More than 53,000 people have filed complaints over a “dangerous” GB News segment during which LGBTQ+ people were compared to paedophiles.

During a broadcast of Headliners last month, a segment looking at the headlines of the day, right-wing political commentator and comedian Josh Howie highlighted the story of Episcopalian bishop Mariann Budde, who famously urged Donald Trump to “show mercy” to quuer people.

Referring to a quote from her church, which backed the “full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons,” Howie said: “I just want to say that that includes paedos.”

The comments sparked outrage and Howie’s rhetoric was branded “disgusting.”

Good Law Project, a UK-based not-for-profit organisation, urged members of the public to complain to broadcasting regulator Ofcom about the “dangerous homophobic slur.”

A spokesperson for the group said: “GB News is no stranger to spouting hatred and toxic lies. They take pride in it and pretend the rules don’t matter. But they do, and they must be enforced.”

GB News was trying to “stir up hatred” by broadcasting a “poisonous myth”, the spokesperson claimed.

“Ofcom allows 20 working days to present a complaint, so the clock is ticking. We only have a week to gather as many complaints as we can, and on Monday 17 February, we’ll take them straight to Ofcom’s door.”

According to Good Law Project’s campaign page, more than 53,500 people have complained so far. 

Just two days after Howie’s comments, GB News host Michelle Dewberry said: “Some of these fellas [who] go around dressed as women with their fake bits in their bras, they are deviants, quite frankly,” Byline Times reported.

Trans barrister and author Robin Moira White told the paper that she had raised concerns over the broadcast “at a senior level” but was ignored.

“I can see on WhatsApp that they’ve received the message but I’ve had no response,” she said. “Therefore, I have to assume GB News are entirely happy with what’s happened.”

Josh Howie says comparing LGB people to ‘paedos’ was a ‘joke’

Responding to the backlash, Josh Howie responded on X/Twitter, saying the segment was a “comedy show” and it was simply a “joke.”

He further claimed that he “advocates for LGB rights” and was specifically referring to the “+”.

“Still. Thinking [Budde’s speech to Trump] was a bit rich coming from a Bishop, and being a comedian, on a comedy show, I made a joke about paedophilia in the Church (bit hack), connecting it to the wrong ‘uns in the + that she was seemingly advocating for.”

Howie further argued that the clip had been taken out of context, saying that it cuts out the section where he says he believes the LGBTQ+ acronym “includes Paedos if you’re talking about the full inclusion.”

He reiterated his stance in a Sunday (9 February) broadcast on GB News, apologising to those who believed he was talking about “LGB people.”

‘I didn’t say LGB people ARE pedophiles… I apologise to anyone who thought that was what I was saying.’@JoshxHowie addresses online backlash to comments he made about LGBTQ+, on a recent episode of Headliners.

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