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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

that you shouldn't open a hotel if you only want straight married couples to stay in it?

514 replies

JoanofArgos · 18/01/2011 18:18

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/christian-couple-barred-gay-couple-shut-hotel

Horrid old bigots, say I.

OP posts:
marantha · 21/01/2011 09:34

Yes, TondelayoSchwarzkopf, that about sums it up.

lesley33 · 21/01/2011 09:54

Lyingwitch, I do know what you mean when you talk about people who make being gay the
most crucial bit of their identity. In my experience it is people who have who just started to feel comfortable with being gay who tend to act like this. At that point in their life, being gay is an enormous deal to them.

I know its not really the same. But imagine someone who is unhappily unfertile. They then manage to have a child through adoption. For that person being a parent is in the early years the most crucial part of their identity. They have come to terms with being unfertile and have found that in spite of that life can be pretty good and they can have a child.

In my experience, people who make being gay the most crucial part of their identity, usually tone down within a few years.

I am glad that attitudes in this country are changing and most people are not like JHHJ. I know I am biased, but I genuinely find it difficult to understand why people can be so filled with hate or disgust at two people being in love. You may be disgusted at some sexual practices - I can't understand why anyone would want to be swingers or take part in orgies - but other peoples sexual practices in their own homes don't affect us as individuals at all. People of the same sex being a couple and in love should be seen as a positive thing.

Unrulysun · 21/01/2011 10:03

JHHJ can you answer my question re Lesley and Hester's posts please?

StayClassy · 21/01/2011 10:38

I haven't read through every post so i don't know if this has been done, but it appears that the couple who owned the hotel had been warned prior to this incident that they could be breaking the law here yet they carried on imposing their beliefs on the public.
But i have to admit i was a bit saddened to see that the couple who had been refused the double room had asked for £5000 in compensation (although awarded £3600), it seems a bit excessive really. I suppose if their only option to get something done about this was to sue, then fair enough. But it would sit better with me if they donated the damages to charity.

YeButerfleogeEffete · 21/01/2011 11:02

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TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 11:04

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TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 11:11

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TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 11:19

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Beachcomber · 21/01/2011 11:21

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech

"Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication which disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race or sexual orientation."

Actually the following sentence from JJHJ fits the definition perfectly. (As do other views expressed by the same poster)

"I do not get what gives the right to some gay people to now demand others accept their sexuality. I would have thought given the persecution of gay people in days that have now gone they would understand this and respect other peoples beliefs and views."

Pointing out that people's views are discriminatory is not name calling. Bigots are free to express their bigoted views - other are free to point out the bigotry.

Beachcomber · 21/01/2011 11:26

Example:

"I think MN is a load of rubbish" = unpopular opinion.

"Incest is illegal so why should I have to put up with homosexuality?" = communication which disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race or sexual orientation AKA hate speech.

YeButerfleogeEffete · 21/01/2011 11:27

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TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 11:34

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TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 11:36

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Beachcomber · 21/01/2011 11:43

I was giving an example of the difference between an unpopular opinion and hate speech.

I do not use bigot as a compliment no.

As I said before, if people want to express bigoted opinions they should at least have the honesty to own their views.

If people do not wish to be considered bigots there is a very simple action they can take - stop holding and expressing bigoted views.

Otherwise, could they please stop whining when their offensive views are not met with a round of applause?

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 21/01/2011 12:30

Hi Lesley... I've been catching up on your posts as per a suggestion; I think I missed them first time, this thread moves quite fast! Like Hester, you make me think hard with your posts and I'm actually learning something here.

Just to make it clear, I'm not at all disgusted by ANYBODY'S sexual practices - I just don't want to see them or hear about them. I've never seen gay people kissing but I can't stand the slurping that some 'straight' people make either. "Do what you want but not in public, whoever you are" probably coins my feelings best of all. Perhaps I'm just horribly uptight... I'm a product of Catholic school Hmm

I saw the recent Elton John thread about the surrogate baby and, other than thinking that it's a shame that he couldn't have swooped in and adopted half a dozen orphans, I was pleased for him - he has a partner and that child will have two parents. Gender matters not to me - TWO parents is what I personally think is best.

I think you're right about the 'newly or recently out'. It must still be very raw for some people who perhaps have not had the support of their family and feel estranged from the society and communities they're supposed to be a part of. I can't imagine what it must be like for somebody who one minute is an accepted part of a loving family and the next, by dint of wanting to live the lifestyle that they're destined to - are 'disowned'. Confused

I can imagine a scenario where a person so rejected might see themselves as having to 'take on the world' and 'fight for their rights to be'. That's very sad, to feel that way. Perhaps it is being gay and feeling that they are in a minority group makes people defensive and a bit 'battle-weary'. I don''t know. As I've said, this thread has made me realise that I can't truly put myself in the shoes of a gay person and see where they're coming from. But I can and do feel empathy with a human being that isn't treat fairly.

I have an example of the self-absorbtion that I was referring to in an earlier post. My colleague (who is gay) and I were staying in an apartment. It wasn't a great place, quite run-down. Anyway, there were two bedrooms. My colleague picked the one she wanted and I had the other one. A minute later there were appalled shrieks coming from my colleague's. Her bedspread had some kind of questionnable stains on it and she thought they might have been semen. Instead of ringing down to housekeeping for a change of bedding she said, "We'll have to swap, I can't sleep in this bed, I'm a lesbian". We laugh about it now and I remind her of it when she's being a diva. Grin

I've thought about my views on this subject and, as I've previously mentioned, I have gay friends and colleagues. I probably have a great deal of acquaintances at work that are gay also and I don't know it. At the end of it all, sexuality doesn't - and shouldn't - define a person, their character is what makes them what they really are.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 21/01/2011 12:41

LadyBiscuit... I did go back and read Lesley's posts as you suggested. I'm glad I did, thank you. :)

BuzzLightBeer · 21/01/2011 13:12

Oh Harpy, you are so right! Using the word bigot in a pejorative way, when all they are are technically bigots who have broken the law designed to prevent bigotry. We should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves.

Really they should organise a march or something to reclaim the name, you know like people did with queer? B&B owners, JHHJ and her friends here, they should march down the streets shouting "We're here, we're bigots, we don't like gays"

I'm sure they'd have fun.

DrNortherner · 21/01/2011 13:21

Buzzlightbeet - I'd pay to watch that parade!

YeButerfleogeEffete · 21/01/2011 13:42

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DrNortherner · 21/01/2011 13:43

Hell yeah!

lesley33 · 21/01/2011 14:11

Lyingwitch sorry my comments about being disgusted with anyone's sexual practices weren't aimed at you. They were in response to another poster, but I should have made that clear.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 21/01/2011 14:48

Lesley... I think your comment just prompted me to reply from a previous post. I didn't think you aimed them at me but I wouldn't have minded, you weren't rude or uppity. :)

TheShriekingHarpy · 21/01/2011 15:38

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LadyOfTheManor · 22/01/2011 18:20

I'm half way through reading the threads, but I'd like to add my husband has his SIA licence and sometimes bounces, and bouncers have the right to refuse entry to anyone for any reason, and they, legally, don't have to provide a reason.

I'll comment in a minute after I've caught up...otherwise I'll forget things!

LadyOfTheManor · 22/01/2011 18:23

I'm a Christian...and while I think, according to Scripture, that homosexuality is wrong, I don't hate homosexuals...just let them get on with life as they see fit...I don't try and "convert" them anymore than they do me.

I wouldn't allow them to sleep under my roof if I owned a hotel.

That's precisely why I'm not in the hotelier industry.