Rivers begins to confess further. “My own inability to accept who I am, to accept the intersection of queerness and blackness, to find a place for myself in the world, that journey I’ve been on has led me to a place where I want to do good in the world.”



But given how recently he has changed, is he ready to edit the world’s longest-running gay magazine?

“I have accepted the challenge,” he says. “I believe I can do this.”

It is certainly the case that many people, when faced with terrible things they have said in the past, would not have immediately stopped, thought and listened, offering contrition, reflection and honesty.

And when Rivers is asked if he would consider apologising to Jewish people and other ethnic minorities, women, lesbians, and trans people he immediately says yes. Within an hour of the interview ending, Rivers sends a statement through his publicist:

“My tweets from a number of years ago show a great deal of self-loathing, a complete unawareness of the world around me and a disregard for others that I find deeply upsetting. To every single person these tweets will offend and disappoint: I am sorry. My role as editor of Gay Times today is to squash prejudice and represent our community in all its glorious and varied diversity. It is through my own development and desire to be a force for good in the world that I can apply my own learnings to help create a space for all of us to thrive within.”

Hours after BuzzFeed News published this story on Rivers' tweets, Gay Times said he had been suspended pending an investigation.

"Josh Rivers' past tweets do not align with the values of Gay Times, or any of our employees, in any capacity," a statement posted on Twitter said.



"Josh has been suspended with immediate affect while we investigate the facts. Appropriate action will be taken in due course."

A day later, he was sacked.

On Saturday, Gay Times will host an evening of “honours” bestowing the leading lights of the LGBT community who have influenced and achieved the most over the last 50 years since the partial decriminalisation.



One wonders what the host of the event, Jinkx Monsoon, will make of Rivers’ previous tweets. She describes herself as “Seattle’s premier narcoleptic Jewish drag queen”.