Pink Sauce

People opposed to gay marriage or Civil Partnership always claim that these undermine traditional marriage. We may be able to believe them should ever manage to explain how this is actually happening. They never do. As far as I can see, straight couples are doing a very nice job of undermining marriage themselves. And in any case, how can giving more people the opportunity to join in something undermine it? Well it seems that we now have the proof that not only gay marriage does not destroy marriage, it actually help support and strengthen that institution. Gay marriage has been legal in Massachusetts for the past 5 years. This means that we now have 4 years of data allowing us to judge the extent of the damages wreaked on that poor state by gay marriage. Well, guess what: according to the latest figures from the National Center For Vital Statistics, Massachusetts is the US state with the lowest divorce rate of all, and that rate is about equal to the national divorce rate... in 1940....

As I was about to board the bus that would take me to Tesco yesterday afternoon, I spotted a rather attractive guy, already on the bus seated in the first few seats at the front. I looked at him a couple of times and it seemed to me he was looking back. I got on the bus and went to stand in the open space opposite the exit doors and waited for my stop. Before this one arrived however, the bus got the guy's stop. As he stood up we exchange another glance. It felt like a typical "cruising" situation. I had very little doubt that the guy was gay - I know that my gaydar is not great but it's not that bad. The guy however started mumbling under his breath, looking at me square in the face and with a pained expression. He was speaking in West Indian patois and I didn't get what he meant other, perhaps, than the word "bumboy". Whatever his exact words, the purport of his speech was quite clear: he wasn't happy. I just stared at him with on interrogative loo...

One of my pictures, used to illustrate an article on Wikipedia , has been used by Manchester Pride to advertise one of their events .

Click on the image above for more information.

On the day where we learn that the number of jobseekers as gone up once again to reach over eight million, it is probably time for an update on my experience with JobCentre and share a few more nuggets. I still haven't found an answer to the question I first posed back in June , other than that they are there to administer people's claims. In the past couple of months, I have not received one bit of advice from them on looking for a job. The only advice comes from friend and from a kind recruitment agent who took an hour of his time to explain to me about what I think are called "functional CVs". I will certainly give those a try. It's not like I have anything to lose. Last week I went to sign at my scheduled time and was informed that I would have to attend a compulsory group session the next day. When I queried the very short notice, I was informed that they normally give a week. I also had the opportunity to explain to the clerk how email job alerts work. Shoul...

In October 1993, at 19, I started university. Although I was still going back to my parents', about 50km away, every week-end, this was for me the real beginning of true independence. I had been spending my weeks away from home (at the French version of a boarding school - i.e. nothing posh about it) for the past four years but this was different. From my room in a student residence, I was more or less free to do what I wanted. Within a few months, having finally realised that I was neither straight nor bisexual, I had been to my first gay club, had met my first boyfriend and had started to come out to my closest friends. I also started to find my own sartorial style. This was not a particularly rosy or successful time and I don't look at it with fond nostalgia, wishing I was still there, but it was an important stage in my life. Part of this metamorphosis involved the purchase of a silver ring. Something cheap (the equivalent of £7 (70 Francs), as I remember) but I thought it...

After finally managing to track an email address for Rev James Tallach of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland , on the Isle of Lewis, I sent him the email reproduced in this earlier post , challenging his alleged attribution of the reason for a tornado on Lewis to "god's warth" at the first celebration of a Civil Partnership on his island (as reported in this article on PinkNews). His first reply was as follows. Although, I have asked him permission to reproduce his emails, my request has remained unanswered. I have decided to publish anyway, since I am sure the Reverend is a man of integrity who would stand behind his own word publicly. Dear zefrog Thank you for your thoughtful email. During my interview about these matters I was asked whether I saw the tornado as a judgment for the breaking of God's commandment. I said specifiically that I did NOT make that connection and spoke of changing weaather patterns.This was correctly reported in at least one account....

Published on BlueRidgeNow.com : Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 4:30 a.m. To The Editor: Twenty-five years ago we discovered that one of our sons was gay. We loved him, but I was afraid of what the future held for him in a society that did not accept him. Therefore I began to pray that God would change him. One day as I was praying, I got a message from God that God did not work that way. So instead of God changing my son, God changed me. God changed the way that I viewed homosexuals, and gradually my understanding of Scriptures. From that moment on I began to accept my son as he was. Eventually God led me to PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) where I met other parents who were like me. There I found the courage that I needed to come out of my closet and talk openly about my son, not only in PFLAG meetings but also in the church and community. Since that time God has blessed my family in many wonderful ways by bringing not only a wonderful partner for my son into our li...