GAYS FURY AT NARNIA

AN IRISH gay rights campaigner has slammed hit kids movie Narnia as "sinister".

Gay activist PA Maglochlainn warned the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was funded by US right-wing evangelical Philip Anschutz.

The Denver-based oil-tycoon funded half of the $150m movie through his firm Walden Media, and stands to make 50 per cent of the profits on the blockbuster.

The usually reclusive billionaire made a rare public appearance at Belfast's Odyssey complex for the Irish premiere of the movie based on the book by Belfast-born author CS Lewis.

PA MagLochlainn last night hit out at the "sinister elements piggy- backing on popular culture."

He added: "There's nothing we can do to stop millionaires giving money to reactionary causes, but sooner or later the truth will out. Power and money corrupt - these people see conspiracies everywhere.

"It's personal choice, people are totally free to go and enjoy the film.

"In fact, the mythology of the movie is quite apt, as these reactionaries are used to believing in fairytales with their crude attempts to turn the clock back to an imaginary Eden which never really existed - they prefer myth to reality."

The 66 year-old Bush supporter has donated vast amounts of his $5bn wealth to a number of US ultra-conservative groups through his foundation.

America's 33rd richest man, according to Fortune magazine, he has contributed $10,000 to the lobby group Colorado for Family Values, which has been described as one of the most extreme anti-gay organisations in America.

A report published by the group claims: "Evidence showing that paedophilia is in fact a common part of the homosexual lifestyle is staggering - paedophilia is not only a basic part of the homosexual lifestyle, it's one of the most frightening aspects of their political agenda."

The recent launch of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has already been endorsed by Focus on the Family, the controversial conservative religious group with more than two million members which originally organised the Disney boycott.

CS Lewis' book has long been regarded as a Christian allegory, with the central character of the self-sacrificing Aslan the lion representing Jesus.

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