Anti-Gay Irish Journalist: I'm Afraid To Go Out At Night After Panti Bliss Flap

Anti-gay Irish journalist John Waters says he's now fearful for his safety after being paid €40,000 by state television shortly after he was denounced as a homophobe by drag performer Panti Bliss during a nationally televised show.

"What is the great crime in taking money off the state broadcaster?" he asked, in an interview near his holiday home in Sligo town yesterday. "Let me tell you this, if this had gone on, it isn't €40,000, I would have got €4m out of RTE." Mr Waters also took the opportunity to reinforce his stance on gay marriage and adoption." This is about free speech. It is about the rights of people to speak about what is important without being demonised," he said. Waters told the Sunday Independent he has been left fearing for his personal safety. "I won't go in to Dublin city centre at night. When you have that kind of toxicity generated out of nothing, what are you going to do? It's not worth it." "I was walking down the street and a guy on a bicycle shouted 'you f***ing homophobe' at me before cycling on. I was in a coffee shop on another occasion and a woman waddled over to me with a pram and told me I should be ashamed of myself before walking off. They are cowards, they shout something and keep walking, they don't want to engage."

Waters adds that he now has no friends left in the media and claims to have lost 14 pounds from the stress of the backlash against him. Hit the above link for several video clips in which Waters defends his use of the term "buggery" and attacks gay adoption, which he calls as "absurd" as allowing two brothers to adopt.  The Sunday Independent story is currently the top post on Breitbart London.

RELATED: After the payment to Waters was made public, Panti Bliss delivered a now-legendary speech about homophobia that went viral on YouTube and was remixed into a dance track by Pet Shop Boys.