Thursday 4 August 2016

Equality... Or Ice-Cream?

A video of a white policeman in America pulling over a black woman, for no crime other than "driving without an ice-cream cone" has been circulating social media this week. When it appeared on my timeline I was nothing but embarrassed that as a white person, like myself, he has responded to such a huge injustice with an ice cream? Now, I know the intention behind this gesture was clearly to overcome racial divisions with a simple act of kindness - but it is the sheer terror on the woman's face that is the most powerful thing in the video for me. Her immediate readiness for a fight, an unnecessary fight to defend her lawful driving to - who she presumed - was another racist cop. 

That is the REAL issue here, not the lack of ice-cream. Black Lives Matter isn't highlighting an injustice in white drivers receiving cool treats on hot days, its about the innocent BLACK lives that are taken by police officers that have racial prejudice as their only motivation/reason to pull the trigger. You can't eradicate racism with a 99' and a flake. 



Big Brother Biphobia

Recently I have started to notice a weirdly accepted disapproval of bi-sexuality, sadly particularly from member's of older generations who believe its simply a fashion 'trend'. This extended to noticing comments on the TV this week when Christopher Biggins and Renee were having a conversation on Celebrity Big Brother about how "bisexuals are the worst".... nice. As a gay man himself, this bizarre non-acceptance of an entire section of the LGBT+ community coming from WITHIN the community itself surprised me. The pair went on to discuss how people should "pick a team" - what Chelsea? Arsenal? Manchester United? A persons sexuality isn't a game so stop treating it like one. Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.nhjjk=hjhtsssasasaddahghh

        "oh how ironic these 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi-sexuality is just so trendy these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend" 
a comment on the Daily Express' article on this topic

It also surprised me that not more viewers picked up on the comments, with some taking to social media to express their disdain, while the majority of it's audience stayed silent. There seems to be a weird mindset that unless an issue affects you directly - you ignore it? 

Dear society:
You don't have to be gay to be outraged by homophobia, you don't have to be bisexual to be outraged by these comments, you don't have to be black to be outraged by the way black people aren't treated equally and you don't have to be a woman to be outraged by the way women are treated. 

Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.



Oh how ironic that those 'outraged' tweets were sent by the young. I agree with Biggins - bi- sexuality is just so 'trendy' these days and these people who talk of their 'fluid' sexuality - all the so called 'outraged' viewers are people under 30 who seem to buy into this trend.