Perez Hilton defends shower photo with his son after being branded ‘creepy'

'If this were Chris Hemsworth and his son, people would not be reacting this way,' he said

Showbiz blogger and former Big Brother housemate, Perez Hilton (Getty Images)

Perez Hilton has defended himself after being criticised for sharing a photo with his son in the shower, suggesting that attractive straight men like Chris Hemsworth would not face the same criticism.

The showbiz blogger turned media personality, real name Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr, has settled down since his wilder days and is now father to two children: Mario Armando Lavandeira III and Mia Alma Lavandeira, both born via surrogate.

But when Hilton shared a photo on Instagram in the shower with Mario III, he was branded a “pervert”, with some people calling it “creepy” that he would shower with his children. One person likened it to child abuse.

Hilton, though, refused to back down, saying that not only did he wear a pair of swimming trunks, the whole thing reeked of double standards.

“If this were Chris Hemsworth and his son, people would not be reacting this way,” Hilton tweeted.

Hilton, who is not currently in a long term relationship and raises his children alone, regularly posts photos, videos and updates from his family, and has been vocal in the past about increasing the prominence of LGBT families.

He said on Twitter that he had tried unsuccessfully to pitch a show on gay dads. “A show like that is NEEDED”, he urged following the incident.

Following his comments, many people came out in support of him, with some agreeing that the same criticism would be not held to a heterosexual parent.

Others felt that Hilton’s past as a particularly cruel online blogger had left many feeling critical of him regardless of what he did, and his parenting was simply an extension of that.

It was even debated on This Morning, with Denise, the show’s agony aunt, saying the picture was “normal” as a part of parenting, and asked: “Who do we allow to dictate our lives? Sick people or well people?”