{{Short description|English independent academic}} {{good article}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Julie Gasper | office = Member of<br>Risinghurst and Sandhills<br>Parish Council | term_start = 2013 | term_end = 2021 | 1blankname1 = Ward | 1namedata1 = Sandhills | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | party = English Democrats (2014-present) | other_party = UKIP (2010 - 2014) }} '''Julia Gasper''' is an English politician and independent scholar of 17th and 18th-century European literature. A right-wing activist, she is affiliated with the English Democrats and formerly belonged to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). A vocal critic of LGBT rights, she has attracted media attention for her negative comments regarding homosexuality and transgender identities.
In 1987, Gasper obtained a D.Phil. in English Literature from the University of Oxford. She converted her thesis, a study of Protestantism in the work of Thomas Dekker, into her first book. She later published books on Theodore of Corsica, Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, and Elizabeth Craven, while also contributing entries to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Active in Oxford local politics, during the 2010s she served as a parish councillor for Risinghurst and Sandhills. She stood unsuccessfully as UKIP's candidate for Oxford East in the 2010 general election and then for Quarry and Risinghurst in the 2012 Oxford City Council election. During the latter campaign, her negative comments regarding homosexuality and LGBT rights activism attracted press attention from ''PinkNews'' and the ''Sunday Mirror''. Her views were criticised by UKIP leader Nigel Farage and she stepped down as local party chair. Defecting to the English Democrats, she unsuccessfully stood for them in the 2014 European Parliament election and a 2014 Oxford City Council by-election.
==Academic scholarship== After studying at Somerville College, in 1987 Gasper obtained a D.Phil in English Literature from the University of Oxford.<ref name="Calver8"/><ref name="Dekker"/> Her thesis examined the Protestant plays of Elizabethan English playwright Thomas Dekker.<ref name="Dekker">{{cite web |title=The Protestant plays of Thomas Dekker |website=Bodleian Library catalogue |url=https://solo-aleph-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/?func=direct&local_base=BIB01&doc_number=011278812&format=999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102155747/https://solo-aleph-prd.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/?func=direct&local_base=BIB01&doc_number=011278812&format=999 |archive-date=2 January 2016}}</ref> In 1990, Clarendon Press published Gasper's work ''The Dragon and the Dove: The Plays of Thomas Dekker''. Reviewing it in ''The Yearbook of English Studies'', John Stachniewski described Gasper's book as "trenchant and well-informed" and agreed with her thesis that Dekker's dramatic works reflected a militant Protestant ideology.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stachniewsky |first=John |title=Review of Julia Gasper, ''The Dragon and the Dove'' |journal=The Yearbook of English Studies |volume=23 |year=1993 |pages=333–334 |jstor=3508009 }}</ref> Less convinced by this thesis was T. H. Howard-Hill in ''The Review of English Studies'', who thought that Gasper's work was "thoroughly researched, well documented, and densely written" but also "disjointed, digressive, repetitive, and rambling".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hill |first=T. H. |title=Review of Julia Gasper, ''The Dragon and the Dove'' |journal=The Review of English Studies |volume=43 |number=172 |year=1992 |pages=554–555 |jstor=518743}}</ref> John Harmon reviewed Gasper's book for the ''English Studies'' journal, describing it as "crisply researched" and "eminently readable" although felt that she argued "somewhat defensively" that scholars should take Dekker's work more seriously.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Harmon |first=John |title=Review of Julia Gasper, ''The Dragon and the Dove'' |journal=English Studies |volume=73 |issue=6 |year=1993 |pages=550–552 |doi=10.1080/00138389208598837}}</ref>
In 2013, the University of Delaware Press published Gasper's book, ''Theodore von Neuhoff, King of Corsica: The Man behind the Legend''. Reviewing it for the ''European Review of History'', José Miguel Escribano Páeza thought the work was "interesting" and "exciting" but believed that Gasper constructed a "hagiographic image" of von Neuhoff, unconvincingly portraying him as a "military genius" and "seeing things in black and white by frequently presenting Neuhoff and his followers as heroes fighting against villains."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Escribano Páeza |first=José Miguel |title=Review of Julia Gasper, ''Theodore von Neuhoff, King of Corsica'' |journal=European Review of History |volume=21 |number=1 |year=2014 |doi=10.1080/13507486.2013.871939 |pages=125–127|s2cid=162402697 }}</ref>
Gasper also contributed fourteen articles on 17th- and 18th-century subjects to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?f_0=contributor&q_0=Julia+Gasper |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=October 12, 2025}}</ref>
