Watch what happened when a 30 stone man entered ‘Mr Gay UK’
Being Stavros from jonothan mcleod on Vimeo.
This short documentary features Stavros, who entered the Mr Gay UK competition two years ago, but who, after winning the London heat was disqualified on a technicality.
Stavros said he had often been bullied for his weight
The Guardian published the documentary, which features Stavros’ story. He speaks of not feeling accepted in the gay community partly due to his weight.
Entering the Mr Gay UK competition heat in London
At 30-stone, he decided to attend the competition at the Black Cap in London’s Camden, and with strong support from the crowd, was crowned his heat’s winner.
Following the competition, he was told he was disqualified.
Since his story came out, the decision to disqualify Stavros has been condemned by many online.
The crowd rallied behind Stavros
The Mr Gay UK competition has released a statement, which read: “We were totally shocked & unaware of the situation regarding Stavros being replaced as the London heat winner.
“Following our investigations we would like to make it clear in 2012 there was not an official representative from Mr Gay UK in attendance at the London heat and that the judges and audience decision appears to have been overturned at the venue without our knowledge.”
Thomas Wales, a Mr Gay UK Project Manager who took over the role in 2013 commented, saying: “This has highlighted improvements which need to be made for next year’s competition, 2015 which entries will be opening soon”.
The statement continued: “Mr Gay UK strives to endorse equality and encourages diversity and positive searches for a good role model for our community and beyond. The Mr Gay UK team are disgusted by the treatment Stavros has received and do not condone this at all.
“The current organisers of Mr Gay UK have not been contacted by any of the press outlets in order to comment on the issue.
“We would like to extend our apology to Stavros for this terrible decision, had we been made aware we would have objected.”
