Queen, Please: Ellen Page Says 'Fuck That' to Royals Honoring Homophobe

Out lesbian actress Ellen Page Criticized Queen Elizabeth on Twitter for her decision to honor a politician who once blamed the LGBT community for Hurricane Katrina and AIDS.

In a Tweet on Monday, Page wrote "fuck that" in response to Queen Elizabeth's decision to give Irish politician Maurice Mills an MBE, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

MSNBC.com reported that Mills reportedly said in 2005, "the media failed to report that the hurricane occurred just two days prior to the annual homosexual event called the Southern Decadence Festival... Surely, this is a warning to nations where such wickedness is increasingly promoted and practiced."

Page is not alone in her ire. A petition has been founded on Change.org calling for a retraction of the award.

"Awarding such an honour to a person who has repeatedly and publicly stated very homophobic sentiments such as linking natural disasters with pride events and AIDS with what he termed 'sodomy' that some might easily argue constitute hate speech suggests that such sentiments are acceptable to hold and voice publicly in a developed society like our own," writes petition founder Thomas Erridge of London.

"The awarding of this respected honour to a person with such a reputation not only gives the impression that their opinions are valid, but devalues the entire system of honours by association to these toxic sentiments. If Mr. Mills were to retain this honour, the respect that accompanies it might become a thing of the past."

Less than a week after it was posted, the petition had already garnered 1,306 signatures, only 194 away from its goal of 1,500. But Terry McFarlane, president of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association, said the bigger problem was that "both himself and his party refuse to retract the comments he made about the hurricane being brought about by gay lifestyles."

Buzzfeed noted that the Queen's list of honorees wasn't completely off the mark, as it included several LGBT rights campaigners, including activist Jenny-Anne Christine Bishop and the founder of Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Jenny Broughton.