We have debated racism and sexism so lets do the other one, homophobia! At 63 I come from a time when homosexuality was illegal, a bad thing, sordid, dirty with gay men and woman in the same class has ****philes. You would then think I would be in the anti gay camp, again forgive the pun, but far from it. Over those 63 years I have worked and lived in a variety of places, worked with gay and straight, had nights out with both and even shared a room with a gay friend and just for the record, no, he did not jump on me any more than a woman who did not fancy me or felt a mutual attraction would. I cant condone but can understand a reason for racism, or at least a percieved reason, over here, taking our jobs and the like. I sort of get sexsism in a way but again dont condone it. Homophobia I just done get, honest I dont, yes I understand that a hetrosexual man would find gay sex a little off putting to say the least, I dont understand why a man would enjoy sex with a ginger fat one leg woman with BO but I dont mind if someone else wants to do it. Now all that said I think we need to respect other peoles views, its easy to shout and abuse but its better to listen and try and understand, I hope this thread is full of understanding. Over to you, what side of the fence and why?
Nee problem with gays but these gay pride marchers get on my tits, having to shout it from the roof tops. Don't know any gay men but have two very goods lesbian friends one of whom is very special to me.
With working in a university environment, you can imagine that I encounter people of different colour, creed and sexual preference on a daily basis. The one thing thay I have learnt over the years is not to take people at face value, and to treat each person as a unique individual.. There is good, bad and indifferent in all walks of life, and people can always surprise you...
Is the taking of our Jobs racism though? If the Americans suddenly find themselves in deep **** (which could happen and is happening right now) and they all come over here and took our jobs, pretty sure most would say its not on at all, same if it happened to us and we had to go to work in America. No one says Australia are racist, but getting into there is pretty hard, you need Qualifications or lots of Experience in your chosen field, to be accepted into the country to live there, you cant just turn up on a boat and they welcome you with open arms like the UK does. I just cant see how people taking our jobs is racist, its the immigration laws that are ****ed, but if we changed them it would be seen as racist, but like i said the Australians are very strict, but nothing is said against those. As for Homophobia, as long as they dont shove it in my face, i dont really care what they do, its their lives, let them get on with it.
I disagree with gay marriage. I disagree with same sex couples being able to adopt. I disagree with any separate government funding going to them. Does it bother me their are gays? Nope. Don't bother me, I won't bother them. Does it aggravate me that it is shoved down our throats daily on TV? (NO pun intended.) Yes. Does it bother me a fat old singer of nearly pensionable age and his partner can use money to acquire a baby? YES!
I dont think it is was just saying I can understan, if not agree, with why some think it is. Bit close to the bone that mind, jut coz I cant sing
I too feel a little uncomfortable with same sex couples adopting and raising children...As for extra government funding, this is something which I was not aware of...
Well my point was, If you disagree with the immigration laws, you are classed as racist. I vote labour and probably will till the day I die, but the last election we got the BNP newsletter thing through the door, and it made sense to me, But they are seen as racist because of their stance on immigration, so I would never vote for them or join them. Their stance is exactly the same as Australia, doesnt matter what colour skin you have, you can get in and work in this country, if you have the Qualifications/Experience in a chosen field, if you just come here looking for a free ride, or more cash than you are earning at home, for a farm labourer as an example, then no, you cant get in, not when there are 2 million + Brits unemployed. I dont know, i do think we are far too soft on immigration, but I dont have a racist bone in my entire body.
That's about my view on it Steve I don't begrudge anyone a living in the UK, wherever they are from, if they come in and graft for it. I live in Spain, and I am registered for NIE & SS, and I pay it (well, I pay the same % that the Spaniards do, at least...) It's too easy to blame other races, when some of the laziest, bone idle wastes of space are British.
Australia is lacking in probably the most important resource to sustain human life... water. We have been in drought now for so long that we can't remember what it was like to freely piss away water. We have water restrictions with watering our lawns, how long we take showers, have special taps and shower heads to minimize water usage. We place such high restrictions on people coming in for this reason. The people Oz does want are those who are going to benefit our economy and development. Not just any bum who can get a cheap flight over here and go on the dole. Admittingly, I want immigration tightened... my own opinion, but we are letting in too many muslims and asians. Now, reading that you are probably thinking im racist. In fact, im as far from it as you can get. I have lived in the middle east for about 5 years all up, and work in Asia alot. The muslims come over here and want to instill Sharia Law, and the Cronulla race riots of 2005 painted us lot as very racist, but truth be told, we have had it with Muslims coming over here and trying to instill their laws onto us, trying to get churches demolished in areas they move in to, and getting mosques put up all over the place. The Asians come down here and dont even bother learning English. I know this as I got lost in a Sydney suburb once (before iPhones and GPS) and when I tried to ask for directions, no one spoke English. Took me a fair while to find someone who did. Yes, in Sydney. This is why we are so strict. In fact, alot of people are calling for immigration to be clamped down. We get alot of 'boat people' who come out, and set fire to the detention center on Christmas Island (google it... and these people want us to let them in...?), and in a few cases, Muslims raping Aussie girls because they dress 'sluttish' and therefore deserve it. And I think they got off the charge because they plead ignorance and cultural difference. Australia is built on multi-culturlism, but we have our own identity. This is something we see slipping everyday from us. January 26th is Australia Day, and we were told by the media that if we flew the Aussie flag during this day, we would be branded as racist (again, google it). I am Scottish but have lived in Oz on and off since 1989, and I love it here. I consider myself an Aussie, proud of this country and it pains me to see the direction it is going. All we have to do is look to the US and the UK to see how ****ed up it can get, and we dont want it. If people want to come here and embrace this culture, it's people, and its way of life, then I will welcome them with open arms. But to the others who just want to come here to turn it into the place they just left, well they can **** off for all I care.
live very close to 2 lesbians who have been together for 26 years, they are both football mad, 1 Rangers fan and 1 Sunderland fan and they are sound as a pound, got no problem with gays whatsoever
We only hear about it when they stamp their feet and it gets in the news, like last year, when the Home Office stopped the hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Gay Police Association! As for the racism issue, anyone and I mean anyone, who uses religion to brow beat or intimidate another person should be treated with the same force of law and contempt used against racists. If you want to use religion to alienate yourself, bugger off to a country that supports your views. As for that terrorist Moslem preacher, don't get me started, ****ing EU. Ridiculous that we base laws on out dated myths.
