An Election Broadcast
OK, I’ve been very quiet recently – especially as we’re coming up to an election but this fantastic tweet by @Seany_Rye has spurred me into speaking up.
In a couple of weeks the UK population get the chance to have their say in the General and Local elections. It’s been a tumultuous couple of years as the UK political machine has been scrutinised more than ever before and as we watch the slow death of a government.
Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t anything new, while I was only in my mid to late teens as the last Conservative government fell, I am geeting a sense of deja-vu, but I think that’s a key thing – we’ve bounced between Conservative and Labour for too long. The two main parties seem to believe that we’re becoming more like the US with its 2 party system. Let me remind you that we aren’t.
We have a number of political parties here in the UK that are available to stand up for you and what you believe in, you know – the issues that are important to you – as well as parties that stand for issues that you disagree with wholeheartedly. If you want to be able to help us shape the future then I can only say one thing – on 6 May go down to the polls and vote!
But I’d like to add one small caveat to that – look at the candidates standing in your area, find out what they believe in, what they’re going to say to the nation and the world on your behalf. And while you’re looking try to really pay attention to the policies, not just the spin.
The BNP are a great example of this. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they think the BNP are the only party with a strong policy on immigration. But their policies scare me, their language worries me, and their history gives me an uneasy sense that we’ve seen this sort of thing before.
Hearing Nick Griffin on TV referring to “illegals” and “the failure of multi-culture Britain” concerns me. The language he uses is clearly designed to de-humanise the often valid reasons that people come to the UK and to make this issue seem to be a simple case of “get rid of them and all our ills will be fixed”. (Sound familiar?)
You may scoff at the idea that such a hate-filled man could possibly gain authority, but please remember the 2009 European Elections – where, with only 6.2% of the vote, the BNP were able to get two MEPs. Bearing in mind that less people voted this could happen again, but you can help. Simply by looking at the candidates and seeing who actually fits your beliefs, then marking your polling card with a simple cross, you can help us to make sure that our democracy stays a democracy, and that you are represented by the people you want to be – not the people that the fringe elements of our country want you to be.
So remember – on 6 May 2010 – Make your vote count, please.
(See, I did really well with this one, I didn’t mention the Liberal Democrats, or that I think they’re the real chance for change this year, or that #IAgreeWithNick. Apart from the BNP I think I kept it pretty non-partisan!
…Oh Bugger!)
I feel a little Queer…
One of the people that I have met on twitter wrote an interesting blog post about the word “Queer” and its place in the 21st Century. Now, to be honest, it’s not something that I’ve thought about recently – as I’ve grown up and settled down the outrage and in-your-face attitude that I once had towards sexuality has dimmed. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe wholeheartedly in equality and will argue vehemently in defence of it. But I’m just not the shocking clothes and high camp guy that I once was. Thankfully there’s plenty of other, younger guys and girls out there doing it themselves!
The thing that piqued my interest about the post though was that I remember back in the mid to late nineties I was a lot more outspoken and was the GLB (as it was then) Officer for my college students’ union. As a group we found out about the Queer Politics movement and decided to take its concepts to heart. This meant a few things. Taking back the words that were used as an offensive term (such as “queer, faggot, puff” and the like) as well as fighting for equality.
Now equality is an unusual phrase – because it means “being treated equal to” not “being treated the same as” and this, I think, is where many of today’s equality fighters are losing their way. If you had a chance to read that post by Peter Tatchell you’ll realise that we can celebrate diversity, that we can embrace differences and still be equal. At work I only have access to one news website (I’m not allowed to mention it because I’ve signed a contract saying that I won’t discuss work in any social media, blog etc… and by mentioning the website I might give away the company) but I’ve seen a load of arguments on there about equality and the fact that there is, for example, a Black and Asian Police organisation to support them, but not one for “Whites”. This isn’t an argument against equality, just as LGBTQ groups aren’t here to fight for more rights. It’s entirely because we face discrimination regularly – even today – that they exist.
