ASA, “We considered the portrayal of the two priests in a sexualised manner was likely to be interpreted as mocking the beliefs of Roman Catholics and was therefore likely to cause serious offence to some readers.” It ruled that the ad must not appear again and that Antonio Federici must not create ads likely to cause serious or widespread offence. In September, the ASA banned another of the company’s advertisements that showed an obviously pregnant nun standing in a church holding a tub of ice cream and spoon with the text “Immaculately conceived” and “Ice cream is our religion.” In a statement, Federici said it was an Italian company, and that the ad was not meant to mock Catholicism, but rather to reflect “the grave troubles they considered affected the Catholic Church, and that it would continue to create advertising challenging the church that it believes remains troubled.

A gay detective is suing the New York City Police Department, the 33 year old saying he was targeted after complaining about relentless anti-gay harassment on the job at both the 103rd Precinct in Queens and Internal Affairs in Manhattan, the four year veteran of the force called a “faggot” a “rat,” and a “meat gazer,” reports the Daily News. The man, who is filing the suit as John Doe, says that his grievances were roundly ignored, and that he was subsequently punished, including being accused of duplicating his patrolman’s shield. “I opened my mouth and reported corruption and misconduct, and this is what happens,” he said. “To not see anything done is absolutely disgusting.”