(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Sir Elton John has condemned a spate of anti-gay slurs in America.

The 63-year-old British singer spends a great deal of time in the country, and is dismayed about recent incidents of homophobia and gay suicides that have occurred there.

The suicide of gay student Tyler Clementi, who studied in New Jersey, has caused a host of stars to get involved in an anti-bullying campaign. Tyler was reportedly picked on because of his sexuality, and Elton said that this kind of attitude towards gay people was not the America he knows and loves.

"People were saying gays should be beaten up, we're not part of God's universe. What kind of mentality is this? he asked USA Today. When I first came here, it was such a loving country. It's never been in a more horrible place. This is not the America I love."

Elton, who is in a civil partnership with David Furnish, is currently promoting his new duet album with Leon Russell.

But the talented pianist has decided to use press opportunities to campaign for more tolerance towards gay people in America.

"We've come so far, with a black president, it's mystifying that this can still be going on," Elton said. "Jesus Christ taught tolerance. That's the example we should follow. We should forgive, understand, be compassionate. We're not all the same. Thank God! It would be so boring."

Elton works hard to benefit AIDS charities, such as his own, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and has referred to himself as "probably the most gay man in the world".

He believes that opposing political parties in the US should stop trying to score points from each other and exchange concepts on how to stop homophobic bullying. (C) Cover Media