But, the way I see it, if we – as a community – have such disparate goals and don’t even agree on the terms that we will use for ourselves, then how can we present a united front to the world? How can we stand together and say “We want to be equal, without having to be the same”? We can have as many Pride Parties and Pride Parades as we like, but until we stand together and say “This is who we are: Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgendered people and Queers, and this is what we want – to be given EQUAL rights without having to fight for them every step of the way”, we’ll just stagnate.
And I can’t believe that we’re still having this same argument about the word Queer – 15 years later!
Image Credit: Wikimedia Foundation
MySpace sells users’ data to make a few quid from a dying website’s death throes
photo credit: Sam Cockman
So, ReadWriteWeb have written a story about MySpace selling users’ personal data for paltry amounts of cash. Now we know that MySpace is a dying site that hasn’t been able to keep the momentum of Facebook or even twitter. But I must admit that even I didn’t realise just how pathetic Murdoch’s NewsCorp were and what they would be prepared to give up just to squeeze the last few pennies out of this weary old lady of a website.
It’s currently trying to make a few quid out of its death throes by selling users’ information such as status and mood updates, photos, blog posts and even names & zipcodes (I’m not sure if that includes postcodes). I’m not a particularly private person, I gladly share my real name regularly (it’s so distinctive that I’m pretty easy to track down anyway) and I know that any semblance of privacy on the web is just that – a semblance only – but I don’t like knowing that my personal information is going to be shared with all and sundry as a commodity by an organisation that wasn’t in that business when I signed up for it.
Just to get this straight – I’m not bothered about the privacy aspect (I’m near enough an open book as it is) but I am bothered about being treated as a piece of meat to be branded and sold. So I’ve gone through my MySpace profile and “updated” it. I don’t intend to get rid of it (there are a few websites where someone else already has my username… twats!) but will keep it as a place holder. I have however deleted my blog (there wasn’t much on there anyway) and the couple of photos I had too. I’ve also added a new profile picture which you’re free to use yourself if you feel like it: 
And if you’re interested in the text, it’s clause 6.1 of their terms and conditions of use!
6.1 MySpace does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, “Content”) that you transmit, submit, display or publish (“post”) on, through or in connection with the MySpace Services. After posting your Content on, through or in connection with the MySpace Services, you continue to retain any such rights that you may have in your Content, subject to the limited license herein. By posting any Content on, through or in connection with the MySpace Services, you hereby grant to MySpace a limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such Content solely on, through or in connection with the MySpace Services, including, without limitation, through the MySpace Services to applications, widgets, websites or mobile, desktop or other services which are linked with your MySpace account (collectively, “Linked Services”), including, without limitation, distributing part or all of the MySpace Services and any Content included therein, in any media formats and through any media channels, except that Content marked “private” will not be distributed by MySpace outside the MySpace Services and Linked Services. This limited license does not grant MySpace the right to sell or otherwise distribute your Content outside of the MySpace Services or Linked Services. After you remove your Content from the MySpace Services we will cease distribution as soon as practicable, and at such time when distribution ceases, the license will terminate. If after we have distributed your Content outside of the MySpace Services, you change the Content’s privacy setting to “private,” we will cease distribution of such “private” Content outside of the MySpace Services as soon as practicable after you make the change. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand and agree that once Content is distributed to a Linked Service or incorporated into other aspects of the MySpace Services, MySpace is under no obligation to delete or ask other Users or a Linked Service to delete that Content, and therefore it may continue to appear and be used indefinitely.
So, it’s up to you what you want to do, but I know what I’m doing. I hardly ever use it anyway, and this just reminded me that I’d left a little bit of myself behind from 2006.
BA Cabin Crew Strike – My opinion
I left my job at British Airways nearly 3 months ago now as part of the voluntary redundancy packages that the company was offering. Even then there was a feeling throughout the company that we were experiencing the most difficult times that the airline had ever faced. I worked at BA through the 11 September tragedy and subsequent closing of US Airspace for over a week. It was a dark time then and the “Future size and shape” plan that the then CEO Rod Eddington had to implement made things feel even worse.
