Brokeback shirts fetch €83,000

Two shirts seen in the hit movie Brokeback Mountain have been auctioned for more than €83,000.

A gay activist was the winning bidder in an online auction for the two used plaid shirts worn by the star-crossed lovers, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in this year’s Oscar front-runner.

The sale by the film’s distributor, Focus Features, on auction website eBay, raised nearly €85,000 for Variety, the Children’s Charity of Southern California.

Tom Gregory, 45, logged his winning bid just 28 seconds before the 10-day auction came to a close on Monday.

He said the shirts represented the continuing plight of gays for acceptance in society – and planned to keep them “as they were, on the hanger, entwined”.

“I would never wear them, put them on or separate them,” he added.