These comments are un-moderated and do not necessarily represent the views of PinkNews.co.uk. If you believe that a comment is inappropriate or libellous please click "Report" or email us. Terms and Conditions · Privacy Policy
Daily Mail's Andrew Pierce: I'm called a 'homophobe' and 'Uncle Tom' for opposing equal marriage
103
New 'Gay Marriage No Thanks' group launches with 'ten good reasons' to oppose equal marriage
86
Lord Tebbit: I wouldn't have been surprised if Jimmy Savile was homosexual
84
Archbishop of York: Would the Church of England rather bless 'sheep and trees' than gay couples?
83
Mixed martial arts fighter: 'Equal marriage could lead to incest, bestiality and child marriages'
69
Maria Miller tables Public Order Act amendment protecting critics of equal marriage
66
Barry Cryer brands ITV's Vicious 'homophobic' television
64
Lib Dems' Baroness Williams to support anti-equal marriage 'union' amendment
63
Tory Lord Mawhinney tables 'traditional marriage' amendment for equal marriage bill
62
Lord Hylton tables new wrecking amendment for the equal marriage bill
61
Kiuru7 356
Robert in S. Kensington 343
Eddy 327
twitless 322
That There Other David 318
Jock S. Trap 307
D.McCabe 304
bobbleobble 225
Pavlos 220
Rehan 217
If Bill Walker does not want to be called a bigot then he should not act as one.
Firstly, my understanding of the definition of bigot is:
big·ot (b g t) n. One who is strongly partial to one’s own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ
Thus, his contention that homosexuals are in no way equal to heterosexual relationships seems (to me) to fit this definition.
Secondly, Mr Walker is failing in his duty to represent all his constituents fairly and without prejudice, including his LGBT constituents. His comments shoud be condemned by the SNP (which they won’t since they are funded by Sir Brian Souter – what a travesty!)
I think we’ll have to wait until hell freezes over for that condemnation, Stu.
Unfortunately I suspect that may be true
Salmond claims to be LGBT supporting but not making any comment on this issue is telling
And there’s all the other stuff too like taking Souter’s money and promoting Roseanna Cunningham to a governemnt job after she’d made her feelings on gay people very clear. Obviously being a homophobe is no bar to being a government minister in Salmond’s eyes.
.It appears from his previous lack of attention, and neglect to personally endorse his support for LGBT issues “salmond” is only interested in continuing to bring to fruition his nationalist /separatist aspirations, with or without LGBT people on board!!!
Bill Walker is a bigot with a persecution complex, that is a really unbecoming trait in any bigot.
Well, in a way, he’s right. CPs are NOT equal to marriage hence the name, no matter if the rights are identical with a few exceptions. Until the law is changed, they will remain unequal. Our government has proved that marriage isn’t equal to CPs when it downgrades same-sex marriages performed outside the country to a CP. He’s echoing what two successive governments have been saying. Either way, he is living in the dark ages. I wonder if his new wife is around his age? If she is, then maybe his marriage should be invalidated since she wouldn’t be able to procreate with him. This is all stemming from religious bigotry, mark my words.
Right on!
People keep colloquialising CP’s as ‘marriages’ when they are patently not.
Civil Partnerships are an administrative fudge at best, and blatant homophobia at worst. They should be dissolved entirely and anybody already in a CP should be automatically promoted to a full marriage, along with all it’s incumbent rights and responsibilities.
I disagree, Spanner
Whilst I wholeheartedly and completely support equal marriage, there are some of heterosexual and gay orientation who want CP’s. Whilst it would not be my choice, they should have the option should they so wish
“The irony is I got married a few weeks ago. Needless to say it was to a woman!”
not sure there’s any irony in someone opposed to gay marriage marrying a woman. now if he’d married a man i’d prepare to start singing alanis morrisette.
he is of course a bigot. and it is ironic that someone who incites hatred of a group now seeks compassion.
Yes, quite right, Chris789. What IS ironic, on the other hand, is someone as hateful as him getting all upset at being called nasty names, when he’s not slow at doing the same to gay people.
