tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64089369027033146712024-02-20T16:41:30.466-08:00@Chris_Creegan Blogging on things that matter to meAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-49725754601979146442013-03-06T11:51:00.001-08:002013-03-06T14:53:23.129-08:00LGBT adopters and OSCR's latest decision: putting children first<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This week is <a href="http://www.lgbtadoptfosterweek.org.uk/">LGBT
Adoption and Fostering week</a>, a great initiative organised by <a href="https://www.newfamilysocial.org.uk/">New Family Social</a>, an
organisation dedicated to supporting LGBT adopters and foster carers. There’s a
critical shortage of parents in the UK at the moment. And many LGBT people are
in an ideal position to offer a loving and supporting home to a child or
children that needs one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">To mark the week, the agency whose board I chair, <a href="http://www.scottishadoption.org/">Scottish Adoption</a>, organised an
event for prospective LGBT adopters as part of our commitment to widening the
pool of adoptive parents. As a gay adoptee myself I was really proud to open
the event and welcome those who’d come along to take the first steps on their
adoption journey. Adopting a child is a privilege, but it’s courageous too.
Taking a child who needs a loving home into the privacy of one’s family is no
small act of public service.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My opening remarks were short and to the point. At Scottish
Adoption we’re committed to providing a quality service that’s in the best
interests of children. Being inclusive isn’t an added extra. It’s fundamental
to that commitment to quality. As our chief executive, Margaret Moyes <a href="http://www.scottishadoption.org/about/chief-executive-blog">blogged</a>
today, last year we approved six LGBT adopters, as well as single adopters and
others from a diverse range of backgrounds. Last night’s event will hopefully
see those numbers rise in the coming year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We’re not doing this to replace those who have more
traditionally been part of our adoption pool such as heterosexual couples who have
been unable to have children. They remain crucial to us too and over 90 years
we’ve built up great expertise at working with them. We’re doing it to
diversify and strengthen our pool of adopters because the children we’re here
to support have diverse needs too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So I wish those who came along last night well. Many of them
will go on to make a real difference to the lives of children who need to be
adopted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And then this morning in a timely development, came the <a href="http://www.oscr.org.uk/media/386920/2013-03-05_st_margaret_s_children_and_family_care_society_report_under_section_33.pdf">Office
of the Scottish Charity Regulator’s decision</a> on a review of a direction it
served on one of our sister voluntary agencies in February, St Margaret’s
Children and Family Care society. I <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/equality-adoption-and-public-benefit.html">blogged</a>
about the direction then and you can read OSCR’s decision on the review here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">OSCR’s decision is very clear. It has found that St Margaret’s
doesn’t provide public benefit because the way it provides benefit involves
unlawful discrimination which causes detriment to particular groups of people.
These include same sex couples. And it has concluded that St Margaret’s
discriminates directly on the grounds of religion or belief and sexual orientation.
It rejected the arguments put forward by St Margaret’s including the claim that
it was entitled to claim an exception under the 2010 Equality Act. The
rejection is based on the fact that it’s an adoption agency and not a church or
a religious community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">St Margaret’s had also claimed that other adoption agencies
have disassociated themselves from the Catholic church. I’m very clear that
Scottish Adoption has not done that and as a gay Catholic nor would I wish it
to. Catholic people are as welcome as anyone else to get in touch with Scottish
Adoption to be considered as prospective adopters and some of them may of
course be LGBT themselves. That’s what a diverse approach is all about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The timing of this decision is very tough for St Margaret’s.
It comes not just in LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week but in a <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/which-way-now-for-scottish-catholic.html">week
of crisis</a> for the Catholic church in Scotland. That said I welcome the decision.
As I said in my previous blog, I want St Margaret’s to thrive, because it has
long held experience and expertise that the sector can ill afford to lose. But I
don’t think this can be at the expense of equality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">St Margaret’s has until 22 April to comply with the charity
test set by OSCR and in the meantime has a right of appeal against the review
decision. I hope it will now focus on how it can respond positively to the
challenge posed by OSCR. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The turnout at
Scottish Adoption’s event last night shows what a valuable resource exists
amongst LGBT people. The potential impact of all adoption agencies opening
their doors to them is very clear. </span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The real winners will be children.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-85423896152264056632013-03-03T11:38:00.000-08:002013-03-04T17:22:09.901-08:00Which way now for the Scottish Catholic establishment?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Cardinal O’Brien’s brief statement this afternoon will have
shaken the foundations of the Catholic church in Scotland. And the repercussions
will surely be felt much further afield at what is already a difficult moment
for the Vatican. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Before today’s statement it had been suggested that the
allegations represented a personal tragedy for O'Brien. On some level that
may be true, though right now sympathy from many people may be in short supply. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Even more importantly this should be a sobering moment for
the Scottish Catholic establishment.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">O’Brien’s statement begins by stating that he contested the
initial allegations because they were ‘anonymous and non-specific’. Even if
that was true, the fact that he clearly knew of moments in his past which were
of a similar nature should call into question his honesty and integrity for the
rebuttal.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">His statement goes on to say that he wishes to apologise to
those he has offended and asks for their forgiveness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgiveness is of course one of the hallmarks
of Christian faith. As a Catholic I believe in it passionately. But it’s worth
thinking about what his statement means and to whom.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">His apology for ‘sexual conduct’ comes in the light of a
sustained attack on lesbian, gay and bisexual people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was an attack in which he has suggested
that gay people were ‘captives of sexual aberrations.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He argued that same-sex relationships ‘are
demonstrably harmful to the medical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of those
involved.’ Last year he went on to say that same sex marriage was a ‘grotesque
subversion of a universally accepted human right.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I could go on but you get the point. This vague admission of
‘sexual conduct’ which ‘fell below the standards’ expected of him, comes from a
man who has consistently used his position as an influential religious leader
to spread obscene and deeply harmful messages to lesbian, gay and bisexual
people. Does his apology to those who he has offended extend to them?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">His apology is presumably directed at least in part at those
who share his public views on homosexuality and same sex marriage. But even if
you do, what are you to make of the hypocrisy at the heart of knowing all along
that such moments were part of your past? Of then contesting allegations and
then when the pressure mounted coming clean?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And if you were abused as a child by a Catholic priest, what
on earth must you be thinking now? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And then we come to the Catholic establishment in Scotland.
