GENEVA–The European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, has become embroiled in homophobia allegations over this past week after scientists involved with its on-site LGBT group reported abuse, offensive graffiti and hate-filled emails.
The particle physics laboratory most famous for its work on the Large Hadron Collider, used to prove the existence of the sub-atomic Higgs boson particle, has more than 2,500 members of staff and hosts many thousands of other fellows, associates, apprentices.
London’s Sunday Times reported this weekend that at least one researcher had to be formally disciplined after CCTV cameras revealed him removing and defacing posters advertising CERN’s LGBT events.
LGBT members of the pioneering research organisation claim that this kind of abuse has been going on for years including the defacing of other posters advertising LGBT gatherings spray painted with the german word for pig [Schwein] and Old Testament bible quotes, saying that it was an “abomination” for men to have sex with other men, along with suggestions that they should be “put to death”.
British physicist and LGBT CERN founder Aidan Randle-Conde told the Sunday Times that, “the continuing defacing of our posters is an unacceptable campaign of hate and intolerance.
A spokesperson for the laboratory told the British newspaper: “Cern really cannot accept something like this and it is why we have taken disciplinary measures against at least one person we could identify as being responsible for these disrespectful actions. Homophobic behaviour is not and will not be tolerated at Cern.”
