The news that controversial evangelist Pat Robertson has pulled out of his association with Laura Ashley was greeted tonight with jubilation from the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA), which was the first gay campaigning group to call for a boycott of the firm earlier this year.
GALHA urged the gay community in January to stop shopping at Laura Ashley after it was revealed that the homophobic Mr Robertson had been appointed a director. GALHA Secretary George Broadhead said: “We made our appeal to boycott Laura Ashley via the gay press, and there has been a lot of anger over what had been considered a gay-friendly company being associated with someone like Pat Robertson, a long-time enemy of gay people. Mr Robertson is right to back down in the face of a Humanist challenge – we atheists are a force to be reckoned with when we are roused. Laura Ashley should be relieved that it will not now face a similar debacle to that which overtook the Bank of Scotland last week.”