At the very least this has been a public relations disaster. At most it smells
far worse than that. This is an establishment who has installed Archbishop
Tartagila temporarily in Cardinal O’Brien’s place. Tartaglia, in case we should
forget it, was the Catholic leader responsible for the appalling homophobic
attack last year on the late David Cairns, an openly gay MP and former Catholic
priest. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And this is an establishment whose media director, Peter
Kearney, tried to suggest on Newsnight Scotland earlier this week that Cardinal
O’Brien’s early resignation had nothing to do with the allegations which had
emerged. Kearney’s position looked absurd and questionable at the time. What
are we to make of it in the light of this afternoon’s events?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What do these things tell us about the Scottish Catholic
establishment’s handling of this moment? Grossly inept and insensitive for
sure. But is it any wonder that people are asking who knew what and when? Let’s
face it if this was a public institution, heads would be rolling and the consequences
would be dire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What will the Catholic church establishment do now? These events, like
those in Rome of late, have laid bare the culture of institutional secrecy at
the heart of the church establishment. With secrecy comes vulnerability. And
with vulnerability comes allegations and exposure. Closed institutions which
lack accountability and are disconnected from their grassroots are inherently unhealthy.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will
the church establishment finally face up to the truth staring right at it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There is no shortage of questions in this piece. The
Catholic church establishment in Scotland has a great deal to think about.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-8415067374520934382013-02-26T07:31:00.001-08:002013-02-28T17:19:41.565-08:00Life after Cardinal O'Brien<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In my <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/pope-benedict-legacy-that-risks.html">recent
post</a> on Pope Benedict’s legacy I argued that it was time for the Catholic
establishment to take a new approach to issues of gender and sexuality. I
suggested that if it didn’t, it could expect a rough ride at home and face increasing
marginalisation on issues where it has much of value and relevance to say such
as social justice and peace. And I argued that whilst change was far from straightforward,
theological rigidity would continue to inflict real damage in the developing
world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">A week it seems is not just a long time in politics. At the
time I wrote the piece, Cardinal O’Brien was making the headlines as the only
man in Britain to have a vote in the conclave to elect a new Pope. Barely a
week later, the Cardinal has resigned in the wake of complaints about
inappropriate behaviour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In between times he had been in the news for speaking out about
the issue of celibacy in the priesthood and by arguing that the next Pope
should come from the developing world. It’s not gone unnoticed that one of the
favourites from Africa whose cause he was advancing has effectively scuppered
his chances by arguing that abuse within the church was the result of <a href="http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/02/20/hopeful-for-papal-office-african-traditions-protect-against-homosexual-tendency/">gay
tendencies in the priesthood</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">That much and more we all know. Whether Cardinal O’Brien is
guilty I don’t know and that’s not the point or the focus of this piece. The
complaints should obviously be investigated properly and independently. What
does surprise me in that regard however is the church hierarchy’s assurance
that this will happen because it’s clear that the church has learnt from its
past mistakes and now takes the handling of such complaints very seriously. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I’ve no doubt that many victims of abuse within the church
would question the veracity of that assertion. The reality is that the church establishment
has been woefully slow to act and has all too often regarded itself as above
the law. In any event this of course is a different story because it involves
not children but serving and former priests. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And the notion that the Cardinal has resigned to avoid the
allegations becoming a distraction to the main event, the election of a new
Pope, smacks of self interest and hypocrisy on the part of the hierarchy. Several
others due to vote in the conclave have form in relation to the cover up of abuse
against children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My recent post prompted a friend of mine to suggest that I
was mad and to ask why I would want to be part of a club that simply doesn’t
welcome me as a gay man with views on gay marriage, abortion, contraception and
gender equality so at odds with those of the hierarchy. Others would go further
I’m sure. Why collude with an institution that preaches what it does on such
matters with enormously damaging consequences, in the developing world in
particular? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">These are very fair questions and challenges. The answer
lies in part <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/in-2011-david-cairns-mp-for-inverclyde.html">in
the story of my own faith and identity</a> and in part in a belief that things
can and must change. So walking away is often tempting and would be a perfectly
rational response. For the moment though I plan to stay. In fact I’d argue that
for liberal Catholics, this is no time to leave. We have a responsibility to
speak up for institutional change.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I have never had any desire to take my political stance to
Mass itself. I go to church to pray in peace and long may that continue. I’ve
sometimes speculated that I may have cause to get up and walk out in protest
against preaching on abortion or sexuality, but one way or another that moment
hasn’t presented itself. Just as well because in my imaginings when it does and
I shout shame on you at the pulpit and turn on my heels, I trip on my shoelaces
and embarrass myself horribly in front of a packed congregation. It would of
course be worth the embarrassment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But I have become increasingly vocal about the
unacceptability of the Catholic establishment’s stance and the need for change.
Whether it’s helpful to call people bigots is a moot point but it’s important to
name <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/cardinal-obrien-time-to-practice-what.html">bigotry</a>.
Calling gay marriage a ‘grotesque subversion of a human right’, is bigotry.
Suggesting that there is a ‘link between same sex sexual practice and early
death’, is bigotry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It’s been reported that the Cardinal didn’t so much resign,
but was pushed. That much would be consistent with the response of the Vatican
to stories of a gay network in its midst. And therein lies one of the
fundamental problems with the hierarchy of the Catholic church, its secrecy. It
is the ultimate self serving powerful male elite, concerned to protect itself
at all costs. Political parties would do well to distinguish their response to
allegations of sexual harassment from such a charge.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Whatever the truth of the allegations that have been
levelled at the Cardinal, is it really surprising that they should surface in
an institutional culture so backward in relation to sex and sexuality? An
institution the establishment of which denies the right of its officials any
form of active sexual expression. And one that seeks to constrain the sexual
choices and behaviours of its lay members where women and gay people are the biggest
losers. Worst of all an institution the establishment of which would seek to
deny those most at risk and vulnerable, basic sexual health protection. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And is the fact that the Cardinal previously had a
reputation as more of a liberal on the issue of homosexuality something we
should bear in mind when considering his recent pronouncements? I’d say it is,
but not because I think that merits sympathy. If as some are suggesting his
outspoken views on issues of sexuality in the recent past are about currying
favour with the Vatican, quite the reverse. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And what of his recently expressed view that the celibacy of
priests is not a matter of ‘divine origin’? Of course he was right. But his
argument that it should be a ‘free world’ for priests would have provided
little comfort to those whose freedoms he and others in the church
establishment have sought to curtail and deny. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Cardinal O’Brien’s departure is a seismic moment in the life
of the Catholic church in Scotland for sure. But what does the future hold? And will any good come of it? Neither the cause nor the manner of his
departure leave much room for immediate optimism given what they remind us
about the church hierarchy. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I wouldn’t deny that many Catholics support some or all of the
church’s teachings on sex and sexuality. But it’s undoubtedly the case that
many Catholics in Scotland remain faithful despite, rather than because of, the
hierarchy and its stance. And there must be a glimmer of hope that in all the
noise their voices will at last start to be sought and heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For as long as that hope remains, this
liberal Catholic is staying put, but not quietly</span>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-28013593647219435912013-02-15T11:49:00.001-08:002013-02-15T11:49:11.499-08:00Pope Benedict: A legacy that risks declining relevance<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><i>This post was first published in the second edition of Scotland's great new online LGBT magazine <a href="http://www.mosaicscotland.com/">Mosaic</a> which was published today. If you haven't read it yet, do take a look. It's packed with interesting features and voices from all sections of the community.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Given the recent history of the Catholic establishment’s
intervention on gay marriage in Scotland it would be tempting to respond to the
recent announcement of the Pope’s retirement in this publication from a very
specific standpoint. Pope Benedict is a theological conservative whose
pronouncements on sexuality have been neither compassionate nor progressive.
His actions have given succor to the response we’ve seen from the Catholic
establishment at home over the last twelve months which led to Cardinal O’Brien
being awarded the dubious title of ‘bigot of the year’ in the 2012 Stonewall
awards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">But the world is much bigger than Scotland and the issues
much bigger than gay marriage. So what has Pope Benedict’s contribution been?
