confused

[OLIVEBUS]

As a liberal gay man should i fear other religions who have no tolerence for my life style .

[Greedyfly]

No - are you religious?   Only care and practise what you believe in and if those close-minded folk dont like it then sod 'em. 

[andy hughes]

Just don't tell them. If you are close enough to anyone who's religion may conflict with your orientation, then you will probably have discovered their attitude to it - and your relationship will have adapated accordingly.

[OLIVEBUS]

In America W got in partly by courting the Religious right. Here we have a population who do not go to the "state" churches and a rise in other less tolerant to a homosexual lifestyle 

[bernardo]

No - you should ridicule them.  If they try to convert you, squirt some custard into their ears, and then they might learn to be reasonable and open-minded.

[Bangkok]

If you visit a religious country with anti-gay laws (there are quite a few) and you are caught breaking those laws then the consequences could be very serious. 

If you are in a country where being gay is legal (and that seems to be the case ), then you should not fear those who do not tolerate your lifestyle for religious reasons any more than you fear those who do not tolerate it for any other reason. 

In theory you should not have to fear anyone, but I appreciate that in practice there are people who insist on continuously trying to force the moral values they have decided (rightly or wrongly) are correct onto others.  My point is that those (right or wrong) moral values may be derived from religious beliefs or from other beliefs. 

[smudge]

If you keep your sexuality to yourself, family & close friends, there would be no reason for you to be fearful.

[WaldoMcFroog]

"If you keep your sexuality to yourself, family & close friends, there would be no reason for you to be fearful."

Yeah - "back in the closet with you"... It's your fault for not being sufficently mindful of other people's intolerance....

er...

Why on earth should he, or indeed anyone?

[natalie_1982]

I agree with Bangkok, unless it's illegal then I wouldn't give a hoot - it's their loss for being ignorant.

[arthurstace]

Smudge - can we assume you are hetrosexual? Do you "keep your sexuality to yourself, family & close friends" by not being known to wider society to have a sexual preference, a husband or wife and so on?

Or do you believe that gay people should not be allowed to live full and expressive lives?

[ojukwu]

 natalie_1982 - "it's their loss for being ignorant" why is it their loss? A commom misconception you have in Europe is that your life is somehow enriched by knowing homosexuals ... why???

[saffstar]

As long as these other religions don't stage a takeover (in the style of that expected by the Daily Mail) of whichever country you're living in, then you've got nothing to worry about.  The vast majority of people are happy to live & let live, whatever their religious beliefs.

[Cetti]

If you are as liberal as you say then you should have no fear of anything or anyone, but I am intrigued to know  why religion  would make you afraid.

[Philtaz]

I'd be fearful of ALL religions, regardless of my gender, colour or sexual persuasion!

[smudge]

WaldoMcFroog & barrymonkey - Please don't jump to conclusions. I didn't mean for OLIVEBUS to keep his sexuality to himself, because he should be ashamed of being gay, I meant that if he was genuinely afraid of reprisals from any 'ignorant' non liberal people, perhaps the best thing would be to keep his personal life to himself. My nephew aged 51 is gay & has been in a relationship for many years. This has always been accepted by myself & all our family. Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of & is unfortunate that in this day & age, it is still not accepted by some. Hope this clarifies what was meant in the first place - can you take the daggers out now please.

[OLIVEBUS]

I never read the Daily Mail i am a completely OUT Gay man but in a world where theatre shows are closed because of possible violance and some local councils will not even use the word Christmas am i wrong toi be a bit worried

[saffstar]

You are not necessarily 'wrong' to be worried, but it is wrong that you should be made to feel worried.  My personal experience is that I see a lot in the papers about banning Father Christmas, random acts of violence and so on, but, thankfully, I've only very, very rarely heard any accounts of these things first hand.  I really hope that your experience is similar to mine.  The media like to scare us because it sells papers - we'd all probably be a damn sight happier if we stopped reading them.

[smudge]

I'll second that saffstar.

[smudge]

W & b - It's strange when people using AB jump to conclusions & attack you, then even after it being obvious they were wrong to do so, they don't have the courtesy to apologise. Rock on!  

[smudge]

*it is obvious