Comments on: Gay community protests violent porn bill

By: Edward Smith

Edward Smith — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:36:00 +0000

Considering whether this is an issue of BDSM or of sexuality is perhaps not the most helpful of debates.This idiotic legislation is wrong because free societies do not criminalise citizens on the basis of subjective distaste for fictional/consensual material, be it porn or anything else; and certainly not in the absence of any credible evidence as to the negative effects.

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By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 08:28:00 +0000

You are allowed to hold your opinion that BDSM is not abuse, I am also allowed to hold the opinion that BDSM is abuse with bells on.As usual we get the 'You do not understand argument' which means of course my reasoning powers are somehow lacking, and there is somthing I am just not getting.It could also be that I do understand fully what BDSM is about and I have made an informed opinion that the rational, that 'safe sane consensual' is nothing more than a thought terminating buzzword which glosses over the realities of abuse and humiliation.I don't see what my sexuality has to do with my opinion. People are born to be gay, but sadists choose to abuse and abusers trying to jump on the coatails of the gay community to gain some legitamacy for abuse needs to be stood up too.I welcome the proposed legislation, and hope that more gay people will stand up and say, actually orientation and preference are two totally different concepts.

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By: Graham Marsden

Graham Marsden — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:03:00 +0000

I'm not sure what Neil's "agenda" is, but to claim that BDSM is about "abuse" is to completely misunderstand the nature of those who engage in it.The watchwords for BDSM are "Safe, Sane, Consensual". Abuse does not come into it and we already have laws to protect people from non-consensual acts.His comments that "People Like Louise Morris should not be allowed to usurp the gains that gay people have achieved over the years to further her own particular agenda." sound too much like "I'm on board Jack, you can pull up the ladder".There are many in the gay community who engage in BDSM play, they will not be immune from the effects of this law which seeks to criminalise someone simply for possessing "dangerous pictures" (in the subjective opinion of someone from the Home Office who seems to have an anti-porn agenda).I urge people to write to their MPs via and state their objections to a law that could see people locked up for having pictures of consenting adults engaged in consensual activities!

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By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:31:00 +0000

I am appalled by the comments of Neil, in which he labels BDSM as abuse. It shows either ignorance or blind prejudice of the type that the Gay community faced 40 years ago. One would have thought that a member of the Gay community (which he appears to be) would have more understanding and tolerance of other sexual minorities.Whether BDSM is a Sexual Orientation or a Sexual Preference is surely of little relevance in this debate. BDSM is not abuse. BDSM is an activity that is enjoyed by consenting adults who go to great lengths to ensure the physical and emotional safety of their partners.It is disappointing to see a member of a community that has, in it's past, had it's own sexual practices regarded as being generally unacceptable by the public, showing such a lack of tolerance towards another minority group who continue to suffer from the ignorance and intolerance of society today.

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By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:30:00 +0000

I fear Louise Morris, a 'member of the BDSM community', is repeating a falsehood which those within BDSM have been parading for some time. BDSM is not a sexual orientation, rather a sexual preference. People are not born to abuse, rather they choose to abuse.BDSM have been trying to achieve some of the gains that the gay community has obtained in recent years, but there is a distinct difference between a Sexual Orientation and a Sexual Preference. People Like Louise Morris should not be allowed to usurp the gains that gay people have achieved over the years to further her own particular agenda.

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