What will be his legacy? And as we look to the election of a new Pope, what
might the future hold? His own parting words remind us that his successor faces
an enormous challenge to reconcile the church’s traditions in a rapidly
changing world. The Catholic church may be declining in Europe, but it’s
buoyant and even growing elsewhere, for example in Africa. It will be hard to
please all of the people all of the time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I will make no secret of the fact that I didn’t welcome Pope
Benedict’s election. I remember the dismay I felt as I discussed the news with
other liberal Catholics. I’ve said previously that it’s pretty odd being a gay
Catholic if you’re someone who chooses to act on your attraction to people of
the same sex. It’s arguably even odder if you don’t, but that’s another story. Pope
Benedict’s election was a moment that tested the boundaries of that oddness. And
yet I found myself enormously immersed in his visit to the UK. I was impressed
by his thoughtfulness, undoubted intelligence and commitment to ecumenical
dialogue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">When I heard about Pope Benedict’s retirement I was reminded
of a conversation I’d had with a friend when Pope John Paul died. My friend
asserted that his had been a failed papacy. I had big differences with Pope
John Paul too, not just on sexuality but on politics. Yet his had been far from
a failed papacy. Like it or not, he was an inspiration to millions who arguably
breathed new life into a divided church at a very particular moment in 20<sup>th</sup>
century history. But success or failure, his legacy also included theological
rigidity on a series of issues relating to gender and sexuality, most
disgracefully his opposition to the use of condoms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Pope Benedict inherited that legacy and has largely reinforced
it. On condom use he appeared to signal a change but only in ‘exceptional’
circumstances (would that HIV in Africa was exceptional) and the Vatican
subsequently made it clear the church’s position hadn’t altered. He has taken
some important steps further than his predecessor on the issue of abuse within
the church, including apologising to victims. But the Vatican’s response has
remained painfully conservative and opaque. He has attacked gay marriage as
‘evil’ and its supporters as ‘immoral’. He has made key appointments shoring up
his conservative stance, including one of a Cardinal opposed to abortion even
in cases of rape. And he has reasserted the Vatican’s opposition to women’s
ordination as a matter of ‘divine constitution’, lashing out at those who dared
to disobey within the church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There have been many other aspects to Pope Benedict’s
tenure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what I’ve highlighted is a
failure to grapple with issues of gender and human sexuality. The Pope has said
that he is standing down because he feels his health doesn’t enable him to
continue to confront the challenges of the modern world. That may be so but it’s
also very clear that where these issues are concerned his theological stance
hasn’t enabled him to engage with a changing world either. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">He’s not entirely alone in this respect of course. The Anglican
response on one or two of these issues has been little better. It’s also true
that millions around the world, including some in Scotland and the UK, appear
to support his stance on most of these issues. The truth at home in fact is rather
different. British Social Attitudes and British Election Study data over the
last thirty years shows that those identifying as Catholics have become
gradually more liberal on gay relationships and gay adoption (a prominent issue
here in recent weeks) at a similar rate to those with no religion. And whilst
their views are less liberal than those with no religion, they are often more
liberal than those who identify as Anglicans, other Christians and those of
other religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The unavoidable fact at home however is that the Christian
church’s relevance is waning and this is no less true of the Catholic church,
arguably more so. As someone who believes passionately in the need for a moral
compass in society independent of popular sentiment and that Catholic social
teaching can be a force for good on questions of social justice, I think that’s
very sad. But on questions of gender and human sexuality the world is changing and
hurrah for that. The pace of change is faster in the developed world. But the
relevance of change to the lives of people in Africa, for example, is enormous.
The ravaging effect of HIV across that continent is well known. And the
appalling treatment of sexual minorities in some African countries is now at
least in the world’s gaze. Those things mean that while a more liberal stance
on such issues may be far from welcome there, for those suffering it is even
more pressing and urgent than it is at home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Pope Benedict has constantly appealed for peace and reached
out to other religious traditions for which he deserves credit. But while his
resistance to modernity on issues of gender and human sexuality may be
applauded in some parts of the world, his stance means that whatever else he
might have been or done, it’s arguable that a key feature of his legacy has been
declining relevance. And it has compromised the ability of the Catholic church
to be a clarion call for social good at a time when the world urgently needs
it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It’s all too easy within a largely secular discourse to
assume that change on these issues within the church can and should happen
overnight. It most certainly should in some respects, condom use in particular,
but it certainly won’t on other issues, gay marriage for example. I wouldn’t
pretend for a moment that a turn to liberalism would be uncomplicated or that
it wouldn’t be regarded by many Catholics as hugely divisive. It is absurd however,
that in the face of seemingly unending scandals about abuse within the Catholic
church, the establishment can’t at least begin to think more openly about the
chastity and marriage of priests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I was touched listening to Sister Wendy on Desert Island
Discs recently who when asked about the Catholic Church’s stance on
contraception and abortion, just responded in a quiet way that change would
come and that we must be patient. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as
Pope Benedict slips into retirement, and liberal Catholics nervously await the
election of a new Pope, patience is a virtue I’m struggling with. The harsh
truth is that unless and until the Catholic establishment at the Vatican and at
home can grapple more sensitively and progressively with issues of gender and human
sexuality, it can expect a rough ride. And in the West in particular, it will
be increasingly marginalised on other issues where it has much of value and
relevance to say.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-32824582379039962232013-02-01T11:17:00.001-08:002013-02-01T11:26:38.380-08:00Equality, adoption and public benefit<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><i>This post was first published in Scotland's great new online LGBT magazine <a href="http://www.mosaicscotland.com/">Mosaic</a> which was launched today. Do take a look. It's packed with interesting features and voices.</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7">Adoption is
in the news on both sides of the border at the moment. Down south the story is
a warning to local authorities from the Government – improve your performance
or we’ll enforce outsourcing. In Scotland it’s about St Margaret’s Children and
Family Care Society and the treatment of same sex prospective adopters. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">In
fact the two stories relate to the same thing – how can we ensure that children
waiting to be adopted are placed with parents in good time? And one way of
doing that is to broaden the pool of available adopters out there.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">I’m writing
here in a personal capacity, but I’m also chair of Scottish Adoption, one of
only four voluntary adoption agencies in Scotland. St Margaret’s is one of the
other three, and one of two originally established as Catholic agencies. I’m a
Catholic gay man who is adopted so it’s an issue I’ve thought a lot about.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">St
Margaret’s objection to being tied by the law is not news in the adoption
world. What is new is a ruling from the Office of the Scottish Charity
Regulator (OSCR) in response to a complaint from the National Secular Society.
St Margaret’s preferred criteria is to prioritise couples who have been married
for at least two years. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">Marriage
is not an option for same sex couples – yet. As a charity, St Margaret’s is
obliged to provide public benefit and OSCR’s response to the complaint is that
the benefits provided by the agency are ‘unduly restricted’ and create a
‘disbenefit’ to same sex couples. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7">St Margaret’s is taking legal advice. The Education
Secretary, Mike Russell, has said he is ‘disappointed’ by the regulator's
decision and that the consequences are not in the best interests of the
children St Margaret’s helps. He’s due to meet with the agency to discuss the
best way forward. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">The row is
another manifestation of the tension between religious freedom and equality
following recent European Court rulings. I think the European Court got it
right. I don’t think people should be prevented from wearing religious symbols
at work, health and safety permitting. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">But
I do think that when they’re providing a public service they can’t be allowed
to pick and choose who they work with. If you want that choice, the job
obviously isn’t for you. It’s not a case of the rights of LGBT people trumping
those with religious faith either. Many LGBT people are people of faith too.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">And in this
instance I don’t think St. Margaret’s or any other agency should be able to
pick and choose who gets to adopt for any other reason than the best interests
of children. The sexuality of prospective adopters clearly doesn’t meet that
test. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">The
Catholic Church establishment may not like the law, but an organisation which
benefits from charitable status must provide public benefit in return. And it
shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate about the receipt that benefit.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7"><span style="color: color_0;">I don’t want
St Margaret’s to disappear. This isn’t because I think it would
prevent Catholic parents from adopting. They are free to go to other agencies,
though it’s important that all agencies also consider the interests of a child
who may grow up to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. But it would be unfortunate to
lose the expertise of one of a handful of specialist voluntary adoption
agencies. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="font7">Adoption is
challenging and complex for everyone involved and the interests of children
needing to be adopted are best served by a plurality of agencies. It’s for that
reason I really hope talks succeed. But they shouldn’t do so at the expense of
equality.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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<![endif]-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-78324326296726902862012-12-10T03:53:00.001-08:002012-12-10T15:23:39.067-08:00Celebrating NatCen Social Research<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was on the first train from Edinburgh to London
this morning and it’s quite a big week ahead. After six and a half years I’m
leaving my London
based job at <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/">NatCen Social Research</a> to
look for new opportunities closer to home. So it’s almost the last of more than 500
journeys up and down the East Coast mainline since I started at NatCen in 2006.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It seems an appropriate moment to reflect
on doing some memorable work for an inspiring organisation. NatCen Social
Research was founded in 1969. And by undertaking first class quantitative
and qualitative research for more than 40 years it’s been making a difference
to decision making in Britain ever since. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">NatCen's landmark study, the <a href="http://bsa-29.natcen.ac.uk/">British Social Attitudes</a> survey started
in 1983. Two years later in 1985 its ground breaking qualitative research unit
was established. Such was the success of the qualitative research unit in
embedding qualitative methods in applied social research, it’s since been
absorbed back into a larger integrated research function at NatCen. The BSA
endures though and is now approaching its 30<sup>th</sup> anniversary. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back in the early 1980s I’d just started
work in local government. I was a trade union activist campaigning against
privatisation and for lesbian and gay rights. I was a young idealist, albeit
quite a pragmatic one. I wanted to make the world a better place and social
research hadn’t even begun to beckon. I certainly had no sense of its potential
to change lives. But nearly 20 years later, by then a full time trade union
official, I found myself doing a masters degree in policy research. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was on that degree course during a
qualitative methods module taught by researchers from NatCen that a light got
switched on. For the first time I understood how, by understanding the views
and experiences of ordinary people’s lives, social research could make a real difference.
