Shadow home secretary comment...

[R1Geezer]

Wel should B&B / Hotels have the choice not to have gays stay?

[jno]

quite so, jack; I have no objection to the notion that this couple should be dressed in pink and paraded through Brighton on a dustcart for people to jeer at, as punishment for breaking the law against discrimination. Still, I'm trying to think of some way in which people could be allowed to discriminate legally. After all, if you run a refuge for women you're allowed to specify 'no men' (at least, i suppose you are). I don't mind enshrining a bit of tolerance in the law, but I'm not sure how it should be done.

[jackthehat]

I think the hoteliers have been made aware of how out of step they are, and that is, hopefully, enough.

It would be nice to believe that everyone, if not accepting of homosexuality, were at least tolerant of it; especially those in a business where encountering people from all walks of life is one of its hazards.............

[jno]

I don't know, jack - presumably they still want to run a B&B, but they still feel uncomfortable with gays; so knowing how other people feel about the subject isn't necessarily going to help them much. I don't want them barred from running their business, but I also don't want gays turning up and feeling insulted, as happened in this case. Is there some middle way whwere honour can be satisfied without bloodshed?

[jackthehat]

Perhaps there could be a legal caveat such as you suggest which will then allow gay couples to pass over and ignore B&B's such as this..............

...........and on this matter, I'm all for protecting the sensitivities of gay couples, the hoteliers can go hang !

[sp1814]

I think jno has the answer. The website for the B&B could state:

"Friendly B&B run by Christian couple..."

That would be an indication of the beliefs held by the owners, the subtext being "We are Christians, and you know what THAT means!"

[jno]

well, I think that in the interests of civic harmony generally, it's best to find some reasonably coherent way to live and let live; which is why I wasn't joining in the atheist demands for the instant sacking of the Boots assistant who (quite legally) didn't want to sell contraceptive products. If push came to shove they'd have to get out of the B&B business. But I don't see why they shouldn't be able to set up shop offering accommodation to passing Christians who shared their somewhat limited view of life. It's just a matter of finding some sort of legally acceptable compromise (a word I am quite fond of, even if I don't always know how to achieve it).

[Gromit]

There are plenty of Homosexual Christians sp, infact the majority of the clergy are. It is just too oblique to just say christians.

Maybe it should read "The owner of this establishment believe in a vengeful god and any sodomites will rot in hell"

Of course, the Bible does not even mention Lesbianism. Could thisd couple deny board to a Lesbian couple and claim it was their religious beliefs?

[Panic Button]

Perhaps they should refuse to accept Catholic priests, MPs and bankers.

[jno]

rotting in hell... so 'Please note that in any beds rented to practising homosexuals, the electric blankets will be turned up to 11'.

[rov1200]

Why don't we stop pussyfooting around and give the real reasons. Anal penetration is disgusting. No one would object if they felt a preference for the same sex but do they have to continue in such a lewd manner? If they felt the urge to release their semen there are other ways of doing it.

[jno]

with the usual provisos about consenting adults, people should be allowed to 'release semen' anywhere they want. Those who feel disgusted by it should try not to think about it so much.

[ummmm]

rov.....not all gay men partake in anul sex. Just the same way as many straight couples do.

[jackthehat]

There is an inordinate amount of heterosexuals who spend far too much time dwelling on what they perceive to be the 'only' manner in which gay men conduct themselves.

Do they really believe that gay men have sex 'all the time' ?

Perhaps it's jealousy in that case.............?

[sp1814]

Rov

Try not to think of it so much.

Concentrating on something you find personally abhorrent is strange. I myself cannot bear spinach, cabbage or sprouts - I therefore wouldn't stand in the fresh veg aisle of Sainsburys, decrying their existance.

[Panic Button]

There's a fair few heterosexual couples dabble in a bit of anal aswell.

[jno]

erggghhh, sp1814, did you have to mention sprouts... now I'm going to be imagining them all day.

[rov1200]

If we spell out the real truth that B&B did not want those homos performing in their bed and neither would most people. The law is an ass in forcing people to condone it.

[jno]

stop thinking about 'ass', rov!

[Panic Button]

If they don't want the public in their house doing things they don't agree with, then don't run it as a B&B!

[ummmm]

rov.....did you read any of the answers? Who can possibly presume that they intended to have anal sex?