Fine. I won’t call him a bigot. I’ve got plenty of much stronger words to use.
He left it rather late to get married, did he not. One suspects he has spent his younger years on his knees on various gay-friendly heaths.
Sounds a bit of a highland dancer to me.
No, he and his new wife have grown up families I did read somewhere….
I guess he would call me a bigot if I would say that I thiink his marriage to a woman but where there is no offspring to be expected is absolutly not equal to heterosexual marriage, as marriage is to create a safe and atable environment for their kids to grow up in, so I guess a CU should be what they should be allowed to go in to….
Somehow I have the idea he would not agree…..
So, only conclusion he is guilty of homophobic bogotry….
Ah diddems, did he get called nasty names? Bloody hell what are they like?
-
What makes him think that any couple love is more or less important. Just because he chooses not to have any knowledge doesn’t make his assumptions right.
-
He is a discriminating idiot who really shouldn’t hold any power to people esp if he is so insecure he doubt the level of his own marriage and love.
awww the poor bigot is upset at being called a bigot?
If he doesn’t want to be called a bigot, maybe he should try not being a bigot
It is bigotry – he wishes to treat people as second class citizens due to an innate and immutable characteristic. I don’t know about other PN people but my sexuality is as much a part of me as the colour of my hair, my eyes, my skin. Discriminating because of it makes him EXACTLY like those who would put on a bed sheet and a pointy hood, whether he wants to admit it or not.
It says there are 8 comments but when I click on comments it says “No comments yet”, it’s really infuriating. Does anyone else have this problem?
I had that problem on another thread yesterday
Okay Stu, thanks! I thought maybe I needed to change my settings as I get this happening a lot with new topics.
It seems initially I need to post a comment myself before I can see the other comments already posted.
Pavlos, I’ve been having bother with the comments on Pink News for about a week now. I’ve tried different browsers, so I’m pretty sure it’s not my computer that has the problem (although I’m certaily no IT expert!). As both you and Stu have had bother too, I suspect the problem lies at Pink News.
Thanks BennieM, I think you are probably right.
In the last paragraph of the article should that be Mr Walker’s rather than Mr Mason’s views are “bizarre”? Just asking
The last few paragraphs go on to talk about John Mason’s original motion, which Bill Walker signed and was the reason for all of this.
“John Mason’s motion.”
That is exactly how I would describe it.
Good one, Dave!
He so clearly is a bigot though.
Being offended is nothing compared to being beaten up and spat at.
Why do I care if he’s just got married I wonder if his new wife knows he’s such a bigot yet.
I would like Mr Walker to give his reasons why he does not believe gay relationships are the equal of straight ones, it’s easy to make a bald statement but can he back his statement up with legitimate evidenceto show that heterosexual relationships are superior to hoimosexual ones?
“Based on the evidence, the APA, like every other professional medical, scientific, child-welfare, and social science organisation, is calling for an end to the unfair exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage and its crucial meanings to families, including the safety-net it brings to couples and their kids.”
Since when has bisexual MSP Patrick Harvie been gay?
OED, bigot (n):
2b. In extended use: a fanatical adherent or believer; a person characterized by obstinate, intolerant, or strongly partisan beliefs.
Meeting any of those three criteria would justify using the word. But Mr Walker meets all three.
Obstinate? Check. There is plenty of evidence that same-sex relationships are equal to opposite-sex relationships in numerous respects. Does Mr Walker acknowledge this? No.
Intolerant? Check. If you don’t approve of same-sex marriage, don’t get one. No need to try to stop other people getting one.
Strongly partisan? Check. Why are opposite-sex relationships better? Mr Walker doesn’t try to explain, and none of the arguments tried by others stack up. Partisan (adj.): ‘supporting a cause, party, or person, esp. zealously or blindly; one-sided, prejudiced’.
Is Mr Walker entitled to hold his bigoted views? Yes. Are others entitled to criticise his bigotry? Yes. Should bigots, religious or otherwise, get an opt-out from the law? No.
