Issues of Attitude magazine, the UK's ultimate gay monthly bible, have apparently been shafted on some British newsstands and covered up with an unnecessary modesty sleeve.

Pink News reports the questionable censorship was first discovered by users on Twitter who reacted to an image of the most recent issue of Attitude, which includes a dapper pull-out cover featuring recipients of the magazine's annual Pride awards, hiding behind a modesty sleeve while displayed next to an issue of men's magazine FHM that featured a scantily clad woman at the beach.

The censorship was blasted as "outright homophobia" on Twitter but defended by a spokesperson for Sainsbury's, the store in question:

@emysimo Hi, we use modesty covers for a range of publications – including Loaded, Zoo, Nuts, Bizarre, Front & Attitude... 1/2

— Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) July 8, 2015

@emysimo ... We do regularly review the titles covered and we’ll look into this. Thanks. 2/2

— Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) July 8, 2015

Jon Rowles, a Pink News reader who tipped the publication off to the cover, said the modesty sleeve makes the magazine look "seedy."

"What struck me was how it made the publication look seedy and somehow shameful, like I had walked into a timewarp and gone back to the early 1990s," he said. "Having just been to a friends gay wedding at the weekend at Kenwood House, made it even more raw as we had been discussing with fellow guests how attitudes had changed."

Sainsbury's faced similar backlash in 2012 when readers noticed that Attitude and Gay Times magazines were being censored. Concerns surfaced again just last year when both magazines remained covered next to Zoo and FHM, which were showing rather explicit images on their covers at the time.

@sainsburys why in your stores is attitude magazine covered up on the shelf??? Get with the 21st century!! pic.twitter.com/qOmvaLhmjn

— Andrew W Dyson (@WillDyson35) January 23, 2015

Sainsbury's remains cold and claims that Attitude publishers are in favor of the modesty sleeves.

"We have previously contacted the distributor of Attitude magazine with a view to remove the modesty cover on this title. The distributor agreed that whilst the cover of this magazine is now generally suitable for display, there could be future issues where it may not be," a spokesperson told Pink News.

Attitude has refused to comment on the matter.