Robbie Rogers Wants To Be 'Extremely Flamboyant'

14/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

…At Anti-LGBT Russia, Qatar World Cups

“By being there, it is more of a statement than boycotting.”

Posted: 07/13/2015 11:33 AM EDT | Edited: 07/13/2015 12:01 PM EDT

CARSON, CA - MAY 26: Robbie Rogers #14 of Los Angeles Galaxy looks on prior to the start of the game against the Seattle Sounders FC at The Home Depot Center on May 26, 2013 in Carson, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The world’s only gay professional footballer doesn’t plan on hiding who he is at the next two World Cups.
LA Galaxy fullback Robbie Rogers told The Mirror in an interview published on Thursday that should he be called up to the U.S. men’s national team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia or the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he wouldn’t boycott either tournament in protest of the host nation’s homophobia.
“If I were to go to Russia or Qatar then I would do it and I would be extremely flamboyant about it,” said Rogers.
He continued, “I think what I’ve learned from my experience of coming out and being present in the locker room is that by being there, it is more of a statement than boycotting or something like that.”
Rogers, who became the world’s first openly gay pro soccer player in 2013 when he came out in a surprise open letter posted on his blog, has witnessed first-hand how simply being himself has shifted the reception toward homosexuality around the league.
“It’s very much changing in the MLS — I have friends in every team and they tell me how things have changed, the sensitivity to using certain words and stuff like that,” Rogers told The Mirror.
However, Rogers said there still is room for progress abroad, noting that there aren’t “really any out footballers around Europe or South America.”
He said Russia and Qatar “are extremely homophobic.” Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, while Russia has also outlawed “homosexual propaganda.”
The lack of openly gay additional male soccer players around the world has caused theoppressive anti-LGBT political and cultural stances of Russia and Qatar to become tertiary issues to FIFA, which is already accused of corruption surrounding Russia and Qatar’s World Cup bids.
For Qatar’s part, the country has promised to find a “creative” solution to accommodating LGBT fans and players, but has preposterously lumped the problem into their additional question of how to serve alcohol, which is also illegal in Qatar, at the games.
Rogers has been critical of each country before. In January, he told Sky Sports that both World Cups were “insane,” saying, “If you look at the next few World Cups, they are in places where, if I were to go, I would possibly be imprisoned or beat up.”
It’s a threat that outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter has completely failed to address, other than joking in 2010 that gay players and fans should “refrain from any sexual activities” during 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Rogers’ World Cup hypothetical could be more than just that. Although he last capped for the USMNT in 2011, recent conversations suggest Rogers, who has since switched from forward to fullback, may have another shot for a call-up following success in the MLS.
At the Galaxy’s first-ever Pride Night last month, in a powerful moment, Rogers scored his first goal since coming out and joining the team in 2013.

Hopefully for Rogers, it’ll be the first goal of many more in LA, and perhaps one day, in Russia or Qatar as a member of the U.S. men’s national team.

A Call for Tolerance After Kosher Cookie-Gay Marriage Mishegas

14/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Tolerance at Work?

The image that Challah Connection put on its homepage

The image that Challah Connection put on its homepage following the SCOTUS marriage equality decision sparked hate mail from some, kudos from others — and a fresh sense of social activism in the company’s owner.
What do cookies, marriage equality and Jewish identity have to do with one another? For Challah Connection owner Jane Moritz of Norwalk, Connecticut, the three have become indelibly linked.
You might have read about the not-so-sweet situation: Soon after the Supreme Court announced its Obergefell v. Hodges decision, codifying the right of LGBT Americans to marry across the country, Moritz placed a picture of kosher rainbow cookies on the homepage of her company website, along with the line, “Never have these treasured cookies had such meaning.”

