IN HONOR OF INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

Thanks to Kelvin Holdsworth at What's in Kelvin's Head? for noting the day.  Panti Bliss' "Noble Call" speaks so eloquently, that, like Kelvin, I have little to add.

BRAVO REPLACEMENTS LIMITED!

Bob Page, chairman of Replacements Limitted is a man of great courage.

In the months leading up to North Carolina’s vote this month to ban gay marriage, most of the state’s business leaders were conspicuously silent. While some executives spoke out against it as individuals, not one Fortune 500 company based in North Carolina, including Bank of America, Duke Energy, VF Corporation and Lowe’s, opposed it. 

But one company did: Replacements Limited, which sells silver, china and glassware, and is based in Greensboro. Its founder and chairman, Bob Page, is gay. The company lobbied legislators, contributed money to causes supporting gay marriage, rented a billboard along the interstate near its headquarters, and sold T-shirts at its showroom. Its experience may explain why no other for-profit company followed its example. 

The response was swift and ugly. Phone calls and emails poured in from people saying they would never do business with the company again.  The numbers of responses in support of the company's efforts against the bill were much smaller.

Andrew Spainhour, general counsel for the company, who spearheaded the opposition to the ban on gay marriage, said he is concerned for Bob Page's safety.

“Bob has been absolutely fearless in the face of that,” Mr. Spainhour said. “It’s a North Carolina that exists but that I don’t recognize. There are two North Carolinas: the progressive cities and college towns, and places where there are no openly gay people.”
....

Mr. Page, 67, said he didn’t like politics and wasn’t “extreme,” or “in your face” about being gay. But, he added: “I just refuse to hide. I did that way too many years and it’s just not healthy.”

At the same time, he said: “I’m always concerned I will hurt our business. I know we have lost business. But I don’t have a board or shareholders I have to answer to. My life is not about money.”

Over the years, I'd purchased a good many missing pieces of china and flatware from Replacements, and their merchandize and service was first rate.  I hope the company will quickly gain far more customers than they've lost.

Read the rest of Bob Page's bittersweet story.

A GOOD VICAR IS GONE

From the BBC:

Some members of the Anglican communion, including elements of the Church in Wales, have become more homophobic, claims a vicar who has resigned over the issue of gay marriage.

The Reverend Andrew Morton, vicar of Llangybi, Monmouthshire, is the first in Wales to step down over the issue.

He says he would have been willing to carry out such ceremonies.

The Church in Wales said it a "matter of regret" for clergy to resign over an issue yet to be resolved by the church.
....

Mr Morton, who has been a vicar for 33 years, says many of his colleagues privately agree with his stance, and that homophobia is endemic in some respects.

"First of all I felt that the church's position on same sex relationships, never mind same sex marriages, was increasingly judgemental and not really inclusive in the way that I felt that it should be," he told BBC Wales.

"I feel a greater degree of homophobia in the church than I've felt for a long time. Maybe it's just my personal perception but it certainly seems to be more prevalent in some quarters of the church.

"I felt that in order to offer an authentic critique of the church as an institution, the most honourable thing was to do it from the outside rather than from the inside which was what prompted the resignation."

He said that he came across people who in the "guise of what they feel to be religious conviction, came up with some extraordinarily homophobic statements".

However, he said it was not true of the majority of the church, which was "very forgiving and very loving".

I sort of wish Mr Morton had stayed in his position in the church, because strong voices from within the church carry great weight.  In a sense, when one departs, one leaves the field to the homophobic and judgmental.  However, the vicar is obviously a man of conscience and principle, and he did what he thought was best.

"We are trying to  in a way that takes everyone along with us and that calls for time and patience."

The Church in Wales' expression of regret rings hollow as it speaks of its attempts to "move forward gently", even as the church continues to throw its LGTB members under the bus.  LGTB Anglicans have been patient for quite a long time.  How long will the homophobic elements in the church continue to prevail?  How long before same-sex marriage is resolved by the church on the side of justice and equality?  Doomsday will come before the church carries everyone along. 

The video of the interview is here.

WHAT WILL I TELL THE CHILDREN?!

Athenae at First Draft splains what to tell the kids when they see the shocking sight of two people of the same sex kissing on the tee vee.

Is this that difficult to discuss with children? Ladies kissing on each other? "Well, honey, they love each other just like Dad and I do. Some ladies are like that. You want a hot pretzel? I'm sending your brother on a concession run. Mama needs another beer."

And ain't dat jes' right?