==Political activity== Gasper was characterised, by the ''International Business Times'', as a "right-wing political activist".<ref name="IBM">{{cite web |author=Lydia Smith |date=2 March 2015 |title=Ukip and homophobia: Nigel Farage and his party have run out of ways to say sorry |website=International Business Times |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukip-homophobia-nigel-farage-his-party-have-run-out-ways-say-sorry-1490114 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320221322/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukip-homophobia-nigel-farage-his-party-have-run-out-ways-say-sorry-1490114 |archive-date=20 March 2015 }}</ref> She had founded the Windmill Road Residents' Association and the Friends of Bury Knowle Library and by 2012 was also a parish councillor for Risinghurst and Sandhills in Oxford.<ref name="threats"/>
===UKIP candidacy: 2010–2013=== thumb|The 2010 parliamentary candidates for the Oxford East constituency (Gasper on far left)
In the 2010 general election, Gasper stood as the UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate in Oxford East. Her platform promoted the UK's departure from the European Union, opposition to mass immigration, abolition of university tuition fees, and increases to the state pension.<ref>{{cite web |title=Julia Gasper |website=Winsford Guardian |url=http://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/elections/general_election_2010/constituencies/325.oxford_east/candidates/978._julia_gasper/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102155853/http://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/elections/general_election_2010/constituencies/325.oxford_east/candidates/978._julia_gasper/ |archive-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref> She came fifth, with 2.3% of the vote (1,202 votes).<ref>{{cite web |title=Parliamentary Election Results for Oxford East |website=Oxford Government |url=http://www.oxford.gov.uk/Direct/OxfordEastElectionResults06May2010.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602104638/http://www.oxford.gov.uk/Direct/OxfordEastElectionResults06May2010.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Gasper then attracted local press attention with the claim that, on polling today, someone entered her house and urinated in her hallway.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vandals urinate in UKIP candidate's hallway |date=11 May 2010 |website=Oxford Mail |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8159605.vandals-urinate-ukip-candidates-hallway/ }}</ref>
In the May 2012 elections for Oxford City Council, Gasper stood as UKIP's candidate in the Quarry and Risinghurst ward.<ref name="Gray">{{cite web |title=UKIP candidate suggested gays 'stop complaining and start thanking straight people' |website=PinkNews |date=27 April 2012 |author=Stephen Gray |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/27/ukip-candidate-suggested-gays-stop-complaining-and-start-thanking-straight-people/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216192403/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/27/ukip-candidate-suggested-gays-stop-complaining-and-start-thanking-straight-people/ |archive-date=16 December 2015}}</ref> During this campaign, LGBT-themed news service ''PinkNews'' reported on a 2010 blog post she had written, to which they had been alerted by an Oxford resident.<ref name="Gray"/> There, Gasper described homosexuality as a chosen "form of behaviour" rather than an innate sexual orientation,<ref name="Gray"/> claimed strong links between male homosexuality and paedophilia,<ref name="threats"/><ref name="Gray"/><ref name="Frankl-Duval"/> and criticised gay people for "complaining constantly of persecution" and being insufficiently grateful to heterosexuals for creating them.<ref name="Gray"/><ref name="Frankl-Duval"/> Arguing that legal support for LGBT rights had "gone too far", she also described same-sex marriage and the adoption of children by same-sex couples as "wholly unacceptable".<ref name="Gray"/> Her statements generated outrage,<ref name="threats"/> with a UKIP spokesperson commenting that while the party did not endorse Gasper's views on this issue, it supported her right to express them.<ref name="threats"/><ref name="April12"/>
