Give me strength!

Two pointers showing just how much road we still have to travel to acceptance.

Firstly, from the UK. EastEnders, as I'm sure you all know, is a rather good soapie set in London's east end, traditionally a working class area. Recently, they've added a gay storyline to the many threads held together in the traditional soap opera format. And the actor playing the gay character gets catcalls and boos when he goes out in public. Give me strength! Of course, there's the stupidity which confuses a character and his actor. This isn't kindergarten, my sweets. But even to comment like that, whether or not the actor himself is gay or bi (and who gives a flying foo foo valve?), shows how much further we still have to go to get to the easy-going situation where it quite literally doesn't matter what your sexuality is. Here's the Daily Mail's report.



Then, in sunny Oz, Jason Akermanis, previously thought to be gay-friendly, produced this gem:

Football clubs are very different environments. Locker room nudity is an everyday part of our lives and unlike any other work place. I believe it would cause discomfort in that environment should someone declare himself gay.

Good grief. Get over yourselves, footy players. So not coming out makes it different? How do you know that given the normal (so to speak) gay ratio, 1 bloke in 10 of your teammates isn't surreptitiously ogling your bum, Jasie? Never mind the bisexuals, who might (o tempora! o mores!) deceive you by having a girlfriend yet still perve on your pecs?

How... pathetic.