Spanish mayor hit by 'homophobic' tweet fail
The mayor of a Madrid suburb is fighting to clear his name after he sent out a tweet on Sunday which linked to an article titled 'I'm a homophobe, of course'.
"Russia prohibits Spanish people from adopting Russian Children. Because of same-sex 'marriage'. Logical," tweeted Raúl López Vaquero, the mayor of Coslada for Spain's conservative Popular Party.
Mayor López Vaquero rounded off his controversial tweet by linking to a 2010 article titled 'I'm a homophone, naturally.'
In that article, author Pío Moa argued that while he didn't hate homosexuals, he hated the "pink mafia who try and obtain power to remodel society on their twisted theories and beliefs".
Moa went on to say that the term "homophobe" doesn't refer to "those who hate homosexuals" but simply "those who hate the machinations of this mafia".
López Vaquero's tweet and link unleashed a barrage of abuse and the mayor was quick to defend himself — also via Twitter.
"I apologize if I offended people's sensibilities," tweeted López Vaquero later on Sunday.
"I have always demonstrated my support and my profound respect for homosexuals as a collective."
"I don't share (the opinions of Pío Moa). I am critical of the position of a country like Russia. It's shameful."
But not everyone is accepting López Vaquero's apology to heart.
"Why was the word marriage in quotation marks? Don't you take it seriously?" tweeted user Sr. Yorkshire in response to the punctuation in the mayor's original tweet.
"He has apologized but he hasn't deleted his original tweet," wrote Twitter user Ramón Martinéz.
"Apologies aren't enough. We want rectification."
Russia has made international headlines recently because of new anti-gay legislation.
The country's new laws prohibit the adoption of children by parents from countries, like Spain, where gay marriage is legal.
Comments
See Also
"Russia prohibits Spanish people from adopting Russian Children. Because of same-sex 'marriage'. Logical," tweeted Raúl López Vaquero, the mayor of Coslada for Spain's conservative Popular Party.
Mayor López Vaquero rounded off his controversial tweet by linking to a 2010 article titled 'I'm a homophone, naturally.'
In that article, author Pío Moa argued that while he didn't hate homosexuals, he hated the "pink mafia who try and obtain power to remodel society on their twisted theories and beliefs".
Moa went on to say that the term "homophobe" doesn't refer to "those who hate homosexuals" but simply "those who hate the machinations of this mafia".
López Vaquero's tweet and link unleashed a barrage of abuse and the mayor was quick to defend himself — also via Twitter.
"I apologize if I offended people's sensibilities," tweeted López Vaquero later on Sunday.
"I have always demonstrated my support and my profound respect for homosexuals as a collective."
"I don't share (the opinions of Pío Moa). I am critical of the position of a country like Russia. It's shameful."
But not everyone is accepting López Vaquero's apology to heart.
"Why was the word marriage in quotation marks? Don't you take it seriously?" tweeted user Sr. Yorkshire in response to the punctuation in the mayor's original tweet.
"He has apologized but he hasn't deleted his original tweet," wrote Twitter user Ramón Martinéz.
"Apologies aren't enough. We want rectification."
Russia has made international headlines recently because of new anti-gay legislation.
The country's new laws prohibit the adoption of children by parents from countries, like Spain, where gay marriage is legal.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.