But the airline pulled together, all the staff looked at what they could do to help and stood together, truly united in helping each other and the company that we loved to survive. This included some silly things like turning off the fountains in the outdoor smoking area and not providing disposable cups for the water fountains. But, as Tesco knows, every little helps.
This recession however has been even more difficult for British Airways. This time the company is faced with the low-cost airlines (who have a completely different business model) as well as video-conferencing, the growth of the Internet & Web 2.0 and mobile technology, all of which reduce the need for travelling around the world to do business.
As background, my role at British Airways (when I left) was in the Customer Relations department. My role was to deal with customers who wrote, called or emailed in to the company about their experience. Many of these contacts were complaints about many different aspects of the service, but we did what we could to help customers and make things better.
All across the airline staff have been asked to take Voluntary Unpaid Leave, Voluntary Unpaid Work, cuts in bonuses, reductions in working hours, changes to core hours and anything else that they can do to help. We accepted as many of these as we could – because we knew that it was vital that we help the company to raise as much cash as possible in the short term, and that we work smarter in the long term. The Flight Crew accepted it, Engineers accepted it, Ground staff accepted it, the contact centres accepted it. The only people who seem to have had a problem for the last 9 months have been the Cabin Crew. 
In times like this it seems that the crew have forgotten that British Airways trades on the view that people have of it. BA is a long standing company that is very often in the public eye. The British public have a passion for BA and feel strongly about the way that it runs. From many of the people that I spoke to many of them feel personally let down when things go wrong. They feel personally invested in the company and they want to see it succeed. But the problem is that a 12 day strike, AT CHRISTMAS, will cause a huge drop in public support. This will lead to less people feeling confident in the airline, and ultimately less passengers.
Tony Woodley, Unite and the crew – listen to the feedback you’re getting from your customers, listen to the swell of public support for Willie Walsh and the BA management team, listen to your colleagues who are also going through huge changes to ensure that you all have jobs. Remember that over 40,000 people also work for the same company and this selfish stamping of your feet will trample on their toes and may – in the end – cost you all your jobs.
You’re well off at BA, believe me – I’ve only been working outside the company for 3 months but I can see just how well off I was there, the management do care for your opinion – but they can’t just think of you. Now is the time for BA to reshape itself for the future. Because in its middle age shape that it is now it just can’t support itself.
Please, just think about what you’re doing.
Ethan
National Bullying Week
www.areyoubeingbullied.com
So, a little Birdie tells me that this week (16-20 November) is National Anti-Bullying Week. This little birdie is called Percy the Pigeon and he supports the fantastic BullyingUK in their hard work to help people who are affected by bullying. Now there has been a lot of discussion in the media about cyber-bullying over the past couple of days and I’m no expert, but I just wanted to say. If you read this (I know there’s not many people that do, but if you fall on this post by accident!) and you’re being bullied then know that you’re not alone.
There are a load of resources available online and offline for you. If you’re a member of a social networking site and feel intimidated or bullied then remember that most sites have a safety policy or some way to deal with harassment. Bebo‘s report button has been quite widely publicised but, while Bebo’s big, it hasn’t got the same coverage as the big three. So, if you want to know what Facebook, MySpace and twitter do about this sort of thing then the links above will take you straight to their safety pages.
But we know that bullying often doesn’t just take place online. It’s not uncommon for bullies to bully a target in person and then carry this on through new technology. This can be through your mobile phone, and BullyingUK has a great article about what to do if you’re being bullied by phone. The thing to remember though is this:
It’s not your fault. You don’t deserve to be bullied and have every right to feel safe.
If you, or anyone you know is being bullied then speak to an adult who you trust. This can be a parent, teacher, another family member, school counsellor, police officer, anyone that is there for you. If you feel unsure then remember that Childline is available throughout the UK. If you call from a landline then the calls are free. The number is 0800 1111. Remember though, you are never alone. There are lots of people out there who’ve been bullied at some point in their lives. I talked about my experiences a few months ago. But do you know what? We got through it and made a success of our lives – and so can you!
