Bernard Levin

[Bryn]

Wise lady ...

The wretched poem, with homosexual connotations regarding the naked body of Christ, was deeply offensive to many Christians. Many others may not give a jot about those feelings, but that does not mean there are are not certain standards that must be upheld in any reasonably civilised society. Unless he was as thick as the proverbial two short planks, the poet (whoever he was) must have known in advance the offence this would cause and so, glaringly obviously, did Gay News.

There must be a limit to 'free-speech', in other words some widely-recognised boundaries. If someone wrote a poem in a Christian magazine connecting homosexuality and say, pedophilia, all hell would be let loose because of the offence it would cause to the apparently thick-skinned among us. Certainly, it would be deeply offensive to the overwhelming majority of homosexuals who would no doubt be rightly appalled at such a poem. I do also wonder if Gay News would have been as keen to print such a poem, in the loftily-declared interests of 'freedom of expression'?

Btw, amateur, I was not previously aware that I was the first to introduce the word 'homosexuals' to the English language, but, on this occasion at least, I bow to your apparently much more widely-read and therefore infinitely greater depth of knowledge!

Whar a cheek! Time you self-proclaimed 'Christians' learned to turn the other one, what?!

[amateur51]

Y'know, sometimes I get the feeling you're positively nostalgic for the days when homophobia was a fact of life, when your 'tribe' was routinely used for comic effect in tv sitcoms, when you weren't allowed to join the armed forces and had to congregate in specially designated 'clubs' in order to express yourselves.

I suppose there was a feeling of solidarity to be had in being 'up against it', but wouldn't you agree that things are so much better now? You can actually doing ALL of the things listed in the above paragraph and if two blokes want to walk hand in hand through town, canoodling on the way, there is nothing to stop them so doing.

Sorry, but the scorecard reads:

Homosexual Activists: 1

Traditionalist conservatives: 0

Soon, Peter Tatchell will have to move on to other things, because the big battles have been won. OK, there will always be a degree of homophobia, just as there will always be a degree of racism, because that is the dark side of human nature, which no amount of campaigning or psychological conditioning can alter - minorities, be they sexual, racial, or relgiious, will always have conflict with the majority and that is an issue we can't do much about.

But my point is: you won! So, you can afford to relax.

Y'know Mandy I sometimes think you're a bit vexed that you weren't part of all this and so you try to become an 'expert' on this period and live it vicariously

Anytime you want to walk down the street hand-in-hand with me through town, canoodling on the way, there is nothing to stop us so doing - feel the fear and do it anyway, huh?! You know you want to!

Did you not read Ferret's lucid refutation (msg 54) of this guff you've spouted, Mandy?

My arse!

[Ferretfancy]

Mandryka,

I can't imagine how you can think that I am nostalgic for the days when homophobia was a fact of life, nobody in their right mind would wish to jump on a time machine back to the 1950s when I grew up, and there was no "tribe" but a number of very nervous people, some of whom were braver than most of us. Unlike you, I'm not so self satisfied that I can relax around this subject, happy as I am for my own good fortune. I like your comment "a degree of homophobia" when lonely young people commit suicide in small towns, where incidentally they are still not free to "walk hand in hand, canoodling on the way "

[Hitch]

Although this tribute of a subordinate clause has been entertaining, would it now be possible to return to the gist of the original sentence?

[Ferretfancy]

Hitch,

You've slapped the back of my legs again! Must try to do better.

Bws.
Ferret