A 60-year-old lawmaker who was nicknamed "wicked witch of the north" by a UK gay news service has dominated local and international headlines after her affair with a man four decades her junior in 2008 came to light.
Her husband First Minister Peter Robinson (photo above, right) announced he would step aside for six weeks to answer questions about his wife's romantic and financial dealings with the 19-year-old for whom she helped raised tens of thousands of dollars when she was 58. The Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee on Standards and Privileges has begun an official investigation into the conduct of the Robinsons.
In December 2009, Iris Robinson (photo above, middle), said she was quitting politics because of an ongoing battle with severe depression after revelations of questionable financial dealings. She said in a statement on Wednesday that she had attempted suicide after she had a "brief" relationship with the younger man.
The BBC reported that she obtained £50,000 (US$80,000) to help her then lover Kirk McCambley, now aged 21, launch a cafe. The news network said that she failed to register the money with the relevant authorities as required by the law nor did her husband who knew about her financial dealings tell the proper authorities.
Gay rights group Stonewall voted Mrs Robinson the UK Bigot of the Year 2008 after she described homosexuality as an "abomination" and that with help, gay people could be "turned around and become heterosexual" in a BBC radio interview.
Her comments were made in the same week that a gay man had been badly beaten in a homophobic attack and there was a massive outcry.
The Belfast Telegraph in July 2008 quoted Mrs Robinson as saying to a committee of UK MPs during a debate on the assessment and management of sex offenders that she thought homosexuality to be “viler” than child sex abuse.
“There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children,” she said.
When contacted by the newspaper, she defended her comments saying: “Anything I say is out of love. I am not hate-mongering. I cannot leave my Christian values hanging at the door when I go into politics."
A police investigation examined claims her comments breached hate crime laws but no charges were brought.
Meanwhile, the 21-year-old lover of Iris Robinson, 60, has become a gay icon poster-boy and is courted by Britain's gay Attitude magazine to appear on the cover of its next edition.
"A lot of gay people are feeling grateful to him for exposing her.” Matthew Todd, editor of Attitude, was quoting as saying in an AFP report.
"There's something very satisfying when somebody is being very pious and religious... the fact that he's young and attractive brings it down to earth.”
He added that there was "a lot of real anger" in the gay community towards Iris Robinson but now that she had been "humiliated" by her affair, the family had suffered enough.
Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell however had stronger words for her.
“I’m sorry for the pain that Iris Robinson has suffered but she’s a hypocrite. Even now, despite her own adultery, she expresses no regret for her harsh, judgemental moralising against gay people. She is sad and two-faced.
“It is terrible that Iris Robinson has been driven to attempted suicide and a mental breakdown. I feel very sorry for her. But it is a great pity that this painful experience has not softened her heart towards the suffering of lesbians and gay men.
“Even now, she expresses no regret for her harsh, judgemental moralising against gay people. Iris seems as unforgiving as ever. She’s still unrepentant about her homophobia.”
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Reader's Comments
Hopefully she will get what she deserves.
She apparently made the anti-gay statements on the radio at the very time she was having this affair with the 19 year old.
It seems to be another example in the mounting pile of evidence (Ted Haggard, etc) suggesting that when fundamentalists become obsessed with putting down homosexuals, it has something to do with distracting themselves or others from their own sexual guilt.
Religious fervour is the real scourge to humanity and it's time the moderates took the floor and push these radical, outdated and misguided opinionated bigots to the sidelines where they belong.
Get well soon Mrs. Robinson so you may reflect on the doubt and misery that your views have heaped upon young and impressionable gay men and women in the country I am proud to have been born in.
Finally, does no-one see the irony of it...a Mrs. Robinson having an affair with a younger man?? .... think Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in 'The Graduate'
While we suffer worldwide from the harsh intolerance of such people, it is obvious that in this and many other cases, extreme homophobia is an expression of mental illness rather than a simple "morality". Mrs Robinson's bouts of depression, her attempted suicide, her impulsive and compulsive passions all suggest a fatal psychological flaw. It is a flaw that makes her as much of a victim as those she condemns. I wish her and others like her some sort of healing.
It is comments like this that lead to a deep lack of understanding of what is just another illness.
Sorry at the end of the day its about seeing the best in people, she's had the chance for 60 years to be a nice person and she still remains a CUNT!
I saw this on the News and thought, scandalous!
Also, how is being gay more "viler than child sex abuse"? That's Paedophilia, what, does she talk out of her vagina?
Need I say more?
Yes, Iris Robinson may have been pretty despicable in terms of her homophobia and moral hypocrisy... But is it really necessary to call her a "CUNT" (#20) or to have attitudes like those of #21, #22, or #23's?
