Saturday 16 April 2011

Kissinggate: Get A Room!

Most of the papers wrote ecstactic coverage about last night's kiss-in at The John Snow pub in Soho - even The Daily Mail applauded the "mass smooch".
Though there is some debate about exactly how far Jonathan Williams and James Bull went - they say the were just kissing on the lips.
And no paper gave the protest the official seal-of-approval of devoting a leader column to it.
The Guardian started a live blog that was so over-excited I kept wondering if it was taking the piss.
And the live blog then shut up shop at 5pm, two hours before the kiss-in started.
The BBC News website even went to the trouble of finding a pub landlord in Barnsley who said he would have thrown the men out - bizarre.
Several gay men I know began to confess being distinctly underwhelmed - one quipped that the protest outside the John Snow looked like any other Friday night in Soho.
Another said that as word of the kiss-in was publicised on Twitter it should be called "Twactivism".
Or was it "Twativisim"?
A sole dissenting voice in the papers was The Independent's gayer Philip Hensher who annnounced snootily; 'Kissing in public is not a universal right'.
Well, it's so terribly vulgar, isn't it Mr Hensher?

• An amusing video of a contretemps between Paul Shetler, who organised the protest, and some Trots. Paul was pretty cool on BBC Breakfast. Brava!
Posted by Fagburn at 11:57:00
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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous16 April 2011 at 13:38

    The amusing video link doesn't work, Fagburn!
    Thank you please.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fagburn16 April 2011 at 13:41

    Ah - sorry - thanks for letting us know.
    Should work now...

    x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Darren16 April 2011 at 16:54

    Paul Shetler is amazing there. What a hero. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous16 April 2011 at 17:46

    Hot too.

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  5. Darren16 April 2011 at 18:59

    Definitely!

    Here's a video of the backs of some photographers' heads outside the John Snow last night.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fagburn16 April 2011 at 19:14

    How on earth did people live before Youtube??????????

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fagburn16 April 2011 at 19:59

    And the most confusing headline...

    'Gay couple thrown out of pub say response is "magnificent"'

    http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/uk/gay-couple-thrown-out-of-pub-say-response-is-magnificent--$21386227.htm

    ReplyDelete
  8. Darren16 April 2011 at 20:25

    The guy with the black hair looks over-the-moon in that photo outside the John Snow...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fagburn16 April 2011 at 20:33

    He's just seen his date in daylight... :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fagburn18 April 2011 at 11:44

    Okay, great - thanks Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous19 April 2011 at 00:20

    Shetler's female opponent gets my vote. Far more lucid, articulate and, um, easy on the eye. As she says, it's all about respecting other people's sensitivities and knowing where to draw the line. Just as we expect and call for tolerance, we should practice what we preach.

    ReplyDelete

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