Former MP Jeffrey Donaldson visited gay sauna in year he called homosexuality ‘sinful’, BBC claims
Former head of the PSNI Serious Crime Branch, said he was “100 per cent sure” it was Donaldson
By Aaron Sugg
Jeffrey Donaldson, a former member of parliament, reportedly visited a gay sauna in the same year he called homosexuality “sinful”.
A BBC NI Spotlight programme claims that two former police officers saw Donaldson entering Chariots Sauna near the Houses of Parliament in 2006.
One of the officials, including the former head of the PSNI Serious Crime Branch, said he was “100 per cent sure” it was Donaldson who entered the premises.
London gay sauna Chariots Sauna closed in 2021
A gay sauna is most commonly understood as a space for queer men that offers sauna-like facilities, where paying guests can also engage in sexual activity on the premises.
Chariots Sauna, which once operated six locations across London, closed in 2021 as it entered the process of liquidation.
Another officer commented that Donaldson’s alleged actions contrasted with the DUP’s historically conservative stance on homosexuality, suggesting a “double standard”.
DUP held strong anti-LGBTQ+ views
The party has strongly opposed LGBTQ+ rights, including same-sex marriage, voting against related reforms during Assembly votes in the 2000s.
Following years of controversy, and after becoming party leader in 2021, he apologised for the party’s use of anti-LGBTQ+ language.
“I think it is right to apologise when we have said things that have been hurtful to others. There are differences in our society, differences and deeply held views on social issues, and what I want to see in Northern Ireland is a discourse that is respectful of difference,” he told BBC Radio Ulster at the time.
“Sorry needn’t be the hardest word” – Donaldson apologising for his party’s history of offensive remarks
“Where we have said things that have hurt others then it is right that we say sorry for that. Sorry needn’t be the hardest word.”
Donaldson was recently convicted of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency against two women when they were children.
His wife, Eleanor Donaldson, was also charged with aiding and abetting in relation to some of the same charges.