But bullying doesn’t only happen to young people. Adults can experience it too, at work, at home, out with friends. And it can sometimes feel even more difficult. But there are resources available for adults too. BullyOnLine have some great resources for adults so, if you’re being bullied have a look. And if you don’t know whether you’re being bullied then have a look at this list.
To sum up I have to quote my little feathered friend because: Percy Says “Stay Safe in Cyberspace”
Download the widget stay safe in cyberspace – National anti-bullying week 2009
more widgets at Widgadget at widgets community!
Privacy? Not in a “Free” Democracy!
Taken from http://skew.dailyskew.com
Sorry it’s taken so long to write another post – I have a few half-started articles that I just haven’t got round to finishing but I had to say something about this.
I don’t know if you remember, but back in April Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, announced an idea that she and the Government wanted to put in place. Basically, she wanted official and Government bodies to be able to have access to your communication details. This means your telephone calls, emails, websites that you visit, text and picture messages, basically ANY electronic communication that you might make. This information would be stored by your telecommunications provider for a year and could be accessed by any one of 653 public bodies without a court order or judges permission, any senior official can grant it.
This would include 43 police forces in England & Wales, 8 police forces in Scotland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, British Transport Police, Port of Liverpool Police, Port of Dover Police, Royal Military Police, Royal Air Force Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Ministry of Defence Police, Royal Navy Police, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Serious Organised Crime Agency, Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, United Kingdom Border Agency and The Prison Service as well as approximately 474 local authorities throughout the UK and approximately 110 *other* public authorities, including almost all government departments, including the Serious Fraud Office, Independent Police Complaints Commission, Charity Commission, Gambling Commission and Royal Mail to name only a few. (Taken from the No2ID website)
There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live — did live, from habit that became instinct — in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized. – George Orwell 1984
This legislation is exactly the same concept, the Government can plug in to your information whenever they want, they can see who you’ve spoken to, when and for how long, they can see when you went online and what websites you visited, and they can even see who you’re emailing. And the reason for this? To protect us all from Terrorism. In the words of Benjamin Franklin “People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.”
It is up to us, all of us, to stand up for our rights, the Government and Local Authorities have already proved that they can’t be trusted with this sort of power, using the powers they were previously given to spy on litterers and people who forgot to scoop their dog’s poop!
Sure, the Government might try to bring in guidelines to safeguard our privacy, but what will happen when the next Government is elected who change the guidelines “just a little”, and the next one, and the next one. What about when they decide that the Jews, or the Gays, or those people with disabilities are anathema, and they have a record of your web browsing, they have a record of your calls. I’m sorry to invoke Godwin’s Law but this IS the thin point of the wedge.
We have to stop this, and we have to do it now.
If you want to know more about this, or want to do something then there’s the CC Jacqui Smith group (who’ve gone a little quiet recently but I’m sure that’ll pick up soon) as well as the No2ID website. I’d also highly recommend reading the articles by TechnicalBloke.com, or Henry Porter’s excellent article on the subject in the Guardian.
Jan Moir – A more in-depth opinion
Taken from http://www.nmauk.co.uk
There’s probably very few people who would possibly read this who haven’t heard about the furore caused by Jan Moir’s article “Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death“. Granted, The Mail then decided to rename the article to “A strange, lonely and troubling death” but haven’t changed the copy text in any way, shape or form. I was in a training course on Friday so, although I had seen some sketchy info on twitter and facebook on my mobile, because 3G isn’t ideal I didn’t read the article until I got home.
I was gobsmacked. In the 21st Century the idea that someone could write such vitriolic bile in the name of journalism is disgusting. Now, I just want to make something clear – I am not, nor have I ever been, a Boyzone or Stephen Gately fan. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of bubblegum pop and boyband-y type stuff so I like their music but (unlike my Kylie collection) I have one Boyzone album and A New Beginning – One of Stephen’s solo singles. However I do believe wholeheartedly that unwarranted personal attacks on a person, disagreeing with the official announcement of the cause of death, and using this unfortunate tragedy to further a homophobic cause, is wrong. I wrote an Open Letter to Jan Moir over on my Posterous blog (as it’s where I put the less detailed posts) which is nowhere near as insightful and witty as Charlie Brooker‘s fantastic response (the man is a legend!) but it was the most polite response I could give at the time.
