Disciplined for refusing to hand out literature on homosexuality

VIRII · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:23

Sleepy said:
They do at my local carnival.

If this is a normal activity then I have no issues with it, I have yet to be convinced that it is a normal activity though. I'm fairly sure they go to schools and so forth, I can't recall seeing them handing out leaflets at the countryside marches or similar.
Are there any examples of one issue demos and marches that they've attended other than pride.

Roughneck · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:26

Efour2 said:
Well i learnt something new today: Gay peoples house's burn down too.

yeah fags burn easy

scorza · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:27

Visage said:
Really? How do you know that?

Because that would break public service regulations about offending religious minorities.

Borris said:
And I bet they would have. How do you know that they weren't Muslim firemen?

Because a Catholic bishop has backed their case and not an imam or the British Council of Muslims or a human rights lawyer.

If Atif Rafiq is reading this: If you were a fireman would you have attended a gay pride march to hand out leaflets?

starscream · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:29

Violent-J said:
I have a problem with GAY PRIDE itself. I'm not proud to be straight. Being proud to be gay implies they are somehow superior

No it doesn't, pride means satisfaction from achievement and a feeling of dignity/self-respect. It doesn't imply superiority. If you take pride in something you have acieved, does that make you think you are better than other people?

scorza · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:31

MookJong said:
Some would call it education.....That thing that knocks down barriers between people, causes understanding and helps to build a progressive society.

Yeah no doubt the North Koreans call it education as well.

MookJong · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:31

Violent-J said:
I have a problem with GAY PRIDE itself. I'm not proud to be straight. Being proud to be gay implies they are somehow superior

It can be a nightmare for people who are gay but haven't come out to be carrying the knowledge around with them, we have been lucky enough to be born into the sexuality our society deems "normal" others are not so fortunate.

These marches say it's ok to be who you are, be proud of yourself because there is no shame in being gay. Why you have a problem with that I'm not sure.

MookJong · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:35

scorza said:
Yeah no doubt the North Koreans call it education as well.

Oh yeah I forgot what a shining beacon of progressive thinking and intergration North Korea was. :rolleyes:

Hellsmk2 · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:35

VIRII said:
If this is a normal activity then I have no issues with it, I have yet to be convinced that it is a normal activity though. I'm fairly sure they go to schools and so forth, I can't recall seeing them handing out leaflets at the countryside marches or similar.
Are there any examples of one issue demos and marches that they've attended other than pride.

They're at a heck of a lot of events, but you've probably just not paid much attention to them. To be fair, it's not the sort of thing most people make note of in their daily lives.

Rest assured though, this has been a large part of their duties for a long long time. There really is no agenda here. If the fireman hadn't refused, then like the stalls at every other event nationwide, it would have passed without any particular note of interest.

Gilly · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:35

Borris said:
The irony here is that it's whiny political correctness to suggest that firefighters are free to pick and choose their duties according to how those duties fit in with their personal morality

No it isn't. Its human rights to not be expected to be ridiculed in your day to day work.

VIRII said:
If this is a normal activity then I have no issues with it, I have yet to be convinced that it is a normal activity though. I'm fairly sure they go to schools and so forth, I can't recall seeing them handing out leaflets at the countryside marches or similar.
Are there any examples of one issue demos and marches that they've attended other than pride.

Nor can I. Not a single one other than at schools.

starscream said:
No it doesn't, pride means satisfaction from achievement

What have gayers achieved by being gay?

Violent-J · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:37

MookJong said:
It can be a nightmare for people who are gay but haven't come out to be carrying the knowledge around with them, we have been lucky enough to be born into the sexuality our society deems "normal" others are not so fortunate.

These marches say it's ok to be who you are, be proud of yourself because there is no shame in being gay. Why you have a problem with that I'm not sure.

To the above poster, I'm not sure how homosexuality is an "achievement" but anyway. Good post MookJong, maybe it is unfounded fear and suspicion on my part because I don't have any gay friends then but I do feel slightly offended and dodgy about it. I'm not homophobic, I fully tolerate gay people and have nothing against them but Gay Pride for some reason I'm not entirely sure makes me uneasy.

Visage · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:39

Gilly said:
What have gayers achieved by being gay?

Nothing per se, but what is being acheived is the recognition that homosexuality is just as valid a sexuality as hetero sexuality.

In the same, way, Black pride is not about asserting that Black people are superior, but taking pride in the notion that colour affects ones validity as a human being is now outdated.

If Gay pride was about being proud to be gay, then only gay people would be allowed to take part, which is patently not the case.

Borris · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:39

scorza said:
Because a Catholic bishop has backed their case and not an imam or the British Council of Muslims or a human rights lawyer.

That suggests that the fireman are paedophiles, as much as it suggests they were anything else.[/QUOTE]

MookJong · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:40

Gilly said:
What have gayers achieved by being gay?

Coming out and showing who they are in the face of a society that (although getting better) does not accept them as normal.

Borris · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:40

Gilly said:
No it isn't. Its human rights to not be expected to be ridiculed in your day to day work.

That's still namby-pamby PC nonsense though.

The_TailGunner · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:42

Violent-J said:
To the above poster, I'm not sure how homosexuality is an "achievement" but anyway. Good post MookJong, maybe it is unfounded fear and suspicion on my part because I don't have any gay friends then but I do feel slightly offended and dodgy about it. I'm not homophobic, I fully tolerate gay people and have nothing against them but Gay Pride for some reason I'm not entirely sure makes me uneasy.

denial...

scorza · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:46

MookJong said:
Oh yeah I forgot what a shining beacon of progressive thinking and intergration North Korea was.

"Diversity training" vs. "Political re-education". Same thing.

Sleepy · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:48

Gilly said:
What have gayers achieved by being gay?

Overcoming bigotry for one.

The_TailGunner · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:51

Sleepy said:
Overcoming bigotry for one.

ahh...no, that was achieved by hard work and a gradual re-adjustment of society's values...not by being gay...

/pedant

cleanbluesky · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:52

Various Daily Mail comments said:
The Daily Bigot tells him so.

The poster stated an opinion, if you wish to refute it please do so politely rather than taking time to express your personal feelings on a tabloid paper and dismissing his opinion simlultaneously as bigotry or some such.

The Daily Mail is merely a sensationalist paper as any other, although unlike others it prefers to draw sensationalism over immigration and race issues. If you dislike this, please buy one of the sensationslist papers that reinforce your existing opinions. Then we can dismiss you all as Guardianistas or some other cheap phrase that dismisses your opinion without the need to form an original sentence or address the points you have raised.

Sleepy · 1 Sep 2006 at 11:53

scorza said:
"Diversity training" vs. "Political re-education". Same thing.

One encourages choice the others denies everything but the party line. Yep completely the same.