A Giant Red Sign of the Times

All of the main candidates to become mayor of London participated in a forum hosted by Stonewall, an LGBT rights group there, with one telling the audience that he'd been bullied as a child for being gay.

"When I was in school I remember being manhandled, about to be thrown into a freezing pool of water fully clothed because I was gay, until a teacher intervened," Brian Paddick told the audience, according to the BBC. "I also remember boys trying to strip me naked and luckily my brother found out and came to rescue me."

Paddick is a Liberal Democrat, and also participating were Labor candidate Ken Livingstone, incumbent Conservative mayor Boris Johnson and more.

Emblazoned in red behind them was the slogan that Stonewall had bought advertisements promoting via London's iconic buses: "SOME PEOPLE ARE GAY. GET OVER IT!" But that didn't seem to bother them. Instead, the candidates posed for photos holding T-shirts with the message.

See photos from the event on the following pages.