Of course, when the stars got wind of the story they too waded in and were able to make sure that the story reached even more people to allow them to make their own decisions. Stephen Fry, Darren Hayes, Gok Wan, Antony Cotton and Pam Ann along with many others. This however led to what Jan Moir said in her apology/clarification was a “heavily orchestrated internet campaign I think it is mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones.”
Image from www.pinknews.co.uk
Now, come on – heavily orchestrated? Is it not possible that Jan Moir’s story actually hit home with a number of people who wanted to make their voices heard? No, it seems that the gays have been “mischievous in the extreme” and decided to rally together to fight her, because they simply haven’t read or they have misunderstood her fair and balanced article.
A few of the people that I’ve come in contact with on twitter and facebook have also commented on this. I think everyone’s probably heard about the “The Daily Mail should retract Jan Moir’s hateful, homophobic article” facebook group but I’ve also seen one of my twitter friends (Snedwan) who updated his blog with this opinion piece as well as JaeKay who has just written this excellent and thoughtful piece decrying the community’s lack of focus until this comment. But I think that’s kind of the point – The huge swell of support against this article and also (whether right or wrong) against Ms Moir herself – has had the effect that we’ve been noticed. If this sort of concerted effort happened all the time then there would be a couple of issues, firstly most people wouldn’t be able to keep up a concerted effort for very long, it’s not only emotionally draining, but can be mentally and physically too. And of course it wouldn’t get the rest of the press to sit up and take notice, it would simply be a *sigh* “Look at what the gays are whining about again…” moment.
I can however see why Snedwan may have mistaken the homophobic nature of the article, Ms Moir has certainly worded her comments in such a way as to cause the very “misinterpretation” that she decried. Personally, I think this is because she doesn’t have the courage of her convictions and so she felt it necessary to give herself a way out in case those “mischievous” gays decided to orchestrate an internet campaign against her. But Snedwan, if you read this I can show you exactly why we’re offended. And exactly why this piece is homophobic…
The original title of the article was indeed a suitable one for the type of article that Jan Moir wrote. By using the term ‘natural’ in inverted commas she manages to remind her Daily Mail readers that the gays aren’t natural. The words that she chose to open with also clearly show her agenda. After the coroner clearly stated that Stephen Gately died due to fluid on the lungs caused by a congenital heart disease she starts by comparing this tragic death of a young man to those of Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson (both of whom died as a result of drugs) but just in case we don’t quite get what she’s saying she decided to ram home her point by talking about the “dark appetites” and “private vice” of the stars.
Later in the article she shows her support with the phrase “In the cheerful environs of Boyzone, Gately was always charming, cute, polite and funny.” - How could she possibly be using this story to forward her own agenda? She called him charming, cute polite and funny! But of course she then goes on to say that “he could barely carry a tune in a Louis Vuitton trunk.” She seems to forget that he not only played Joseph in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The New London Theatre but also The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at The London Palladium. Of course anyone can get a leading role in the West End so this doesn’t in any way suggest that she was wrong, does it?
Then, as Snedwan mentioned, she talks about the fact that Stephen was “smoked out” of the closet instead of choosing when and how to come out himself. But did she use this opportunity to show that sexuality is irrelevant? Or did she instead decide to state how reluctant he was to be a beacon for those scared gay people out there?
Taken from www.whatsonstage.com
Of course the warm and welcoming way that she decided to discuss Stephen’s relationship “In 2006, Gately entered into a civil union with internet businessman Andrew Cowles, who had been introduced to him by mutual friends Elton John and David Furnish.” wasn’t in any way a clinical and dispassionate description designed to skim over the fact without all those awful emotive adjectives in the way – really! She’s even on record as supporting partnership registration!
