Boris Johnson sparks anger with crude joke at gay pride event Mayor condemned after gaffe at London Pride gala dinner Some guests apparently walked out of the £250-a-head event in protest By Steve Robson and Martin Robinson Failing to see the funny side: Gaffe-prone London Mayor Boris Johnson was slated for a crude joke about same-sex marriage Boris Johnson has sparked outrage after making a crude joke about same-sex marriage at a gay rights event. The London Mayor was giving a speech at a £250-a-head gala dinner ahead of the capital's Pride festival this weekend when he made the gaffe, which led to some guests walking out. In reference to the same-sex marriage bill which is expected to be signed into law later this year, he said: 'I'm delighted that as of this autumn any young man will be able to take his chum up the Arcelor... and marry him.' The tasteless gag was a reference to the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture in London's Olympic Park which will reopen in the autumn and be licensed for marriage ceremonies. The joke provoked nervous laughter for some guests but others are said to have made their disgust clear by walking out in silent protest, the Daily Mirror reported. Some misheard the joke as 'the Arsenal' - but interpreted it with equal contempt. Labour MP, Angela Eagle, who was attending the dinner, tweeted: 'Boris speaking at LGBT Pride fundraising event made a speech about the Olympics & an off colour "joke" about Arsenal #notamused #WontSayGay.' Johnson, 49, has a chequered history on gay rights, having made a U-turn on his position on gay marriage. In 2001 he wrote that 'if gay marriage were OK - and I was uncertain on the issue - then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog.' Mistaken? Labour MP Angela Eagle thought that the Mayor of London had said 'Arsenal' in his joke Chequered past: At one time Boris Johnson was against gay marriage but is now an ardent supporter But last year he made an about turn, insisting he was in favour of same-sex marriage. In a statement he gave to campaigners Out4Marriage, he said: 'One of the amazing things about London is that not only have we got a declining crime rate, declining murder rate, more theatres than New York, less rainfall than Rome, it's also one of the few places in the country where the rate of marriage is actually increasing. 'I see absolutely no reason why that happy state should be denied to anybody in our country and that's why I'm supporting the Out4Marriage campaign.' The Mayor's speech on Tuesday night failed to impress his critics. One guest Linda Riley told the Daily Mirror: 'He was clearly uncomfortable with the 'gay' word. His main gay reference was that 'joke' about marrying up the Arsenal. After about 15 minutes most at our table had had enough and left in a silent, walk-out protest. But a spokesman for the Mayor said his joke was received with "much laughter" by the majority of the room. The joke was delivered in the context of his much publicised support for gay marriage, and for Pride itself, which the Mayor is funding to the tune of £500,000 over the next few years. Outspoken Boris Johnson appears to have put his foot in it again, in a career littered with foot-in-mouth moments. From upsetting the victims of the Hillsborough disaster to getting stuck on an Olympic zip-wire, the Mayor of London's problems have been wildly varied. Here are some of his most memorable quotes: On George W Bush: The President is a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomises the arrogance of American foreign policy. On using a mobile phone while driving: 'I don't believe that is necessarily any more dangerous than the many other risky things that people do with their free hands while driving - nose-picking, reading the paper, studying the A-Z, beating the children, and so on.' On Euro-scepticism: I can hardly condemn UKIP as a bunch of boss-eyed, foam-flecked Euro hysterics, when I have been sometimes not far short of boss-eyed, foam-flecked hysteria myself. On Tony Blair: It is just flipping unbelievable. He is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet. He is barely human in his elusiveness. Nailing Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall. For 10 years we in the Tory Party have become used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing. On becoming Prime Minister: My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive. On how to vote: Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3. On why he voted for David Cameron as Tory leader: 'I'm backing David Cameron's campaign out of pure, cynical self-interest.' On drugs: 'I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed so it didn't go up my nose. In fact, it may have been icing sugar.