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Much to my surprise I decided to switch
career tracks and six years later in 2006 I joined NatCen as a research
director in the qualitative research unit. I hadn’t intended to stay quite so
long (not least because of the length of the weekly commute) but one thing led
to another and I was lucky enough to be appointed to NatCen’s senior management
team at the beginning of 2010.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been involved in some fantastic
research at NatCen on everything from car use and volunteering to birth registration
and pensions. The common theme has been social inclusion and I can honestly say
that the work has been every bit as much about making the world a better place
as anything I did as a trade union official. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At NatCen we believe that social research
has the power to make life better. That sounds like a lofty claim, but as my
earlier blogs for NatCen argue I’ve absolutely no doubt about the <a href="http://natcenblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/democratising-power-of-social-research.html">democratic
power of social research</a> or indeed its potential to be an <a href="http://natcenblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/social-research-can-be-honest-broker-in.html">honest
broker in our search for trust</a> at a moment when other traditions and
institutions are floundering.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For me the most powerful piece of research
I’ve been involved in at NatCen was a programme of work to shed light on a
modern day understanding of <a href="http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/what-are-today%E2%80%99s-social-evils">Joseph
Rowntree’s notion of social evils</a>. Though less immediately connected to
policy making than many other studies I’ve led, it was powerful because its
core purpose was to elicit voices that might otherwise be unheard in the
debate. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Amongst others, those were the voices of
young offenders, unemployed people, lone parents and homeless people. It was
hugely gratifying that David Utting, in a book arising out of the programme
full of wise words from the great and the good said that, with no
disrespect to them, the voices we’d elicited were as powerful as anything
else the book contained.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last week saw NatCen’s 2012 staff event
and the theme of the day was ‘our work matters’. The key note speaker, the
BBC’s Home Editor Mark Easton, generously paid tribute to the work we do and
spoke powerfully of the crucial role social research has to play in our democracy. Today’s
politicians face decisions as difficult as any in my life time. They need
robust evidence to inform those decisions. And policy makers and influencers
need it to debate options and potential solutions. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Working at NatCen Social Research has been
a privilege. I won’t miss the commute but I’ll miss the organisation and the
people. I'm proud to have worked here.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-30522382836214719822012-11-09T09:11:00.001-08:002012-11-11T08:54:30.712-08:00One Moment in Time: the other 9/11 and how I fell in love with Berlin<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The title of my blog is things that matter to me. And it’s all been quite serious of late. This post in contrast is really just a short story about one of the great loves of my life - <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state>. It’s quite long and a bit niche but here goes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">On the evening of 9<sup>th</sup> November 1989 I was at a trade union lesbian and gay conference at the Swallow Hotel in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Peterborough</st1:place></st1:city>. It was long before gay marriage was anywhere near the political agenda and the only other guests at the hotel were people attending a big straight wedding with all the trimmings. The juxtaposition was odd for sure. But things were about to get a lot more exciting than that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Retreating to my room after a very long day of conference shenanigans, I switched on the television. Just as well. The Berlin Wall was falling. I watched in awe as what I still think of as the defining political moment of my lifetime unfolded on the screen in front of me. I was 28 and having joined the Labour Party at university in 1979 I was enjoying what turned out to be a brief sojourn in the Communist Party (I’ve long been back in the Labour fold). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">That may seem odd now, but in the 80s the British Communist Party was where some of the most creative political debate on the Left was happening. Marxism Today’s analysis of Thatcherism and how the left might respond to it was as powerful and progressive as anything around at the time. That said, it certainly seemed odd to people in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state> when I was there just a few weeks later. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">By chance I’d planned to visit in December earlier that year to coincide with a trip to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Stuttgart</st1:place></st1:city> for a conference. And so just a few weeks after the fall of the Wall I travelled to Berlin on a sleeper train from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Stuttgart</st1:place></st1:city>. I vividly remember being rudely woken by East German border guards in the middle of the night, demanding to know where I was going.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It was exceptionally cold and had been for much of the previous month. In the early morning light as the train approached its destination East Berliners were making their way to work in the snow. I mused that it was now too late to defect. And as I arrived at Zoo station in <st1:place w:st="on">West Berlin</st1:place> a stranger whom I asked for directions said to me ‘It’s warm here now’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It was the beginning of one of the most memorable trips of my life and a love affair which still endures. There were so many moments like that encounter which sound like clichés 23 years later. But they really did happen, including hearing the Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls on a tinny radio on a tram up the Prenzlauer Allee in <st1:place w:st="on">East Berlin</st1:place> a few days later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I’ve been to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state> countless times since and the footfall and imaginings of that trip have stayed with me ever since. Most extraordinary was the visceral sense that though almost everything (except the Wall itself) looked the same as it had done just a few weeks earlier, in fact nothing would ever be the same again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Whatever my political sympathies then and now, the fall of the Wall was an inspirational, necessary and ultimately unstoppable moment. And it was a great stroke of luck and a real privilege to be there at that time. Ten years later I was there again, on one of my many visits, for the tenth anniversary celebrations. The political giants of the ’89 era in Europe, Kohl, Gorbachev, Bush senior and Thatcher herself were all there as thousands crammed into the streets in the shadow of the Brandenberg Gate, one of the most potent symbols of a divided and but now reunited Berlin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The razzmatazz on that night in 1999 was something to behold. But it didn’t feel quite enough and I went in search of something more nuanced and authentic. I found it at a much smaller more ad hoc event at Bornholmer Strasse. This was the street where ten years earlier an elderly couple had almost accidentally been allowed to cross the border early on the evening of 9<sup>th</sup> November 1989. Their crossing was one of a chain of events that a few hours later resulted in the iconic scenes of the Wall being smashed that we all remember. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It had been on Bernauer Strasee, just a few streets away, that Ida Siekmann became the first casualty of the wall when she jumped from </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">her third floor apartment at no. 48 on 22<sup>nd</sup> August 1961 just after the Wall was built. Nine more people are known to have died trying to escape in the area of the Bernauer Strassee in the ensuing 28 years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And so on 9<sup>th</sup> November 1999, I found myself a silent observer at Bornholmer Strasse amidst a celebration of no more than a couple of hundred people. A temporary portacabin bar was serving drinks and snacks. And a jazz band was playing accompanied by a woman with a fantastic voice who very movingly sang One Moment in Time. All around me small groups and couples were remembering, enjoying their own private celebrations with a bottle, a dance, an embrace and a handshake. It took me right back. It was the place to be that night. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Berlin</span></st1:place></st1:state></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'HelveticaNeue LT 55 Roman'; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> has continued, just as it had done in the days before the Wall and the war, to reinvent itself. I still imagine the Wall when I’m there and though hardly any of it remains (the subject of a lot of debate in the city) you can still trace its path. If you haven’t been to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state>, make sure you do. And go to Bernauer Strasse where a small but complete section of the Wall (outer and inner with the death strip in between) still stands. You won’t regret it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-40882242414131724142012-11-07T04:28:00.002-08:002012-11-17T04:15:51.736-08:00How adoption has changed and why it matters more than ever<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Last Sunday I went along to <a href="http://www.scottishadoption.org/"><span style="color: #606420;">Scottish
Adoption’s</span></a> Family Fun Day in Edinburgh.
