Stuart Hatton: ‘I want to use Mr Gay World title to help people’

Stuart Hatton has said that he wants to use his Mr Gay World title to “help” people who are persecuted for their sexuality.

The Newcastle-born dance teacher won this year’s competition in Rome over the weekend, and has now returned home to the UK.

Hatton said: “The fact that some of my fellow delegates were banned from competing shows just how much work there is yet to do.

“We could easily treat this as simply a light hearted bit of fun but there are countries in the world where gay people could be jailed or even sentenced to death just for being themselves.”

As part of his new role, Hatton will visit the US, Australia and South Africa as an advocate for gay rights.

“I am now able to use my voice to help those in countries around the world who have no voice or equality rights,” he added. “We are all human, and all gay people around the world deserve the same human rights. This is just the beginning.”

Hatton beat Cyprus’s Kiriakos Spanos into second place for the Mr Gay World title, while Ireland’s Robert Lowlor claimed third – read more here.

Photograph of Stuart Hatton courtesy of Darren Irwin at www.darrenirwin.com.

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