SU candidate accused of ‘racism & homophobia’ after photos emerge of him blacked up

• Experience Officer candidate blacks up in photos.
• Appleyard is accused of using the slogan “Don’t be gay, Vote for Jay” – which he vehemently denies.
• Appleyard says he blacked up to play Seaweed in Hairspray. 
  

Experience Officer candidate Jay Appleyard has been accused of racism and homophobia in the run up to the SU elections. 

A facebook page called “Oppose Jay Appleyard if you oppose racism & homophobia” shows photos of Appleyard blacked up.

It also alleges that he used the slogan “don’t be gay, vote for jay” while campaigning for his current position of Undergraduate officer, which he denies.

Appleyard insists he did nothing wrong by blacking up.

In a recorded interview he told the Tab: “It was an after party of a production of Hairspray.”

He added: “There were no black people in the cast…so Seaweed and all the supporting characters had to wear darkened make-up for the performance, and this is what this was.

“You can tell it’s a bloody show at the end of the day; you’ve got stage hands, you’ve got me doing the Seaweed after party.”

The photos – which appear in an album on facebook for a Top Gun themed 40th birthday – were described as “shocking” by the “don’t vote for jay” page.

Jay further dismissed the allegations. He said: “The image now, and the controversy that could have been behind the image, it doesn’t really link in with the article now because what you’re doing is asking me questions about racial da-da-da and then using an image from a show.”

“It’s like I could send you an image of me doing Rocky Horror as Frank N. Furter and then going, you know, asking me about trans issues.”

The facebook page also alleges he used the slogan “don’t be gay, vote for jay” in the run up to last years elections – which he vehemently denies. It then urges voters to oppose Appleyard “if you believe in equality and diversity in our Union.”

It alleges: “During his campaigning last year for Undergraduate Officer 2013/14, (a position that he won), he was heard by an LGBTQA committee member to use the slogan ‘don’t be gay, vote for Jay’ whilst leafleting.

“Upon being challenged by said committee member, Jay asked who they were and what right they had to be asking him not to use the phrase. He refused to accept that this might be an offensive use of the word ‘gay’, to people who identify as such.”

It continues to say there is no place for him as a sabbatical officer, adding: “He has shown no remorse for either of these actions, and has only tried to make up very weak excuses.”

Jay’s manifesto says he wants to fight homophobia in sport…

Alexia Elena, another candidate for Experience Officer, said: “People can come to their own conclusions as to their opinions of these pictures, but I personally think the images speak for themselves.”

Another candidate, Harry Wells, said: “I personally think it’s very offensive and too insensitive to just be considered a bit of fun. I hope he realises it was unacceptable because behaviour like this is incompatible with working as Experience Officer.”

In a statement today, Appleyard said:

Firstly, I have not, in this election or in previous campaigns, created or used a campaign slogan along the lines alleged in this article. I am more than happy to share my current and previous campaign materials to evidence this.

It is worth noting that whilst this was alleged to have occurred during the September elections, no representation or complaint was brought to the Student Union to that effect. Secondly, the article uses an image gained from a FB page of one of my relatives, to imply that I have racist views.

The image in question is one where I am still in character after the performance of a dramatic production. I am a semi-professional actor in musical theatre, as such I am frequently to be found in various theatrical guises. I can understand, that, taken out of context this image may cause offence and if that is so then I apologise without reservation.

Any character I represent on stage is purely that, a representation, and is not reflective of my views on any matter. It is absolutely not my intention to cause offence to anyone – indeed if there are any aspects of my current campaign that offends or causes concern then please do raise these through the appropriate channel of the SU Election Returning Officers.

I apologise to the student body, my supporters, campaign team and other candidates if these issues, brought at this time, have caused embarrassment or been a distraction from the election process.

During the course of the interview Jay explained that his campaign team is made up of students from the LGBT society and representatives of BAME, the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic student groups.

His decision to include members of those groups was based on the idea that as Experience Officer he would have to be communicating with all cultural and general interest groups in order to solve their issues with the university and the Students’ Union. His role would essentially be that of the ‘peoples person’, being an individual that anyone and everyone could raise an issue with in order to try and find a solution.

Not only is Leicester University an ethnically diverse and multi-cultural campus, with 17% of the total student population being made up of international students.

That figure does not include the number of students resident in the UK or the EU from racial or ethnic backgrounds.

Leicester itself is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the UK, with the city’s population divided into 63.9% white, 29.9% South Asian and 3.1% Afro Caribbean.

The city also enjoys a number of annual festivals reflecting the city’s cultural diversity, such as the Caribbean Carnival and the Diwali celebrations, reputed to be the biggest outside India.