London Won't Allow Anti-Gay Bus Signs
I remember when I visited England a few yeas ago I was delighted to see signs on buses and in the train stations declaring "Some people are gay. Get over it!" I couldn't imagine seeing anything like that in the US.
This week London transport officials decided it would not run a counter-advertising campaign purporting that gay people can change to straight. The ads were from a Christian group called Core Issues Trusts which advocates reparative therapy. The bus ads carried the message: "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it."
London's mayor Boris Johnson said of the decision, "London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest being gay is an illness someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses."
This news comes on the heels of a retraction by the author of a study which claimed gays could become straight if they had the willpower and desire to do so. Prominent psychiatrist Dr. Robert Spitzer made the claim in 2001 that gays could change their sexual orientation based on interviews with men who claimed to have done so. This week, in an article in The American Prospect, Spitzer denounced his study and went so far as to say attempts to change one's sexual orientation "can be quite harmful."
So, hooray for London, especially as the world prepares for the 2012 Summer Olympics. There is one place harmful anti-gay rhetoric won't be seen.
Source: Kathy Beige
LL04132012
3 comments:
It's a great sign! :)
I can only imagine what kind of kerfuffle would transpire if we put those on our horse trailers! Right now we have subtle rainbow flag stickers on them. But unless they're "family" most people don't realize what it stands for, which is rather surprising in this day and age!
LOL I haven't heard the word kerfuffle in awhile Sonya. It always cracks me up. I agree, it's amazing some are unaware, but on the other hand it might be a blessing in disguise if knowing its significance were to elicit negative reaction and cause your horses to get harmed by homophobics.
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