A message that has to be shared

For gay people everywhere, because everyone deserves the happiness and security I have

Pass the word.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.


It's a powerful video and above all a strong message. Bigots - whether gays marry or not won't touch you. It won't change your lives one tiny iota. But these are real people and real lives and real families you are trying to destroy. For your cause, for your god, for your hate, you are trying to destroy people and their loved ones.

And the only word for that is evil.

And the competitor for International Fail Champion steps forwards

It does seem there are a lot of people out there who do so try to push back the boundaries of epic fail. I worry I really do. Can the human race please TRY to be vaguely decent for a while? I’m trying to control my misanthropy and it’s getting really really really hard.

The newest person to enter in the Fail Olympics is Carol Thatcher (yes, daughter of She Who Must Not Be Named). She has called a black tennis player a golliwog.

Now, I’m told this term doesn’t actually travel well and is something of a British slur more than anything (though from what I can see golliwog has been used throughout the English speaking world). A wikipedia link is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog but basically a golliwog is a very old fashioned doll in the form of the most offensive, stereotypical portrayal of a black person you can possibly imagine. The toys are now, thankfully, extremely rare and regarded as the disgusting things they are. The word, however, is still used as a vile racist slur.

Now, people hearing this were rather perturbed. The BBC, thankfully not willing to put up with this shit, gave her an ultimatum - apologise unconditionally or be sacked (frankly, I think that’s generous. They’d be perfectly within their rights and have me waving fan banners if they’d given her the heave-ho before the echoes of her foul mouth had died).

She refused to apologise and was sacked.

Ok, let’s have a brief aside here. She refused to apologise. What. The. Hell. She just lost ALL points for being a decent human being on that one. Even if it WERE a generational gap or ignorance or temporary insanity or possession by evil spirits - if you accidentally say something offensive and unintentionally offend people (giving her the biggest possible benefit of the doubt) then the natural, decent, HUMAN thing to do is apologise. She didn’t.

Now, we are treated to scum as diverse as Will Young to Boris Johnson through the gamut of the usual suspects at the Sun, Daily Mail and Telegraph all outraged that the BBC had the temerity to sack someone for being a racist arsehole. Well done guys, collect a fail prize - you all fail at basic humanity. The lot of you disgust me to the point of nausea.

So now let’s look at some of the specific defences the scum have raised to defend the inexcusable.

1) She said it in private!
No, she said it off-air. That doesn’t make it private. She said it at work, on work premises, in her employer’s time, while acting as a representative of her employer, in an official part of the work place, in front of her colleagues, her employer’s guests and several journalists. Private? No. Really not. If I went into the waiting room of my office and used that word my senior partners would be pissed. I would be expected to apologise. If I wilfully refused to do so I would be booted. I can’t think this is unique.

2) The BBC has a grudge against She Who Must Not Be Named.
Yes. And to exercise this grudge they employed her daughter in a lucrative and easy role then waited until she said something unacceptable (possibly forcing her to do it with some evil mind control)

3) It’s natural for someone of that generation.
Bullshit. She is an educated, intelligent woman who works as part of one of the biggest news and information networks in the world and is the daughter of a POLITICIAN. Do not even TRY to tell me she was unaware that the word was offensive or that such words come naturally to her. Seriously. And if it WAS unintentional then why the hell didn’t she apologise?

4) It was taken out of context
The word is golliwog. It was used to describe a black man. There ISN’T a good context here. In what possible context can the word be used as that kind of descriptor and it be ok?

5) It’s PCISM gone mad! It’s over sensitivity!
It’s basic bloody manners. Hey, please don’t use vilely insulting language to describe people. If you accidentally offend people, you apologise. If you use racist language at work, your employer is going to be miffed. What makes Carol so damn special that these don’t apply to her? Is she beyond, above or better than good manners?

It makes me sick. Not just that one person would say such an idiotic, offensive, vile thing, but the legions of people who step out and support and defend her. It’s disgusting and it just makes an awful thing far far far far far worse.