Image: Ann DelaurentisChallah Connection’s Jane Moritz

And that’s when the hate mail and angry social-media postings began to arrive. Moritz received letters expressing outrage, questioning her Judaism and asking how she could consider her site kosher while supporting what the Torah condemns.
“What this did is reinforce what I already knew,” Moritz said. “We’re all Jews, but there are factions, and my little cookies seem to have brought that up.”
She forwarded me a few sample scribbles:
You consider yourselves a “kosher” site?!? How dare you support what the Torah considers an abomination!! You should be ashamed of yourselves!
You just lost my business. And that of anyone I know. Hopefully the word will spread.
ur so so twisted. if u claim to be so jewish, then u must know that g-d hates homosexuality and it’s a terrible sin. while we must love e/o created in g-d’s image, we must condemn this sin and those who commit it. what is WRONG with u?!
Moritz held her ground, and a funny thing happened. “It kind of ignited something in me,” she said. “I didn’t plan this. I put what I felt was true to my own heart and once I got challenged I became resolved in what I wanted to put out there, and I’ve become even stronger in my resolve.”
Knowing what she knows now, would she do it again? In a heartbeat.
“If it comes up again, I’m not backing down. I have some pretty conservative upbringing, but I have my own version of being Jewish, and anybody who want to challenge me, I’m ready to take them on.”
Moritz is quick to note that positive feedback outweighed the negative. And while the hate mail has subsided, she’s still receiving messages of support.
“I got a call Friday afternoon from a rabbi in Oklahoma to say how pleased and happy he was that I had stood up for this, that it showed all this moral fortitude,” Moritz said. “He said it was strong of me to put my business at risk.”
As it happens, though, orders for rainbow cookies only increased in the immediate aftermath. (They subsequently leveled off.)
“There was an overwhelming majority of people who supported my stand,” Moritz said. “I think there are a lot of people out there who feel the way we do, that Judaism is something we can all take part in and it doesn’t have to be prescribed in a certain way. We’re all one big family.”
As we were saying goodbye, Moritz asked me to think of her if I ever heard about food-related initiatives spearheading social action.
“As I say,” she said, “it ignited something in me.”
Liza Schoenfein is food editor of the Forward. Contact her at schoenfein@forward.com.
Read more: http://forward.com/food/312160/kosher-cookie-clash-sparks-social-activism/#ixzz3imYTbOqf

Malcolm by Bruce Perry

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Malcolm: The Life of a Man Who Changed Black America

by Bruce Perry
Publisher: Station Hill Press; 1st Edition edition (26 Sept. 1991)
This huge book has 380 pages of text, 25 of introduction contents, and pictures of Malcolm X at the beginning and the end of his ministry as a Muslim minister, 128 pages of notes, eleven pages of bibliography, nine of people interviewed, two of acknowledgements, another 11 of index, a page of photographic acknowledgements, another pic of Malcolm reading, and lastly, eight glossy plates with 13 photographs.
An exhaustive biography you might think, but while we get the chronology of his life, Malcolm X, (born ‘Little’) is still an indistinct figure at the end. This is possibly because he became a great speaker, but Perry reproduces rather little of his speeches, sermons, or debates. Malcolm seems to have been the man who made the NOI (Nation of Islam), which was just another wacky American sect before he converted. It was confined to the Chicago area until he took the East Coast in hand.

The East Coast meant New York, with its enormous Black population centred on Harlem, but he opened mosques (called ‘temples’ by NOI) from New England down to Atlanta, Georgia. He was also in charge of the temple in Los Angeles, on the West Coast. Malcolm’s work made the leadership of NOI fabulously rich, especially ‘the Messenger, Elijah Muhammed’, and his family. Malcolm helped set up the journal Muhammed Speaks, another money-spinner.
When he could no longer ignore the financial (and sexual) chicanery, Malcolm denounced it (he was straining against NOI’s political absence from the Civil Rights struggle). The journal was used to traduce him, and openly called for his assassination. This came on Sunday, February 21st, 1966 – the killers being acknowledged members of the Nation of Islam.
This book is of interest to the general reader, but, in Bruce Perry’s bibliography is found “Socarides, Charles W Homosexuality, J Aronson Inc, 1978 – yes Malcom ws ‘family’. From his very early teens until his thirties, he engaged in homosex: at two different schools he got a name as a “sissy”, and also had, in effect, a ‘camp name’, Madame Harpy”.
In his teens and twenties he swung wildly from sissified unatheicism to extremes of violent physical endeavour: football, basketball, boxing. In prison, even after his conversion, he liked to hang out with the athletes and bodybuilders.
Perry, quoting Socarides, gives us the old absent father and dominant mother business. He does not mention hi slove of guns and big cars, in his criminal day, the Freudian, phallic implications are ignored. So is his appalling attitude to women. As a crook, he lived off them, and enjoyed screwing white women, and having them seen on his arm. HIs wife, Betty Shabazz (a professional, before converting to the Nation of Islam) was treated distantly, even cruelly. Admittedly, Malcolm’s attitudes began to change after he broke with Elijah Muhammed, and the NOI, and wasn’t much different from other men’s in the 1940s to ’60s period.
If Ravel can be recruited into the ‘family’ on the strength of one song, Malcolm surely can be on the strength of many years of dedicated homosexuality.

