Rambling Ron has my sympathy

IT'S no excuse for what happened, I know - but I have been under a lot of strain at home recently.

Despite my best efforts with drill and Rawlplug, the bedroom curtain rail has fallen down repeatedly, causing grievous heartache. And the cats are behaving most oddly.

Is it any wonder that I felt compelled to get out of the house - to seek a bit of space?

So yes, I did go for a walk on Knavesmire. And, once there, yes, I did approach a complete stranger and engage him in conversation.

I cannot now remember our exchange in detail. I said something like "Have you got the time on you, officer?" And the man replied, "It's a quarter past eight, sir."

The parallels between this, shameful, incident and the one involving former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies are uncanny. But there are two crucial differences.

Firstly, I have chosen not to resign. Mr Davies quit immediately: his moral fibre is clearly more sinewy than my own.

Secondly, I was not cruising for gay sex. Neither was Mr Davies, of course. But Clapham Common, where his lapse of judgement occurred, is notorious for that sort of thing. And in the absence of any other explanation, folk are putting two and two together.

I sincerely hope this isn't the reason for Mr Davies's abrupt departure. We should no longer be living in a society which sees homosexual activity as a resigning issue.

It wouldn't make a lot of sense, to be honest. One undeniably positive thing about Tony Blair is his record as an equal opportunity employer.

His Government boasts ministers who are gay and straight, black and white, male and female.

People are promoted without prejudice. It is how life should be.

Compare that to the Conservative Party's dismal record. It wasn't so long ago that a prospective Tory candidate was dropped by constituency bigwigs because he was black.

And Times columnist Matthew Parris only felt able to reveal he was gay after his career as a Tory MP was over. That made his decision last week to "out" Peter Mandelson on national television all the more dubious.

Culture Secretary Chris Smith is Britain's first openly gay Cabinet Minister. What makes his pioneering appointment particularly impressive is the fact that his sexual orientation is rarely mentioned. No one cares.

Eventually this liberal attitude will take its toll on the thugs who still think "queer bashing" is a legitimate activity; on the priests who still condemn gays and lesbians as wicked and perverted; and on the employers who still secretly discriminate against homosexuals.

But we shouldn't forget that one employer openly discriminates against homosexuals: the Army. The blanket ban on gays and lesbians in the forces remains steadfast. It is scandalous that the military establishment's bigotry is backed by British law.

Students at York University refuse to allow the forces to advertise or recruit on campus while this odious policy continues. They deserve great credit for taking such a principled stand.

Ending prejudice against homosexuals was never going to be a walk in the park (to use a metaphor Mr Davies would recognise). But while the military ban continues, it will be impossible.

RESIDENTS of Kingsway North in York have voted to change their street's name. They believe this will help to rid the street of its undeserved notoriety.

The new name is Burton Green, which either sounds like something from Trumpton or is the name of a 1950s radio detective serial.

But will the change make a difference to people's perceptions? I'm not sure.

It is often difficult to persuade people to use an alternative title. Just look at Windscale. Sorry, Sellafield.

And even when the new name sticks, the public is wont to transfer its prejudices from the old name to the new.

It is far better to improve the name you have than to try to hide the past in this way. Just ask residents of Bell Farm.

02/11/98

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.