LGBT News Gay couple branded: Revolting

As sad as this is I am glad I read it. Based on the title I literally thought it meant they got branded with a hot iron

 

I think that's a bad sign, because I thought the exact same thing.

 

I was confused by that too.

 

Same.

 

I also thought they were seared with a hot iron, or else, taken advantage of by an ad agency, and drafted unwittingly into some unwanted commercial promotional endeavor.

Hard to say what's worse, all in all, but it's sad to see businesses acting like this. Even with laws in place to afford rights and protection, I still think it will be many years before the hearts and opinions of people change; in all likelihood, we will always face some level of prejudice, but hopefully less and less as time goes on.

Sadly, in most US states, this would be perfectly legal, as far as I can tell, or at least it would be in terms of housing and employment, so I'd imagine there'd be nothing to stop a business from doing the same, except bad publicity.

 

I also thought the same thing. What does it say about our collective state of mind, when we all immediately assume that, upon reading the title of this thread, that a gay couple was branded with a hot iron? My immediate thought was that I was going to be reading an article about something taking place in Russia. Would straight people have had the same immediate reaction to a title that said: "Straight couple branded: revolting"? I doubt it.

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As to the actual content of the article, this does not surprise me either. This is exactly the type of power the religious right wants in the United States with its "religious objection" bills. They want the right to discriminate against us, in all cases, simply on the grounds of their "religion".

 

Things like this make me sad to live in the UK.
The things that happen in Russia make me not want to live in the world, though, so... the UK isn't terrible in comparison.

 

Exactly. When I saw the thread title, I was mentally prepared to see images of them having been physically burned and having the word "Revolting" seared into their skin. I was expecting this attack to have happened in Russia. There was no shock, or even horror--just a grim acceptance of reality. As I waited for the page to load, I was just hoping that it wouldn't be "too bad" and that they would be "okay" and "safe" now.

...then it is about some asshole bar owner in the UK. I was like, "Oh. Well. Someone should just go punch that bastard in the face. It seems like they have legal options to deal with him. I hope they use them. Good on them for not letting that bastard intimidate or shame them into silence."

Of course, I was still focused mentally on what I thought I was about to read, so the actual article was almost like a sigh of relief. Which in and of itself is horrible, because what happened to those guys was horrible and inexcusable.

I then read that pretty much everyone had the same identical reaction as me, and it made me realize what you noted above... we are actually, psychologically, at the point where we can mentally accept the fact that people like us can be burned with hot irons and physically branded. As if it would not be an usual thing to happen--something that barely registers as shocking. Instead it is just something that would have registered as awful, horrible, and sad. That is a frightening state of mind.

 

I couldn't have said this better myself

 

It's when I read articles like this that I am grateful for the Equality Act. Was one of the finest pieces of legislation passed by the previous Labour government and I'm really pleased it hasn't been amended during this parliament. Let the law deal with the pub/landlord.

 

It isn't surprising, considering far worse things have happened, and so called religious leaders continue to advocate physical violence against LGBT people.

 

Me too! I was relieved when I read the article. Idk how the owner would kick them out...they're both so cute together.

 

That is my point. It is not surprising. However, there is a danger in this mindset. Look at IG88's post as an example, which mirrors my own thinking exactly, and likely most everyone elses as well. Because we were prepared to accept something so horrible could happen, when we actually read the article we were relieved. This has implicitly and unintentionally created a type of 'glass half-full' type of thinking. Instead of being outraged at what actually happened, an emotion we should have all felt, we experienced relief. This translates into the thought of: Well at least they were not branded by hot irons. Things could have been worse. I am glad they are okay.

This creates a level of acceptance. Because we automatically anticipated greater violence, we were willing to accept a lesser form of it--simply on the basis that it was less bad. This is a problem because none of it should be acceptable, but we have already implicitly accepted it on an emotional level.

My point in bringing it up is not just related to the article here. It shows a subconscious willingness (on all our parts) to be prepared to accept what might feel like "minor" acts of aggression and discrimination against us, because we are all already expecting things that are far worse.

If a bunch of straight people viewed the title: "Male-female couple branded: Revolting" it is highly unlikely that virtually all of them are going to assume that they were literally branded with a hot iron. We should not have assumed that either, and the fact that we did says a lot about our subconscious thinking.

 

Me too. My heart stopped for a minute.