THE Belfast twins behind the Cereal Killer Cafe in London have revealed they are gay and told of their experience of "homophobic" people in Belfast.
Alan and Gary Keery from Belfast opened their first cafe in Shoreditch in December 2014 before expanding with a second branch in Camden six months later.
Speaking to Attitude magazine, Alan Keery described sneaking into one of Belfast's only two gay clubs as an underage teenager in the late 1990s and told how the club had blacked out windows for protection.
Alan said: "There was a group of people waiting outside to beat up gays."
Alan’s identical twin Gary had come out to his brother the year before.
The pair said the fact that the north stands apart from Britain and Ireland as the only place where same-sex marriage cannot take place is "embarrrassing for Belfast and Nothern Ireland."
Alan said: “Growing up in Belfast there are a lot of homophobic people and a lot of fights. There are amazing people, and it’s come on amazingly, but even now, Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK where gays can’t get married."
Earlier this year the twins' cafe was attacked by anti-gentrification activists daubed the word "scum" on the east London premises.
The new issue of Attitude is available to download on 3rd December from www.pocketmags.com/attitude and in shops on 9th December