After the ''PinkNews'' coverage appeared, Gasper stated that she had received 200 death threats and was under police protection, which local police refused to confirm or deny.<ref name="threats">{{cite web |title=UKIP candidate gets death threats over homophobic comments |author=Rhianne Pope |date=2 May 2012 |website=Oxford Mail |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9681474.UKIP_candidate_gets_death_threats_over_homophobic_comments/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806083136/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9681474.UKIP_candidate_gets_death_threats_over_homophobic_comments/ |archive-date=6 August 2013 }}</ref> She compared herself to Salman Rushdie during ''The Satanic Verses'' controversy,<ref name="April12">{{cite web |title=UKIP candidate Dr Gasper: PinkNews readers 'should be sectioned under Mental Health Act' |author=Stephen Gray |date=30 April 2012 |website=PinkNews |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/30/ukip-candidate-dr-gasper-pinknews-readers-should-be-sectioned-under-mental-health-act/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912002628/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/30/ukip-candidate-dr-gasper-pinknews-readers-should-be-sectioned-under-mental-health-act/ |archive-date=12 September 2015 }}</ref> and informed the ''Cherwell'' newspaper that she was the victim of "a malicious witch hunt".<ref name="Frankl-Duval">{{cite web |author=Mischa Frankl-Duval |date=4 May 2012 |title=UKIP Candidate slammed for 'homophobia' |website=Cherwell |url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2012/05/04/ukip-candidate-slammed-for-homophobia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625031607/http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2012/05/04/ukip-candidate-slammed-for-homophobia |archive-date=25 June 2013 }}</ref> In her view, she told them, her opinions on LGBT issues were "very, very middle ground" and that she had said nothing homophobic.<ref name="Frankl-Duval">{{cite web |author=Mischa Frankl-Duval |date=4 May 2012 |title=UKIP Candidate slammed for 'homophobia' |website=Cherwell |url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2012/05/04/ukip-candidate-slammed-for-homophobia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625031607/http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2012/05/04/ukip-candidate-slammed-for-homophobia |archive-date=25 June 2013 }}</ref> Roweena Russell, former chair of the International Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth and Student Organisation, then emailed Gasper to discuss her views; Gasper responded that Russell should be institutionalised as mentally ill.<ref name="April12"/> Russell publicly criticised Gasper's views as "unacceptable,"<ref name="April12"/> while Rafe Jeune, chair of Oxford's Pride parade, characterised the candidate's comments as "abhorrent" and "disgusting", adding that there was no evidence linking paedophilia and homosexuality.<ref name="threats"/>
====2013 coverage====
In January 2013 the ''Sunday Mirror'' reported that, on a UKIP online forum, Gasper had described LGBT rights as a "lunatic's charter", claimed links between homosexuality and paedophilia, and stated that some homosexuals prefer sex with animals to sex with humans.<ref name="SundayMirror1">{{cite web |title=Ugly face of UKIP: Sunday Mirror exposes racist and homophobic views of party members |website=Sunday Mirror |date=12 January 2013 |author=Vincent Moss |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ugly-face-ukip-sunday-mirror-1531879 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501213624/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ugly-face-ukip-sunday-mirror-1531879 |archive-date=1 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=UKIP members' extreme anti-gay views exposed |date=13 January 2013 |website=Gay Star News |author=Joe Morgan |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ukip-members%e2%80%99-extreme-anti-gay-views-exposed130113/#gs.J6EI5j8 |access-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430125600/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ukip-members%E2%80%99-extreme-anti-gay-views-exposed130113#gs.J6EI5j8 |archive-date=30 April 2013 }}</ref> The newspaper characterised the comments as "extremist and offensive" and described the forum as containing many homophobic and racist statements.<ref name="SundayMirror"/> When ''The Sunday Mirror'' asked for comment, Gasper responded: "I'm not going to talk about them. It's none of your business."<ref name="SundayMirror1"/> Political commentator Nick Cohen, commenting in ''The Observer'', described Gasper as an advocate of "dumb prejudice".<ref>{{cite web |title=Why David Cameron Won't Confront UKIP |author=Nick Cohen |date=14 April 2013 |website=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/14/cameron-ukip-nigel-farage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424123757/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/14/cameron-ukip-nigel-farage |archive-date=24 April 2015 }}</ref>
thumb|left|UKIP leader Nigel Farage: Gasper's "war against homosexuals is unacceptable".<ref name="SundayMirror1"/>