At 71 Bill Walker has finally married his long-time partner, possibly all the viagra he’s been dropping has gone to this poor old bigot’s addled head.
“Intimidated and threatened, eh?” Join the club!
If we are not to be equal then lets have a lower rate of tax, lets have a lower rate of national insurance, lets not contribute to family allowance or the education budget. Lets just pay for the services we use…..You cannot have it all ways.
Ironically, i would argue that, generally speaking, gay marriages are more symbolic than straight marriages.
I know quite a few of my straight friends who got married due to getting girls pregnant, family pressures etc. At least gay couples don’t have these same pressures, but marry because they want to commit to one another, which is the only reason I think people should marry.
Aw; he doesn’t like being called a bigot? Well we don’t like having our relationships treated as second class. Simples.
Tim’s response to this man is excellent and well put.
Hard not to notice the similarity of the bigot’s response to being called on their bigotry, playing the victim card when they are the one doing the victimising, to similar responses by the CLC/Christian Concern or those they “adivise”.
BIGOT!!!
Methinks Bill Walker needs some Diversity training… and John Mason, the bible-humping baptist who proposed this tawdry anti-gay parliamentary motion. One thing is for certain, the SNP are playing a dangerous game with gay people’s lives. Are we to doubt these bigots aren’t dancing to the tune of SIR Stagecoach Souter (blah!)? In a modern Scotland, we should have NO dealings with these dullard religionists.
Once again the news leave out the Liberal Democrats even though they are the most equality driven party in the UK.
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland tabled a motion saying that the LGBT community are equal and this was highlighted in the pink news yet still nothing is properly highlighted.
Facts are facts. Labour do not have LGBT equality within their manifesto. The Liberal Democrats do.
The Liberal Democrats have alot of things in there manifesto doesn’t mean they’re actually going to do any of them.
The LibDems have firmly promised marriage for gay people across Britain by 2015. They are already consulting on it.
Where can I see this promise in writing?
Serenity – I don’t think it IS across Britian as marriage equality is devolved meaning that the Scottish Parliament/Government has the responsibility for this matter, therefore the Lib Dem/Conservative Coalition government can’t legislate for it UK-wide, even if they wanted to. I think that it only covers England and Wales, not all of Britain. I’m not at all sure about Northern Ireland.
Once again. I grew up in Perth and was sexually abused by the brother of Brian Soutar the founder of Stagecoach.
His brother was the Minister of the Church of the Nazarene at the time of my abuse from when I was 9 until I was 15 years old.
Brian Soutar gave half a million pounds to the SNP for their election campaign.
They should give it back NOW.
It has already been pointed out the OED definition of “bigot”. So what other word(s) can be used as he is so upset. How about the “Scotish Christain Taliban”? … Too long, I guess. Perhaps he’s a “souter” …
I have had personal email exchanges with this man – he is very excitable on this issue.
Watch the Sunday Papers in Scotland this week!
This is the latest clarion call of religious bigots in America. In spite of the fact that 85%+ of American’s identify as Christians and in spite of the fact that Christians have completely run the show throughout our 500+ years as a nation and colony, they are now screaming “VICTIM!” and “BULLY!” now that they are starting to lose just a tiny bit of their privilege, along with starting to lose the debate on gay rights/marriage equality..
This is in scotland whats it got to do with america
@Hamish..
…Why do you always need pictures to be drawn for you Hamish.?? Hayden is stating the comparisons. Are you really that dense that you couldn’t see that? Typical twisted Scot!
Typical drunken Irish!
I think signing a motion in parliament that states gay is not equal to straight is far worse bullying than a few emails from some gay men.
Well the gay community and Walker agree wholeheartedly on one thing.
Walker said, “I’m really concerned about the use of the term ‘gay marriage’ “.
