Anti-gay politician Maurice Mills responds to Ellen Page's 'f**k that' tweet over the Queen awarding him with an MBE
'My position is taken from the word of God and I’ll obviously not be moving from that, it’s as simple as that,' the Northern Irish councillor said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ellen Page expressed her outrage at the Queen’s decision to honour Maurice Mills with an MBE in eight short letters and a sharp expletive yesterday.
The Canadian actress, who came out in an emotional speech to young members of the LGBT community last year, posted the following on Twitter about the Northern Irish politician who once blamed the spread of AIDs in Africa on the “filthy practice of sodomy”:
After it notched up over 4,049 retweets, Mills issued a response to Page via the News Letter.
“I welcome the scrutiny of anybody,” he said.
“These people are making judgment on a person when they haven’t a clue about his background or what the position is.
“I’m not getting into a mix about that. My position is taken from the word of God and I’ll obviously not be moving from that, it’s as simple as that.”
“I said this could be a warning,” he added, “just as God has done countless times through the ages.”
On the subject of public calls for him to give up the title, he said: “Why should I? That’s a silly question. It’s been conferred upon me by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
Mills is the Democratic Unionist Party councillor for Ballymena, and is described by the local newspaper as a “committed born-again Christian”.
On the New Year’s Honours list, he was named as “Alderman Maurice Turtle Mills” and recognised “for services to local government”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments