The Tory Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands, Roger Helmer, wrote in his weblog few weeks ago:
"And while we’re mentioning semantic issues, let me point out that the neologism “homophobia” is not so much a word as a political agenda. In psychiatry, a phobia is defined as an irrational fear. I have yet to meet anyone who has an irrational fear of homosexuals, or of homosexuality. So to the extent that the word has any meaning at all, it describes something which simply does not exist. “Homophobia” is merely a propaganda device designed to denigrate and stigmatise those holding conventional opinions, which have been held by most people through most of recorded history. It is frightening evidence of the way in which political correctness is threatening our freedom. It is creating “thought crimes”, where merely to hold a conventional opinion is seen, in itself, to be unacceptable and reprehensible. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it."

Presumably, such "conventional opinions" also include racism, sexism and child abuse, all of which have been addressed by lawmakers in more enlightened times. Strange how the term, "political correctness" continues to be used as an insult when what it really refers to is being courteous. The freedom he feels is being threatened must be that of being ignorant of the lives of a large number of his contituents. To deny that homophobia exists is to display ignorance of facts and statistics, including a report recently published that homophobic attacks in Brighton have been on the rise.



If you check the reference in the link to Mr Helmer's blog I suggest you have a look at some of the correspendence his statements attracted. They include some of the most interesting and well-constructed arguments I have seen in a while.


Of course, David Cameron has told us all that the Tories are now a renewed party and that equality of opportunity is important in this agenda. He has yet to respond to the calls to discipline Roger Helmer. The writer, Tony Grew, puts it neatly when he says:
"Mr Helmer may think himself a liberal with a poorly-developed sense of "Gay-dar" and a nice turn of phrase, but his blindness to the most basic tenets of equality mark him out as the sort of Tory that Cameron should dump."

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/castersemenya.jpg[/img2]The world of athletics was hit by controversy last night after a female South African athlete who won the 800m final at the world championships was asked to take a gender verification test to prove she is a woman.

Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old who had never competed outside of Africa, before this week aroused suspicions when she posted the fastest 800m time in the world this year, winning gold at the African junior championships.

Tonight she won the gold medal in Berlin in 1 minute 55.45 seconds, the best in the world this year, beating Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending champion, by 2.45 seconds. The British runner Jenny Meadows won the bronze medal.

Semanya, from Polokwane, Limpopo province, possesses an unusually developed muscular frame and a deep voice and has clocked times which belie her youth – tonight's winning time is more than three-quarters of a second faster than Kelly Holmes's career best.

Nick Davies, a spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), confirmed today that the test was requested after Semenya's run last month amid fears she should not be allowed to run as a woman. "In the case of this athlete, following her breakthrough in the African junior championships, the gossip was starting to build up," said Davies.

Davies described the tests necessary to determine the gender of an athlete as "an extremely complex procedure" involving medics, scientists, gynaecologists and psychologists, the outcome of which is not expected for several weeks. "The situation today is that we do not have any conclusive evidence that she should not be allowed to run," he said.

"It would be wrong today to take a decision to withdraw an athlete. This is a medical condition. It is nothing that she has done. There is a need to make sure rules are followed. We are more concerned for the person and not to make this as something that is humiliating."

The world championships end on Sunday and Davies was unable to say whether any retrospective action could be taken to strip Semenya of her gold medal were she subsequently to be revealed as male. "I can't say that if X happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," said Davies.

"If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud, that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results. However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating."

Molatelo Malehopo, the general manager of Athletics South Africa, reacted angrily to the rumours. "She is a female," said Malehopo. "We are completely sure about that and we wouldn't have entered her into the female competition if we had any doubts. We have not been absent-minded, we are very sure of her gender. We are aware of the claims that have been made but our aim at the moment is to prepare Caster for the race this evening. We have not started testing and we have no plans to do." Bloggers on some South African websites are condemning the allegations as offensive, and even racist.

Semenya's previous personal best, set in 2008, was almost eight seconds slower than her best time this year. At last year's world junior championships, she failed to progress further than the heats, finishing in seventh place with a time of 2:11.98.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/outladygaga.jpg[/img2]Lady Gaga told Kanye West he had to accept the gayness of her show before they went on tour together.

Speaking to Out magazine, the star said she told the rapper that their US joint show, scheduled for October, had to remain gay to keep her fans happy.

She said she told him: "I just want to be clear before we decide to do this together: I'm gay. My music is gay. My show is gay. And I love that it's gay. And I love my gay fans and they're all going to be coming to our show. And it's going to remain gay."

In the interview, she discussed how gay culture had shaped her work.

"When I started in the mainstream it was the gays that lifted me up," she says. "I committed myself to them and they committed themselves to me, and because of the gay community I’m where I am today."

"I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream," she added. "It’s not an underground tool for me. It’s my whole life. So I always sort of joke the real motivation is to just turn the world gay."

Gaga appears naked yet artfully arranged on the cover of the September issue of Out.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/lesvampkillers.jpg[/img2]A number of supermarkets are censoring the DVD cover of Lesbian Vampire Killers, the comedy by Gavin & Stacey's Matthew Horne and James Corden.

'Warning' stickers have been placed over the word 'lesbian' and an image of a woman's cleavage.

The sticker obscuring the word 'lesbian' reads: "Warning: may display sexually suggestive cover image", while another which covers the image of a cleavage states: "Warning: contains explicitly fit bloodsucking hotties!".

A spokeswoman for Momentum, which is distributing the DVD, said said stores requested the word and image were covered up. "We were asked by a number of retailers to cover up certain parts of the cover, and we complied with their requests," she said.

Stores selling the censored DVD cover include Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Borders. However, all say they did not ask for the word 'lesbian' to be covered up.

Assistant editor of lesbian magazine Diva, Louise Carolin, said the coverup was "bizarre".

She said: "It's bizarre that in this day and age, when lesbians are more accepted in mainstream society than we have ever been, some people still think the "L" word is obscene.

"This is more evidence of a worrying trend that positions lesbians as pornographic playthings for straight male consumers.

"It's telling that the cover image of a scantily-clad woman's body - no face in shot - is apparently considered completely 'family friendly'. Are sexism and homophobia family values?"

Lesbian Vampires was almost universally panned by critics when it was released in cinemas.

The movie, which features the duo as a pair of friends trapped in a village and surrounded by lesbian vampires, was slated for its lads mag humour and "moronic" script.

James Christopher of The Times called it as "profoundly awful", describing Corden and Horne as "two witless slobs who go for a hike in Norfolk with an industrial quantity of condoms and end up being savaged by a posse of groaning 18-year-olds with plastic teeth, few clothes, pneumatic breasts and three brain cells between the lot of them."

The Daily Mail said: "It's desperately unfunny, unless you find vomiting, farting, decapitation, women's breasts and four-letter words the ultimate in hilarity."

Other reviewers criticised the movie's lack of wit, laziness and "slapdash" execution.

Only the Sun found something to laugh at, describing it as "brilliantly deadpan".

A pilot whose light aircraft crashed into a tree on a Dundee golf course has attributed his lucky escape to his love of the "Biggles" adventure stories.

Vince Hagedorn's two-seater microlight struck the trunk, on the 15th hole at the city's Caird Park Golf Course, at about 1650 BST.

He told BBC Scotland he copied his landing from one of the WWI flying ace's famous books.

Mr Hagedorn ran low on fuel after coming across bad weather.

He had been flying north to visit his daughter in Findhorn, in the north of Scotland, who had been coping with a family death.

The incident at the course, in a large area of parkland on the outskirts of Dundee, sparked a large emergency response, with police, fire service and ambulance staff attending.

Firefighters placed a 44ft ladder against the tree to reach the stranded pilot. Nobody else was injured in the incident.

Actual story web page BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | 'Biggles' tale saved crash pilot

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/brangelina.jpg[/img2]Hollywood star Brad Pitt has said that he doesn't care if any of his children are gay, saying: "I hope I teach my kids to be who they really are".

In an interview with Parade magazine, Pitt, 45, said having a gay child wouldn't bother him "one bit".

"Would it bother me if a child of mine turns out to be gay? No, not one bit. I want my kids to live the lives they want to live. I want them to be fulfilled. I hope I teach my kids to be who they really are," he said.

Pitt, who has six children with partner Angelina Jolie, including three who were adopted, also defended the couple's decision not to get married, saying they won't do it until "it's legal for everyone else".

"When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else."

He continued: "I stand by that, although I took a lot of flak for saying it - hate mail from religious groups."

"I believe everyone should have the same rights," he continued. "They say gay marriage ruins families and hurts kids. Well, I've had the privilege of seeing my gay friends being parents and watching their kids grow up in a loving environment".

The actor said that his views stem from his position that all people should have equality.

In September 2008, the star made a $100,000 (£54,840) donation to the campaign against Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/judelaw.jpg[/img2]Plans to give legendary detective Sherlock Holmes a gay twist have been attacked by a film critic who said it could turn audiences off.

Director Guy Ritchie's version will see Holmes and Dr Watson sharing a bed and wrestling. Ritchie has not said the characters will be gay, but there is likely to be plenty of homoerotic tension.

The film, based on the detective stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, features Robert Downey Jr as the famous detective and Jude Law as his sidekick, Dr Watson.

Former New York Post film critic Michael Medved told the newspaper: "There's not a seething, bubbling hunger to see straight stars impersonating homosexuals. I think they're just trying to generate controversy."

Medved, who is a self-proclaimed conservative and famous for adding a family suitability rating to his film reviews, added: "They know that making Holmes and Watson homosexual will take away two-thirds of their box office. Who is going to want to see Downey Jr and Law make out? I don't think it would be appealing to women. Straight men don't want to see it."

However, Jason Starr, a New York-based thriller writer, defended the move. He said: "This sounds like exactly the type of updating the series needs to attract a new generation. Playing up the homoerotic undercurrents in 'The Talented Mr Ripley' worked rather well. If Conan Doyle was writing today, he would have been much more provocative with the characters."

Downey Jr revealed the new twist in an interview with the News of the World in February.

He said the pair will have lots of sweaty grappling scenes.

"We're two men who happen to be roommates, wrestle a lot and share a bed. It's bad-ass. Guy [Ritchie] wanted to make this about the relationship between Watson and Holmes. They're both mean and complicated," he said.

The film is set to be released on Boxing Day.

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/petchkoom.jpg[/img2]A Thai boxer who posed on the cover of a gay magazine in his underwear is facing a year-long ban.

Worapoj Petchkoom, who is one of the country's best hopes for a medal at the 2012 London Olympics, has said he did not know the magaine, Stage, was gay-related.

The Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand (ABAT) has called the shoot "inappropriate".

ABAT president General Thaweep Jantharoj said: "We will question him. After we listen to him, we will mete out punishment."

Petchkoom, 28, told the Joh Jai TV programme: "I thought it was an honour to be invited to grace the cover of a magazine on its third anniversary.

"I became sceptical when I was told to wear just underpants.

"They said everything was going to be okay because it would show my abdomen muscles."

The boxer said he was told he would have to pay compensation if he left the shoot.

He has said he may have to abandon hopes of representing Thailand in the 2012 Olympics if he receives a ban.

Petchkoom denied being gay, saying he had a girlfriend. He also apologised to fans, saying it was a "life lesson".

[img2=left]http://www.gayspeak.com/forum/images/news/civilpartnerships.jpg[/img2]The number of civil partnerships entered into by gay and lesbian couples has continued to fall since a peak when they were legalised in 2005.

Figures released today by the National Office of Statistics showed an 18 per cent drop in the number of ceremonies held in England since last year.

Between 2006 and 2007, the drop was much higher at 46 per cent, suggesting that numbers may be levelling off.

In the UK, 7,169 civil partnerships (3,824 male and 3,345 female) were held last year, in the UK in 2008, bringing the total number of partnerships formed since the Civil Partnership Act came into force until the end of 2008 to 33,956.

As in 2007, the London Borough of Westminster and Brighton and Hove Unitary Authority had the highest number of gay partnerships.

There were 180 civil partnership dissolutions granted in the UK in 2008, with almost twice as many being granted to female couples (116) than male couples (64).

Eleven per cent of men and 21 per cent of women forming a civil partnership in the UK in 2008 had been in a previous marriage or civil partnership.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, said a "natural stabilising" in the rate of civil partnerships was unsurprising.

He commented: "Stonewall lobbied for civil partnerships to offer same-sex couples the same legal protections that marriage offers.

"Civil partnerships were initially far more popular than the government predicted - there was clearly a pent-up demand for thousands of same-sex couples to finally legalise their relationship. A natural stabilising of this initial boom is no surprise."

So last night while I was out and about in the lovely Sonoran Desert of Arizona, U.S. I was sitting on a bar stool when I felt a peculiar tingling feeling on my leg. It was a scorpion, and yes my friends, I was a victim of a venemous insect sting.

I don't know what the big deal was. I always hear how it hurts when you get stung by one, a scorpion. It really doesn't hurt, for me at least.

So, if there isn't already a post such as this, here is one now.

What is the strangest insect you have ever gotten stung by?

I was stung by two bullet ants in Venezuela, that IS PAIN!!!