A prominent Dalton zoo boss caused outrage by describing same sex marriage as “abnormal” and “anti-natural” in a Facebook rant.
The comments by David Gill, owner of South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Dalton, have been branded homophobic and provoked a storm on social media.
In the post, uploaded at 10.18pm on Saturday, Mr Gill said watching the news had “made him sick.”
The post said: “The end of the world is certainly nigh when nature is twisted and society accepts totally abnormal and anti-natural behaviours in humans.
“Am I on my own in feeling so disgusted at same-sex marriage? Keep it off my TV and out of my sight!”
Mr Gill has now removed the post.
Ben Vollans, founder of charity Gay Older Brothers and Sisters which provides assistance to young gay people in coming out, said he was shocked by the comments.
He said: “It goes beyond an attack on same sex marriage, it is an attack on homosexuality. Young people can find it incredibly difficult to come out and things like this don’t help.”
The Evening Mail was contacted by several readers who expressed anger at the comments.
Katie Slater, from Barrow, said: “This is disgraceful coming from someone who deals with, and faces. the public each day. I bet hundreds of same-sex relationships pass through his gates daily.”
When asked to comment by the Evening Mail, Mr Gill defended his position on same-sex marriage, but said he “could have chosen his words more carefully.”
In a statement to the Evening Mail, he said: “My words have been taken out of context as always.
“I do not believe in same-sex marriage; it is as simple as that. I understood the civil issue and have accepted that, but I see marriage as something that is not decided by governments but a higher authority and nowhere in the Bible or in any other major religion can I see where this is accepted.
“Everyone has an opinion and a right to it, my concerns are that all but one comment made to me from the same-sex marriage supporters have been threatening, highly abusive with swear words and the like, and some sent offensive photos etc. Surely if those people wish to have their opinions it does not need to resort to this.
“Any implication taken of any other issue is not accepted by me and is my own personal view and does not reflect any view of the company and was focused totally on the marriage issue only.
“I accept that late at night when tired, posting on my personal page I could have chosen my words more wisely, however threats/abuse will not change the way my mind thinks and in fact sadly I feel that if the supporters of same sex marriage were more engaging in dialogue then differences can be eroded, but from the approach 99 per cent of responders had clearly a wall is built higher and thicker between the two sides of yes or no.
“It seems to me the majority of the Facebook responders have taken a more general view of the comments as opposed to the fact it was limited to the marriage issue. I hope this clarifies my position.
“Worryingly many people wrote in support of my view, but said they were the silent voice and most stated they would not dare to post anything because of the way others react to a different view.
“It seems then that the winners in our new social media society are those who can use abuse and threats to force their opinions and will on everyone else and that cannot be a healthy way forward for the future.”
