Hands up if you're even interested.......

[Ttaskmaster]

People like this? Are you pigeon-holing someone for being different?

No, I'm slamming people who label themselves and play identity politics, particularly in ways that perpetuate the ideas of difference and separation that get them and others abused.
This isn't an AA meeting or something, where you're to be applauded for admitting you are an addict with a problem.... You're gay. That's all it is. It doesn't make you different, it doesn't make you special, it deserves no attention or focus (good or bad) by anyone who is not interested in sleeping with you.

For deciding to make a public statement about the current chapter of his life? How very accepting of you

Why does the public need to be informed about this particular chapter of his life? Does it affect or impact us in any way? Will it stop Brexit, or help it along? Is my job under threat because he's gay?
No?
Then who gives a flying fig?

Well done, do you want to start tarring me with the bigot brush, or can you see past your assumption about my assumption?

You assumed. You labelled him and identified him as different. That is the element of the wider problem on which I now focus... and while that may not make you a bigot in itself, it is what gives rise to those who are.
People no longer see a man. They see a gay man.

So, you didn't read the second part of that statement, you just chose the bit that suited your argument? This is becoming a trend.

I read every word of your post, including this particular statement - The second part is dependent upon the first for its context, but the first is flawed (outright wrong, in fact), and thus the second is pretty irrelevant.
How do you notice the difference in something that is NOT different? I mean, without going on to Twitter, getting all triggered and making it an issue?

Notice - The fact of observing or paying attention to something.
OK, so I pay it attention, but am somehow only paying it enough attention that I can seem to show no interest and thus remain indifferent about it..... sounds like a fine line to walk.

[Saracen999]

If you've not thought about it then you can safely ignore my comment to those who said "I always thought".

I certainly don't watch telly (or do anything in life for that matter) that involves wondering "is he gay".

However, some people (including quite a few celebs) make a point, if not a career, of flouting it.

And why not? Quite a few make a career of flouting straigtness or machismo.

Basically, if you've got it and it works for you, milk it. Whatever "it" is.

The same is true, though usually to a lesser degree, of people in the street.

This thing abour "different" bothers me a bit though. Some are gay, some straight, some a bit less binary than that. But I still can't think of why I should care which.

Some dress .... loud. Some not. And by loud, I am NOT referencing orientation. Me? You'll probably find me in jeans and t-shirt. Some people, expensive suit, expensive shirt, hand-made shoes, gold cuff-links, etc. Him and me .... we're different. I suspect he cares a lot more about what others think of his dress or fashion sense, than I do .... because I don't give a damn.

There are differences everywhere, some more obvious than others. For instance, fair or dark hair is more obvious than left or right-handed. There are probably dozens, maybe hundreds, of other differences. Humanity is not a huge, amorphous, homogenous blob. There are differences everywhere. And that's not a problem.

When it becomes a problem is when people start saying "you're <pick a difference>" when what that really is is code for because of that difference, you're inferior, and because you're inferior I can <insert obnoxious behaviour>".

It's not the difference, or even noticing it, that's the problem. It's the bigotry of treating people in a discriminatory and/or detrimental way because of that difference.

Some differences are hard to not notice. For instance, talking to someone and not noticing if they have blonde or dark hair .... or in my case, decreasing amounts of any hair on my increasing shiny bonce, at all. Some differences are not at all obvious, like left or right handed.

The world is a fabulously different and diverse place .... and the better for it.

Just my 2p.

[TeePee]

While I don't care about Scholfield, there is some news this week which I do care about.

The first same-sex marriage happened in Northern Ireland yesterday. Congratulations to the happy couple.

But also, it's 2020. There's some kind of discussion here about how NI, and by extension, the UK, has lagged behind the rest of the Western world. That's not about flaunting diversity. It's a basic human right.