A great day for minorities

[xelasnave]

Luke AD Hominum attacks being unnecessary was my point.
I agree with all you say and wish I could have expressed my view as well as you posted.

[xelasnave]

We should start a gun and or suicide thread.
This thread really should stick to the opening post and directly related issues.
And I know that I have been guilty of wandering off topic on many occasions.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

We should start a gun and or suicide thread.

Well to be honest there's not much we can do about gun control now - they've been controlled without our mandate. Much as they did in UK in 1919 when the Bolshevik Revolution looked like visiting UK.

By the Bye, I bought my .243 in Amart Allsports! (Not far removed from a Coles type store) in Penrith in 1985.
Someone nobbled them quite soon after - another knee jerk reaction from some death.

When you consider cars kill more even if you eliminate accidents.

Back to bigotry.
There's a lot of it about - just read a newspaper about a transsexual and you can bet your life they put the birth sex in there as if they hadn't jumped through any number of hoops to get where they are.
And why is the report in there anyway? - it really has no reason to be news.
Just some journo, short of a decent story, trying to get a rise out of the prejudiced.

Georgina Mayer was a TS woman who became a member of Kiwi Parliament. Looked a lot nicer than Helen Clark too! lol

There's any number of Gay members now which bodes well for the future of tolerance.

Even I am not entirely free of some emotive parts of same sex partnerships. Guys kissing makes me wince a little. Why it should I'm not sure. Just nurture saying it's not visually my thing I guess.

Suicide? Well I'm not in favour except for Euthanasia. It leaves behind too much hurt.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Steffen

I know that here on IIS we are (mostly) in enlightened company, so this may be akin to taking owls to Athens, but I thought I share this anyway:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles...roud-to-be-gay

If the CEO of the biggest company on earth says "I'm proud to be gay" then I hope that this will be shifting attitudes and eventually make a difference to people who suffer merely because they belong to some minority or other. I don't pretend to have any great insight into their plight, not being a member of any minority I'm aware of, but I do feel that this has got to be a strong signal for anybody rallying against bigotry.

Just saying,
Steffen.

If the CEO of the biggest company on earth ( I think the Catholic Church is bigger) is proud to be gay why should his announcement mean anything to anyone other than himself. Rallying against bigotry is quite a statement. Your comment and wording could be construed as bigotry or at least patronising at best.
I fail to see why anyone who has an opinion which differs from the vocal minority is construed as a bigot. I always thought we were all entitled to have our own opinions and just like the minorities, entitled to voice them.

[xelasnave]

Jennifer..I don't like to see anyone kissing in public but I am just old and grumpy.

A thread on euthanasia would be interesting.
Off topic but I am prepared for the day it gets too hard to go on...I will sail to Antarctica with a couple of bottles of scotch...problem is if my legs don't improve I won't be able to get onboard....but that's the plan..no funeral costs and the family won't have to worry about selling the boat...

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

I thought Marki was talking about the IPCC- intergovernmental panel on climate change?!!!?

[PCH (Paul)]

The way things are going Alex, kissing will be the least of your worries - lol

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Jennifer..I don't like to see anyone kissing in public but I am just old and grumpy.

A thread on euthanasia would be interesting.
Off topic but I am prepared for the day it gets too hard to go on...I will sail to Antarctica with a couple of bottles of scotch...problem is if my legs don't improve I won't be able to get onboard....but that's the plan..no funeral costs and the family won't have to worry about selling the boat...

[rrussell1962]

Xelasnave, will you be saying "I'm just stepping outside I may be some time"?

[PeterEde (Peter)]

What about some places (UK) not describing kids as boys and girls? Or that they are now going unisex toilets.
the PC correctness is getting out of control. We are males and females. We are boys and girls. Some we born into a body of the wrong sex.
Let them change. Although I read recently a guy had the change but now decides being a woman is a hard life and wants to go back. Someone failed this person.
Who should pay for sex change ops? I know of military people who have had the op at public expense while serving?

[beren]

Off topic but I am prepared for the day it gets too hard to go on...I will sail to Antarctica with a couple of bottles of scotch...problem is if my legs don't improve I won't be able to get onboard

Aye that sounds the way I want to go as well but it would be a pallet of rum on board, middle finger painted on the stern, tricorn worn and sea shanties playing

[xelasnave]

My boat is not very seaworthy so two bottles should do it...of course I will have a going away party.
Oops more off topic chatter..

