McFadden accused of being `homophobic`

London, Aug 18: Irish singer Brian McFadden has sparked outrage in New Zealand after warning heterosexual men not to wear the colour pink.The former Westlife star was guest-hosting an Auckland radio breakfast show when he told listeners: "If you are not gay, a man should not be wearing pink. Saying pink is a form of red is the same as saying homosexual is a form of male."

Gay rights activists have accused the star of homophobia, reports contactmusic.com. Robert Marshall, coordinator of Rainbow Youth rights group, said: "It`s the sort of stuff that gets said every day in the schoolyard. A lot of young people are quite impressionable and when they see celebrities saying stuff like that, they think it`s alright to say it themselves. "It`s always unacceptable to put people down based on their sexuality - it`s just like putting down people because of their race. Judging people just because they`re a little bit different from you." IANS