At Harry's Place, a post on how softheaded multiculturalists ended up apologising for the murder of black gay people.
Jamaica is the worst place in the world to be gay. As Peter Tatchell - the great gay rights campaigner - explains, "For us, it's like being a woman under the Taliban." I've written a piece about Tatchell's heroic campaign to support gay Jamiacans and stigmatise the Jamiacan reggae music that incites the murder of gay people.
Hm. I think there's a danger inherent in possible responses to injustices like this one. The response can end up being as illiberal as the injustice itself. That's not the same as saying that "eloquent campaigners" shouldn't have the right to lobby and criticise and rally opinion - just that caution needs to be observed with the rhetoric, which can be used for purposes opposite to the aims that are being campaigned for. After all, the BNP don't care much for "soft-headed multiculturalists" either. As someone noted recently in a different but related context (the Turkish government's intention to criminalise adultery), it seems that the space between extremes is getting narrower and narrower in public debate these days.
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