John Bercow baffled many with his references to a “kaleidoscope Queen” in his tribute to the monarch yesterday. But with his connection to a gay rights group of the same name, the right wing press seems to have gone berserk — with write-ups of the event dripping with homophobia.
By comparison with their peers, The Daily Express was a model of moderation, reporting:
“Commons Speaker John Bercow provoked scorn yesterday after hailing the growth of gay rights while giving his speech to the monarch calling her “a kaleidoscope Queen of a kaleidoscope country.”
The Daily Mail, as one might well expect, was a little more hostile to Bercow, whose recently published coat of arms including an LGBT rainbow and pink triangles. Their article was headlined:
“Get on with it, you Bercow! Cameron looks ratty as Speaker hijacks the Queen’s Jubilee address to waffle on about gay rights”
But the award for foaming-at-the-mouth incensed bigotry has to go to Damian Thompson over at the Daily Telegraph, who wrote ranted:
“…who the hell allowed that creep Bercow to hijack the event with his self-serving PC drivel about the “Kaleidoscope Queen” – and, worse, to insert a thinly disguised plug for gay marriage into a loyal address? The man is a disgrace to our public life. I hope readers share my anger.”
They don’t mind gays or anything, just as long as they do it in the privacy of their own home away from the Queen.
