Although the BNP has publicly ditched some of its most extreme and bigoted policies, many critics believe this make-over is just an astute public relations exercise designed to con people were put off by its neo-Nazi image. They say the BNP hasn't changed at all; it has just got more professional and media savvy.
The BNP fought previous general elections on a pledge to outlaw homosexuality. It has described Aids as �nature taking revenge� on gay men.
The party's website claims that: �Sexually-transmitted diseases are no joke. Thanks to them, the average life-expectancy of a gay man is now 40, compared to 71 for all men�
Claiming that the �gay rights lobby target school children,� the BNP has opposed gay equality reforms like the repeal of Section 28 and the abolition of the unequal age of consent. It has also condemned and ridiculed LGBT History Month
Soon after the neo-Nazi bombing of a gay bar in Soho, London , in 1999, which killed three people and maimed dozens more, BNP leader Nick Griffin seemed to excuse and endorse the homophobic hatred that inspired the terrorist atrocity. He attacked lesbian and gay people for �flaunting their perversion� and said this showed why �so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive�.
Griffin has also denounced homosexuality as �form of behavioural deviancy� and �not a valid lifestyle choice�. He claims the BNP speaks for �the majority of the population� who, he says, believe �homosexuality is wrong� and that it �needs to be pushed humanely but firmly back into the closet�. Griffin warns that if gays continue to �press their aims further� there will be an �almighty backlash� which will result in the imprisonment of all homosexuals.
Griffin is not alone. Mark Collett, former chairman of the Young BNP, described homosexuals as "AIDS Monkeys", "bum bandits" and "faggots" and said the idea of homosexuality was a "sickening