New
York
(ANI):
American
actor
Sean
Penn
has
been
slammed
for
his
role
of
homosexual
martyr
Harvey
Milk
in
Gus
Van
Sant's
biopic
'Milk',
because
of
his
affection
for
Venezuelan
dictator
Hugo
Ch'vez
and
Cuban
strongman
Raul
Castro.
James
Kirchick,
an
American
journalist,
criticised
Penn
for
his
political
leanings
in
this
month's
The
Advocate,
his
stand
is
that
Ch'vez
and
Castro
are
guilty
of
flagrant
human-rights
abuses.
"Gay
rights
are
human
rights,
as
Milk
said,
and
Penn
discredits
both
when
he
rationalizes
illiberal
ideologies
as
'anti-imperialist'
and
rushes
to
the
defence
of
thugs
who
posture
as
victims
of
the
West," the
New
York
Post
quoted
him
as
saying.
Penn
earned
himself
the
ire
of
the
writer
after
he
lavishly
praised
both
Ch?vez
and
Castro
in
this
month's
issue
of
The
Nation.
"It's
true,
Ch'vez
may
not
be
a
good
man.
But
he
may
well
be
a
great
one,"
Penn
had
said.
Kirchick's
story
also
included
a
quote
from
Human
Rights
Foundation
President
Thor
Halvorssen.
"That
Sean
Penn
would
be
honoured
by
anyone,
let
alone
the
gay
community,
for
having
stood
by
a
dictator
who
put
gays
into
concentration
camps
is
mind-boggling,"
he
wrote.
Penn's
publicist,
Mara
Buxbaum,
came
to
the
actor's
aid
and
stated
that
the
actor
had
also
addressed
the
issue
about
gays.
"Kirchick's
commentary
about
Sean
Penn's
cover
story
neglects
to
include
that
Penn
in
fact
addressed
the
issue
of
oppression
toward
homosexuals
in
Cuba
in
his
full
essay
which
was
printed
on
the
Huffington
Post
site
on
December
1,"
she
said.
"The
Nation
printed
an
adapted
excerpt
only,
but
made
it
clear
that
the
full
article
was
on
Huffington.
James
Kirchick
didn't
do
his
homework,"
she
added.