He said people in sexual minorities should not be forced to 'fight under a single banner' just because they are included in the LGBT acronym.

'Sinking feeling'

He made the comments in The Times, under the headline: "Here's why I want to leave the LGBT club".

Parris said he rejects the LGBT banner which "owes much" to a flawed "post-Marxist" view of "oppressed minorities".

The acronym brings him a "vague sinking of the heart", he said -- a feeling that only increases with the addition of more labels such as Q and +.

Q, Parris explained, stands for queer or questioning, while A means asexual and + stands for "whatever".

'No parody'

"This is no parody. LGBTQIA+ is now the maximalist abbreviation being recommended among campaigners for the rights of sexual minorities", Parris said.

But he challenged the activists saying he denied "that this is the single battle to be fought beneath a single banner -- LGBT -- to which a miscellany of sexual minorities owe allegiance just because our capital letter is in the title".

There simply is not one LGBT community, he said -- "you'll find the range of opinion among us on the subject of transgender rights is no different from the range of opinion among heterosexuals -- variously sympathetic, baffled or horrified".

Common sense

He said the 'one banner' view had become "lodged deep inside local government, and on issues of sexuality now seems endemic in the public sector".

"Certain kinds of dogmatism thrive in an undergrowth where rules, circulars, lists and quotas reign, and common sense can be ignored without penalty", he added.

And while he was less troubled by universities' "pantomime on gender and orientation issues" -- because he believed it would run itself out -- "Public sector madness" actually "self-propagates".

Parris did however welcome legal changes pushed by homosexual lobby group Stonewall, and said the work now needed to focus on "normalisation".

'Homophobe'

The fact that homosexuals differ in their views was shown earlier this year, when homosexual activist Peter Tatchell expressed support for the actions of Ashers Baking Company -- the Christian-run bakery which declined to produce a pro-gay marriage campaign cake.

Later Tatchell's comments were described as 'shocking and appalling' by a student LGBT officer. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/02/03/comment-peter-tatchell-cant-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-over-bakery-row/

Andrew Pierce -- a gay journalist who has spoken out against same-sex marriage -- told the BBC in 2013 that he had been described as homophobic for his position. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22758434

'Get out more'

And in 2012 actor Rupert Everett was slammed by Stonewall for criticising gay parenting.

Everett, who is gay, said: "I can't think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads", but Stonewall's then chief executive replied: "Rupert should get out a little bit more to see the facts for himself."