Showing posts with label homophobia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homophobia. Show all posts
1/16/2010
And news just in, the Pope is a Catholic
Whilst it would be ludicrous to say all Tories are anti gay, it is true that the Tories party clearly has a record of its MPs being the least friendly towards gay people of all the political parties. And if any proof were needed, the facts, figures and voting records are listed HERE.
10/11/2009
Judge a person by their actions, not words
When looking fairly randomly through some articles on wikipedia, I was struck by this sentence about William Hague in relation to the former Tory MP Shaun Woodward.
"he was a front-bench spokesman on London for the Conservative opposition under William Hague until 1999, when he was sacked for supporting the repeal of Section 28,[2] a regulation which prevented the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools."
It says all I need to know about William Hague's values.
"he was a front-bench spokesman on London for the Conservative opposition under William Hague until 1999, when he was sacked for supporting the repeal of Section 28,[2] a regulation which prevented the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools."
It says all I need to know about William Hague's values.
10/10/2009
8/30/2009
Alan Turing - A real British hero that we should all honour
One of the most annoying things about being British is the fact that our government, indeed virtually every government, never lives up to the high reputation that the people themselves deserve. The persecution of people who serve this country, the continued slap in the face our servicemen receive, the lack of gratitude to people who put their lives on the line is never ending. When you read stories of VC holders having to sell their medals to make ends meet, war heroes having the payments challenged by the government or the story of Alan Turing, you have to wonder what they do it for.
I found THIS article from the Independent which highlights how Alan Turing, the man who broke the enigma code, a man who should be lauded as the person with the greatest single contribution to saving Britain in WW2 was persecuted by the UK government because he was gay, and eventually killed himself as a result. The Pink News reports also on the petition that has been signed by nearly 5000 people already.
It is a shameful blot on the history of this country that a man who did so much to preserve the freedoms we love was treated so badly. So I would support any move to pardon him and feel a more permanent reminder of his contribution to British freedoms should be recognised.
I found THIS article from the Independent which highlights how Alan Turing, the man who broke the enigma code, a man who should be lauded as the person with the greatest single contribution to saving Britain in WW2 was persecuted by the UK government because he was gay, and eventually killed himself as a result. The Pink News reports also on the petition that has been signed by nearly 5000 people already.
It is a shameful blot on the history of this country that a man who did so much to preserve the freedoms we love was treated so badly. So I would support any move to pardon him and feel a more permanent reminder of his contribution to British freedoms should be recognised.
1/04/2008
Iain Dale does not know what a liberal is !
Iain Dale takes the view that the Lib Dems support for legislation that will make hate crimes against gay people a specific criminal offence is not very liberal. I guess it depends on what view you take of the word liberal.
Many Tories, Iain included, seem to think that "liberal" means you will accept anything as fair game, so long as the government keep out of things. So the word "liberal" means you will allow just about anything. Others, take a different view.
I personally take the view that "liberal" means open minded, but also means that you are prepared to take a specific stand against things that are wrong. Specific acts of hate against Gay people for no other reason than their sexuality should be punished. It is not a very liberal state that fails to accept that some laws are needed to protect people.
Iain personally might not need protecting, but others will and others do. presumably for the same reasons Iain gave we don not need legislation that prcludes religious or racial crimes ? Presumably these are not liberal either ? I wonder if the Tories will put out on leaflets that they would repeal the "illiberal" race hate laws ? What do you think ?
So personally, given the Tories long record of being far from liberal over very many years, I'll not take lessons on liberalism from the Tories, thank you very much.
Many Tories, Iain included, seem to think that "liberal" means you will accept anything as fair game, so long as the government keep out of things. So the word "liberal" means you will allow just about anything. Others, take a different view.
I personally take the view that "liberal" means open minded, but also means that you are prepared to take a specific stand against things that are wrong. Specific acts of hate against Gay people for no other reason than their sexuality should be punished. It is not a very liberal state that fails to accept that some laws are needed to protect people.
Iain personally might not need protecting, but others will and others do. presumably for the same reasons Iain gave we don not need legislation that prcludes religious or racial crimes ? Presumably these are not liberal either ? I wonder if the Tories will put out on leaflets that they would repeal the "illiberal" race hate laws ? What do you think ?
So personally, given the Tories long record of being far from liberal over very many years, I'll not take lessons on liberalism from the Tories, thank you very much.
10/11/2007
Tory student chief rapped over homophobic comments
The Conservative Future Chairman at the University of Central Lancashire has been thrown out of the Tory Party and been suspended by the University for being listed as an officer on a homophobic Facebook group and for making homophobic remarks to that group.
The Conservatives, to their credit, have thrown him out of the party.
It is interesting to note that the government are considering changing laws to make this sort of treatment of homosexuals equal with that of being racist or offending someone else's religion. Fergus Bowman, the Tory in question, was reading politics and religion (no surprise there), and might consider himself very lucky that these new laws are not yet in place or he could have spent some time at Her Majesty's pleasure.
You can read more about it on the BBC website HERE.
The Conservatives, to their credit, have thrown him out of the party.
It is interesting to note that the government are considering changing laws to make this sort of treatment of homosexuals equal with that of being racist or offending someone else's religion. Fergus Bowman, the Tory in question, was reading politics and religion (no surprise there), and might consider himself very lucky that these new laws are not yet in place or he could have spent some time at Her Majesty's pleasure.
You can read more about it on the BBC website HERE.
9/30/2007
Sayeeda Warsi - First pandering to homophobes, now to racists. How tough will Cameron be ?
David Cameron is going to have to decide whether he is decisive or a ditherer in the wake of Sayeeda Warsi's latest outburst of foot in mouth.
Ms Warsi has been accused of pandering to racists and the BNP when she told the press that:
"There are a lot of people out there who are voting for the BNP and it's those people that we mustn't just write off and say 'well, we won't engage with them."
"They have some very legitimate views - people who say 'we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities, we are concerned about immigration in our communities."
Remember, this is the same Syeeda Warsi who complained to the press that Sayeeda Warsi, that the Tories in Dewbury told her they did not want her to stand again because they didn't want there to be two ethnic candidates. The implication behind her story was that she was accusing Dewsbury Tories of being racist.
It is clear that Ms Warsi likes to use racist rhetoric, wants to pander to people with racist views and even endorse the views of the BNP when she wants press coverage, but then complains about racism when it affects her. Doesn't this make her the very worst type of hypocrite.
So how does this affect David Cameron ? Well he appointed her as Community Cohesion spokesman for the Tory Party. He had some criticism at the time for appointing her to this post after she had already made a number of comments that could at best be described as deeply unpleasant, but would be described my most people as homophobic.
She claimed just two yeas ago that homosexuality was peddled to children as young as seven in schools and that lowering the age of consent was wrong as it meant gay men were propositioning teenagers on the streets.
Now the problem for David Cameron is this he has not only got a senior spokesman who has both racist and homophobic sympathies blurting from her mouth in the run up to an election. But in the same way as it was well know that Margaret Hodge's idiotic comments about the BNP shortly before the 2006 local elections gave them a boost and talked up their chances of winning, this sort of publicity is absolute gold dust to the BNP. For Ms Warsi not to know that shows incredible naivety, or at worst down right stupidity. is this the sort of person he feels should be a Minister if his party win the election ?
people I know have been impressed by Gordon brown in recent weeks and months because he seems sure of himself, he comes across as decisive, he appears not to suffer fools gladly and has a team around him who are not putting a foot wrong. If Cameron wants to be seen at all as being tough, then now is the time for action.
Ms Warsi's views on homosexual equality and now on the BNP are not views that should be upheld by any political party. If the Tories keep her in her position then nobody in the Conservative party could complain if they are labelled as being a racists and homophobic party because if their Community Cohesion spokesman says these things and is not removed from her post, surely it is Tory approved policy ?
Come on Dave, show you can be a strong man. Take action against her now.
Ms Warsi has been accused of pandering to racists and the BNP when she told the press that:
"There are a lot of people out there who are voting for the BNP and it's those people that we mustn't just write off and say 'well, we won't engage with them."
"They have some very legitimate views - people who say 'we are concerned about crime and justice in our communities, we are concerned about immigration in our communities."
Remember, this is the same Syeeda Warsi who complained to the press that Sayeeda Warsi, that the Tories in Dewbury told her they did not want her to stand again because they didn't want there to be two ethnic candidates. The implication behind her story was that she was accusing Dewsbury Tories of being racist.
It is clear that Ms Warsi likes to use racist rhetoric, wants to pander to people with racist views and even endorse the views of the BNP when she wants press coverage, but then complains about racism when it affects her. Doesn't this make her the very worst type of hypocrite.
So how does this affect David Cameron ? Well he appointed her as Community Cohesion spokesman for the Tory Party. He had some criticism at the time for appointing her to this post after she had already made a number of comments that could at best be described as deeply unpleasant, but would be described my most people as homophobic.
She claimed just two yeas ago that homosexuality was peddled to children as young as seven in schools and that lowering the age of consent was wrong as it meant gay men were propositioning teenagers on the streets.
Now the problem for David Cameron is this he has not only got a senior spokesman who has both racist and homophobic sympathies blurting from her mouth in the run up to an election. But in the same way as it was well know that Margaret Hodge's idiotic comments about the BNP shortly before the 2006 local elections gave them a boost and talked up their chances of winning, this sort of publicity is absolute gold dust to the BNP. For Ms Warsi not to know that shows incredible naivety, or at worst down right stupidity. is this the sort of person he feels should be a Minister if his party win the election ?
people I know have been impressed by Gordon brown in recent weeks and months because he seems sure of himself, he comes across as decisive, he appears not to suffer fools gladly and has a team around him who are not putting a foot wrong. If Cameron wants to be seen at all as being tough, then now is the time for action.
Ms Warsi's views on homosexual equality and now on the BNP are not views that should be upheld by any political party. If the Tories keep her in her position then nobody in the Conservative party could complain if they are labelled as being a racists and homophobic party because if their Community Cohesion spokesman says these things and is not removed from her post, surely it is Tory approved policy ?
Come on Dave, show you can be a strong man. Take action against her now.
9/22/2007
Hypocrisy in Leyton - From the Lib Dems ?
Many Lib Dems, including myself, have been quick to attack Labour for their support of a councillor Miranda Grell accused of homophobic campaigning, who has subsequently been found guilty in court and will, in due course, be stripped of her office.
However, how can the Liberal Democrats in Waltham Forest criticise the activities of the Labour Party there, particularly their continued support for Miranda Grell, when the Liberal Democrats continue to work with labour in a joint administration on the local council ?
If Labour are out of order in continuing to support Miranda Grell then the Lib Dems need to withdraw their support from Labour, surely ?
Certainly I find it hard to disagree with Justin Hinchliffe who makes the point in a comment HERE. We should have nothing to do with homophobes. If that means the Tories running the council, then so be it. We would not work with the BNP (racists) to keep the Tories out, so we should not work with homophobes to do the same.
Update : People are suggesting there is a distinction between the Labour Party and Miranda Grell. I would agree were it not for the fact that the labour Party as an organisation ,the local MP's, Nicky Gavron (deputy Mayor of London), are all standing by her.
However, how can the Liberal Democrats in Waltham Forest criticise the activities of the Labour Party there, particularly their continued support for Miranda Grell, when the Liberal Democrats continue to work with labour in a joint administration on the local council ?
If Labour are out of order in continuing to support Miranda Grell then the Lib Dems need to withdraw their support from Labour, surely ?
Certainly I find it hard to disagree with Justin Hinchliffe who makes the point in a comment HERE. We should have nothing to do with homophobes. If that means the Tories running the council, then so be it. We would not work with the BNP (racists) to keep the Tories out, so we should not work with homophobes to do the same.
Update : People are suggesting there is a distinction between the Labour Party and Miranda Grell. I would agree were it not for the fact that the labour Party as an organisation ,the local MP's, Nicky Gavron (deputy Mayor of London), are all standing by her.
Why would the Labour Party endorse a councillor who admits to stirring up a homophobic campaign ?
A Labour Councillor, Miranda Grell, a so called "rising star" and leading force in Waltham Forest Labour, has been found guilty in court of maliciously telling lies about her political opponent and has been fined and banned from political office for three years.
The question though is, given her defence that she claimed that she did not accuse her Lib Dem opponent of doing anything illegal (the court disagreed), is why she thinks it is okay to say that all she did was "out" the Lib Dem candidate of being gay and of having a boyfriend 20 years his junior (although this was untrue) ?
Her defence seems to be that she has sirred up homosexual hatred, and that is all. in my view this is bad enough in itself, but given that she has admitted this, why has the Labour Party been standing by her ?
The court actually saw things differently. They believed the numerous witnesses who said she had told them that the Lib Dem candidate had an underage boyfriend and that she had implied he was some sort of pervert.
What action will Labour take on this. The gay press certainly should take of its rose tinted spectacles when it comes to the way they view Labour. I ran a by-election campaign in Norfolk in 1994 where the Lib Dem candidate was openly gay and Labour used it on the doorstep to put people off him. it didn't work because he was so "open" that people already knew, but it told me a lot about the values of the Labour Party.
When you realise that Miranda Grell, the woman in this case still has the vocal support of Labour MP's and Labour activists (as highlighted by Lib Dem blogger Andy Mayer HERE), you can see just how nasty a party the Labour Party really are.
The question though is, given her defence that she claimed that she did not accuse her Lib Dem opponent of doing anything illegal (the court disagreed), is why she thinks it is okay to say that all she did was "out" the Lib Dem candidate of being gay and of having a boyfriend 20 years his junior (although this was untrue) ?
Her defence seems to be that she has sirred up homosexual hatred, and that is all. in my view this is bad enough in itself, but given that she has admitted this, why has the Labour Party been standing by her ?
The court actually saw things differently. They believed the numerous witnesses who said she had told them that the Lib Dem candidate had an underage boyfriend and that she had implied he was some sort of pervert.
What action will Labour take on this. The gay press certainly should take of its rose tinted spectacles when it comes to the way they view Labour. I ran a by-election campaign in Norfolk in 1994 where the Lib Dem candidate was openly gay and Labour used it on the doorstep to put people off him. it didn't work because he was so "open" that people already knew, but it told me a lot about the values of the Labour Party.
When you realise that Miranda Grell, the woman in this case still has the vocal support of Labour MP's and Labour activists (as highlighted by Lib Dem blogger Andy Mayer HERE), you can see just how nasty a party the Labour Party really are.
8/22/2007
Some might call them racist, but perhaps they don't like homophobes ?
Sayeeda Warsi, made a peer by David Cameron a few months ago, has claimed that the Tories in Dewbury told her they did not want her to stand again because they didn't want there to be two ethnic candidates. The implication behind her story is that she seems to be accusing Dewsbury Tories of being racist.
However, perhaps given Sayeeda Warsi's avowed views on equality laws for homosexuals and her outspoken opposition to gay people having equal rights with heterosexual people, perhaps Dewsbury Conservatives simply didn't want a homophobic bigot as their candidate ?
However, perhaps given Sayeeda Warsi's avowed views on equality laws for homosexuals and her outspoken opposition to gay people having equal rights with heterosexual people, perhaps Dewsbury Conservatives simply didn't want a homophobic bigot as their candidate ?
4/27/2007
Homophobic Tories ? Allegations made against Welsh Assembly candidate
Oh dear, the headline says it all really.
Darren Millar, the Tory candidate is denying the Labour allegations, but it appears to be getting a lot of coverage in Wales. Is this an attempt by the Tories to appeal to a certain demographic ?
Read the story HERE.