UK Government rejects changes that could support LGBT children

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

No modern sex and relationship education

Today the UK Government failed to accept any of the recommendations made by the Education Select Committee on how to improve personal, social, health and economic education.
PSHE isn’t a complicated process. It teaches young people about sex and relationships, gender identity, LGBT issues and mental health and emotional wellbeing. All pretty essential topics we think you’ll agree.
The committee wanted “PSHE to be made compulsory in all schools and that compulsory guidance for schools – which currently dates back to 2000 – be updated ensuring PSHE is inclusive of same-sex relationships – the Government’s response failed to accept this.”
Deborah Gold, Chief Executive, NAT (National AIDS Trust), says: “The Government’s refusal to give all young people in this country an equal access to information is creating a two-tier education system. Depending which school you happen to go to, you may or may not have access to good sex and relationships education and you may or may not learn how to protect yourself from getting HIV in real-life situations– this is a violation of the human rights of many young people.
“One in five people in the UK don’t know you can get HIV from sex without a condom. Our research found three-quarters of gay and bisexual young men don’t receive any information about same-sex relationships at school, at the same time new HIV diagnosis amongst this group have doubled over the past ten years. Sex education in the UK is not working and the Select Committee has reported it is getting worse. Only by making PSHE and SRE statutory and relevant to all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, will we start to address the shockingly low levels of understanding about HIV and see the static numbers of new HIV infections go down.”
You can read the full report of recommendations from the Education Select Committee here. And we will of course keep you updated as this story develops.
Image Harry Lawford Via Flikr
Words Josh Withey, @josh_withey

Top tips on LGBT-inclusive sex education

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

LGBT young people too often miss out on vital information and support at school. Inclusive sex and relationships education (SRE) can help to remedy their isolation

All young people should have access to high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationships education (SRE) in school. But all too often this isn’t the case and LGBT young people are missing out on vital information, putting their emotional and physical wellbeing at risk.

More than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people say they are not taught anything about lesbian, gay and bisexual issues, suggests research by the University of Cambridge for Stonewall. Research by the National Union of Students earlier this year also found that less than a fifth of all university students were taught about LGBT issues in SRE at school.

Stonewall’s School Champions programme works with primary and secondary schools to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and to support LGBT young people. Based on the many examples of good practice we’ve seen, here are some top tips on LGBT-inclusive SRE.

Don’t make assumptions

Don’t assume that all students are heterosexual or that there are no trans students in your class. Think carefully about the examples and language used when talking about relationships. Use gender neutral terms such as “partner” and embed examples of LGBT people and relationships. Be explicit in your school’s policy that SRE is there to prepare all students for the future, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ensure all young people learn about LGBT people and relationships

All students should learn about key concepts such as sexual orientation, gender identity and the difference between biological sex and gender. Embed positive examples of LGBT people and relationships and discuss relevant LGBT rights and equality (for example, that LGBT people can marry and have children). This ensures that all students understand the diversity of people and relationships in 21st century Britain and that young people who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity get the information they need.

Include information that is relevant to LGBT young people

Make sure you include specific information where relevant – for example, on sexual health or coming out. At the same time, avoid promoting the stereotype that all LGBT people have certain types of sex and relationships. The easiest way to do this is to talk about the similarities and differences there might be across different types of relationships.

A lot of the information that LGBT young people need to know will be the same as their heterosexual peers (what a healthy relationship looks like). Using LGBT examples will signal that the information you are giving is relevant to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and will help to tackle assumptions about LGBT people and relationships more generally.