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

The only person who can diagnose transsexualism is yourself.
If the guy lied to the doctor about his feelings,then he got what he deserved.

There's a lot of hoops to jump through before you get surgery and if he jumped through them then he's probably a really good liar.

Not a decision to be taken lightly.
Costs are mostly born by the patient and there's not much change from 50k

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by jenchris

Even I am not entirely free of some emotive parts of same sex partnerships. Guys kissing makes me wince a little. Why it should I'm not sure. Just nurture saying it's not visually my thing I guess.

I can sort of relate to that. I'd seen blokes kissing on TV but seeing it a meter from me was a new experience. It was all over so quick before I'd even had a chance to think 'yuk' I was already thinking 'well, that wasn't so bad'. I was visiting a friend who shared a house with a gay couple. We were sitting at the kitchen table talking to one of the blokes when his boyfriend came in to say good night. He wished us all well then gave his partner a quick good night peck, just like a straight couple would. It didn't hurt a bit - though it will never be a spectator sport .

Years later, but still a while ago, when I used to visit watering holes one of my Friday arvo drinking mates was a gay woman. She (and a few others) used to make an early start, I'd get in about 4.30-5.00 but the girlfriend was normally pretty late arriving (if she came at all). When she did there would be the normal 'hello' followed by a little peck - just like I would do with my partner and just as a straight couple who were also regulars in our group used to do. By that time all the bar stools were normally taken so the girlfriend would just stand next to her partner with her arm around her shoulder. I think I noticed it the first time it happened but by the third or fourth time it just didn't register. Getting used to being around gays is really that easy.

BTW can I tell a little story? It don't seem to fit anywhere but is too good to leave out. We are told that you really can't tell someone's sexuality just by looking at them and generally that is true. Sure there are a few blokes about with eye-liner and high heels and a few women with crew-cuts and tank tops (though some of them are straight!) but most gays look absolutely bog standard. I certainly can't pick most of them, especially women. So, what to make of this? A gay bloke I know loves touring on his motorbike (big BMW tourer). So one day he pulls up outside a pub in country Victoria where he is planning to stay the night. There are also a group of women bikers outside the pub and they turn out to be dykes on bikes. They invite him for dinner. Over dinner he was told 'oh yes, we knew you were gay before you even got off the bike'. WTF? He can't work it out and neither can my partner and I. Nothing about his bike, his leathers or helmet look even remotely 'suspicious'. When I first met him I started to wonder after I had talked to him for a couple hours, but even then I wasn't sure. How can you tell by watching someone park a bike??

Originally Posted by jenchris

Suicide? Well I'm not in favour except for Euthanasia. It leaves behind too much hurt.

I don't think anyone supports suicide! Not even the victims. The experts say that no one wants to die - they want the pain to stop and if death is the only option they feel they have left they will resort to that. I can relate to that. If you are after pain relief then a quick, reliable (or at least perceived to be reliable) exit is attractive, more attractive that putting yourself through agony to escape pain. That is why I believe that firearms and mental health problems don't mix well.

[blink138 (Pat)]

they call it "gaydar" and they can generally pick it first go!
pat

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Course you can tell.
You just need to know how to look.
Sometimes hard to tell if a girl is saphic but not usually.

[TrevorW]

History is full of it bisexuality, homosexuality and the like its been around for thousands of years I think the older generation (50 and older) have been influenced by Victorian purity instilled in their parents and religiously inspired morality and political bigotry which has manifested itself as a loathing for those who do not follow what we would consider the norm, and often we feel threatened by their presence subject to questioning our own sexuality, thankfully that prejudice is less apparent in the now generation and hopefully will be lesser in future generations.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Religion has a lot to answer for eh Trev?
My father was so homophobic that when my brother started using a skin moisturiser said, "you'll be touching men's bottoms next."

Civilisation goes in cycles, from practical to straight laced. We live in an enlightened time, but if you notice the religious groups who are losing control, there is a tightening of the reins.

Leonardo was nearly killed by them. He didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition....
The damage done and the restriction to progress is both astonishing and lamentable.

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by jenchris

Leonardo was nearly killed by them. He didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition....

"Nobody...", oh never mind

Cheers
Steffen.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Originally Posted by Steffen

"Nobody...", oh never mind

Cheers
Steffen.

Yep, totally agree. Watch the BBC documentary: The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnAToomzc00

I first heard of the Spanish inquisition being a myth during a lecture at a University.

Cheers Peter