The forum was then shut down, Gasper resigned as chair of UKIP's Oxford branch, and several of her supporters were removed from the committee.<ref name="SundayMirror">{{cite web |title=Top UKIP official quits after gay hate rant exposed by Sunday Mirror |website=Sunday Mirror |date=19 January 2013 |author=Vincent Moss |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ukip-dr-julia-gasper-quits-1545955 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418060828/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ukip-dr-julia-gasper-quits-1545955 |archive-date=18 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="resign">{{cite web |title=UKIP local chair who compared homosexuality to bestiality forced to resign |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=16 January 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/16/ukip-local-chair-who-compared-homosexuality-to-bestiality-forced-to-resign/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002062132/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/16/ukip-local-chair-who-compared-homosexuality-to-bestiality-forced-to-resign/ |archive-date=2 October 2015 }}</ref> She was not expelled from the party itself.<ref name="resign"/> While describing herself as the victim of a "press vendetta", Gasper stated that the resignation was her own decision.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bithia Large |website=Cherwell |title=UKIP Oxford Chair steps down |date=1 February 2013 |url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2013/02/01/ukip-oxford-chair-steps-down |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102211352/http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2013/02/01/ukip-oxford-chair-steps-down |archive-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref> A UKIP spokesperson commented that Gasper had stepped aside "to avoid doing herself or the party any more damage".<ref name="SundayMirror"/> UKIP leader Nigel Farage criticised Gasper's "war against homosexuals" as "unacceptable",<ref name="SundayMirror1"/><ref name="SundayMirror"/><ref name="Morgan"/> while Olly Neville, former chair of UKIP's Young Independent wing, tweeted in support of Gasper's removal, stating that "her disgraceful views have no place as a rep[resentative] of a mainstream party".<ref name="Morgan">{{cite web |title=UKIP chair forced to resign after anti-gay views exposed |author=Joe Morgan |date=17 January 2015 |website=Gay Star News |url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ukip-chair-forced-resign-after-anti-gay-views-exposed170113/#gs.x2eu7Yo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604044905/http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ukip-chair-forced-resign-after-anti-gay-views-exposed170113#gs.x2eu7Yo |archive-date=4 June 2013 }}</ref>
Gasper then criticised UKIP as being "plagued with transsexuals", a reference to two trans women, Nikki Sinclaire and Kellie Maloney, who were party candidates. She described Maloney as "absolutely grotesque" and characterised her transition as "totally barmy – and how pathetic that he [sic] can do nothing better with his life."<ref>{{cite web |title=Former UKIP candidate: Party is plagued with grotesque transsexuals |website=PinkNews |author=Nick Duffy |date=18 August 2014 |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/08/18/former-ukip-candidate-party-is-plagued-with-grotesque-transsexuals/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003012023/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/08/18/former-ukip-candidate-party-is-plagued-with-grotesque-transsexuals/ |archive-date=3 October 2015 }}</ref> In May, former UKIP activist Colin Cortbus revealed to ''Cherwell'' that, in emails to him, Gasper had linked homosexuality and paedophilia, described Islam as "a severely oppressive ideology", and characterised the ''Quran'' as a "fascist" book comparable to Adolf Hitler's ''Mein Kampf''.<ref name="Frankl-Duval"/>
In November 2013, Gasper faced criticism for her essay, "The Myth of the Homocaust", which she had uploaded to academia.edu. Here, Gasper argued that LGBT rights activists had fabricated the extent of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals.<ref name="Elgot">{{cite web |title=MEP Candidate Julia Gasper Backed By English Democrats For Views on World Aids Day And Gays |author=Jessica Elgot |date=2 May 2014 |website=The Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/02/julia-gasper-mep-gays-world-aids-day_n_5251712.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904232329/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/02/julia-gasper-mep-gays-world-aids-day_n_5251712.html |archive-date=4 September 2014 }}</ref> Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, publicly criticised the essay: "Whilst it is important to recognise the differences between the ways the Nazis persecuted different groups, this shouldn't lead us to question the fact that thousands of gay men suffered appalling persecution because of their sexuality."<ref>{{cite web |title=Former UKIP candidate Julia Gasper questions whether the only gay Holocaust victims were Jews |date=29 November 2013 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/11/29/former-ukip-candidate-julia-gasper-suggests-the-only-gay-holocaust-victims-were-jews/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229054932/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/11/29/former-ukip-candidate-julia-gasper-suggests-the-only-gay-holocaust-victims-were-jews/ |archive-date=29 December 2015}}</ref>
===English Democrats: 2014–2016=== thumb|After leaving UKIP, Gasper joined the English Democrats (campaign van pictured)