Challenge gender stereotypes

Challenge these both in the content of SRE and in the way the lessons are delivered. Think carefully about whether to separate students by gender for SRE. Trans students or those questioning their gender identity may feel uncomfortable or miss out on vital information if classes and lesson content are divided (for example, a trans man who may need to know about cervical screening). If students are separated, deliver the same content across groups. All students will gain valuable information and skills by considering situations from the point of view of different genders.

Encourage students to understand and celebrate difference and diversity

SRE can be a great opportunity for discussion, for students to learn about difference and to develop respect and understanding towards others. This should include exploring and challenging stereotypes about LGBT people and feed into the school’s wider work on tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. SRE is also the perfect opportunity to encourage every student to feel positive and confident about themselves.

Staff will need training, alongside an updated SRE policy to deliver effectively across these areas. As well as Stonewall’s resources and training, the Sex Education Forum and Gendered Intelligence and Allsorts Youth Project look specifically at LGBT relationships and sexual health.

Visit stonewall.org.uk/education for more information

Top tips on LGBT-inclusive sex education

MIchael Stokes does our service men proud

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The campaign made $50,000 in an hour.

People Are Shouting ‘Shut Up And Take My Money’ To This Amputee Veteran Kickstarter

by joseph lamour 7/10/2015One look look at a Michael Stokes’ photographs and you’ll understand why his Kickstarter has been such a success. The campaign, which is for Stokes’ art books “Exhibition” and “Always Loyal,” reached its $48,250 goal in an hour and change. Now think about how much you made in an hour at work today.
It’s not unusual for a Kickstarter to be funded quickly, but for one to make $50,000 this quickly isjust so very impressive. The campaign, which has only been up for two days, has reached over $134K, well ahead of its $48K goal. And there are still 18 days left on the campaign, so who knows how many books he’ll sell.

Stokes’ images (which get potentially NSFW down there) have power. And so do his subjects. One of the two books, “Always Loyal,” features amputee veterans in semi or completely nude photographs that not only show how fit they are, but the sacrifices they made for their country.

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Michael Stokes

Men’s Health Names Double Amputee Vet The ‘Ultimate’ Guy

Michael wasn’t even looking to make a book featuring wounded veterans. “I photographed a wounded veteran named Richard Rocco, who had no visible injuries — that was the first veteran that I photographed,” he told MTV News. “And from that, I start to get a following from people who follow wounded veterans. … Then one of my fans suggested Alex Minsky. He wasn’t really known.”

After Michael posted the results of his shoot with Minsky, they went viral. Since then Minsky has had a lucrative modeling career, appearing in underwear ads and making appearances on “The View,” “Good Morning America” and late night talk shows.

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Michael Stokes

It’s possible the same thing could happen for one these veterans who appear in the book. And, if you’re wondering whether any of the veterans felt self-conscious or anxious, the answer is no.

TJ Adams Of ‘Got Your 6′ Breaks Down Myths About Veterans

“Some people will say to me ’Oh, this is really helpful to their self-esteem,’ or, ’You’re making them feel like men again,’” Stokes said. “And I hear all these types of commentMs and the response I have to that is that these guys have come to me very healed and ready to take the world on. I’m not giving them back their confidence. They already have it.”

Michael Stokes’ Kickstarter runs until July 29, 2015.

http://www.mtv.com/news/2209944/amputee-veteran-book-kickstarter-michael-stokes/

The Incredible Moving Picturehouse arrives ahead of Liverpool Pride debut

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

by Lilly Edwards. Published Sat 18 Jul 2015 06:04, last updated: 18/07/15
Liverpool Pride is proud to announce the Incredible Moving Picturehouse is driving into the city on Saturday 1st August as part of the official Pride programme.
The transforming cinema lorry will manoeuvre into Liverpool for its premiere visit, parking for the day on St Georges Plateau (St Georges Hall) where the March muster takes place, for a special programme of movies supported by Unison North West LGBT Group.
Roll up, roll up! Picturehouse puts the show on the road – literally. The UK’s only HGV-based mobile cinema screen – equipped with DCI digital projection, temperature control and 100 comfortable seats. The impressive 36 and a half tonnes of truck extends out to 55ft long, 22ft wide and 15ft tall and sits on 18 wheels.
The Incredible Moving Picturehouse can be seen transforming from an unassuming lorry to a spectacular one-of-a-kind mobile cinema on the promo link below.