As chair Scottish Adoption's board it was an important reminder to me of
the importance of us staying connected with adoptive families, children and
young people. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Adoption has been under a lot
of scrutiny lately. That’s quite right. Like any other sector we need to
continuously improve. But there’s much to celebrate too. At Scottish Adoption
for example we’re about to launch a new DVD on contact, a critical thing to get
right for everyone involved in the adoption process.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As I came away I reflected on
how much has changed since I was adopted back in the early 60s. My story was
typical of its time: a child born out of wedlock. Staying with my birth mother
wasn’t the done thing. I was adopted, with the minimum of process by today’s
standards, by parents who thought they were unable to have children. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Luckily for me I got a soft
landing. My adoptive parents introduced adoption to me earlier than I can
really remember. I had been ‘chosen’. And it wasn’t until my early 30s
that I started to want to piece things together and set off on a journey to
find out more. But that’s another story.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Being adopted back then was
like pressing a reset button. Nothing that had happened before really counted.
It was left in a mysterious box. I had an adoption certificate, not a birth
certificate. There was no further contact with my birth family and <a href="http://chriscreegan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/in-2011-david-cairns-mp-for-inverclyde.html"><span style="color: #606420;">all I knew</span></a> was that I was from a Catholic
family in Scotland.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Adoption meant being cut
adrift, without the anchor you’d been born with or even an imprint of it.
Your new anchor was your adoptive family; end of. Every adoption story is
different of course and whether and how much any of this really mattered varied
a lot, not just for individuals but at different stages of the life course. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">These days your new adoptive
family is still the new anchor, but the old anchor isn’t forgotten. Life story
books and contact arrangements mean that pressing the rest button is very
different. Creating permanence no longer involves putting the past in that mysterious
box.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The circumstances in which
children are adopted now are very different too. Back then babies like me were
adopted largely because of the attitudes of the day rather than the inability
of our mothers to care for us. For many of them it was a heartbreaking story of
enforced separation just because being a single mother wasn’t socially (or for
some morally) acceptable. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Now kids are adopted, not
just as babies, but right through the early years of childhood, because it
simply isn’t possible or safe to leave them in their birth families. Drug and
alcohol addiction, physical and sexual abuse may all be part of the story. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Back then adoption was deemed
necessary even though it wasn’t necessarily in the child’s best interests. Now
it often really is necessary even though parents may want to keep their
children and sometimes those children may want to stay.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And while back then children
were adopted because single parenthood wasn't acceptable, adoption has
come full circle and it’s accepted that single people can adopt. In fact
thanks to a huge change in attitudes it’s also accepted that same sex couples,
older people and others can offer loving and stable homes too. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So a lot has changed. The
biggest thing to strike me on Sunday was so many adoptive parents with their
adopted children in one place. It was clear that they value the support they
can give each other; and that Scottish Adoption matters to them long after a
child has been adopted. There were adopted young people there too, another crucial
facet of the after adoption work we do. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.nationaladoptionweek.org.uk/"><span style="color: #606420;">National
Adoption Week’s</span></a> slogan is ‘Rule yourself in’. The need for people to
come forward to adopt has never been greater. So whatever your circumstances,
if you’re reading this and wondering if you could adopt, get in touch with <a href="http://www.scottishadoption.org/contact-us"><span style="color: #606420;">Scottish
Adoption</span></a> or another agency. <a href="http://www.baaf.org.uk/"><span style="color: #606420;">BAAF</span></a> and <a href="http://www.adoptionuk.org/">AdoptionUK</a>
can help you find one in your area. Ruling yourself in could make a big
difference to a child's life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Earlier this week a BBC
Inside Out programme claimed that police officers were told what to write in their
statements, following clashes at the Orgreave coke works. Labour is now calling
for an inquiry into claims that South Yorkshire Police manipulated evidence
during the miners' strike in 1984. The shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told
the Commons the issue needed to be investigated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The news reminded me
of one particular day during that strike. One that has stayed with me ever
since. During the strike I was branch secretary of NALGO at Westminster City
Council. They were heady days. The now disgraced Shirley Porter was leader of
the council. Just across the water. Ken Livingstone was running the GLC. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Like many trade union
branches we twinned with an NUM branch during the strike as a focus for our
fundraising efforts to support striking miners and their families. In the
summer of 1984 we twinned with Carcroft NUM near Doncaster in what is now Ed
Miliband’s constituency.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The rest of this blog is
an article, ‘They want us there today’, written by Tim Taylor (a NALGO fellow
branch officer) and me following a visit to Yorkshire to forge relations with
our twin NUM branch. It was published in Westminster NALGO’s branch magazine,
State of the Union, in September 1984. And it describes what happened when we
found ourselves on a mass picket at Gascoigne Wood near Selby the day after the
first Yorkshire miner had returned to work.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Inside Out reminded me
of the day and the article. For anyone who was there at the time, the revelations
about allegedly falsified police accounts will come as no surprise at all. The
real story of what happened has been there all along in the accounts of those
who took part in the strike. And those like me who bore witness to it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>‘They want us there today’ by Tim Taylor and Chris Creegan, State of the Union, Westminster NALGO, September 1984</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The report that follows
is an account of what happened when we were taken to a mass picket during our
visit to a mining community in South Yorkshire. We wanted to view for ourselves
the actions of miners and police on the picket lines so much talked about in
the news. Quotes are from miners we met on the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">We were staying
with a miner’s family in the Brodsworth area just outside Doncaster. Having
reported along with local striking miners to the welfare we were driven to
Gascoigne Wood colliery near Selby where the previous day the first Yorkshire
miner to break the strike had returned to work. ‘They want us there today’,
commented our driver as we asked whether the police were likely to prevent us
from reaching the colliery. On arrival we were met by hundreds of miners keen
to indicate that support for the strike was still strong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">‘It’s as much a
display of solidarity as anything else and God, we need that now.’</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">We were instructed
to move towards the pit gates and joined maybe 2000 other pickets in a field
adjacent to the colliery road, which was occupied by a line of police several
thousand strong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">‘This pit has been
democratically closed by those who work there. There’s all this talk of the
‘right to work’ but you don’t get this lot down (the police) when MacGregor
shuts a pit, to defend our right to work.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">As we stood in
anticipation, local union officials moved through the crowd urging pickets to
remain calm. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">‘This isn’t exactly what
I’d call fun. We’ve been beaten and punched and kicked and it’s bloody cold.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The situation did remain
peaceful until police ‘thoughtlessly’ rushed two vans towards the pit gates.
Pickets thinking (wrongly) that this was the man’s return to work, surged
forward in an attempt to block the road. As scuffles broke out and truncheons
were drawn, police were heard to say ‘take your pickets now’. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">‘This bloke going in
today, I don’t blame him. We’ve all suffered and for some I suppose it just
gets too much. But he’s still a scab and he’s letting everyone down – himself,
his community, his kids…’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The situation soon
calmed and by about 11.00am miners began to drift off, anxious to avoid further
clashes but satisfied that their presence had been felt. ‘Coming in? With you
lot here? You must be joking’ said a superintendent as we walked away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pickets were soon
reflecting on the morning’s events. Many of the older pickets were critical of
others’ hot headed response to the police. They were conscious of having been
used and sure of what the press would have to say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">‘Mindless hooligans’,
‘mindless horror’, ‘mindless violence’ said the Express. They all got it wrong.
