Hertsmere Mayor accused of making 'homophobic' comments

Rabbi Alan Plancey said he respected LGBT people but could not accept their actions

A mayor has been accused of homophobia after he said the LGBT community would be accepted more if they were "quiet" and "unobtrusive" about their sexuality.

Rabbi Alan Plancey, who was appointed Mayor of Hertsmere on Wednesday, expressed his views in a video for Jewish News in 2014.

Hertsmere Labour Group said his comments were "homophobic".

He said he was "very clear" that he was "quoting the Torah".

Conservative councillor for Borehamwood Brookmeadow, Mr Plancey, said: "I was asked to explain the Orthodox views.

"I stated that it was the homosexual act that was forbidden in the Torah, not the people."

Mr Plancey was appointed Mayor of Hertsmere at a meeting on Wednesday

In the video, which looks at the attitudes towards LGBT issues within the Jewish community, Mr Plancey said "homosexuality is not permitted in Jewish law".

"We have rules and regulations which have been handed down to us from Mount Sinai," he said.

The former rabbi of Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue said he thought LGBT demonstrations calling for acceptance were "completely wrong".

"You would get more acceptance and more love if you do it quietly and unobtrusively," he said.

Mr Plancey said he respected LGBT people but could not accept their actions.

A spokesman for the Labour group said it had been made aware of the video by a "young gay Jewish man from the borough" who was "in distress".

"We fully accept your right to express your own religious views," the Labour group said in a letter to Mr Plancey.

"However, your interview goes much further. It does not walk the fine line. It crosses it and explicitly enters the territory of homophobic statements."

In a statement Mr Plancey said: "I cannot change the writings and law of the Jews.

"Yet on a personal level that does not preclude me from being respectful to everyone, which I have sought to be throughout 40 years as a local rabbi and over 10 years as a county and borough councillor."