October 17, 2007 | Sex & Society

Jail time for library crime

Joe Fairclough is so homophobic he wouldn't let a gay man help him at Leigh Library, in Wigan, England.

When approached by the librarian, Mr Fairclough said: "I asked him if anyone else could help me, and he asked why. I pointed towards a ring on his finger and said I didn't approve of two men being married. He then told me I was barred."

When Mr Fairclough returned the next day, two other staff members asked him to leave because of the way he had treated one of their colleagues. He refused. The police were called to remove the 58-year-old, and he was arrested later on a public order offense and spent over 8 hours in jail.

The library stands by its decision. "We take a serious view of verbal abuse, intimidation or violence against any of our staff. This wasn't an isolated case and our code of conduct has a variety of sanctions, including banning people from our facilities." Previously Fairclough protested gay adoption outside the library and allegedly placed homophobic remarks on the bulletin board.

When he had a valid library card, maybe he should have checked out a little book called the Bible and actually read the darn thing!