LAST weekend in Newry there were attacks on some people who were out celebrating Pride.
They were set upon in the early hours of the morning by a few homophobic bullies.
The incident was obviously frightening for the victims of what is not only an assault but a hate crime.
Thankfully the reaction of the general public to the barbarity of the attack was one of disgust and revulsion.
It seems that despite the long road in the campaign for equality – homophobia is still alive and well.
It was also somewhat ironic that these attacks took place on the eve of a celebration of the works of Oscar Wilde in Reading Gaol.
Looking at the imprisonment of Wilde through today’s eyes – the punishment for what was then described as gross indecency was totally inhumane.
Yet the experience afforded Wilde some of his great inspiration for works such as De Profundis and the Ballad of Reading Gaol. The attacks in Newry it appears started with name calling and derogatory remarks aimed at insulting and threatening the victims.
Reflecting on what happened it’s clear that such attacks on gay people are not so isolated. Many actually go unreported.
Language is still a powerful weapon in the armoury of a homophobic bully. But it’s not just gay people who are experiencing forces from the darker side of our society.
It’s only weeks since Jewish graves were desecrated in the city cemetery. Somehow the perpetrators felt they were doing this in some kind of solidarity with beleaguered Palestinians.
The only thing they actually showed solidarity with was their own stupidity.
Even more bizarre was the report that said some of our more recent visitors from Syria were threatened about their wearing of the burkinis on a family visit to the north coast.
This nonsense over burkinis started in France and by no less than the government and regional authorities.
France prides itself on its total separation of church and state but what clothes one wears or doesn’t wear on a beach has no foundation in the thoughts of the creators of the French republic.
It didn’t take long before the issue was seized upon by liberals and nationalistic zealots.
To the liberals the wearing of burkinis was a symbol of the oppression of women; to nationalists this was an affront to the French way of life.
Both were grade A horse manure. Nine times out of ten westerners get more annoyed by nudity than wholly clothed walking mannequins.
As a columnist I never had much time for namby-pamby political correctness. Sanitised speech has always been an anathema to me.
Though the consequence of that is if you believe (as I do) in free speech – then you must also subscribe to freedom of association, freedom of thought, movement and belief.
Of course freedoms do come with responsibilities. They are not cost free as some would suggest but intolerance of those can’t form part of the rationale for censorship or oppression.
Over recent weeks we have also witnessed what amounts to trial by media. Trial by media is as odious as other forms of oppression or bullying.
It does not afford the viewers, listeners or readers the opportunity to rationalise. In fact, it does the opposite. There is a good reason why we have a courts system and due process that is supposed to presume innocence until proven otherwise.
Sometimes the media appetite for serving up the sizzle comes at the price of missing the steak in a story.
More and more we see a serious confusion between what the media judges to be of interest to the public as opposed to what may in the public interest.
Regularly juggling between demonising and lionising those in public life week about, the media has little to be pious about when condemning the actions of others.
Human nature being what it is - scapegoating, demonising, spinning against and oppressing minorities - is as old as the alleged first encounter in the Garden of Eden between a man and a woman.
Women have spent four thousand years trying to undo the damage of Biblical put-downs.
As recent events prove there is always a need to be vigilant as to the type of society we are moulding.
Bystanding is not an option and nor is walking on. Prickly old Oscar had it right when he wrote ‘Be yourself as everyone else is taken’.
Pity we don’t seem able to let others be themselves any more than we can take Oscar’s advice.