It must be an ongoing concern for the many gay Tories that there are elements within their party who continue to make statements about homosexuality as if it is a sin or a criminal act. Most of the Tories I know that I would consider to be friends, are themselves gay, and in many cases, I know they feel alienated sometimes by those that they consider to be their political allies.
When I was active in North Norfolk politics, there were a number of senior Tories who would seek to disparage their own PPC because he was gay, and they would sometimes do this in a very public way. I have to say it shocked us Lib Dems.
Update - Peter Black offers more information on the story HERE.
Darren Millar, the Tory candidate is denying the Labour allegations, but it appears to be getting a lot of coverage in Wales. Is this an attempt by the Tories to appeal to a certain demographic ?
Read the story HERE.
It must be an ongoing concern for the many gay Tories that there are elements within their party who continue to make statements about homosexuality as if it is a sin or a criminal act. Most of the Tories I know that I would consider to be friends, are themselves gay, and in many cases, I know they feel alienated sometimes by those that they consider to be their political allies.
When I was active in North Norfolk politics, there were a number of senior Tories who would seek to disparage their own PPC because he was gay, and they would sometimes do this in a very public way. I have to say it shocked us Lib Dems.
Update - Peter Black offers more information on the story HERE.
1/26/2007
Two Liberal Democrat MP's join the inequality club
I am grateful to Justin Hinchliffe again for letting me know that Richard Younger-Ross has put down an Early Day Motion (EDM) backing the right of the Catholic Church to be exempt from equality laws that will affect and apply to everyone else in the country.
Sadly too Colin Breed has also signed the EDM.
How unbelievable sad that two elected Lib Dem MP's can support inequality in this way. In my opinion it is shameful and far from liberal.
Sadly too Colin Breed has also signed the EDM.
How unbelievable sad that two elected Lib Dem MP's can support inequality in this way. In my opinion it is shameful and far from liberal.
1/25/2007
Conservative Home homophobia makes the news
After called "disingenuous" by Dizzy today in the comments on my previous posting on this topic, the Pink News has now picked up on this issue too. I am grateful to Justin Hinchcliffe for posting me the link to it HERE.
Some might be shocked to know I am not a reader usually of this fine publication.
What was of particular interest to me is the statement from the Conservative Party at the end of the article.
"The majority of the Conservative front bench believe it is right that same-sex couples should be able to adopt"
Oh, so only a majority. Presumably this means that some senior Conservative's don't believe in equality. No doubt I am being disingenuous again !
Some might be shocked to know I am not a reader usually of this fine publication.
What was of particular interest to me is the statement from the Conservative Party at the end of the article.
"The majority of the Conservative front bench believe it is right that same-sex couples should be able to adopt"
Oh, so only a majority. Presumably this means that some senior Conservative's don't believe in equality. No doubt I am being disingenuous again !
1/24/2007
Homophobia on Conservative Home
With the news yesterday tha tthe Roman Catholic Church are trying to blackmail the government in to having an "opt out" from having to follow equal opportunity laws, and the news today that the Church of England are backing them on this, it is worth noting the discussion currently ongoing on "Conservative Home".
Sorry about the small screenshot, but I'll print below what this person was writing :
"The first homosexual marriage lasted just for one year and most of their relationships are over in a matter of weeks.
Paedophilia and homosexuality go hand in hand and Blair has pandered to every minority group going.
Homosexuality is a recourse for animals when stressed.
Our forefathers were right in condemning it."
Yes, that really is the tone of the discussion on Conservative Home.
To be fair, there are a few Tories valiantly, and slightly in vain I fear, arguing that the Tories silence on this issue is wrong and that no organisation should be allowed an exeption from a law. I am pleased that Justin Hincliffe, one of my regular reads and writer of the hunterandshooter blog is one of those.
There are though, some senior Tory bloggers on Conservative home genuinely claiming that the church should be exempt. Do they not understand that those who are not asking for exemptions are actually not the problem. Organisations that treat people equally are happy with these knew laws. It is only those organisations that despise equality that will want an exemption.
If you want to follow the discussion on Conservative Home, and you'll need a strong stomach, you can click HERE.
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