A Guiding Life

I've been thinking a lot about sexual orientation and politics recently.

The first because I have got a place as a volunteer at Birmingham Pride. I'm fairly excited and also a little bit daunted. I hope I fit in being a rather dull, middle aged hetro. I have a small worry I may be thrown out for being just so damned dull! We'll see, watch this space.

The second (politics) is obviously because of the looming election. The lies, damned lies and statistics being thrown around by all the politicians is quite nauseating. But the 'say anything now to get that vote and it doesn't matter whether we follow through' political manifestos they write in dry erase pens makes my blood boil.

And that is how the conversation with HWMBOd started: initially about Birmingham Pride and then that LGBT had become LGBTTQQIAAP which led to me telling him about the Northern Ireland's DUP Health Minister's statement that a child was at more risk of abuse or neglect if brought up in a homosexual relationship, because such marriages were less stable. Shameful that a man in such a position could say something so utterly stupid. And all this led to me hearing myself saying:

"If COG told me she was gay it wouldn't bother me one jot but if she told me that she was a conservative voter, I don't think I could ever forgive her"

It was a statement that came straight from the heart not from any logical thought process, I shocked myself with it's utterance. Maybe this is what the Health Secretary meant in his apology when he said "I'm sorry those words were uttered. The comment did not reflect my view." But words don't come out of thin air, and if they don't come from a logical, deliberate thought process then they are formed from our subconscious.

So I thought long and hard about my words for a while and I stick by them: I could not come to terms with having conservative voting offspring.

We are not rich and I am trying to bring her up to be a caring, compassionate person that understands that not all people in life have the same opportunities, not all people have the ability to move themselves into better circumstances without some help and not all people that need support are scroungers.

But I'm also aware that I have an immigrant in my house. An immigrant that has paid more in tax in this county than many true Brits.

He does not conform to the standard immigrant mould we have seen presented over the election campaign. He will not do the jobs nobody else wants to do (like change a toilet roll or iron) and he will not apply for a purple passport no matter how many times I moan about having to wait for him whilst he is still queuing at passport control and being grilled about why he wants to enter the country (after returning to his home after a 2 week holiday away!)