….. but not if you’re gay
The Iris Robinson ‘gays can be turned’ row has inspired more comments on Slugger than anything else I remember, and of course bloggers have been posting away like mad on it. The most sickening thing about all of this is that Mrs Robinson obviously feels she has done nothing wrong.
I’m not sure her husband will agree, however. No matter how much he backs up the little woman in public, does he perhaps remember the Programme for Government for which he is now responsible? Let’s look at some extracts, along with a sneak preview of Iris’s next Nolan Show comments:
‘We have much goodwill and support both at home and abroad – including from the United States and the European Union – to help us realise the opportunities and address the challenges we face. We will seek to build on this goodwill and support to create a confident and vibrant region that plays its full part in North/South and East/West relations……... Working together we can build a shared and better future for all – a society which is at ease with itself and where everyone shares and enjoys the benefits of this new opportunity. This is our commitment to you.’ (p.4).
Except of course if you are gay. And if you foreigners out there think that supporting us means you have the right to criticise that, then you can just get right back to where you came from. Nobody has loved us for years and we still don’t care. And you can take your Foreign Direct Investment with you.
‘As an Executive, we will support business, and create the conditions in which enterprise can flourish. We will work to grow the economy and private sector to generate high value jobs. This will include, amongst other things, a focus on increasing private sector investment in innovation and on improving the strength of our tourism sector. This will require investment……..to create a region which offers a high quality of life to those who wish to live and work here……This is essential if we are to retain our young people, our existing highly skilled employees, and attract the people and investment required to drive the increasingly knowledge-based economy.’ (p.9)
But not if you’re a gay entrepreneur, and heaven forbid that you might be ‘coloured’ as well! We don’t want gays on high value jobs either, even if you are the best in the world and for some reason you want to come and live in our wee country. And tourists – forget it! Take your money to London or Dublin! And if you were born here and happen to be gay, we’ll be glad to see the back of you no matter how good your degree is. Competing in the global economy has its limits, don’t you know.
‘We must also continue our efforts to address the divisions within our society. Progress has been made, but at a time when our society is being transformed, sectarianism, racism and intolerance are still too evident. They mar our reputation, blight our economic prospects and have a corrosive effect on our society.’ (p.12-13).
I can cope with Catholics having rights, as long as they don’t want a united Ireland, but I draw the line at…. You know what I mean, Stephen?
6 comments:
It sometimes feels, Jenny, as we have taken 10,000 steps backwards, doesn't it?
I look at this along with the appalling misogyny in the US and I just want to fold up the old tent and crawl away.
One gets exhausted from the fight for just plain and ordinary HUMAN RIGHTS.
Why are people so obsessed with the naughty bits?
XO
WWW
Oh I don't know - there's been a huge on-line backlash here, including a petition to the Prime Minister and 2 Facebook groups giving details of addresses to complain to. For all that it's infuriating - and the point of my post was also to point out the economic damage these comments do - it's plain that not everyone agrees. Now THAT would have been really depressing......
Certainly her remarks may put off some entrepreneurs who would rather invest in a more open-minded society, but for most companies if the country's profit potential is alluring enough they don't give two hoots about the odd rabid politician. The best deterrent is still the law, if someone would actually enforce it.
I wasn't talking about the potential to exploit the locals in low-paod work here, but the need to attract the 'frequent flyers' class of specialist workers who can choose where they work, some of whom will be gay (or lesbian - although interestingly Robinson's remarks pertain to men: perhaps like Queen Victoria she thinks lesbians don't really exist). The PfG really wants these workers, to help with establishing a skilled economy to minimise the chance that jobs won't subsequently go to lower cost countries.
Hi, great blog
I think this is a cynical manipulation by the DUP of their hard-line evangelical support. A few weeks after their religious leader is succeeded by the secularising Peter Robinson, Iris suddenly pops up as defensor fidei on the gay issue to keep the hard-liners sweet.
Scrabo - you may be right, given also the remarks from Ian Paisley Jnr today about shooting to kill, plus Sammy Wilson's disavowal of global warming. I suspect that the DUP really know their constituency. But this provides a political opportunity for everyone else, and most particularly for the UUP in their new (or rather, renewed) link with the modern Tory party.
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