MORE than 33,000 people have signed a petition to remove Tyson Fury from the Sport Personality of the Year shortlist.
Scott Cuthbertson, an LGBTI campaigner, launched a petition on Monday evening, shortly after Fury’s nomination was revealed.
Cuthberston accuses the new heavyweight champion of expressing homophobic views saying that "young people need sports personalities that they can look up to not people who express outrageous homophobic views, which can cause bullying and self-harm."
“As someone who works in the LGBTI human rights sector I’ve seen first hand the barriers to sport for LGBTI people. The sports sector is working hard to be more inclusive and to welcome LGBTI people; Fury’s comments set that cause back.”
In the lead-up to his ultimately victorious fight against Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday, Fury gave an interview to the Mail On Sunday expressing some highly controversial views.
He said: “There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the Devil comes home. One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other is paedophilia.
“Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalised?”
Fury responded to his critics on RTÉ Radio One on Tuesday morning, saying that the comments were all misquotes and that “what people do is none of my business”.
“I don’t have any hate for anybody. I’m not homophobic, I’m not racist, I’m not against any people,” he said.
“All that I have for people is love because, at the end of the day, we’re all brothers and sisters in God.”
In response to the petition, a BBC statement read: “The nominees for BBC Sports Personality of the Year are decided on their sporting achievements. As Fury became heavyweight champion of the world over the weekend, the panel feel that he should be a contender for this year’s award.”
But Cuthbertson replied: “The BBC clearly do not understand that by nominating Fury, who has on a number of occasions expressed homophobic views and compared homosexuality to paedophilia, they are putting him up as a role model to young people all over the UK and the world.”
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has also condemned Fury, saying: 'Tyson is a brilliant boxer but a very bigoted and confused Christian. To equate same-sex love with abortion and paedophilia is deranged and offensive.' In 2013, the British Boxing Board of Control fined Fury £3,000 for branding Liverpool fighters David Price and Tony Bellew 'gay lovers'.
The 2015 Sports Personality of the Year will be held in Belfast's SSE Arena on Sunday December 20.
The star-studded event will be hosted by Gabby Logan, Gary Linekar and Clare Balding and will be live on BBC One.
