Theatre company's disgust over homophobic rant by audience member during Leeds showing of Rent

A theatre company is raising money to support the LGBT community in Leeds after an audience member walked out of a performance of the musical Rent, complaining that it was about "gays".

Members of the Bite My Thumb company spoke of their "disgust" after the incident at the Carriageworks in Leeds on Saturday, 12 March.

In a statement they said the cast had just finished a performance of the song Today 4 U, Tomorrow 4 Me, when the audience member picked up their coat and left the auditorium.

The statement said: "On exiting, the individual turned to a member of the front-of-the house team and declared, 'I didn't realise this show was about gays'.

"All, the cast, creatives and backstage crew of the production were utterly disgusted to hear about this display of small minded ignorance.

"As a theatre company, we purposely chose Rent to give a voice to the LGBTQ+ community and educate on the horrors of the Aids pandemic."

Loosely based on Puccini's 1896 opera La Boheme and famous around the world, Rent tells the story of a group of young artists struggling to survive and create a life in New York in the shadow of the Aids crisis.

There was a huge outpouring of support on social media following Bite My Thumb's statement, which ended: "Hate is always foolish and love is always wise."

Many mocked the individual for failing to realise the musical's socially liberal themes.

The theatre company is now raising money for the Leeds community organisation Angels of Freedom.

Run by volunteers, it aims to provide support for the LGBT+ community in the city's so-called Freedom Quarter through activities and events.

Posting on a crowd funding website, the company said: "After the amazing support shown for the statement that we released on 13th March, the cast and creative team have decided to raise funds for a local organisation that showed tremendous support to the production."