Richard Coles embarrassing himself

[LadyBracknellsHandbagg]

Why do these mediocre men need to keep speaking? You’d think this was written by a 12 year old, who uses the word ‘baddie’ ffs? 🤦‍♀️ It’s so full of virtue signalling, ‘look at me with all these young people showing them how cool I am’ it’s absolutely tragic.

I was trying to agree, but managed to contribute to the layers of misunderstanding. 😭

There was literally nothing spiritual in it.

He’s narrow and smug. And he was dreadful on Home Truths - obsequious, and tended to say the obvious.

Have never understood his appeal.

We obviously have very different takes on the book. I was interested. And moved. Not sure a back and forth about it would be constructive, tbh.

I don’t think he took any sort of vow of poverty, did he?

I was the one who introduced 'elderly' into the mix, by which I meant that he has an 'old fogey' posting style which is somewhat non-committal, and people replying jumped to (wrong) conclusions.

I agree with all of this.

I don’t expect he did, but there’s an awful lot of advice in the New Testament about eschewing material pleasures.

I don’t think the Church of England read that bit!

Yes, a back-and-forth on the book is pointless. When you said earlier that you were moved by his writing about the loss of his husband, I (wrongly) assumed you could only mean his writing elsewhere on this subject - perhaps a column, or something like that.

I didn’t read your post properly. Sorry!

Him banging out the piano solo on ' Don't Leave Me This Way'.

'Gay men weren't treated badly in the 80s'.

My, you certainly do sound confident.

So openly gay men, holding hands in the street say, weren't likely to get gay-bashed?

So most gay men were out to their family and friends, and mostly accepted by them?

So homophobia wasn't a huge feature of societal response to the AIDS crisis?

So the age of consent was equal to the straight one?

So civil partnerships and adoption rights existed?

So the army wouldn't kick men out for being gay?

So Section 28 wasn't a thing?

There was more acceptance in the 1980s than in, say, the 1950s (it wasn't illegal any more for one thing, and there was - slowly - starting to be more representation in media) but I wouldn't say gay men had an easy life in the 80s. And as you say, the AIDS crisis sparked a huge wave of homophobia, with uninformed people thinking they could get HIV basically by being in the same room as a gay man.

I’m not sure he is. Surely he can find other points of difference between himself and all these young people apart from their feelings about JKR?

it’s just another (unnecessary) JK-bashing post.

I’m happy to change my view if other things point that way. But I’ve done a bit of googling and I can’t see anything that suggests Coles is anti-JKR/pro-trans. At least not in a campaigning or outspoken way, as far as I can tell.

If I’m overlooking something I really am willing to change my mind, as I say. If anyone opposes JKR they’re a wrong ‘un to me.