Christian Family face possible legal action

An aside - on the point made above about there being a lot of gay people at the BBC, my life experience is that there are a lot of gay and lesbian people in the world

Iam - IME there are a lot of small minded, ill informed prejudiced people too - I tend to notice them , regardless of their sexual orientation.

Good morning GrannyTwice - oddly enough, that's my experience too. You commented earlier on this thread that your friendship group has always included gay or lesbian people. That's true for me and as for my children and their friends it seems colour, creed, sexual orientation just isn't an issue for them. Progress at last

Well, I'm cetainly not against gay people being included in everything in the community, in exactly the same way everyone else would be.

Grannytwice Have You read my post a bit earlier on? You have to learn to accept other people's way of thinking, as well as your own. We can't all think the same. There should be no aggression, and no nasty comments.

I don't know why I am bothering with this. Gay people in this country, just like the rest of us, have so much more than people in other parts of the world. I just can't care about this any more.

Perhaps read my thread about the child in Iraq? They are the ones I care about.

Totally agree with Jings Re 'A gay friend is almost a fashion accessory'

Petra - you mean like the Paris Hilton toy dog in a handbag? Have you any idea how insulting your comment is?

You must know exactly what I mean. You are not that thick. It is the 'in' thing to number gay people amongst your friends. Which is in itself, divisive. Why mention anyone's sexuality? It is personal and private.

I think Stonewall should quietly fade away now. We have full gay rights, including marriage. Time for the aggression to be left behind.

this is my final word on the subject - then I am really OUT
sexual orientation has become what the 'race' card used to be - it is now fashionable to play the 'gay' card to make life as difficult as possible for others in whatever the situation is.
there are far more serious things in the world than 'the icing on the cake'

jingle My remarks weren't specifically aimed at you but I did think your comment that gay people were being used as "accessories" was unpleasant. I stand by my opinion that many of the comments on here, such as mollie 's "race card" remark, indicate an underlying disdain for equality issues. All across the world gay people are being persecuted, hounded out of their jobs, imprisoned and - in some countries - even threatened with death. Whilst life has improved tremendously for gay people in this country, many of them continue to experience intimidation and sometimes serious assaults by homophobes.

mollie You are right - there are far more serious things in the world than "icing a cake" but it was the bakers that made an issue of it.

Mollie what you have posted is ridiculous and prejudiced. It lacks any thought, analysis or evidence base. No wonder they are your final words on the subject.

And I agree with Eleo- anyone who thinks that some gay people don't suffer still from homophobia are living in cloud cuckoo land. Of course it's much better than it was, but there is no room for complacency.

Well said, eloethan.

On a slight diversion... Minibags told me yesterday (a propos of I can't remember what) that there is a gay boy in her class. She said it's much easier for a girl her age to be friends with a gay boy than it is for them to be friends with a straight boy because people (her peers) make unwarranted sexual assumptions if you are friends with a straight boy.

On the contrary Gtwice. mollie65 is right.

Why don't you find a more worthwhile cause to get so het up about? I can't understand why you seem to feel so much compassion for a group of people who are now enjoying the same rights as the rest of us. Well, I can understand it - you think it's "cool".

My DD has a young lad in her school Bags who is quite obviously gay, and walks around quite happily hand in hand with another young feller of the same age.

(that hasn't actually got much to do with your post has it? )

I have gay friends, Muslim friends, Christian friends, atheist friends, in fact friends of all kinds. I respect their views and way of life; although they may not agree with each other.

That is why I find this case somewhat disturbing - the views of the Christian bakers have been overriden. It would have been so easy to go to another bakery. One set of values has taken precedence over another.

They didn't exactly take the easy way did they? They could so easily have given in to the bullies targeting them. You've got to admire them, even though it's turned out so badly for them.

Why are there so many aggressive people in the world?

This thread has stirred things up. I had a quick read over it since I last visited and it is very clear that some people think that thier belief in a certain faith means that everybody else should just excuse the times when that faith is not in line with the law of the land. That way, surely, comes disaster. If one business is allowed to do/not do something because the owners of the business find it is not in accordance with their faith then why not all faiths and all business? Or do you want only one faith (yours) to have such special treatment?

They broke the law--that is clear--and have been found guilty. The recent vote in Ireland has shown that most people in the south see nothing wrong with gay marriage, and this is in a place where the church runs most of the schools and taught most of the people that voted "yes". Most people there still say they are christain and yet accept homosexuality as a natural and normal part of life.

jinglbellsfrocks--there is a theory which explains a positive evolutionary place for homosexuality. It says that if a breeding pair have a "gay" uncle then that pair have another adult supporting their offspring without competing for females or having offspring of thier own. This is seen in some wolf groups, where only one pair breed and the others support them. Homosexual behaviour is seen in these groups (and in most mammals) and is not unusual. It also (sort of ) explains why some mammals, us for example, have females that continue to live for some time after we can no longer reproduce. Older, but infertile females support thier daughters offspring. There is no evolutionary place for post-menopausal women either, if our only job is to reproduce.

soontobe--you are completly able to believe what ever you want. But surely you do not want to force others to conform to your world view? Why would you want others, who do not agree with you, to have to conform to your rules?

GrannyTwice. I meant no offence by agreeing to Jings remark. But believe me, these people do exist. You are fortunate that you have never come across them.

What people are these petra? Those who treat their gay friends as accessories?
How do you distinguish between the superficial 'accessory' and the genuine friend or dear relative?
Or is it inevitable that gay and straight people simply can't have real affection or love for each other?

ohdear that sounds a rather far fetched theory to me, but I will keep within the bounds of politeness and not give you my original answer.

Regarding post menopausal women, they live past their original allotted time due to good modern day nutrition.

Oh do stop picking on petra. Surely one poster can assert simple agreement with another without getting the gestapo treatment.