http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Two Christian guesthouse owners who were ordered to pay damages after refusing to allow a gay couple to stay in a double room lost their appeal here yesterday. Could it be that, regarding sexuality (in some parts of the world at any rate) it is putting itself to rights at last?
Everyone has right to their own religious beliefs, but no one has the right to impose them on others. Besides, I may not be a religious person, but I know my Bible, and Jesus of Nazareth is not portrayed as someone likely to condemn anyone for their sexuality.
Don’t these ‘devout’ Christians know their New Testament at all? So many seem to have lost the plot altogether. For example, whatever happened to the ‘love thy neighbour’ bit? Not that certain Christians are alone among certain followers of certain world religions when it comes to losing the plot...
One thing is certain though. There will always be wonderful people in the world who possess quality sure to get the better of any socio-cultural-religious prejudices without having to resort to either compromise or deception; it is called commonsense.
This poem last appeared here in December 2010 and I have since slightly but significantly revised it. Reader ‘Jermaine’ has asked me to repeat it for his boyfriend, ‘Dave’, whom he met in The Black Cap gay pub in Camden Town, London NW3 a year ago today. I only go there occasionally these days, for old time’s sake, but have some wonderful memories of that pub, and recommend it to everyone.
PUTTING THE WORLD TO RIGHTS
We met at a pub in Camden Town,
having arranged it on the Internet,
but for a while weren’t even sure
if we liked each other, never mind
up for sex
After failing to put the world to rights,
we felt far less wary of each other;
I began to feel attracted to a fullness
of lips, growing sensuousness of body
language
The more he talked, the less I heard,
a gleam in each eye distracting me,
and several shirt buttons left undone
inviting me to caress the bronzed flesh
within
By the time we got round to deciding
who should go to whose for coffee,
all I wanted was to slip under a duvet,
let him enter me, make good the poetry
of imagination
No duvet greeted me, but sheets of satin,
caressing my body even before his turn
to feel his way through the dark passages
of my self, guilt blocking every attempt
to come clean
He persevered, took me to the climax
of my fears, let flow waters of the earth
to succour this lonely self, left for dead
by those who insist it’s a sin for one man
to love another
If love means breaking ties that bind
generations, let’s have no reservations;
love is far too precious a gift to throw
in the face of a fate that wants the best
for us all
We gay folks love to be just as close
to family and old friends as anyone else,
but there’s a love we place even higher,
and it’s a foolish person caves in to those
denying us that
Copyright R. N. Taber 2009; 2011
[Update: This poem appears in Tracking the Torchbearer by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2012]
.jpg)
Two Christian guesthouse owners who were ordered to pay damages after refusing to allow a gay couple to stay in a double room lost their appeal here yesterday. Could it be that, regarding sexuality (in some parts of the world at any rate) it is putting itself to rights at last?
Everyone has right to their own religious beliefs, but no one has the right to impose them on others. Besides, I may not be a religious person, but I know my Bible, and Jesus of Nazareth is not portrayed as someone likely to condemn anyone for their sexuality.
Don’t these ‘devout’ Christians know their New Testament at all? So many seem to have lost the plot altogether. For example, whatever happened to the ‘love thy neighbour’ bit? Not that certain Christians are alone among certain followers of certain world religions when it comes to losing the plot...
One thing is certain though. There will always be wonderful people in the world who possess quality sure to get the better of any socio-cultural-religious prejudices without having to resort to either compromise or deception; it is called commonsense.
This poem last appeared here in December 2010 and I have since slightly but significantly revised it. Reader ‘Jermaine’ has asked me to repeat it for his boyfriend, ‘Dave’, whom he met in The Black Cap gay pub in Camden Town, London NW3 a year ago today. I only go there occasionally these days, for old time’s sake, but have some wonderful memories of that pub, and recommend it to everyone.
PUTTING THE WORLD TO RIGHTS
We met at a pub in Camden Town,
having arranged it on the Internet,
but for a while weren’t even sure
if we liked each other, never mind
up for sex
After failing to put the world to rights,
we felt far less wary of each other;
I began to feel attracted to a fullness
of lips, growing sensuousness of body
language
The more he talked, the less I heard,
a gleam in each eye distracting me,
and several shirt buttons left undone
inviting me to caress the bronzed flesh
within
By the time we got round to deciding
who should go to whose for coffee,
all I wanted was to slip under a duvet,
let him enter me, make good the poetry
of imagination
No duvet greeted me, but sheets of satin,
caressing my body even before his turn
to feel his way through the dark passages
of my self, guilt blocking every attempt
to come clean
He persevered, took me to the climax
of my fears, let flow waters of the earth
to succour this lonely self, left for dead
by those who insist it’s a sin for one man
to love another
If love means breaking ties that bind
generations, let’s have no reservations;
love is far too precious a gift to throw
in the face of a fate that wants the best
for us all
We gay folks love to be just as close
to family and old friends as anyone else,
but there’s a love we place even higher,
and it’s a foolish person caves in to those
denying us that
Copyright R. N. Taber 2009; 2011
[Update: This poem appears in Tracking the Torchbearer by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2012]
.jpg)
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