Tory MP and Daily Mail launch sickening attack on memorial for executed gay men

Anti-gay Tory MP Andrew Bridgen has sickeningly lashed out at a memorial for men executed for being gay.

The powerful exhibit was unveiled by the National Trust this week at Kingston Lacy, a property in Dorset.

The house’s former owner William John Bankes dedicated much of his life to restoring the property, but was forced to flee the country when authorities discovered he was gay, which at the time could lead to the death penalty.

As part of a range of new exhibits at the property based on Bankes’ tragic life story, the Trust commissioned art piece ‘In Memoriam’, a powerful tribute to the 51 men who were hanged under laws that criminalised same-sex acts during Bankes’ lifetime (1786-1855).

The piece includes 51 ropes, and stands as a reminder of the brutality of the times.

But shockingly one Conservative MP has lashed out at the exhibition, continuing a media campaign waged against the Trust by anti-LGBT Tories.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen insisted it was “totally inappropriate” for the Trust to include a memorial to persecuted gay men in the house of a man persecuted for being gay.

He said: “This is totally inappropriate. It’s not what people visit the National Trust for. If I want moral guidance I go to church – not the National Trust.”

Meanwhile the Daily Mail branded it a “PC stunt”.

The Tory MP had lashed out at the Trust previously over other parts of its LGBT history campaign, Prejudice and Pride.

He said: “I’m beginning to lose trust in the National Trust, and I think so will many of their members.