Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir has released an official statement responding to the public outcry over her comments regarding Stephen Gately's recent death.
She said: "Some people, particularly in the gay community, have been upset by my article about the sad death of Boyzone member Stephen Gately. This was never my intention. Stephen, as I pointed out in the article was a charming and sweet man who entertained millions.
"However, the point of my column-which,I wonder how many of the people complaining have fully read - was to suggest that, in my honest opinion, his death raises many unanswered questions. That was all. Yes, anyone can die at anytime of anything. However, it seems unlikely to me that what took place in the hours immediately preceding Gately’s death – out all evening at a nightclub, taking illegal substances, bringing a stranger back to the flat, getting intimate with that stranger – did not have a bearing on his death.
"At the very least, it could have exacerbated an underlying medical condition.
"The entire matter of his sudden death seemed to have been handled with undue haste when lessons could have been learned. On this subject, one very important point. When I wrote that ‘he would want to set an example to any impressionable young men who may want to emulate what they might see as his glamorous routine’, I was referring to the drugs and the casual invitation extended to a stranger. Not to the fact of his homosexuality.
"In writing that ‘it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships’ I was suggesting that civil partnerships – the introduction of which I am on the record in supporting – have proved just to be as problematic as marriages.
"In what is clearly a heavily orchestrated internet campaign I think it is mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones."
The article sparked such outrage that the website’s link crashed under
demand. Instead of loading from its URL link, it instead displayed an
intermittent error message which read: “Sorry...The page you have
requested does not exist or is no longer available.”
Moir's peers also responded to her comments, echoing the opinion
of gay men and women across the world. The Times' Caitlin Moran wrote:
"Jan Moir better pray she never needs another hair cut or interior
design job," while The Guardian's Charlie Brooker tweeted: "Jan Moir
manages to walk the difficult tightrope between being a bitch and a
cunt."
Likewise, Stephen Fry tweeted: “I gather a repulsive nobody writing in
a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written
something loathesome and inhumane.”
Similarly, a Facebook group, entitled The Daily Mail Should Retract Jan
Moir's Hateful, Homophobic Article, garnered hundreds of members
within hours. One, James Stables, posted: "I am absolutely appalled by
this article, how can any one want to hurt
his family and add fuel to the fire for people who already hate gay
people - unbelievable woman. I hope The Mail makes her publish an
apology."
Meanwhile, gay celebrities including Derren Brown asked for people
to complain to the Press Complaints Commission, claiming Moir is
breeching their codes of conduct.
Companies who have advertised with the Daily Mail, including Clinique
and Marks and Spencer, are also being asked to withdraw their
commercial association.