We saw the police charge first and pickets act only in defence. Maybe they had
been right – they had wanted us there that day.</span></div>
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<![endif]-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-13404328196931673212012-10-23T16:31:00.002-07:002012-10-24T03:33:45.180-07:00Abuse, power and gender: what needs to change after Savile<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I love the BBC. I can’t imagine my cultural life without it. I don’t know whether this is the worst crisis at the BBC for 50 years. But I’m pretty sure that’s not the question. Or at any rate the only question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it worries me a great deal that at a moment when we have an opportunity to focus on the issue of abuse, a self referential media has decided that the media itself, in the form of the BBC in this instance, is the big story. If we need reminding of the way power relations can be reinforced by elites, we need look no further than the current discourse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there are some other things about power that we need to remember and here are two. First it’s gendered. And second it’s about culture. And that reminds me of two articles from the world of sociology and social policy, both as it happens written by men. Academics are sometimes (rightly) criticised for living in ivory towers. But they can sometimes help us think about big issues and ideas and enable us to look at problems through a different lens. Men are rightly criticised for colluding with gendered power relations, but sometimes they have something to say about them too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where gendered power is concerned I’m reminded of a ground breaking article, Naming Men as Men, published in the academic journal, Gender, Work and Organisation in 1994. The authors, David Collinson and Jeff Hearn, discussed the way in which men and masculinities are frequently central to organisational analysis, yet rarely the focus of interrogation. Rather they remain taken for granted and hidden. Is this ringing any bells? Collinson and Hearn went on to argue that to understand gendered power, we need to examine the management of organisations in much more detail. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And they highlighted five masculinities which are routinely embedded in managerial discourses and practices: authoritarianism, paternalism, entrepreneurialism, informalism and careerism. I don’t know whether these accurately describe masculinities at the BBC or for that matter across the media. But I’d hazard a guess that they aren’t too far removed from either the culture that allowed abuse or indeed the culture that’s mishandling the fall out now. I’d certainly draw on Collinson and Hearn’s framework if I wanted to take a closer look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where organisational culture is concerned I’m reminded of a piece by Ken Young about the implementation of equality policies. Young argues persuasively about the importance of understanding the appreciative context within organisations. He referred to that context as the constellation of images, beliefs and values at work in organisations. And he suggested that when thinking about the implementation of policy it was as important as formal policy frameworks and procedures. Since there’s already talk of whether we need more legal powers to prevent abuse (we might) it’s worth remembering that any amount of regulation won’t work if values and behaviours don’t change. And when it comes to abuse, that’s first and foremost about male values and behaviours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I absolutely agree with those who have argued that the tragic and shocking story of abuse that has given rise to the current crisis at the BBC must not be drowned out by the story of that crisis. But since everyone is talking about it and because it’s real, let’s please make sure we focus on what actually needs to change in organisations like the BBC if we’re to stop powerful men abusing again.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-9174544483110622312012-10-11T09:36:00.001-07:002012-10-11T16:31:33.917-07:00Why coming out is still an everyday experience<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today is Coming Out day. And it’s still relevant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Commenting during last year’s Irish presidential election campaign on the sea change in attitudes to sexuality in Ireland, the writer Colm Toibin memorably said that recently he’d forgotten he was gay because he was too busy doing something else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know what he meant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The change in attitudes in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Britain</st1:country></st1:place> that’s taken place in the last thirty years has indeed been remarkable. In 1983, when NatCen’s landmark British Social Attitudes survey was carried out, 62 per cent thought homosexuality was always or mostly wrong. By 2010 that trend had more or less reversed: 39 per cent said that homosexuality was never wrong, while ten per cent said it was rarely wrong. And as survey after survey shows that trend continues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For those of us who came out many years ago, who’ve become comfortable in our own skin with the support of family, friends and colleagues, Colm Toibin’s experience will resonate a great deal. But it’s all too easy to forget how traumatic coming out was and can be. And it would be tempting to assume that attitudinal change has some how rendered coming out easier or even a thing of the past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But we still live in a society where the presumption is heterosexuality. And even in socially liberal circles that presumption is still pretty deep rooted. Being lesbian or gay may not be as shocking as it once was, but it can still be mildly disconcerting or disappointing to even the most progressive people. The presumption of heterosexuality, ‘heterosexism’ in an institutional context, means that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is still a declaration of difference. It means being the other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being the other means that being lesbian, gay or bisexual is at best a negotiated experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might not require a grand strategy, but it will still involve everyday tactical decisions. Who to tell, what to say, will anyone be offended, will it change someone’s perception of me? And so on. And coming out never stops. Wherever you go, whatever you do, that negotiation continues, however benign, a feature of normal daily life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if you’re at work and you’re in a relationship, do you play the pronouns game to conceal the gender of your partner? Conversely, if you’re not in a relationship, how do you come out without the prop of a partner to introduce your sexuality into everyday conversation? Research that I was involved in for the European Social Fund as recently as 2006 revealed that coming out could be a radically different experience for people working in the same building: one person talking about being in a ‘comfort zone’ and another talking about having to wear ‘an emotional suit of armour’ everyday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For young people coming out for the first time at school or college coming out can still be a hugely traumatic and lonely experience. Yes attitudes have changed. Yes role models are more plentiful. But when the chips are down, it’s something you’ve got to do for yourself and it takes courage. For people in countries where attitudes have still to change, we know it can still be a matter of life and death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if you’re straight what can you do? Time and time again research participants have said to me over the years that one of the things that can make a real difference is when straight people take responsibility for creating an environment where coming out is less of an ordeal. That means not presuming and not stereotyping. It means thinking about what you say and not assuming you know everything about the people around you. It means that no matter what your private assumptions are they should remain private. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And by the way that doesn’t mean treading on eggshells. It’s not political correctness gone mad. It’s just common sense and common courtesy. Too much to ask? If attitudes have changed as much as the surveys tell us it shouldn’t be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And you might just make someone’s coming out journey a whole lot easier.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-87556175832810524282012-09-14T15:55:00.000-07:002012-09-15T01:09:20.754-07:00A Great North Run for the David Cairns Foundation<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">On Sunday 16 September I’m running the Great North Run for
the </span><a href="http://www.davidcairnsfoundation.org/index.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">David Cairns Foundation</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">.
