A columnist at the Birmingham Mail newspaper made a series of homophobic remarks to describe participants of Birmingham’s recent Pride festival and asked one man to ‘lisp’ on camera.

Invoking every stereotypical gay joke in the book, journalist Mike Lockley complained of being asked to cover the event in an article titled, “I didn’t mince my words at festival!”

Lockley proudly states of how he asked a reveller, “Would you mind awfully facing our video camera and lisping ‘I’m free’ while flicking your wrist?”

“Then if you could mince out of….”

“How about a petulant ‘Shut that door’?”

“How about a quick ‘Oooh, missus’?”

The lines relate to various catch phrases by entertainers noted for their camp humour from the 1970s and 1980s.

Lockley, self-described as ‘Midlands Columnist of The Year’, wrote of his displeasure at being asked to cover last month’s Birmingham Pride by his editor.

“Why I, a reporter who cut his teeth in the 1970s, a time when there was a role for openly gay men (Widow Twankey in the local amdram society’s Christmas performance of Aladdin), was chosen to provide coverage at the lavish event remains a mystery.”

LGBT, the acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, “That’s a sandwich, isn’t it?” he joked. “I’ve got the lettuce, bacon and tomato, but what’s the G? Guacamole?”

The journalist also spoke of the gay community enjoying listening to “crap music” in the form of Kylie Minogue.

Lockley ended his article by claiming he “conducted a quick vox pop in a boozer many miles from the flamboyant gathering.”

He claims a patron of the venue said: “I have long been a massive advocate of gay pride.

“But it has posed problems at West Midland Safari Park.

“They say it’s interfering with their lion breeding programme…”