Well HEAR, HEAR! We couldn’t agree with you more on that part of your statement. We’re also concerned about it because it IS inaccurate and offensive, even though our reason for being concerned is very different from yours. Whereas you’re concerned because it’s an “oxymoron”, we’re concerned because it’s inaccurate. It’s NOT “Gay marriage” that we’re fighting for, it’s equal access to MARRIAGE. We don’t call Black peoples’ marriages “Black marriage” or Asian peoples’ marriages “Asian marriage” and we don’t call Walker’s marriage a “Ignorant bigot marriage”. Black people, Asian people and even bigots just have plain old “marriages”. That’s all we want.
what is this madness, all you ahve to do to be called a bigot is be a bigot? insanity!
Friends. the one man one woman mantra is all rooted in religion. This is where his bigotry stems from. He’s parroting what most religious cults do when they can’t distinguish what is religious and what is civil, in this case civil marriage equality for gay couples. They think they own that too. They don’t and never will. The two are totally different. Religious marriage more or less mandate procreation, civil marriages don’t, no mention of it or any deity either. Doesn’t get any simpler than that. He IS a bigot, no question about it.
This man has obviously spent to much time on focusing on his political education and development and servilely neglected his morals and social etiquette, because anyone who can openly slate same sex relationships and then complain about the response from the LGBT community is obviously lacking something and im sure considering his career he must have some level of intelligence which can only mean that his personal beliefs are corrupted and wrong. Its true that some people just aren’t ever going to accept same sex relationships but whats in your head and what comes out of your mouth are two very different things.
He should be ashamed im 16 and have a better understanding of morals humility than he does.
*morals and humility*
Bigot is as bigot says, and bigot does. Simple, really. Bigotry is pure evil. Period. End of discussion.
The man is a worm. It’s people like him that make us unequal in society yet they are allowed to be married and happy but not us if they have their way.
bigot.
there… I said it.
Sadly, he is merely reflecting the opinions of a LOT of bigots in society – if he didn’t think it would be a majority vote winner, believe me, he would keep his mouth shut! I fear that the Govt’s new “let’s keep the prols patronised” scheme of potentially debating issues in Parliament if an online petition reaches over 100,000 votes may well see us Civilly Partnered people (accent on ‘Civil’ BTW) facing the prospect of our staus being discussed for removal… But no one in Govt’ would dare consider that would they? Let’s wait and see…
Not only does he not understand what a bigot is, he doesn’t seem to understand what irony means.
How, when he is accused of being a bigot, is it ironic seeing that he has recently married a woman?
I think idiot will have to be included when describing him.
If the SNP does not expel (or at least reprimand) this disgusting bigot, it means they condone his views.
I agree, unsurprisingly the SNP executive and leadership have been silent over this matter
I agree, this is interesting and worrying, and lets not forget homosexuality was not decriminlised in Scotland untill as late as 1979, which is an extraordinary oversight so to speak!!!
1980 – even worse! In fact I think the change came into effect in early 1981.
Stu – Yes, you’re quite right. I’ve been writing to people within the SNP for about 4 years now, since I first realised that there was homophobia within the party and I either get a response insisting the SNP aren’t homophobic while ignoring all the examples I listed to back up my argument or I don’t even receive a response at all. In fact, today I received a letter from my newly elected SNP constituency MSP who’d I’d written to about it, listing all the instances of homophobia that I know about within the SNP – such as Souter’s funding and Roseanna Cunningham being given a ministerial job after her homophboia during the adoption debate. Her first reply ignored it altogether and I contacted her again. She simply said that she’s been in the SNP for 40 years and has never come across homophobia, so she doesn’t agree that it’s a problem, but once again she didn’t even refer to my examples or try to defend them. I used to vote SNP but stopped when they took Souter’s money 4 years ago.
If people within the SNP honestly feel that I’m wrong about this issue, then why don’t they even try to defend all the stuff I refer to when I contact them? To simply say I’m wrong and that’s all there is to say on the matter really isn’t good enough for a supposedly democratic, left-wing, poitical party which is currently in government. The fact that I used to support the SNP makes me so angry about this, and it’s why I always go on about it on the Pink News comment threads.
