An article by gay website PinkNews calling the four-year-old son of Prince William a “gay icon” has been branded “sick” by a conservative Northern Irish politician.

Jim Allister, leader of the socially conservative Traditionalist Unionist Voice (TUV) party, made a formal complaint about the article which reads: “Prince George has become a gay icon overnight.”

It was published after a picture was taken of the little prince, with an innocent, delighted, expression on his face, as he stood in a helicopter (above) one day shy of his fourth birthday.

“The image of the prince expressing his happiness in this way led many [on Twitter] to declare their support of George for a whole new position: gay icon,” the article continued.

Is @PinkNews now sexualising a 3 year old boy? pic.twitter.com/gLipDbTayi — Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) July 27, 2017

Mr. Allister, a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the party in a confidence and supply agreement with the Conservative Party, described it as “outrageous and sick”.

He wrote to PinkNews demanding it withdraws the article and apologises, reports the BBC.

“Sexualising a young child in this fashion is entirely inappropriate,” the Brexit-supporting Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim wrote to the website’s editor.

“In reality, the photo which prompted the piece shows a four-year-old boy who is smartly dressed and excited about being on a helicopter with his male father and female mother.

“To take an image of a little boy and to fantasise of him being an icon for a life defined by sex is outrageous and sick.”

The website’s chief executive, Benjamin Cohen, told BBC News NI he has “no intention” of removing the article claiming the article was “tongue-in-cheek”, that it was a “legitimate” piece of social commentary, and denied it had sexualised the little boy.

PinkNews, which describes itself as “premier LGBT news outlet in the UK and beyond”, published the article on July 25th.

“There are of course those who say that any discussion of the prince’s sexuality is premature, but this isn’t about his sexuality,” the article elaborates.

“Kids are born with a sexuality, and should be encouraged to find it without it being assumed that they’re straight,” it adds.

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