Durban - A popular Durban fitness trainer landed himself in hot water this week for hate speech after he launched a blistering social media attack on homosexuals, labelling them “sexually sick perverts” and blaming them for the spread of HIV.
But Jerome Michael Nayanan said that it was a strategy to get gay men “off his back” after someone allegedly posted his pictures and contact details on a gay website without his permission.
Nayanan, who is also a KZN body building champion, said he received hundreds of calls from gay men who wanted to “hook up” and went to the extent of sending him pictures of their genitals.
He claims it was the third time that someone, who he alleges is from the gay community, shared his information on gay website, mradar.
“Out of frustration, I posted nasty words on my Facebook account hoping that it would stop them calling me. It was becoming annoying. I know it was harsh but it was a strategy for me to get rid of the gay people who had been calling me. I have nothing against homosexuals and I apologise for my actions,” he said.
Nayanan, who is fond of posting sexually provocative pictures on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, was then lambasted by the gay community in Durban, who did not take well to the posts.
Many of them began sharing screenshots of Nayanan’s posts and soon it went viral. Some claimed they reported him to Facebook for hate speech. He then deactivated his Facebook page.
In one of his Facebook posts, he said: “Again, someone has put my details and pics on a sex website and my phone has been ringing, non stop. I actually enjoy it because I start talking about Jesus and quoting from the Bible. They are mostly homosexuals.”
In the same post, he accused gay people of sleeping with random people and said he understood why the rumour about gay men spreading HIV started.
In a second post, he urged gay people who were offended by his posts to delete him off their accounts and said they were “sexually sick perverts”.
Jason Fiddler, a prominent member of the LBGTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community said this was not an isolated incident.
“Homophobia on social media is becoming increasingly common and its becoming increasingly petty. It is incidences like these that reinforce negative prejudices and stereotypes surrounding the LGBTI community.”
He said comments made by Nayanan were irrelevant because people are promiscuous and this is not specific to gay people.
Sunday Tribune