Disillusioned with UKIP, Gasper defected to the English Democrats.<ref name="Elgot"/> In the May 2014 European Parliamentary elections, she stood as the party's candidate for the South East England region, gaining the votes of 0.76% of the electorate (17,771 votes).<ref>{{cite web |title=Julia Gasper, who claims 'queer gangsters' bullied for marriage, flops in European elections |author=Nick Duffy |date=26 May 2014 |website=PinkNews |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/26/julia-gasper-who-claims-queer-gangsters-bullied-for-marriage-flops-in-european-elections/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930230317/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/26/julia-gasper-who-claims-queer-gangsters-bullied-for-marriage-flops-in-european-elections/ |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> In August, she then stood as the English Democrat candidate in a by-election for the Quarry and Risinghurst seat on the Oxford City Council,<ref>{{cite web |title=Outspoken academic to battle by-election |website=Oxford Mail |date=26 August 2014 |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/11431367.Outspoken_academic_to_battle_by_election/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929120218/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/11431367.Outspoken_academic_to_battle_by_election/ |archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> coming last with 43 votes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Labour holds Quarry and Risinghurst in city by-election |website=Oxford Mail |date=19 September 2014 |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/NEWS/11484040.Labour_holds_Quarry_and_Risinghurst_in_city_by_election/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929181108/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/NEWS/11484040.Labour_holds_Quarry_and_Risinghurst_in_city_by_election/ |archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Julia Gasper, who called for PinkNews readers to be sectioned, flops in council by-election |website=PinkNews |author=Nick Duffy |date=18 September 2014 |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/09/18/julia-gasper-who-called-for-pinknews-readers-to-be-sectioned-flops-in-council-by-election/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628204106/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/09/18/julia-gasper-who-called-for-pinknews-readers-to-be-sectioned-flops-in-council-by-election/ |archive-date=28 June 2015 }}</ref> In the May 2016 local election, Gasper retained her seat as parish councillor for Risinghurst and Sandhills.<ref>{{cite web |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |title=Politician who said David Bowie was a 'gay nazi' maintains seat in local election |website=Pink News |date=7 May 2016 |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/05/07/politician-who-said-david-bowie-was-a-gay-nazi-maintains-seat-in-local-election/ }}</ref>
Gasper's comments on LGBT issues continued to attract press attention. In April 2014, BBC News reported on her claim that there were hundreds of gay Members of Parliament (MPs) and that this was a "violation of democracy".<ref name="BBCNEWS">{{cite web |title=English Democrats back 'too many gay MPs' comments candidate |author=Ross Hawkins |date=1 May 2014 |website=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27242561 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414121806/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27242561 |archive-date=14 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="McCormick"/><ref name="Cherwell2">{{cite web |title="Too many homosexuals in Parliament" - Oxford MEP candidate |author=Tom Calver |date=8 May 2014 |website=Cherwell |url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2014/05/08/quottoo-many-homosexuals-in-parliamentquot-oxford-mep-candidate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102211202/http://www.cherwell.org/news/town/2014/05/08/quottoo-many-homosexuals-in-parliamentquot-oxford-mep-candidate |archive-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref> In the same post, she called for the gay dating app Grindr to be banned as a public health risk.<ref name="McCormick">{{cite web |title=MEP candidate: Ban Grindr to stop gay MPs from 'violating democracy' |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=1 May 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/01/mep-candidate-ban-grindr-to-stop-gay-mps-from-violating-democracy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929032301/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/01/mep-candidate-ban-grindr-to-stop-gay-mps-from-violating-democracy/ |archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Cherwell2"/> Questioned by the BBC, the English Democrats' spokesman Steve Uncles defended Gasper, claiming that she was "factually correct" regarding the number of gay MPs.<ref name="BBCNEWS"/> Conversely, her statistics were dismissed as "absurd" by the Oxford University Student Union's LGBT representative, who further criticised Gasper's "alarming prejudices".<ref name="Cherwell2"/>
The following month, Gasper commented on Brendan Eich's resignation as CEO of Mozilla after it was revealed that he had financially supported campaigns against same-sex marriage in California. Gasper claimed Eich had been "victimised by a queer mafia that takes a vindictive pleasure in bullying and abusing people" and that this "Homo fascism is a threat to fundamental human rights."<ref name="BBCNEWS"/><ref name="SouthEast"/> Among those she deemed part of this campaign were US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Labour Party, the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson, Pope Francis, the actor Daniel Radcliffe, all European and American universities, and media such as ''The Guardian'', ''The Daily Mail'', and ''The Huffington Post''.<ref name="SouthEast">{{cite web |title=South East England MEP candidate: Daniel Radcliffe and the Pope bullied CEO into quitting |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=1 May 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/01/south-east-england-mep-candidate-daniel-radcliffe-and-the-pope-bullied-mozilla-ceo-into-quitting/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929022428/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/01/south-east-england-mep-candidate-daniel-radcliffe-and-the-pope-bullied-mozilla-ceo-into-quitting/ |archive-date=29 September 2015 }}</ref> A day later, she condemned World AIDS Day, claiming that it celebrated HIV/AIDS and homosexuality.<ref name="Elgot"/><ref>{{cite web |title=MEP candidate: World AIDS day 'congratulates' people for 'spreading the disease' |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=2 May 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/02/mep-candidate-world-aids-day-congratulates-people-for-spreading-the-disease/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929022124/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/02/mep-candidate-world-aids-day-congratulates-people-for-spreading-the-disease/ |archive-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> The following week, she described campaigners for same-sex marriage as "queer thugs and gangsters" who "used violence, threats, censorship, abuse, and every form of dirty tactic". She hoped that "a twinge of guilt... kills them".<ref>{{cite web |title=MEP candidate: I hope the 'guilt' of same-sex marriage 'kills' the 'queer gangsters' |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=9 May 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/09/mep-candidate-i-hope-the-guilt-of-same-sex-marriage-kills-the-queer-gangsters/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418060817/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/09/mep-candidate-i-hope-the-guilt-of-same-sex-marriage-kills-the-queer-gangsters/ |archive-date=18 April 2015 }}</ref>
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote="So-called 'hate-crimes' you refer to in Russia, Uganda etc are frauds. Yes, frauds. Matthew Shepard was a fraud, David Kato was a fraud, gay-burning in Uganda is a fraud [...] they're all frauds."|source=— Julia Gasper, 2014.<ref name="FailedMEP">{{cite web |title=Failed MEP candidate: 'All hate crime victims like Matthew Shepard are frauds' |author=Joseph Patrick McCormick |date=28 May 2014 |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/28/failed-mep-candidate-hate-crime-victims-like-matthew-shepard-are-frauds/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003125339/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/05/28/failed-mep-candidate-hate-crime-victims-like-matthew-shepard-are-frauds/ |archive-date=3 October 2015 }}</ref> }}
Later in May, Gasper blogged that there were "far too many homosexual comedians on TV", focusing her criticism on Graham Norton, "the horrid little" Alan Carr, and "the unctuous" Stephen Fry.<ref name="FailedMEP"/> She also claimed that homosexuals were not persecuted anywhere in the world and that evidence to the contrary, such as the murders of Matthew Shepard and David Kato, was "fraudulent".<ref name="FailedMEP"/> ''PinkNews'', she wrote, was a "mafia" that had placed the actor Rupert Everett on its "hit list", forcing him to obtain police protection.<ref name="Calver8"/><ref name="Libel">{{cite news |title=Parish councillor threatened with legal action |date=1 October 2014 |website=Oxford Mail |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11505491.Parish_councillor_threatened_with_legal_action/?ref=mr |access-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102211006/http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11505491.Parish_councillor_threatened_with_legal_action/?ref=mr |archive-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref><ref name="Cherwell"/> In October 2014, ''PinkNews'' founder Benjamin Cohen claimed that this constituted libel and threatened legal action.<ref name="Calver8">{{cite news |title=Parish Councillor and Old Oxonian faces legal action |author=Tom Calver |website=Cherwell |date=8 October 2014 |url=http://www.cherwell.org/news/oxford/2014/10/07/parish-councillor-and-old-oxonian-faces-legal-action |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012214449/http://www.cherwell.org/news/oxford/2014/10/07/parish-councillor-and-old-oxonian-faces-legal-action |archive-date=12 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Libel"/><ref name="Cherwell"/> Gasper responded by reiterating her claims, stating that she was "proud" of her statements, adding: "I have morality on my side".<ref name="Libel"/>
After singer David Bowie died in January 2016, Gasper blogged that he was a "famous queer Nazi" and that there was "a remarkable affinity" between Nazism and LGBT rights activism.<ref>{{cite news |title=Local politician claims David Bowie was a 'gay Nazi' and a witch |author=Nick Duffy |date=13 January 2016 |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/01/13/local-politician-claims-david-bowie-was-a-gay-nazi-and-a-witch/ |website=Pink News |access-date=5 December 2017}}</ref> The following month she criticised Oxford University's Bodleian Library for celebrating LGBT History Month; Gasper called this "a disgrace to Oxford" and maintained that "this unsavoury paedophile movement should have no publicity or promotion from any university."<ref>{{cite news |author=Samuel McManus |date=28 February 2016 |access-date=5 December 2017 |title=LGBT History Month is "Endless propaganda… and a disgrace to Oxford," says Oxford alumna |website=Attitude |url=http://attitude.co.uk/lgbt-history-month-is-endless-propaganda-and-a-disgrace-to-oxford-says-oxford-alumna/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302053446/http://attitude.co.uk/lgbt-history-month-is-endless-propaganda-and-a-disgrace-to-oxford-says-oxford-alumna/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Bobby Rae |title=Historical lit academic compares Oxford uni gay books to paedophilia |website=Pink News |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/02/23/english-lit-academic-compares-oxford-uni-gay-books-to-paedophilia/ |access-date=5 December 2017}}</ref> In February 2017, she again attracted attention after posting images of Jimmy Savile and Peter Jaconelli to her blog alongside the caption: "what could be more suitable for annual LGBT History Month than this heart-warming picture of two of Britain's most inveterate paedophiles hand in hand".<ref>{{cite news |author=Lottie Hayton |title=Fury as councillors insult LGBTQ community and the homeless |url=http://oxfordstudent.com/2017/02/24/fury-councillors-insult-lgbtq-community-homeless/ |website=Oxford Student |date=24 February 2017 |access-date=5 December 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=British politician claims LGBT History Month celebrates paedophiles |author=Bobby Rae |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/02/21/british-politician-claims-lgbt-history-month-celebrates-paedophiles/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222163558/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/02/21/british-politician-claims-lgbt-history-month-celebrates-paedophiles/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2017 |website=Pink News |date=21 February 2017 |access-date=5 December 2017 }}</ref> Commenting in a ''Cherwell'' article, Samuel Rutishauser-Mills questioned why the media reported on Gasper's anti-LGBT comments, noting that as a parish councillor her "political significance is tenuous... and scarcely newsworthy or interesting."<ref name="Cherwell"/> He argued that excessive coverage of such opinions made "extreme homophobia" seem more commonplace than it really is.<ref name="Cherwell">{{cite news |title=Julia Gasper: Why do we bother to report her comments? |date=12 October 2014 |author=Samuel Rutishauser-Mills |website=Cherwell |url=http://www.cherwell.org/comment/opinion/2014/10/08/julia-gasper-why-do-we-bother-to-report-her-comments |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102210758/http://www.cherwell.org/comment/opinion/2014/10/08/julia-gasper-why-do-we-bother-to-report-her-comments |archive-date=2 January 2016 }}</ref>
==Bibliography== {{Portal|England|Politics|United Kingdom}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year of publication ! Title ! Publisher |- | 1990 | ''The Dragon and the Dove: The Plays of Thomas Dekker'' | Clarendon Press (Oxford)<ref>{{cite book |last=Gasper |first=Julia |title=The Dragon and the Dove: The Plays of Thomas Dekker |year=1990 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0198117582 }}</ref> |- | 2013 | ''Theodore von Neuhoff, King of Corsica: The Man Behind the Legend'' | University of Delaware Press (Delaware)<ref>{{cite book |last=Gasper |first=Julia |title=Theodore von Neuhoff, King of Corsica: The Man Behind the Legend |year=2013 |location=Delaware |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn=978-1611494402 }}</ref> |- | 2014 | ''The Marquis d'Argens: A Philosophical Life'' | Lexington Press (Plymouth)<ref>{{cite book |last=Gasper |first=Julia |year=2014 |title=The Marquis d'Argens: A Philosophical Life |location=Plymouth |publisher=Lexington Press |isbn=978-0739182338 }}</ref> |- | 2018 | ''Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European'' | Vernon Press |}
==References==
{{reflist|3}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasper, Julia}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Category:Academics from Oxford Category:English Democrats politicians Category:English nationalists Category:UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates