Policeman Who Proposed To Boyfriend In London Says He Wished He Hadn't

A police officer who proposed to his
boyfriend last year at London's Gay Pride
has said he regretted his decision to make
a public proposal after the video went viral
and hateful comments followed, with some
wishing them dead.




PC Phil Adlem shocked his boyfriend and
the thousands of people present at the Gay
Pride event when he stepped away from
his duties, went down on one knee and
popped the question.




His partner replied in the affirmative and
they shared a romantic kiss in front of the
cheering crowd.



Videos of the romantic
proposal quickly spread online and so did
the hate comments.



Writing for The Guardian, Phil now admits
he wished he never made the public
proposal due to the shocking abuse he has
faced online.



He said the immediate
responses were positive and warm but
when he went online the vile comments
wiped the smile off his face.


He said:

"I looked through the online
comments from the British public.
Most were fantastic. But my smile did
not last long as I continued reading."



He found comments that were downright
homophobic and some that were simply
too vile to be repeated.


"Both should be hanged till death,"
one comment read and another
went:

"don't blame ISIS if they strike
them".



He was offered media interviews but
turned them all down as a result of the
hateful comments.



It was no better at work
as Phil became the recipient of hate from a
colleague, causing him to regret proposing
in public.



Phil said:

"A further hostile reaction at work
from one of my colleagues and
another from an old college friend
was enough for me to wish I had
never done it."



Phil, who is a speaker for an LGBT charity,
also revealed he was subjected to a brutal
homophobic attack on his 18th birthday.


He added:

"Despite all this, I know I am lucky. I
am lucky to live in a time when I can
join the police service as an openly
gay man – and I have previous
generations to thank for that. But
even among young people in Britain
today, my story is far from unique."