David, who died of Acute Pancreatitis in 2011, was MP for Inverclyde. He was a
huge inspiration to me and many others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The David Cairns Foundation was set up to remember his life
and work. The Trustees of the Foundation aim to support the causes that David
supported in his parliamentary career in the hope that the hard work that David
put in on behalf of his constituents, his causes and for the country is
continued. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Foundation is currently supporting three charitable
causes that David was associated with. The Ardgowan Hospice in his Inverclyde
Constituency was established in 1981 to enhance the lives of local people
affected by cancer and other serious life limiting illnesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In David’s role as the Chair of the All Party Group on HIV
/AIDS he met David Kato, a Ugandan man who was to be beaten to death for his
sexuality. To highlight such cases the Foundation is supporting the work of
SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Finally, as a living memorial to David, the Foundation, in
partnership with the Notre Dame High School, has established an annual David
Cairns Public Speaking Prize. Each year the two winning pupils will be recorded
on a special trophy and have the opportunity to visit the Palace of Westminster,
tour the Commons and Lords and watch Prime Ministers Questions from the
gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">You can support my run by making a donation to the Foundation </span><a href="http://www.davidcairnsfoundation.org/donate.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">here.</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> If you do
make a donation I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you personally so
please do drop me an email to <a href="mailto:chriscreegan61@gmail.com">chriscreegan61@gmail.com</a></span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Many thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-34529359455916685072012-09-09T16:00:00.001-07:002012-09-09T16:00:35.083-07:00London 2012: Our British summer of discovery<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">London 2012 was a summer of discovery. And like so many watching the Paralympics closing ceremony tonight I’ve been reflecting on what we learnt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I haven’t got the last word and I don’t want it. This is a conversation that’s just started. So here’s my starter for ten, with a bit of help from Ade Adepitan who summed it up so beautifully in response to Clare Balding as the show came to a close.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt to be a glass half full. Optimism makes all the difference.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt to show our feelings. There’s nothing like a good cry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt to have a sense of humour. There’s nothing like a good laugh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt that equality isn’t a fringe issue. It’s a birthright.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt that being proud of Britain is okay It’s about patriotism not nationalism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt that sport doesn’t discriminate. So we shouldn’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt that the BBC and Channel 4 are both great. They're both British.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt more about our place in the 21<sup>st</sup> century world. Not empire<em> </em>but </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">inspire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We learnt that sport gives us hope. And hope gives us belief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And with belief anything is possible (thanks Ade)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And as Bonnie Greer reminded us recently, if we’ve learnt anything about the audacity of hope, surely it’s that <em>we</em> are the hope. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So let’s make sure London 2012 really does inspire a generation. Join the conversation. It starts now. I'm going to.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-77835139849264201292012-08-30T19:13:00.001-07:002012-09-01T16:06:06.753-07:00#positivetwitterday: Talking up Britishness for a day<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I must admit that when I first heard about British Future I was sceptical. But over the last few months I’ve been gradually won over. Here’s a think tank with a clear progressive agenda, but one that refuses to be beholden to traditional boundaries. A think tank that’s begun to do something that successive late 20<sup>th</sup> century politicians tried to do and largely failed; create a real debate about what constitutes Britishness at the beginning of the 21<sup>st</sup> century. And today it’s asking us to take part in #positivetwitterday. To celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic spirit and be positive and civil for a day. And where better to start than with Britishness itself.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">John Major’s much derided 1992 attempt at defining Britishness evoked the image of “cycling home from evensong, sipping warm beer on the village green while watching cricket.” At some level it was quite endearing, but it didn’t bear much scrutiny. Conjuring up a sense of whiteness and Englishness, it was absurdly nostalgic, narrow and exclusive. In 2006 Gordon Brown, in a speech to the Fabian Society, described British patriotism as “encompassing progressive ideas of liberty, fairness and responsibility.” In some respects this was much broader, and certainly laudable as an aspiration. But somehow it didn’t resonate. It felt theoretical, detached and bolted on. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Major and Brown attempts at defining Britishness are some of the most memorable and explicit by British politicians in recent times. At other moments politicians have evoked a sense of Britishness in their responses to events. Thatcher’s post victory speech following the Falklands war spoke of the “real spirit of Britain”, of Britain having “found herself again.” In a far more subtle way, Blair’s “People’s Princess” speech immediately after the death of Diana appealed to a Britain in a state of shock and grief at her death. Earlier this year Blair was described by one commentator as the man “who more than any, tried to recreate a fuzzy sense of Britishness, post-Diana, all touchy-feely and shorn of any of ..harsh realities.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These are just snippets of course and there have been many other attempts by politicians during recent years to capture a sense of British identity and Britishness. Some of these have been more successful, more appealing and more inclusive than others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But none has really succeeded in creating a lasting and relevant sense of a new lived Britishness, genuinely and purposively representative of the Britain we’re in today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">British Future, it seems, has been designed to avoid those pitfalls. It’s clearly non partisan, but doesn’t shy away from challenging politics. It’s prepared to engage with and celebrate the past, while being firmly rooted in the present and committed to the future. And it is unashamedly open about diversity, and in particular wants us to talk about the one thing that so many politicians both court and fear: (im)migration, the issue behind one of the most embarrassing moments of the 2010 election, the Mrs Duffy moment. And specifically one of its aims is to create greater understanding of the positive impact of migration. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">#positivetwitterday is on one level a chance for fun. It’s an opportunity to use social media to create a national conversation which celebrates the moment. It’s an antidote to those who are attached to a traditional British pessimism. It says there’s value in positivity for its own sake because it can make us feel better. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But it’s more than that. This is civic #postivetwitterday. So it’s about engendering a sense of belonging, of connectivity between individuals and the collective, however and where that’s expressed. That could be a geographic community or a community of interest or within in the overlapping spaces that bring them together. If the findings of NatCen Social Research's landmark British Social Attitudes Survey in recent years are anything to go by, that’s something we could all do with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And so it’s challenging us to be part of a conversation which helps us create our own sense of Britishness, a Britishness which isn’t afraid to shy away from difficulty, but has a reason to believe; in opportunity and in the future. And that’s why I’m no longer a British Future sceptic. I get why it matters. I don’t know where it’s going but that’s what’s great about it. It’s serendipitous, spontaneous and audacious. It’s a kind of adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s challenging us to recognise that there’s something precious within our grasp, to recognise as Sunder Katwala pointed out in his recent blog on Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, that Britishness has actually been staring us in the face all the time: it is Britain that makes us British. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And if we stop for a moment and take the opportunity to talk about it and celebrate it, we might learn something about it and ourselves which won’t just be for fun. It will help us create new ways of working and thinking together, of creating opportunities to be prosperous materially, emotionally and more. Unlike Major’s Britishness, it’s capable of being diverse and inclusive. Unlike Brown’s, it’s more rooted and practical. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">British Future’s Britishness is us. In Britain. Today.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-52684512326277504982012-08-20T04:13:00.001-07:002012-08-21T16:38:21.573-07:00Cardinal O’Brien: time to practice what you preach<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So Keith Patrick O’Brien isn’t talking to Alex Salmond, or at least not formally, because the First Minister intends to press ahead with plans to legalise equal marriage and the Cardinal doesn’t like not being listened to. Well I’m glad he knows what that feels like. As a gay Catholic I certainly do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is another manifestation of a rift which I referred to in my recent blog following the Archbishop of Glasgow’s outrageous remarks on the death of the late David Cairns, subsequently reinforced by the Catholic media office spokesperson Peter Kearney’s assertion that being gay leads to early death. Those remarks were so offensive and hurtful to David’s partner and family that I’d prefer not to mention them, let alone draw attention to them. But it’s necessary to because they expose the deep rooted prejudice and ignorance which lie at the heart of the Catholic establishment’s opposition to equal marriage. And that’s why it’s hard to take what Keith Patrick O’Brien and Peter Kearney say with anything other than a pinch of salt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Catholic establishment is snubbing Salmond because it’s upset that it isn’t being listened to. It also advances the very weak argument that apparently two thirds of those who responded to the Scottish Government’s recent consultation were opposed to gay marriage. This sounds like a petulant child that can’t get its own way and gets its friends to join in the shouting. The thing about petulant children is that they have to grow up. They have to accept that ‘I want never gets’. The world doesn’t come to you just because you stamp your feet. Welcome to modern democratic life Cardinal O’Brien. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As any of us with any experience knows, sometimes consultation goes your way and sometimes it doesn't. It might actually be more helpful to focus on the consensus which does exist. T<span style="color: black;">here were very few respondents who considered that religious bodies or celebrants should be required to undertake ceremonies which they were not comfortable with. And although approaching the basic proposals from very different starting points, many respondents were united in their insistence that <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country> must remain a country in which freedom of religious conscience is treated with the utmost respect. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But just to be clear, public consultation isn’t a referendum or a vote. Rather it’s an opportunity for public input on matters of policy. It’s more qualitative than quantitative, because its real value is to understand the range of perspectives held by the public, both individually and expressed through collective institutions, and the arguments which inform those perspectives. Its value in quantitative terms is negligible because it’s not designed to be representative. And it isn’t designed to be binding. However, the unavoidable truth is that research shows that attitudes in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country> are changing: the Scottish Social Attitudes survey shows that <st1:personname w:st="on">support</st1:personname> for same sex marriage increased from 41% in 2002 to 61% in 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My interest in this debate is on the record. I’m a gay Catholic who strongly <st1:personname w:st="on">support</st1:personname>s gay marriage. I didn’t, however, respond to the Scottish Government’s consultation. Sometimes, perhaps not surprisingly, consultation will attract a higher proportion of opponents than <st1:personname w:st="on">support</st1:personname>ers because, entirely reasonably, such opportunities to make voices heard are exploited by those who wish to lobby decision makers. I had a choice about whether to respond to the consultation. I chose not to, not because I didn’t have a point of view or because I didn’t care, but because in truth I had a lot of other things on. And perhaps more importantly, on the basis of what I’d heard, I trusted the Scottish Government to do the right thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there’s a contradiction at play here. I didn’t respond to the Catholic church’s consultation on gay marriage either because there hasn’t been any. Ordinary Catholics haven’t been asked for their views. They’ve simply been asked to shore up the establishment’s perspective. On one level I won’t lose too much sleep about this because had we been asked for our views I suspect I’d have been in a minority. But nonetheless the plain fact is, and the church establishment knows it, that there’s no shortage of opposition, or at least ambivalence, to their point of view amongst Catholics. Some of it is from gay Catholics like me, some from straight <st1:personname w:st="on">support</st1:personname>ers of gay marriage, and some simply from those who think the church could make better use of its influence in a <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country> facing real social problems like poverty. Fair play to the Church of Scotland on this one. At least it’s openly debated this issue in the full glare of media scrutiny. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are some obvious lessons for the Catholic establishment in all of this. First, not talking to people just because you disagree with them isn’t very grown up. Second, participating in consultation in a modern democracy can’t guarantee that things will go your way. Third, if you really believe in the value of consultation and open debate, then let’s have some in the church itself. Fourth, it’s time to stop running away with the idea that Catholics have only one point of view on this issue. And finally, if you do want anyone to take you remotely seriously on the issue of gay marriage, ditch the bigotry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-17276121602928197022012-08-06T16:39:00.002-07:002012-08-07T12:58:17.127-07:00The legacy of London 2012: Endeavour, emotion and equality<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Day 11 of the London 2012 Olympics draws to a close. It’s magic and I don’t want it to end. I’ve cried and laughed at everything from my first love, athletics, to judo which I wouldn’t usually watch. With the news that 17 million people tuned into the BBC on Saturday night and 19 million to watch the men’s 100 metres final, it’s clear I’m not alone. Why? Well sadly sport doesn’t alter the course of civil wars or the weather so it can’t change what’s happening in Syria or prevent flooding in Britain. And London 2012 can’t hide the reality that the underlying social problems which led to riots across English towns and cities just 12 months ago are all still with us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But sport can inspire, it can unite and it can help us believe that we’ve got what it takes to make the world a better place. ‘Unbelievable’ has become the byword of British medal winners at these games. The crowds, the support, the atmosphere and the performances have all been unbelievable apparently. And I’m sure that for those competitors it has felt pretty extraordinary. But wouldn’t it be great if we could harness those things into a force for good, if we could turn the disbelief into belief. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As the British medal tally pushes 50, the Games post mortem has already begun in earnest. And the moment they end, there'll be saturation coverage. After years of wrangling about legacy so brilliantly captured in the satire, 2012, it will be game on. Some will argue that it’s too late before it’s even started. Others will jump on the bandwagon before it really is too late. At a micro level it will be about investment in sport, lottery funding, regeneration projects; the list goes on. Rows about the sale of schools sports fields are already up and running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But as some commentators have already pointed out, it’s about the bigger picture too. The stuff of dreams and legends might be hyperbole, but it would be more than a shame if we lost sight of what’s united so many of us over the past few days, confounding all that glass half empty talk of failure that preceded the Games. For me, three things stand out: endeavour, emotion and equality. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Endeavour stands out because it underpins so much of what we’ve witnessed. Years of sacrifice by athletes, heroic efforts by parents, support from coaches, families and friends all speak to the power of endeavour. It’s not rocket science. If you make the effort, some good will come of it. If you try harder, it can make a difference. But far too much of our national psyche has got wrapped up into a something for nothing culture, the power of consumerism, the allure of fame. We’d do well to learn something from the likes of Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah. Endeavour of the sort they’ve shown is surely a more powerful force for good than any amount of X Factor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Emotion stands out because it speaks to a new more open and honest Britain. Who could fail to be moved by the emotion shown by Hoy in victory and Adlington in defeat? The outpouring of emotion from winners and losers, spectators and competitors alike has been a moment of national catharsis in stark contrast to the doom mongering that infected so much of the pre Games coverage. When we cry and laugh, we let go and we open up. We show that we can all be vulnerable, we’re all human. The serious side to this is that too much of the feelings we see displayed public life are manufactured and contrived. Rather than claim the tears they’ve witnessed as their own achievements, politicians would do well to think about how they can be more open and honest. They don't need to cry every day. But a degree of humility and honesty; that would be great wouldn’t it? Sorry doesn’t have to the hardest word. Pride doesn’t have to be all stiff upper lip. Remember Diana?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Equality is trickier. For many the Olympics smacks of big business, privilege, even elitism. But taking part means being prepared to be equal. And Britain has one of the most diverse teams at the Games. Whether you’re the Queen’s grand daughter or someone who grew up a stone’s throw from the stadium, once you’re on the starting line, you’re only as good as your last race. Money will have helped you get there, be it inherited wealth or lottery funding. But what will really count is how much talent you have and how much effort you’ve made to exploit it. So when decision makers ponder on how we can create a lasting legacy from 2012, they’d do well to put equality of opportunity high on their list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Endeavour, emotion and equality don’t amount to a political manifesto. And they aren’t the preserve of one political party. But together they can be a powerful force for good. Motherhood and apple pie? Maybe. But just imagine how it would be if it felt like this in Britain every week. Now that would be unbelievable.<o:p></o:p></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408936902703314671.post-85633880160182725712012-07-28T02:03:00.000-07:002012-08-06T16:49:38.671-07:00A tale of two countries: equality and homophobia in the new Scotland<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In 2011 David Cairns, the MP for Inverclyde, died of acute <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;">pancreatitis</span>. He was 44. He didn’t die because he was gay. He died because he had the terrible misfortune to develop a fatal illness. In 1995 my first partner died of AIDS. He was 37. He didn’t die because he was gay either. He died because he had the terrible misfortune to contract a deadly virus. Both David and my late partner died tragically young when they still had much to contribute. So far, so obvious. But sadly not to the Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was born in 1961, adopted at six months and grew up in <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">England</place></country>. Adoption was a different story back then and growing up I knew little about my birth identity save two things; I was Scottish and Catholic. Identity is a complicated thing but I’ve carried those things with me on and off for the last 50 odd years. And since I was in my late teens I’ve carried something else as part of my identity: I’m gay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So this week’s events in <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Scotland</place></country> were something of a roller coaster. <country -region="-region" w:st="on">Scotland</country> looks set to be the first part of the <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">UK</place></country> to legislate for equal marriage; hurrah to that. But at almost the same moment, the Archbishop of Glasgow’s disgraceful comments about the David Cairns’ death cast a long dark shadow over <country -region="-region" w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Scotland</place></country>’s new burgeoning tolerance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s pretty odd to be a gay Catholic. A lot of my friends certainly think so and the Archbishop’s comments have done nothing to confound their unease. To some of them it’s down right contradictory. But faith and the way any of us chooses to express it is a very personal thing. And I’m not about to retreat into the far reaches of that dark shadow because religious leaders like Tartaglia can’t resist making ignorant and deeply shameful remarks about a good man who is no longer here to answer back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m proud to say that I’m Scottish, gay and Catholic. And I look forward to the day when the church establishment in Scotland, Catholic and Protestant, catches up with the body politic in my country and not only desists from perpetuating bigotry but joins forces with the progressive voices who want to make homophobia a thing of the past. That must be the Christian thing to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lofty aspirations? Maybe. But a good starting point would be for Tartaglia to meet with David’s partner Dermot Kehoe as he’s requested and start to mend some of the appalling damage inflicted by his remarks.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01332946173264775100noreply@blogger.com0