It doesn’t really get any better for the DUP. In remarks made to the Ballymena Guardian, DUP councillor Maurice Mills excoriated the media for not calling attention to the fact the hurricane struck just two days prior to a gay festival (which has been going for some 35 years) called the Southern Decadence Festival. The councillor asked “surely this is a warning to nations where such wickedness is increasingly promoted and practised”. He goes on to (highly inaccurately) put the blame for the spread of Aids in Africa on homosexual sex practices. Not sure what to add to that except perhaps to repeat the words of Alisdair McDonnell:
“I sometimes think that it is one of the great ironies of Northern Ireland that the phrase “Respect for Diversity” probably appears in print here more often than in any other part of the world. But where else in the world is the concept of diversity and so well understood but less practised?”
Thanks to Andrew Muir for the heads up.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty