Abortion and more religious homophobia

The abortion issue appears to be on the agenda again.

I think there is a lot of hypocrisy talked about this issue. Those who believe it to be murder know that their position is not shared by most, so tend to concentrate on cutting the time in which abortions are legal. Surely if 'life is life', this is irrelevant?
I would not reduce the upper age. Very few abortions take place at the latter stages and those which do are done for good reason. I would also make early abortion easier and agree with the proposal to remove the need to have a second medical signature.
If the aim is to reduce abortion rates, then issues such as the effectiveness of sex education , the use of contraception, and broader cultural questions need to be considered. Holland, for example, has a low teen pregnancy rate and a low abortion rate, because teen pregnancy is viewed not as immoral, but a sign of stupidity - the stigma comes from the view that there is no excuse for getting pregnant when contraception is freely available and sex education is comprehensive and frank.

And we now have a new set of self-promoting 'Christian' martyrs. It is clear enough to me that young people who are gay and in the 'looked after' category - in foster care, for example - have an absolute right to positive affirmation and support. It is thus reasonable that prospective foster parents are able to offer this support. If they are unable to do so, then any gay or lesbian young person placed in that environment would be at risk. So, people with those attitudes, and who are unwilling to reconsider their position in the interest of the child they are looking after, should indeed be removed from the fostering register. Bigoted religion has no place in child care.....

Encouragement

Have a look at http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572562/20071023/index.jhtml - a refreshingly honest interview.

Its good to see the Yanks catching up - both Stephen Gately and Mark Feehily from boy-bands came out and both have successful careers - in musical theatre and remaining in Westlife respectively.

The real barrier is still professional football, though. Lots of rumours about various players who all without exception, end up married or with live-in girlfriend within 6 months.
Its a shame, but it would take a brave man to come out in such an environment.

Thinking of you....

Just a quick message to Chloe who regularly reads this blog and occasionally provides comments.

She and many others have been evacuated from their homes near San Diego because of fires. I wish her and all affected a safe return.

The mentality of religious conservatives

Its interesting just how angry and frustrated these people are getting.

I suppose they must be feeling rather as we did during the days of Section 28. Only the difference is that change in our direction has been both faster and more complete, and they don't really know how to cope. Pointless attempts to challenge the law, growled remarks about 'defiance', then...nothing - given that the issues have become far less controversial and most simply don't care.

Its interesting , though, to see just how desperate they have become. The group 'Anglican Mainstream', better described as 'Anglican Extreme', has a forum where opinions are becoming ever more shrill and angry. To see what I mean, have a look at the thread 'Cultural Conditioning' which is in their 'Culture' section. I'm not going to dignify it by printing any excerpts, but it sums up how desperate they have become, and why, as their arguments become shriller and more and more angry, they manage to influence so little.

It may be the case that they enjoy the victim status - if they can't get their way, then present themselves as victims of a world which hates them, even though there is precisely no evidence of that. Their churches meet without fear, they have the ability to work with others on community projects, as many do.

What they seem to have forgotten is how they look to others outside their narrow world-view. And that gives me pleasure as it can only assist those of us who want to work for equality. Imagine the response of the average MP, when presented with the contents of that AM thread.

Who would appear to be the irrational and angry extremists now?

On more cheerful note, congratulations to LGCM who have been presented with an award from the Gay Police Association for their work in combating homophobia.

Venice, and the Liberal Democrats

Went to Venice last weekend. Its such a beautiful city - though very expensive, and its one of those odd places that would not survive without tourists but one sometimes gets the impression that the Venetians would rather they didn't exist (other than to fleece!)
Food-wise, it really is best to stick entirely to fish and seafood, which is first-class, but anything else is less so....
Spent a whole day at the Biennale - which reminds me that the Turner prize contestants are nowe being exhibited in Liverpool and that needs to be fitted into the schedule.

As for the LibDems. I was once a member, during a time when I felt that the Labour party simply couldn't get to grips with the progressive social agenda. They are a curious party, largely because there really isn't anything very much holding them together, and their local campaigning, though very effective, operates on a 'take the politics out of politics' level. Not entirely without justification given the way local government actually works

But their claim to be the nice party has gone forever. I thought Ming Campbell was quite ineffective as party leader but to dump two leaders in as many years cannot be an accident.

