Maleforce

Thomas, 35, is the first ever professional rugby player to come out as gay. His announcement last December garnered immense media coverage and shocked the rugby world.

Since then Thomas has appeared on the covers of gay publications and has been vocal about his wish to become a role model for young gay players and an advocate for gay visibility in sports.

In an interview with The Sunday Express the former Welsh Lions Star, who now plays for league side Crusaders, revealed how he was subjected to anti-Gay chants at a match last month.

Thomas, 35, said: "When I was on the field at Castleford I could hear some chants from a small section of the crowd.

"It wasn't very nice and I was pretty hurt by what I could hear. I'm only human and I can't deny I was hurt. I think the RFL have taken action against Castleford over their fans and I've been told there were people in the crowd telling those chanting to shut up.

"Perhaps we need to go through this so that those few people realize no on else will stand for it and then it hopefully won't happen to the next person who comes out."

Castleford received a fine from the RLC for its fans' behaviour which will undoubtedly send a message to all rugby fans that homophobia will not be tolerated.

Thomas created sporting history in 2007 by becoming the first Welshman to win 100 international caps in rugby union. That same year he retired from international rugby and is currently winger for Celtic Crusaders.

It is the third time during the current campaign that a party member has publicly gaffed and embarrassed Cameron who has worked hard to convince gay voters that anti-gay attitudes within the Tory party have changed.

Philip Lardner, Conservative candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran, wrote on his campaign website that he could not accept gays as being normal - adding that "most" people would agree.

Mr Lardner told voters: "With experience as a teacher and a believer in parental rights and responsibilities, as your MP I will support the rights of parents and teachers to refuse to have their children taught that homosexuality is 'normal' behaviour or an equal lifestyle choice to traditional marriage.

The posting, headed "what I believe in" also included the view that the majority of the public believe homosexuality to be "somewhere between 'unfortunate' and 'simply wrong'".

David Cameron has said he took the decision to suspend and withdraw Landers candidacy "within minutes".

Within the last month two other key Conservative party members have made anti-gay statements embarrassing the Tory leader.

The shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling was forced to apologise after saying he supported the view that bed and breakfast owners should have the right to refuse gay guests.

Julian Lewis, the shadow Defence Minister commented that the gay age of consent should not have been lowered to 16 because it puts teenage males at "a seriously increased risk of HIV infection".

The general election takes place on May 6th.

Seventy seven percent of respondents indicated that Clegg is the party leader they most trust to protect gay rights.

Labour leader Gordon Brown managed only a meager 18% with David Cameron limping in with just 5% in the poll.

Earlier this year Clegg appeared on the cover of gay glossy Attitude impressing the publication with The Liberals' promise to support gay equality issues.

Each of the main party heads were grilled by the magazine on their commitment to furthering gay rights with the Liberals' chief stealing the show.

The Lib-Dems have been staunch supporters of gay rights for many years - a tradition Clegg is keen to uphold.

On the issue of gay marriage verses Civil Partnership he said: "I don't understand the objections to this.

"There's one specific issue of substance here - I think it's about pension rights which you don't enjoy in a partnership, but you do under marriage. That needs to be dealt with whatever you call it. In terms of the language, I don't like the idea that you're reserving different language for a partnership of love and lifelong unity between gay people."

Clegg also pledges to tackle homophobia within the education system by making it a legal requirement for all schools, regardless of religious persuasion, to reference homosexuality as something normal and harmless.

An end to the ban on gay men giving blood is also included in the Liberals manifesto.

The general election takes place on May 6th.

The show's youngest character Michael, played by 23-year-old Gabriel Thomson, makes the announcement at the beginning of the new series.

A My Family insider told the Daily Mail that Michael, one of the Harper children, decides to come out to his parents Ben and Susan, played by Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker as the show commences its tenth series.

Sources say that a gay storyline has been introduced to make the show "more edgy and relevant".

"We were given a brief to turn the show into something a younger audience would relate to and watch. This is just one of the storylines we have come up with. It's handled very sensitively." A mole told the Daily Mail .

My Family was the most watched sitcom of 2009 averaging more than seven million viewers per episode.

Thompson has acted in the series since its premier in 2000, and plays the youngest of the three Harper children.

The young star began his acting career aged just five, and was rumoured to have made the final selection of actors to play Harry Potter but was pipped at the post by Daniel Radcliffe.

In 2008 Thomson was arrested and cautioned by police for possession of Class A drugs. A spokesman for the star said later: "no charges of any nature are going to be brought. The police regard this matter as now closed, and so do we".

The tenth series of My Family will be shown later this year.

Shadow home secretary Chris Graying has said he understands and supports Christian hotel owners who refuse to accommodate gay and lesbian couples.

The senior conservative was secretly recorded last week disagreeing with an equality law that protects gays from such discrimination - a law he had voted for.

In regards to the case of Christian couple Mike and Susanne Wilkinson, who recently turned a male gay couple away from their Berkshire B&B, Graying said he felt they should have the right to do so.

"I think we need to allow people to have their own consciences. I personally always took the view that, if you look at the case of should a Christian hotel owner have the right to exclude a gay couple from a hotel, I took the view that if it's a question of somebody who's doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn't come into their own home.", he said at a Centre for Policy Studies think-tank.

"If they are running a hotel on the High Street, I really don't think that it is right in this day and age that a gay couple should walk into a hotel and be turned away because they are a gay couple, and I think that is where the dividing line comes."

His comments have caused anger among gay rights groups and embarrassed Tory leader David Cameron - currently wooing the gay vote.

Gay equality campaigners believe Graying's opinion defies the equality Act 2006, which outlaws discrimination on goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation.