CONDEMNED councillor Joe Fitzgerald has promised not to out fellow homosexual councillors if they don't back his equal opportunities motion.

His astonishing U-turn comes just a week after the Citizen revealed Coun Fitzgerald's 'back me or be outed' plans after a letter was leaked to the press from the Liberal Democrats.

He was immediately booted out of his party, and formed Preston's Independent People's Party, along with ex-Lib Dem Tony Jones, and warned that if he didn't receive backing for his proposed equal opportunities unit 'People would get hurt...'.

But now, in the wake of wide-spread condemnation of his blackmail attempts, he has backed down, saying it isn't that hard to 'come clean'.

He now claims he was pushed into making his statement to out the town's closet gays, saying: "When the letter was leaked I just thought, well, I might as well go ahead with it. But it wasn't my idea. I am not backing down but I do believe my coming out will prove to others that it isn't that hard. People like David Borrow, MP for South Ribble, have done it, and it hasn't hurt them.

Coun Fitzgerald is already at the centre of allegations that he abused his position to get a gay pub from which he is banned closed down, has turned up the heat.

Earlier this week, he warned: "A lot of people are going to get hurt. If marriages breakdown because of it, then so be it."

His plans were condemned by all three party leaders in Preston, and South Ribble's MP David Borrow, who said: "My view is that it is wrong for anybody's sexuality to be made public without their consent."

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