The Chancellor, George Osborne, was accused of being “homophobic” by out gay Labour MP Chris Bryant yesterday for joking that the latter was a “pantomime dame”.
Mr Bryant, the MP for Rhondda, said afterwards: “I don’t think he would have said that phrase if I was not gay.
“I think when he gets back to the office he will probably think to himself ‘I should send a little note saying sorry, I didn’t mean to offend’.
“We all get it wrong sometimes and I think he got it wrong this time,” he added.
Mr Osborne’s aides said he had merely been making a Christmas joke after Mr Bryant accused him of being “Baron Hardup”.
The mother of a California teenager who killed himself after he was bullied for being gay has pleaded with his school district to do more about the problem.
Seth Walsh, 13, died nine days after hanging himself in September. He had endured years of homophobic bullying at school.
His mother Wendy and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have asked Tehachapi school district to prevent another tragedy.
In a letter sent yesterday, they asked the school district to work with them and demanded that changes be made.
Mrs Walsh has also recorded a video (see below) about her son.
She said that teachers did not seem to care that her son was badly bullied and had done nothing to stop the harassment.
She said: “Seth told me he was gay when he was in the sixth grade. He was a wonderful, loving child, and I loved him for who he was.
“I can’t bring my son back. But schools can make a difference today to keep this from happening to any more young people. Schools need to take harassment and bullying seriously when parents or students tell them about it, and when they see it in the halls.”
According to Seth’s mother and close friends, some teachers even joined in the bullying. One allegedly called him “fruity” in front of a class of students.
Mrs Walsh said her son was a clever student but his grades had fallen as the harassment intensified. She said teachers were aware he was suffering but did not respond to her pleas for something to be done.
His friends said he had become depressed and frightened about using the bathroom or boys’ changing room before gym class.
He was taunted with abuse such as “fag” and “queer”, they said.
Seth hanged himself from a tree in the family garden on September 17th. He left a note criticising his school for not helping him and died in hospital on September 28th.
An investigation carried out by the ACLU said that school district officials were aware of the bullying but “largely ignored” it.
California law requires schools to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation and the US Department of Education has also launched an investigation of the school district.
The ACLU says that at least 11 LGBT teenagers have killed themselves after suffering bullying in the last few months.
“Students have the right to be safe and supported at school for being exactly who they are. And parents deserve to know that their kids are going to school in a respectful environment where they are nurtured to reach their full potential,” said Elizabeth Gill, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project and the ACLU of Northern California.
“Public schools have a duty to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation, but too many schools get a failing grade in this respect.”
The House of Representatives has for the second time passed a bill to overturn the US’s military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that bans military personnel from being openly gay.
The vote, which was was 250 to 175, pressurises the Senate to delay its recess for Christmas in order to vote to repeal or keep the law. In January, those senators and congressmen elected in the mid-term elections held last month, will be sworn into office, with more Republicans in office, diminishing hopes of finally ending the ban.
“It’s been a long time coming, but now is the time for us to act,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrats) said prior to the vote. “We know our first responsibility as elected officials. We take an oath of office to protect and defend, and our first responsibility is to protect the American people, to keep them safe. We should honor the service of all who want to contribute to that security.”
Yesterday, the head of the marines said that repealing the law would lead to the death of troops troops. “When your life hangs on a line, on the intuitive behaviour of the young man … who sits to your right and your left, you don’t want anything distracting you,” said Marine Commandant General James Amos.
“I don’t want to lose any Marines to distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda [hospital] with no legs,” he added.
“When your life hangs on the line, you don’t want anything distracting. . . . Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines’ lives. That’s the currency of this fight.”
But senior military officials including the Defense Secretary Robert Gates support the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.
In May, the House of Representatives voted 234-194, in favour of repealing the ban. This was followed by the Senate Armed Services Committee who followed the same path and voted 16-12 in favour of axing the law. In both cases, the measure was offered as an amendment to a defence spending bill
But, the hopes to repeal the law have been continually blocked in the Senate, mainly on procedural grounds. Just last week, a bill failed to get the 60 votes needed for a debate to be initiated.
A new bill, focused purely on the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has been introduced by Senator Susan Collins and former Vice-Presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman. The vote in the House of Representatives, puts enormous pressure on the Senate to debate the issue this weekend, before the recess.
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