But then we get to the detail of the story – her opinion on the reasons that Stephen Gately’s death was not ‘natural’. This is where her journalistic skills can come to the fore, where she can show – in support of what is obviously going to be a controversial article – her true mettle. Where she can demonstrate her skills in collecting and presenting information. She decided to start this part of her article with the phrase “All the official reports point to a natural death, with no suspicious circumstances. The Gately family are – perhaps understandably – keen to register their boy’s demise on the national consciousness as nothing more than a tragic accident.” This is an excellent opening line, throwing doubt into the readers mind without actually stating that they were wrong. Surely her expert medical training and access to hidden information will be able to blow this myth completely out of the water…
But no, there’s no hidden information, no evidence to the contrary, only a snide aside about how quickly the family had stated how they thought that Stephen’s death was due to natural causes. (No inverted commas here strangely.) Followed by Jan’s opinion that this was all spin. And then we get to one of the most confusing points that she decided to make, “Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.”
Wait a moment, what was that? That’s great news, I think Jan should take her vast medical knowledge across to the people over at C-R-Y (Cardiac Risk in the Young) so that they can be aware of this and ensure that they can leave their misguided charity work and do something more suitable. But she does go on to say “Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one.” OK Jan, what yardsticks are you talking about, because the phrase “natural causes” is a clearly defined medical term meaning that the cause “was a naturally occurring disease process, or is not apparent given medical history or circumstances.” (from Wikipedia). But we don’t have to wait too long to find out what yardstick she’s using – it’s “that the circumstances surrounding his death are more than a little sleazy.” Ah, there we go – we’re reading the Daily Mail – I just wanted some confirmation and thankfully Jan has been able to remind us of this.
And what was so unnatural about the death? Why the fact that Stephen and his partner had met a man and decided to take him home. Now Jan seems to be a little squeamish – she doesn’t want to say the word threesome to her bigoted, close-minded readers, so instead she simply states that “a game of canasta … was not what was on the cards”. So? What consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of their own homes is entirely up to them! And this isn’t just something that affects the gays – in fact, if you Let Me Google That For You, you’ll see that the primary responses are for heterosexual threesomes. But that doesn’t phase our Jan, oh no! She finishes her skirting around this issue with the phrase “What happened before they parted is known only to the two men still alive. What happened afterwards is anyone’s guess.” That’s absolutely true Jan, it’s also COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to the cause of death.
Taken from www.disneystore.com
But now that she’s picked apart the poor man’s demise she decides to attack Partnership Registration. Now this is obviously a subject that worries the Daily Mail’s readership – I mean it almost gives the gays the same rights as “Normal Folk”! But thankfully this tragedy along with the recent death of Kevin McGee (the former partner of Matt Lucas) “strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.” The Happily ever after myth, which one is that Jan? I’ve never heard this one I must admit, maybe you could provide us with the source of this myth? If not then surely, as someone who is on the record as supporting partnership registration (read “throwing a scrap of perceived equality to the gay community”) you should be showing that this is no better or worse than the thousands of marriages that have problems?
But, as Jan helpfully pointed out – before Stephen Gately was even buried – “the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see.”
Why am I so quiet? Posterous of course!
Just in case you were wondering why I’ve been so quiet recently, it’s quite simple. The difficulty with blogging is that it needs dedication and time. When you’re looking at this big white box that’s just screaming “fill me!” it’s quite daunting.
But I’ve recently found Posterous. Yes, I know that there are loads of people out there who already know about it but it’s been a new discovery for me, and it’s great – I can publish short posts, photo’s and excerpts from web pages from my mobile easily.
And the best bit?
They can be really short!
So, if you want to see what I’m posting about then have a look at my Posterous account, or just follow me on twitter, my Posterous posts get sent there automatically without me having to think or worry about it!
And if you want to get yourself an account just send them an email to post {at} posterous [dot] com (you don’t even need to sign up for an account!)