The truck will screen four LGBT feature films – Hairspray, Pride, Soft Lad and Dressed as a Girl, running from 2pm to 10:30pm, tickets are £6 per screening and are now on sale. There will also be some very special guests in attendance.
Setting the tempo to start the day is cult film Hairspray (1988 – Cert 12) at 2pm. The musical with a civil rights heart stars household favourites Divine, Rikki Lake and Debbie Harry. The punchy film is about pleasantly plump teenager, Tracy Turnblad, who goes from TV dance contestant to teen hero when she takes on her rivals and their dodgy attitudes. Teaching 1962 Baltimore a thing or two about integration.
At 4pm is the inspirational true story, Pride (2014 – Cert 15), a film based on true events tells the touching story about U.K. gay activists who worked to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984. With very special guests, LGSM co-founder Mike Jackson and fellow original member Gethin Roberts – the real people whose stories are told in the script, will be travelling from South Wales to introduce the film as well as doing a Q&A in the education area.
Next is the Liverpool Premiere of a new LGBT film set and made in Liverpool Soft Lad (2015 – Cert 15) at 6:30pm. A film about a young man involved in a love affair that changes his life forever, whilst his lover wrestles his demons on a journey that will force him to come to terms with his sexuality, leaving lives destroyed in the wake. Love, lust, sexuality and betrayal all play arts in this coming of age story. Special guest, Leon Lopez, in his directorial debut, will be introducing the film and taking a Q&A afterwards with cast members including Suzanne Collins.
Finally at 8:30pm, closing the Travelling Cinema is the new motion picture, Dressed as a Girl (2014 – Cert 18). Filmmaker Colin Rothbart pulls off the wigs, wipes off the mascara to unveil the real people behind the much hyped and talked about East London’s alternative drag scene. Filmed over five years, the film covers not only the rise and fall of this hugely popular gay club scene but also offers some personal, emotionally honest portraits of six individuals at the heart it. The movie will also be shown with short film Don’t Forget the Drag Queens by Jonathan Larkin and Ben Youdan, shot in Liverpool!
Soft Lad and Dressed As A Girl are part of Peccadillo’s POUT Summer Tour, Peccadillo Pictures is an award-winning* UK film distributor of Art House, Gay & Lesbian and World Cinema titles with an impressive collection of films from across the world. Launched in 2000, Peccadillo nurtures new and upcoming talent alongside established directors. In addition, Peccadillo Pictures also distributes short films and rereleases of classic titles.
Keep up to date with Liverpool Pride announcements by visiting www.liverpoolpride.co.uk, you can also register to volunteer or find out about sponsorship and funding opportunities.
You can now receive news from Liverpool and Merseyside direct to your social media feed by following us on Facebook and Twitter. We’re also on Instagram.

When Topless is Good

19/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

And now for some gratuitous topless flesh

GT Hunks

Our top topless superheroes

We’re celebrating Ant-Man scuttling into cinemas

Ant-Man is released in cinemas today and we’re already getting pretty swoony over Paul Rudd. But what would a big budget superhero flick like this be without a bit of shirtless action?
Nothing, that’s what. So to celebrate the occasion we’ve rounded up our top topless super-torsos.
Chris Evans does a mighty fine job of protecting the free world… And also looking FINE.

Thor or Phwoar? Both work for us. The oldest Hemsworth sets the hunk benchmark.

Chris Pratt was hot even as a cuddly shoe-shine boy. So now he’s positively irresistible.

Check out this behind the scenes shot of Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. You’ve still got it RDJ.

We know he’s not Spider-Man anymore, but you have you admit Andrew Garfield is fine.

It’t not a rare occurrence to see Hugh Jackman with his shirt off, but we don’t believe there can be too much of a good thing.

Here’s a shot of Henry Cavill as Superman. We imagine he’s thinking “why do people only see the abs and not the person inside?” Poor lad.

Alan Ritchson’s Aquaman character featured in Smallville. Those muscles ain’t small though. What a hottie.

Last but not least we have the star of today’s show, Paul Rudd. Ant-man may be our new superhero crush. Is he yours?