Sexism is pretty fucked up too. As gay men we do not need to stoop that low.
"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson....
Jesus loves you more than you will know...
Woe, woe, woe...."
Thanx for making me think of that song and that scene from THE GRADUATE. That's why they call us GAY people...We always have a song in our hearts..no matter how bleak or dismal the occasion...and all the phobes of the world cannot change that!
I'd much rather be a FAGGOT than a BIGOT!
Closer to home, we have our very own 'family values' advocate, Thio Li-ann. Thio does look comfortable in those pants suits...and she's got big hands. Can someone shine some light in that murky closet, please?
BBC is not a 'new' network.
Now with that out of the way, Mrs. Robinson should know better than to be prejudiced and use religion as an excuse, especially after going for someone 39 years her junior.
PS: Thanks for fixing the typo up. :)
How fortunate that so many are expressing their pleasure in Ms. Robinson's unfortunate circumstances, fortunate because it's in the privacy of a gay dating site rather than the greater world where such overcooked, angry and hateful rhetoric would likely increase negative stereotypes of homosexuals while also hardening the minds of some fence-sitters regarding homosexuality.
Homosexuals are, like any other group, a bell curve of people, from the worst to the best, with most being distinctly average. My brothers and sisters? Bah. Mostly we are represented by the the average punter, no different than the average non-gay punter, gladly condemning others while doing little or nothing to better themselves or the world in which they live.
That, boys and girls, it what I've gleaned from this post and it's comments. Now, off to something productive.
"Sexism is pretty fucked up too. As gay men we do not need to stoop that low."
["Yes, Iris Robinson may have been pretty despicable in terms of her homophobia and moral hypocrisy... But is it really necessary to call her a "CUNT" (#20) or to have attitudes like those of #21, #22, or #23's?"]
It has been said that sexism, misogyny and lack of respect for women in general is linked to homophobia and the unequal treatment and lack of respect for gay men and is based in the false notion (heterosexual) men are superior to women (and gay men).
Ok, so maybe the "cunt" comment was made without much thought or the writer didn't really mean it... If so, then perhaps it's time to give comments like the above MORE thought because as my fave uncle agony says: If you could eradicate misogyny, homophobia would evaporate. (Dan Savage)
Oh dear!
Mercy and compassion. Even for monsters.
But keep at arm's length. Watch closely.
With a pitchfork.
But this is kinda funny.
And it is really a boomerang as described, she just want to defend what she did aboput abusing the child ~ahaha she is basically abusing the 20 years old man even he is over 18 but still much younger then her
But i wonder is that boy did that to her intentionally ?lol wow so great to see that and im aslo feeling grateful to him for exposing her and become the gay icon now!!hehe
What does the Bible say about adultery then, you hypocrite two faced cow!
if that 19-year-old boy turns out to be a gay, it would be more dramatic~
so any volunteer to turn him into gay?i believe deep in everyone's heart, there exists a brokeback mountain~;-)
She used her political power to gain him the lease to the Restaurant from a local council she had influence over. She helped developers get contracts in exchange for a £50,000 ‘loan’ to her BOYfriend but talking 10% for herself in cash (has the Taxman reads this?) and the less than innocent Butchers boy took it all and even accepted some kind of young entrepreneur award – has he handed that back yet?
But what do you expect form such God fearing folk. Other than to pay the Church its cut too. The days of paying the Church to buy your way into Heaven are not gone.
And the rest....
if that 19-year-old boy turns out to be a gay, it would be more dramatic~"
Err...just looking at her would make any guy gay, any lesbian st8, let alone doing the funk with her. So start placing your bets..LOL.
She is sorry, yeah, really sorry..that she got caught! Don't fool yourselves. She will do such vile hypocrisy act again before you can scream "Amen". Vile people never feel remorse but only regret that they didn't get away quicker.
No pity for such low lives. Too bad she didn't succeed in her suicide. That would have had been a real Mardi Gras carnival fiesta for that dodgy little boring town.
And this my frens is not being gay. This is being only human to see justice done when karma takes a sabbatical. Yikes! :P
I don't really believe in "karma," and I honestly don't take pleasure in the suffering of others, yet I can't help but feel a prurient sort of righteous vindication when things like this happen. It's low of me, I know, but I'm only human.
But, my goodness, never thought that all THIS stuff would come out, or that she'd end up having, as the news reported here: "Acute psychiatric treatment".
Seems like being a heterosexual was problem enough for that lying, cheating, prejudiced politician...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRwTj6iXnSI
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