Save Us From The Bigots!

That was rather a strange thing, I thought – the Pope getting involved in British politics? Seems a bit of a goat-dance if you ask me, and not entirely appropriate in my opinion. I assumed that he was pontificating (excuse the pun) on some totally irrelevant issue and that none of us need to listen. However, when I looked a bit closer at the content of what he said, I began to get somewhat uncomfortable. He was questioning the legitimacy of our equality laws, and suggesting that they are mis-placed in modern society. WTF?

Basically, what the old fathead was saying is that British equality laws (which surely should be the same as those in Italy, or anywhere in Europe?) are opposed to the teachings of the Gospel. What he means, of course, is that the Gospel doesn't say that it's okay to have gays and lesbians in the top church-type jobs; that's what he means. Although he dresses up his argument as some kind of pseudo-philosophical debate, when you peel away the fancy words, all you get is good old-fashioned plain bigotry.

He said that staying true to the Gospel “in no way restricts the freedom of others” but rather “serves their freedom by offering them the truth”. What truth would that be then? Would it be the "truth" that says that all gays and lesbians have somehow chosen to pursue a path of sinful debauchery, and that they should repent from their ways or go to hell? So, our "freedom" is protected not by laws, but by the Gospel, as long as we accept it as the "truth"? What a load of old rubbish. The law is there to protect us from exactly this kind of hypocritical restriction that the church would like to impose upon us. Pah!

Old Benedict XVI then goes on to say: "But I think there is a misunderstanding, because sometimes in government legislation, equality seems to be that we are all absolutely equal, which we are not. We are equal in dignity, beyond that each one of us is unique.” Well that much is true, but it still doesn't mean that legislation shouldn't be in place to prevent discrimination, does it? There's no "misunderstanding" here, as far as I can see.

Peter Tatchell, the homosexual rights activist, said: “He seems to be defending discrimination by religious institutions and demanding that they should be above the law. Pope Benedict is likely to make highly partisan political criticisms during his forthcoming visit to the UK. Most British people will not welcome a meddlesome pontiff who opposes our equality laws.” Absolutely right, Peter me old lad.

Anyway, enough of my soapbox antics – I'm sure it's all as dull as ditchwater anyway, and I have to get on with rehearsing my presentation for tonight's Pecha Kucha event. At this event, I am hoping to recount the episode when my great-aunt Dolores knocked out a skinhead in a London pub. She was a bit of a bigot herself, was Dolores, and not especially tolerant of what she called "queers" as it happened, but she also hated bullies (which was a bit rich really, considering how she bullied me for years). This skinhead was trying to pick a fight with some diminutive little fairy who had apparently been "eyeing up his arse" (squeezed, as it was, into the skinhead's skin-tight bleached jeans). Dolores was having none of it – smaller herself than even the young fairy, she marched up to the brute and climbed onto a nearby table. "Pick on someone your own size," she told him, before flooring him with an exocet-style left hook.

Unfortunately, she hadn't spotted his three burly friends sitting nearby so all in all, we were rather lucky to get out of there alive. Oh, I do so miss her!