And the possible replacements? Two identikit posh boys, one a bit more Tory than the other, offewring very little that isn't already on offer.

If Clegg wins, I can imagine the Tories will be worried since he is another Blair-Cameron type and certainly to the right in LibDem terms. Can't see Labour voters being attracted to him, though.

An example of conservative obtuseness

The Government have announced that they intend to introduce legislation which will offer protection to people on the grounds of sexual orientation with regard to the incitement of hatred. This is good.

But now we have the fringe religious certifiables of the 'Lawyers Christian Fellowship' sounding off because, poor dears, the Government haven't invited them to put their case before the relevant committee whereas that nasty horrid Stonewall group have pride of place straight away. Or not 'straight' away as the case may be....

What these poor deluded people fail to realise is that the Government wishes to gain insight and guidance from a group who share their aims and who wish to offer constructive suggestion as to the way the legislation might be framed. The LCF don't want any legislation at all, because they are afraid that if they rant on about how their BigDaddyHomophobeInTheSky hates poofs, then they might even be thrown into jail.

Of course, that isn't going to happen, as attractive as the idea of homophobic conservative evangelical lawyers (couldn't get much worse, all told) being banged up in the nick might appear. But why should it be a governments priority to invite a group who don't want the legislation to appear before the relevant committee in the first instance?

This is all too typical of the sense of personal loss of status which these people feel. At one time they ruled the roost, now, even the Conservative party finds them an embarrassment.

Unseemly behaviour

People with responsible jobs, such as priests in the Church of England, should have no part in scouring through blogs they disagree with, in order to find comments to discredit others.

I hope we would all agree that such people are certainly not fit to hold such a post.

And that such activity says ia lot about their claim to 'morality'

Inciting hatred on the grounds of sexuality

The Government have announced that they are to introduce legislation to protect people on the grounds of incitement to hatred because of their sexual orientation

To quote Stonewall:

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: ‘We’re delighted. We’ve worked tirelessly over the last six months seeking to persuade Ministers to match existing race incitement laws with identical protections for sexual orientation. A new offence will help deter extremists who stir up hatred against lesbian and gay people.These protections aren’t about preventing people expressing their religious views in a temperate way. However, we refuse to accept any longer that there’s no connection between extreme rap lyrics calling for gay people to be attacked, or fundamentalist claims that all gay people are paedophiles, with the epidemic of anti-gay violence disfiguring Britain’s streets. We anticipate, as always, a tough battle with our traditional opponents in the House of Lords but remain determined to secure complete equality in the criminal law.’

Naturally, the extreme evangelicals are kicking up the usual fuss when anything to do with gay equality is mentioned.

Let's hope they lose this as they have lost their other campaigns.

Nazi-Rally - Gobshite Alert!

Up here in Liverpool, we refer to people who talk rubbish as 'gobshites'. Its a nice little word, very expressive. And I think it can often be used in reference to the conservative wing of the Anglican church.

Now, lets take Michael Nazi-Rally, bishop of Rochester. Son of a Pakistani convert, there is some confusion as to whether he actually ever became an Anglican as his family was Roman Catholic. Nazi-Rally is a classic example of tokenism. he isn't capable of being anything more than a PA to the Vicar, but he has ended up as a bishop.

He is very ambitious. he scuppered his chances of becoming ABC last time by appearing on the Today programme, giving an interview which screamed 'CHOOSE ME! I'M THE BEST!' and surprise, surprise, he wasn't chosen. Since then we have had a stream of bile and undermining of Rowan Williams, and its been clear to many that this nasty little man sees himself as the first Archbishop of the New Reformed non-Anglican Church of Akinola by Sydney.

The latest is his announcement that he won't be attending the next Lambeth conference. That can only be a good thing. We can only hope that by then, the split will have happened and he will be busy building his new empire.

So, no election

And no real surprise, I'd say. I can't see any good reason to have an election - the government has a majority and we don't elect presidents.
It does raise the question as to whether the current system of flexible election times makes sense. Fixed term parliaments would be more stable and give less power to the government in charge to manipulate events - even if they make a pigs ear of doing so!
But both the major parties like to play their games so I'm not expecting an outbreak of common-sense any time soon.

And the latest from Israel....

Palestinian students doing courses at British universities have been prevented from returning because of the Israeli blockade.

Simply unacceptable.

The more the situation develops, the more I feel that the creation of Israel in Palestine was a mistake. Illegitimate, illegal and the product of misplaced guilt.

Tory conference.

VOMIT alert.....

If there's two things I despise, its evangelical Christianity and the Conservative party. Last week, we saw the former in all their lack of glory. Today, we see the Tories on show. And yet again, they prove that they haven't changed. Scratch the surface and they are still the same old Tories. Anti-Europe, utterly unimaginative on anything to do with crime, led by someone with all the weight and gravitas of a kids TV presenter.

And two losses to entertainment today. Ronnie Hazlehurst, who conducted the orchestra 7 times for the UK in Eurovision, and ned Sherrin - who despite being a Tory was a delightful old queen whose hour-long namedrop 'Loose Ends' was always tremendous fun.

From the newsletter of the Windsor Residents Association

"We have a huge house in our street.

The extended family is run by a grumpy old woman with a pack of fierce dogs.

Her car isn't taxed or insured, and doesn't even have a number plate, but the police still do nothing.

Her bad tempered old man is famous for upsetting foreigners with racist comments.

A shopkeeper blames him for ordering the murder of his son and
his sons girlfriend, but nothing has been proved yet.

All their kids have broken marriages except the youngest, who everyone thought was gay.

Two grandsons are meant to be in the Army but are always seen out in nightclubs. You may recognise them - one looks like his late mother (the aformentioned son's girlfriend), the other a spitting image of Mr. James Hewitt.

The family's odd antics are always in the papers.

They are out of control. ..........

Getting it very wrong...

I've come across a blog entry by former left-wing turned right-wing journalist Julia Langdon who comments on what she calls 'the gay movement'.

It started with "outing," which was an unforgivable intrusion on the private lives of homosexual persons; it labels gays who live by a moral code and prefer to live quietly as "self-haters." It insists on separateness -- gay neighborhoods, gay pride days, gay rites, gay clubs, gay cruises -- while demanding "full inclusion and acceptance." It shouts down as "homophobic" anyone who respectfully disagrees. Not many women I knew bought into the feminists' agenda; no homosexuals I know want much to do with the activists' agenda, either. They are church members, business owners, and employees whose homosexuality is a small part of their makeup and not their reason for being. They resent all of the attention and don't see taking on churches and church leaders as particularly helpful....

A lot of inaccuracy here.

First, only one organisation 'outed' to my knowledge, and they restricted that only to those, like Bishops, who were gay in private, homophobic in public. I don't personally agree with that tactic, but it was never widespread.

Second, it labels only gays who join organisations whose reason is to attempt to turn them into heterosexuals as 'self-haters' - for that is what they are. I live by a moral code and live quietly. I'm happily gay. Self-hatred is characterised by lack of acceptance of one's sexuality

Third, the separate institutions mentioned have almost nothing to do with the gay movement, but the pink pound! If builders of flats, bar owners, cruise lines and so on think there's money to be made by targeting the gay market, then that's what they will do. But I'll wager that 'movement activists' are less likely to live their lives in the commercial gay ghetto!

Full inclusion and acceptance will take place when there is no demand for such separate provision, because there is no perceived need for it.

As for 'respectful disagreement': problem is, that 'disagreement' is usually accompanied by reasoning why gay people are unequal and why discrimination should be accepted and incorporated into law. Funny, that....

As for taking on churches, most gay people think the church is a joke and wouldn't go near it with a bargepole. But given that they wish to impose their right to discriminate in areas such as the employment of lay people or other matters which have precisely nothing to do with them, they must be challenged.

All the 'gay movement' wants is civil and legal equality. A reasonable request, I'd say, and its because the movement , epitomised by Stonewall in the UK, has been sensible and moderate, that we have achieved so much.