Saturday, 4th October

Poor Lindsay. Her saga continues, with the prying eyes of the meedja scrutinising her life. And I’m happy to be part of that.. (ahem) Anyway, apparently her one-time paramour, Calum Best, is claiming that “he turned her into a lesbian”. Oh for the love of jeebus. I mean, he seems to be quite positive and well-wishing, but honestly, with comments like that, he simply counts himself among the likes of Hookie and Sarah “I can see Russia from my house!” Palin. Get a clue, honey!

Sunday, 5th October

From the frivolity of celebrity, to the dangerous world of Northern Ireland paramilitaries: on Sunday, The Observer ran an interview with one Sam “Skelly” McCrory, a former UDA man. According to the paper, McCrory was a high-ranking member, organising in the infamous Maze prison, answering to Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, and running assassination squads. Oh, and he was a fervent homophobe, as well as general vicious bigot.

Now, however, McCrory has come out as a gay man and activist. He states that in his previous life, he was hiding his true self. He does not apologise for his past “activities”. He will happily take a gay republican to a hotel room, however, especially as there’s no more “trouble” in Northern Ireland. McCrory currently lives in exile in Scotland, still friendly with Adair, as they avoid the UDA death sentence which would be carried out should they return to Belfast.

Perhaps it’s just me, but suddenly I feel ambivalent about “Celebrating Diversity” as an absolute..

Monday, 6th October

Monday saw the revelation that a Church of England clergyman had expressed his opinion that all homosexuals should be tattooed. Rev Peter Mullen, a minister of the City of London, dreamed up this ingenious idea – posted on his blog, but now since deleted:

Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS

I’m sorry, WHAT??! Methinks someone may have had too many detailed images floating around one’s head. Lots of defensive statements and back-tracking followed, although Mullen stuck to the view that “I certainly have nothing against homosexuals. Many of my dear friends have been and are of that persuasion. What I have got against them is the militant preaching of homosexuality.” How trite.

PinkNews.co.uk reports that Mullen has since been re-instated as columnist with local newspaper, The Northern Echo.

Tuesday, 7th October

Time for more positivity, please! Thankfully, Tuesday brought us news of a marriage-fest taking place in San Diego, California: 100 brides for 100 brides, if you will.. The plethora of happy couples gathered from all over the United States at the Hard Rock Hotel to celebrate their love, and to unite in marriage, thanks to the recent California Supreme Court ruling in May of this year which struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage.

In other good news – and which I think should take marriage-en-masse as a good omen – Tuesday also saw the launch of the memoirs of Ann Louise Gillgan and Katherine Zappone (aka Zappigan, aka KAL). These two wonderful women of Irish life are seeking to have their Canadian marriage recognised in Ireland, through the courts. We await to hear what is to become of their appeal which was lodged in the Supreme Court in 2007.

Wednesday, 8th October

11th October was National Coming Out Day in the United States, organised by the Human Rights Campaign, and on Wednesday, they announced support from straight spouses. Um, wait – are we sure that the HRC have the gist of “coming out”..? Oh hang on, yes, they do: by the term straight spouses, they mean “men and women who have been or are married to LGBT people”. Trips right off the tongue, wha? I shouldn’t be flippant, however. All over the world, people marry members of the opposite sex – be it through arrangement, or through societal or familial expectations – not least here in little old Ireland. It’s not for nothing that there are support groups still existing in this coutry to support LGBT people who are in such situations. It’s equally important to encorage support from, and allegiance with, our straight friends and family members, in society as a whole. This campaign, and organisations such as PFLAG, are so important, I think, to foster understanding between us all.

Which is probably exactly the sort of social and cognitive development that this bunch of ‘phobes requires. These unelected, unmandated fundamentalists were addressing a parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s sex discrimination laws – and, sure, religious fundamentalists would know all about sex discrimination. They claimed that a decision of the Federal Court of Australia in 2000 [Thursday, 9th October

Speaking of religious crazies, on Thursday, the Council of Europe – a regional organisation of 47 countries, not to be confused with the EU – called on Bosnia to condemn the recent violence against participants in the Sarajevo Queer Festival by Christian, Muslim and other scum-bags (not the CoE’s words). At the time, religious community leaders, and local and national politicians, spoke out against the festival (to put it mildly). Somehow, a few short years after massacring each other to pieces in some of the worst atrocities seen in Europe since the Second World War, these various groups could find common voice to incite vicious attacks against ordinary, peaceful people – now there’s inter-faith dialogue for you.

Friday, 10th October

Oh look, on Friday, the Victorian lower house of parliament passed the Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) Bill, which allows single women and lesbians to greater access to fertility treatment. It will now be considered by the upper house of parliament. Take that, fundamentalists!

On the other side of the world, in Portugal, parliament voted down a proposal to treat same-sex couples as equal to opposite sex couples [also]. Despite their neighbours, Spain, providing for such equality – as with many states around the world, now – and the sky not falling down, the majority regarded that equality just wouldn’t do, but maybe some form of “civil union” recognition could be acceptable. Sound familiar? Take that, homos!

But wait – on the other other side of the world, in Conneticut, the Supreme Court there ruled that a state ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Get in!! [NY Times | The Guardian] Let’s read some quotes chosen by these two publications:

We conclude that, in light of the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm.

Like these once prevalent views [the ban on interracial marriages, the exclusion of women from occupations and official duties, and the relegation blacks to separate but supposedly equal public facilities], our conventional understanding of marriage must yield to a more contemporary appreciation of the rights entitled to constitutional protection.

Sweet.

Popularity: 1% [?]

No related posts.