Posted on 12/24/2005 5:22:12 AM PST by jalisco555
POLICE questioned a retired couple for 80 minutes about their “homophobic” views after they asked their local council if they could display their Christian literature next to gay rights leaflets, it was reported last night.
Joe and Helen Roberts said that police officers warned them that their actions “were close to a hate crime” after they complained to Wyre Borough Council about its gay rights policies.
The couple claimed that the police told them they were “walking on eggshells”.
Mr Roberts, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, said he had been offended because of the council’s distribution of the gay rights leaflets and its promotion of its theatre as a venue for civil partnership ceremonies.
He said he complained to Paul Deacon, the council officer responsible for Wyre’s part in the Navajo Charter Mark campaign being run by several local authorities to offer assistance to gay and lesbian people.
Mr Roberts, 73, told the Daily Mail: “I told him I was offended. I asked him if I could put Christian literature on display alongside the gay material. He said I couldn’t because it would offend gay people.
“I said we had no objection to gay people, but we thought that homosexual practice was wrong and we were offended by the gay culture which the council is promoting.
“They warned me that being discriminatory and homophobic is in line with hate crime. The phrase they used was that we were ‘walking on eggshells’. I asked the officer, if I phoned the police with a complaint that the council were discriminating against Christians would he go to interview them?”
Lancashire police said its visit to the Robertses’ family home was a matter of routine after a complaint from the council. A spokesman added: “Words of suitable advice were given and we will not be taking any further action.”
Joan Humble, the Labour MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, said the council’s decision to call the police was heavy handed.
She added: “Navajo is a very good project to offer support to gay people. But they should have replied to Mr and Mrs Roberts to explain their policy and allay their fears about the nature of the literature.”
A council spokesman said the couple had “displayed potentially homophobic attitudes”.
He added: “The council referred this matter to the police for further investigation with the intention of challenging attitudes and educating and raising awareness of the implications of homophobic behaviour.”
This month a Metropolitan Police officer telephoned the author Lynette Burrows at her home in Cambridge after she took part in a BBC Radio 5 Live programme. He told her that her broadcast view that gay couples were not good adoptive parents for boys had been reported and recorded as a homophobic incident.
He added: “The council referred this matter to the police for further investigation with the intention of challenging attitudes and educating and raising awareness of the implications of homophobic behaviour.”
One HAS to wonder what other activities will get the law down on you for being "potentially homophobic attitudes".
Now, not only thought crime is a crime, but potential thought crime is a crime.
So much for "Free Speech" rights. Obviously, England is no longer a democracy.
Ho Ho Ho! LOL
That'll have the same effectiveness it's had in regards to legalized baby shredding, which is little to none.
I haven't seen the gays in London complaining against the radical Imams there. Strange, isn't it.
Christian Pastors have already been charged and tried in Denmark and Canada. The Pastor in Denmark was acquited by an appeals court, but I don't recall what happened in Canada.
Exactly !!!
The only reliable way to keep government in its place is for the population to be well armed and proficient in the use of their arsenal.
Then it is those that have posited themselves in places of Governmental authority that are the enemies of the people.
Where did I hear that before?
Thank god that is Europe. At first I thought it was in U.S. I doubt highly that they would have a problem with the old folks putting a bunch of papers in a slot next to gay literature. This seems so ridiculous, but I don't give a sh** because it did not happen in America and does not concern me at all.
Wondered that myself, there must be a hell of a lot left in the closet. Who would have thought, 20, hell 10 years ago that this could actually be happening throughout the western world. Police talking to a couple of retired people re their opinions, questions and thoughts?! This is scary - WHERE THE HELL ARE THE MEN IN THIS WORLD?!!!!
Except, no one in European Governments ever backs down because the 'little people' have guns. They send in government employed jackbooted thugs with overwhelming fire power to slaughter the people that dared to stand up for themselves.
You and I both know they'd really have to have some blood shed, not symbolic waving of muskets and not useless rhetoric.
What utter, complete bullshit.
Ever wonder if the Islamist fanatics and their cohorts are funding these kind of activities? How about funding the liberal cause in order to create confusion and disent? Wow! how's that for a conspiracy theory?
Ignoring the obvious fact that "hate crime" is a stupid concept,
Aren't laws pretty absolute?
Did I "almost speed" at 69 miles an hour when the speed limit is 70?
Did I "almost steal" the sweater when I tried it on in the dressing room?
The "almost" thing is just a way to push us further in a corner.
That's exactly where it's headed. We're in for a new round of relgious persecution. This time it will be global. This time it will probably rival some of the worst experiences on record, as Christians refuse to renounce their religion.
This is institutionalized bigotry.
The Evolution of the Debate
1970: Homosexuality is a mental illness? Don't lock us up for our love!
1980: We know you don't approve of what we do. Just leave us be in our bedrooms and we won’t bother anyone.
1990: We feel oppressed. Wear a ribbon to let us know you care. If you don’t care, just don’t say anything. Gay-bashing is so retrograde and gauche.
2000: People who disagree with us are so mean and hateful. They should be shunned like Neo-Nazis and racists.
2010: People who don’t affirm our right to teach their children how wonderful we are are dangerous. Those laws we passed to zone sexual predators out of our lives… can’t we put them to better use and get these throwbacks into a controlled area where they can be helped?
2020: Christianity is a mental illness. Lock up the benighted criminals who don't submit to our culture.
The 2% is the moral liberal plague carrying flea on the socialist rat biting the tail on the societal dog...
It will happen. Read your Bible. Look how many times Israel abandoned God. The one true God. The God of heaven and earth. It is just a matter of time before we will be just like the European nations. Pagan is the word. Be prepared and be strong in the Lord. If you are a believer the lines will be drawn on the sand. Be prepared to face all kinds of persecution. We are already experiencing it by not being not being politically correct. The Patriot Bugler.
George Orwell was about 30 years off.
Im afraid the time has long since passed for sending letters and making phone calls.
Anti Christ just up the ante...
&
Guillotine stock just went up a notch...
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