@BullyingUK – #CharityTuesday
I know a lot of the people I follow on twitter are also following @BullyingUK, and there’s a good reason for this. Many of us have been bullied at some point in our lives and know just how awful it can be. Being scared to go to school, or to leave the house, because the bully will be there.
But bullying isn’t just physical. As a young person I faced bullying, firstly I was from a different area. Originally from Lancashire – when I first moved to the North East everyone thought I was a little backwards because “I talked right slow like” (try saying that in a Lancashire accent!) and so people thought I wasn’t so quick on the uptake. Couple that with the fact that my parents were on benefits so I couldn’t have all the latest gear (oh how I would have loved a pair of British Knights trainers!), I wore glasses, was good at lessons but bad at sports and I had target written all over me. And do you know what? Myparents made it even worse – they named me Michael Jackson! I’m not kidding!
I lived with that for years but then realised that the worst was yet to come. I was gay. There was nothing I could do about it, but my family weren’t the most accepting of people. So at 16 I left home (not as voluntarily as I would have liked!)
It was only after I left home and stopped speaking to my family that I realised. I was a nice person. I was friendly, outgoing, intelligent and had a lot to offer to the world. But years of being told I was slow, I was a four-eyes, a swot, Wacko Jacko, a child molester, a faggot, puff, homo and a million other things really hit me. In fact – I didn’t realise how much until I typed this – I’m getting a bit emotional now and so I’m sorry if this is a bit disjointed, but I’m going to carry on.
I’m 30 years old now. Sometimes people say something to me in the street about my sexuality. I am a bit of a stereotype sometimes! But do you know what? It doesn’t hurt any more. That’s because I have friends who care for me because of who I am, what I am and what I offer them. I am a friend, a partner, a step-parent, work colleague, agony aunt and tweeter.
I am more than the nothing my father said I would be, and I’m more than the joke that the school bullies once picked on.
I am Ethan Kristopher-Hartley. I was bullied and came out of it the other side better, stronger and more aware of everything that made me. And you can too.
This is why I support @BullyingUK – and why you should too. Take a couple of seconds to vote to win them some advertising on the sides of buses from Up Everyone’s Street. Visit their website at Bullying.co.uk and donate to them as well. And if you’re a blogger you have 4 days left to help them in the Blogging for a Cause campaign.
This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.
I’ve got a semi coming…
So, the whole of the Tyne Tees area is abuzz with antici…pation. Last night’s football match caused tears, cheers and so much emotion by some of the people I work with.
Then this morning they chatted about it, the fact that both teams could still fall out of the premier league, they dissected the match, the goals, the performances. And then looked at me askance, tutted and said they couldn’t believe it. Why? Because I’ve just been able to buy the Eurovision 2009 album!
I enjoy Eurovision, not because it’s political, not because of the tension of the voting or the fact that I hope the UK can win and certainly not for the musical merit! I like Eurovision because it’s fun. It’s a camp, dramatic, over the top celebration of sequins, lights music and dance. Yes it’s a gay stereotype, as is my obsession with Kylie, but that’s WHY these things are sterotypes, because so many of us do love it.
So yes, Sam may have decided to go out with her friends in disgust, Lee may be avoiding the house and remember that he wanted to spend the evening at his mothers, and Andy may watch “Cops on Cameras” or whatever shoite’s on Men & Motors/Bravo tonight, but I’ll be there, watching the portable in my bedroom just as I did when I was a kid. A leper, an outcast, a stereotype.
But I’ll be having fun!!!
If you’re going to be watching the semi-finals this year and you’re in the UK they’re on BBC3 from 20.00 (8pm) please feel free to join in with my tweets (you’ll spot me as the person taking the piss out of everyone and everything).
And when I tweet on Saturday you’ll be able to spot me by the vitriolic bile I’ll be spewing about Jade and the “serious” entry that Andew Lloyd Webber wrote this year. (You’d never tell that he writes musicals rather than songs for a show like Eurovision would you! >:-| )
(Don’t worry, I have the kiss of death for Eurovision songs, whenever I say I like one it fails miserably. So I’m not going to name my favourite song this year…)