Antman is in cinemas nationwide and you can read GT’s review right here.
Words Jessica Lindsay, @jesswritesgood

LGBT sex education in schools could lead to lower HIV rates and happier students

16/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Megan Boyanton
15^th July 2015, 2:43 PM

The National AIDS Trust has released statistics that highlight the weak sex and relationships education in schools – and why better resources would lead to lower HIV rates and happier LGBT youth.
Throughout last year, the National AIDS Trust surveyed more than 1,000 young men in the UK, aged 14 to 19.
The study states: “. . .of those [55 percent] who had ever been bullied or treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation, over a third (39 percent) had experienced bullying or discrimination because of their sexual orientation from a teacher or another adult at school or college.”
68 percent were not educated about HIV testing and 64 percent had no instruction in school on what to do when bullied for being gay.
US statistics from PFLAG NYC state: “Gay teens are 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide and 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection.”
The National AIDS Trust study divulged that 75 percent of the respondents did not receive any instruction about same-sex relationships or attraction.
However, 73 percent would value more information or support when it came to the topic.
Because LGBT-inclusive education was unavailable in schools, the respondents turned to websites, the “gay community,” pornography, friends and siblings or online forums and chat-rooms.
The results of the largest study of its kind in the UK revealed that bullying can lead to unsatisfactory mental health, which increases HIV risks because of an indifference to sexual health.
52 percent of the respondents would appreciate more education on mental health.
With the HIV rates in the UK rising, different alternatives have to be considered for prevention and the “Boys who like Boys” study reveals just that.
57 percent of those surveyed by the Nationals AIDS Trust expressed that they were unsatisfied or unsure about their satisfaction when it came to their HIV knowledge.
A good portion were unaware that HIV can only be transmitted through semen, vaginal fluid, rectal fluid, blood or breast milk, not saliva.
Additionally, they had no idea about the post-exposure prophylaxis drug, which halts infection if taken within the following 72 hours.
Recently, debate over LGBT inclusive sex education has been sparked.
General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers Christine Blower said: “We need education policy that develops curriculum for children and young people that supports the democratic values of a diverse Britain – including LGBT equality.
“Future governments must tackle the embedded homophobia, biphobia and transphobia that exist in some schools,” she told The Telegraph.
The National AIDS Trust also suggests that education relevant to LGBT youth should exist in schools, like information on consent, safe sex and pornography.
However, religious proponents object to the recommendations, claiming they will “oversexualise” the youngest members of society.
“This kind of policy is dangerous for our children who are being oversexualised at a very young age,” argued Andrea Williams of Christian Concern.
“They are being introduced to concepts and having normalised sex relationships which robs them of their innocence and is not good for their emotional and moral well being.”

DUP’s Jim Wells in bid to clear name over gay remarks

16/07/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

15 July 2015
From the sectionNorthern Ireland

Former health minister Jim Wells claimed his meaning had been misconstrued

DUP politician Jim Wells has launched a bid to clear his name after he was accused of linking child abuse and gay relationships.

He resigned as health minister after a tape from a hustings event in Downpatrick in April was made public.
In the tape, he said: “You don’t bring a child up in a homosexual relationship. That a child is far more likely to be abused and neglected.”
The minister was then interrupted by uproar from the audience.
In a later statement, he said: “I accept that one line of what I said caused offence and deep concern.”
But he told BBC NI’s Nolan Show on Wednesday that the tape was wrong in that it had been cut short and his meaning had been misconstrued.
“I want to clear my name. I want people to know that I did not say what that tape suggests,” he said.
“This tape totally misrepresented what I said in the live (session).
“The tape links my views on gay adoption and my views as to what happens to children in controversial and angry divorces.
“Had the tape gone on another two minutes we would not be having this discussion.”
Mr Wells told presenter Enda McClafferty that he only realised this when he got a complete transcript of what he had actually said at a later date.
“The tape that went out across the world stopped before I was able to explain what I meant,” he said.
“I did not say that homosexuals abused children.”
“I did say I was opposed to gay marriage, which I am.
“But then I go on to make the argument that when marriages break up – in either a heterosexual or homosexual relationship – if a marriage is in high conflict, this is almost invariably to the detriment of the child.”
Mr Wells said he felt “humiliated” by what had happened.
A police investigation is ongoing.

Editorial: We have previously reported on this story, but now we ask you to make your own mind up – which side of the story do you believe, Mr Wells’ current interpretation or the recording? Comment and let us know.