There’s an article on this issue in today’s Scotsman. It quotes (on page 2 of the web version) some of the comments Bill Walker received. They are not highly abusive and intimidating at all – they’re quite restrained. No surprise then that Bill Walker has declined to take up the challenge to report the “almost threatening” responses to the police. The article is here:
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/politics/I39m-victim-of-email-hate.6817756.jp
@Tim / anyone else aware of the answer
Whilst I try to keep abreast of Scottish issues in depth due to my ancestray, I am aware that there are differences and I am not sure of all of them.
Is there such a thing as a hate crime aggravated by homophobia in Scotland or similar?
If so, surely on the basis that if any person considered it to be homophobic (using the rule of thumb for what is deemed racist in law) then the police could receive a report and investigate the concerns, and show Walkers puff to be exactly what it is
Yes, hate crime law in Scotland includes an aggravation, that can be attached to any crime, stating that the crime was motivated by, or accompanied by expression of, sexual orientation prejudice. We also have an aggravator for prejudice on grounds of transgender identity by the way – the only European country that does.
However, the aggravator can only be attached to something that is actually a criminal offence. Bill Walker’s comments, while offensive to many, are not a criminal offence. To be a crime they would need to be likely to cause significant public fear or alarm or public disorder. Offensive though his comments are, they fall within allowed freedom of speech.
Stu – I thought you were Scottish i.e. lived here in Scotland due to your knowledge of these issues, especially your knowledge of the SNP and it’s tolerance of homophobia. You put a lot of people here, who know virtually nothing about politics, to shame!
Thanks, BennieM
I love Scotland and may relocate there at some point but I am a little Englander at the moment who tries to keep in touch with Scottish issues
Tim – I’ve just had a look at the Scotsman article, and I agree completely with you! It’s astonishing he feels so hurt by comments saying he should ashamed of himself and the like, especially when he was so offensive to gay people in the first place.
The problem with bigots is they have no insight. This guy says the most vial nasty thing and then wonders at the response.
We need to get better at picking politicians – shouldn’t there be some basic qualification they need to have fist before they can even run for for parliament ?
It’s not just bigots who have no insight. Others here demonstrate a similar lack.
No worries, Mr. Walker, you typically dluded heterosexual male. Your male/female relationships ARE intrinsically unequal by their very nature. Nothing has changed. But same sex couple are exact equals.
He made one accurate comment… “I’m really concerned about the use of the term ‘gay marriage’ because to me it’s a contradiction in terms”
You’re right Bill.. there should be no such term as “gay” marriage. It should be marriage, whether it be two men, two women or a man and a woman. There should be no distinction whatsoever.
Declaring that one relationship is not equal to another is (according to the dictionary definition) bigoted. Ergo you are a Bigot.
Quite right, there should be no ‘gay marriage’ any more than there is ‘straight marriage’.
.
And by God he’s a bigot! Poor little diddums can’t deal with the reality though, it seems.
Hetero Supremacist Bill Walker and other unpleasant anti-gay bigots like him who believe gay people and their relationships are inferior to heterosexuals and their relationships actually provide a powerful reason why same sex couples require the protection of the law through full marriage equality to end discrimination.
The law should not be seen to be colluding with the megalomaniacal view points of Hetero Supremacist bigots like Bill Walker.
That should have read Heterosexual Supremacist, same as a White Supremacist except that they victimise gay people instead of black people whenever they find themselves in a position to do so.
Bigot
@Bill Walker…
…You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are an ignorant homophobic Bigot,You are a BIGOT!!!!
I’ll not comment on the issue, but on the story as written. It is terribly confusing. The first half is
about Bill Walker. Then — suddenly, with no explanation — the writer talks talking about “John Mason’s nasty little anti-gay marriage motion…”
As a fairly frequent American reader of PinkNews.co.UK, and a former reporter in the uSA,
I find a lot of your stories are confusing; they seem to presume a lot of prior knowledge of an issue
We’ll just call him a count instead.
We’ll just call him a C U Next Tuesday instead:)