US gay advocacy group blast Rupert Everett over gay parenting row

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has become the latest LGBT organisation to criticise British actor Rupert Everett for his views on same-sex parenting.

Last weekend, the Sunday Times published an interview with the 53-year-old star, in which he said that he couldn’t think of “anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads”.

He added: “Some people might not agree with that. Fine! That’s just my opinion”.

The actor’s mother, Sara Everett, 77, was also interviewed in the same article and admitted she wished her son was straight and had a wife and children.

In response, Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, Britain’s largest gay rights charity, said: “Rupert should get out a little bit more to see the facts for himself.”

“There is absolutely no evidence that the kids of gay parents suffer in the way they are being brought up or in how they develop.”

In the US, the president of GLAAD, Herndon Graddick, has now issued a statement saying: “Since Everett shared his outdated opinion, gay parents, as well as their friends and families, have voiced overwhelming disappointment.

He added: “Children aren’t hurt when raised by caring gay parents, but they are when uniformed people in the public eye insult their families.”