New Pride window in Belfast City Hall

[TheWitchWon]

https://x.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1925882503417454717?t=LdPsR5-OaXqN7CJw6pFKlA&s=19

The slogan on the window

"Save Sodomy from Ulster"
It celebrates inclusivity apparently and is the Lord Mayor's proudest moment as the city's Mayor.

😂I think you might be under another delusion here - how the mainstream reader of Mumsnet is reading the FWR boards.

Believe me, they see what is happening here, and posts like yours are seen for what they are.

😂😂😂 It would look amazing in Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park. Exactly the same colour scheme 😂

It called reality. It’s a wonderful thing.

Not really.
I posted for a number of reasons.
Being upset wasn't one of them.
Firstly I posted because I disagree with the need to include the slogan on the window. Why was it necessary? People will argue that it was instrumental in achieving gay rights. I don't believe that to be accurate. Others obviously will disagree.
Secondly I posted because I wanted to open a conversation about this.
I don't see gay rights as being about slogans about sodomy, as being about celebrating fetishes at Pride marches or about forcing a religious family to bake a 'Support Gay Marriage' cake.
I think it's OK to say that.
No single group should be given immunity from criticism.
That's not what equality is about.
Of course, as expected, the best immediate response was homophobia and an attempt to shut down the discussion. A few posts gleefully anticipated that the pile on would be enough to scare me off.
People will have different opinions on the window, but to accuse people of homophobia for not automatically fawning over it is bullying behaviour and indicative of a culture of entitlement that will only result in resentment.

The second part of my OP is about the mayor.
To me LGB rights are about somebody's sexuality being irrelevant. The fact that he is gay should be irrelevant.
Yet, it's his proudest day as Mayor?
A window? Really?
I would have hoped he had greater ambitions for the city than that.

Brick.

I'd be interested to know what other stained glass windows are in the building. I suspect one thing that turns people off this kind of thing is the feeling that it's very faddish and flavour of the day, and that LGBTQ+ stuff seems to get all the money and attention now with things like arts grants.

It is also rather ugly, I think there are quite a lot of gay and lesbian people who are tired of being seen as the ultimate kitsch lovers.

That is an old fashioned phrase to describe Micky Murray. But a nice sentiment, I guess.

What an ugly thing, how embarrassing for Belfast

It's a bit garish in design but the overall message is provocatively defiant against homophobia, and I like it for that.

You are so right.

No it isn’t inclusive. Far from being inclusive it has put gay men in a separate category of their own, and emphasised the word ‘sodomy’ which will not help them ( just as Paisley intended).

(Note how it ‘inclusively’ is only about gay men and leaves out lesbians - although this is lucky for them.)

It is absolutely hideous too.

To me LGB rights are about somebody's sexuality being irrelevant. The fact that he is gay should be irrelevant.

Exactly.

This is the age old technique to silence, shame, and diminish gay people.

Make us invisible and then we are easier to isolate and eventually dismiss.

Pretend we don't exist and you don't have to have to acknowledge the harms that are done to us.

Make us invisible so we can not find each other, and can not support each other.

Visibility enables us to combat the prejudices and hostilities that have always existed, and are returning with more force in the world today.

"Just keep quiet won't you, we don't want to hear this" That is what this thread is all about.

I meant through the window

And this is what we're up against.

Feminism and Women's Rights (FWR) on Mumsnet is fertile ground for those who would use violence to suppress gay visibility.

This poster is confident to post this here because they know it is landing in a receptive forum.

I wouldn't bet on this window lasting very long.

Heading out with the boys tonight then?

I read this whole thread before I clicked on the link. I imagine they were going for heroic but it just looks kind of cheesy to me. The arrows on the male symbols look like little penises.

I don't think the word sodomy on a piece of art in a town hall is going to foster tolerance. More likely the opposite.

Yes the 'phobia word will be dragged out yet again, as if anybody cared. Imagine a.different slogan - an explicit heterosexual one being put in the window instead. It would be condemned as gross and offensive. People would.definitely not take children to see it or have it explained to them. Why does a.child have to know what sodomy is?

Oh, for goodness sake.
Stop with the dramatics.
It's not an attempt to pretend the Lgbtqia + community doesn't exist.
It's just people with a different opinion than you about a window.

Yes, and you're going out of your way to post on FWR aren't you?

I mean people have lots of opinions on lots of different things, windows included ( not a fan of velux myself); they occur as passing thoughts and drift away again.

But no, this has animated and energised you so much that it was worthy of a thread on FWR. 🥱 Anyone else might think there was an agenda 🙄

Goodness yes you're right.

And White Live Matter Too. 🥱🙄

*White Lives Matter
🥱🙄

It isn't a symbol of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. It's a stained glass window commemorating the fight for gay rights in NI.

It would be very strange if the person depicted wasn't white.

It's possible to be concerned about both misogyny and homophobia. As any lesbian will tell you.

It celebrates the banning of who?