Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Telegraph Column: "Gays Aren't "Normal" and "Shouldn't Play Victim"

The Telegraph is a newspaper geared towards the United Kingdom and International community. A column by journalist James Delingpole called "But gays AREN'T normal..." borders on the offensive. In the article the author is trying to convey the point that the homophobic comments of a conservative political candidate are not necessarily shared by him but that he defends their right to say it.

The first problem is the provocative title and wording of the article to suggest that gays aren't normal:

"Some of my best friends are gay and I don’t think any of them would describe their sexual preferences as “normal”. In fact, for one or two of them, the very fact that what they do is abnormal is one of the major bonuses of having been born homosexual: it’s ruder."
If Delingpole would simply use the word unconventional as opposed to normal, there wouldn't be any problem. Of course gay people are a minority but to suggest abnormality is to suggest that there is something wrong with gay people.

Delingpole than goes on to make the claim that anti-gay views along with other views should be accepted within the conservative movement:
"Conservatism is a broad and tolerant church – and that ought to include toleration of the mild intolerance of free citizens like Lardner."
While society has free speech principles, a politicians job is to represent all the people, including his gay and lesbian constituents.

Finally the author says that nobody should play victim:
"Gay victimhood is soooo last year. In fact, victimhood of any kind is not a Tory concept at all."
When a whole group of people are subject to discriminatory language by a politician there must be consequences for the language that seeks to hurt others.

Author James Delingpole can be contacted on:
http://twitter.com/jamesdelingpole

Contact the Telegraph to complain about this offensive article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/about-us/form/

5 comments:

CrackerLilo said...

They always count gay people as "some of their best friends." *sighs* Where are all these self-loathing gays who enjoy very one-sided friendships with people who clearly hate them?

The larger point...well, I don't know how things work in the UK, so can't really speak to that, but I know in the US, whining about "victimhood" has become very much accepted among conservatives.

Hann said...

Hmm, what proportion of the population of the UK write for newspapers? I suspect he's a lot less "normal", in that respect.

libhom said...

Whenever someone uses the word ¨victimhood¨ in a polemic, you automatically know that person is a bigot.

Anonymous said...

Why should I have to be "normal"? Why should I be denied rights for being "abnormal" when I am not taking away anybody else's rights?

Anonymous said...

well many people think Torries aren't "normal" either, so there you are . . .

"Everyone's crazy but me and thee. And sometimes I'm not so sure about thee!"

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