backs to the wall....

Robsweezie

So rugby player cian healy posted a tweet saying he was heading to a gay pride concert with the hashtag #backstothewall, cue accusations of insensitive "dark ages" homophobia and counter arguments of the PC brigade out in force. So what of it, really that big of a deal or a harmless joke? I'd be giving him the benefit of the doubt seeing as he apparently supported the YES vote, and dismiss it as a bit of off colour humour, not to everyones taste. I personally smiled at it.

The_Valeyard

And today's rage is brought to you by.................


F*ck it, he didnt mean any offence by it. And im not going to join in the pitchfork bandwagon having a go at him, instead, im going to listen to the piano version of Jurassic Park

ToddyDoody

I think it's prison he's thinking of

GSF

It's always the ugly boys isn't it?

jjC123

I doubt he meant any harm by it but it was very much in bad taste.
I can't abide the relentless PC-brigade either but considering the countries recent efforts to move forward from homophobia and be more accepting of the LGBT community, it was a joke that came with more implications than were probably intended.

Akrasia

I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Last time I checked, jokes are still ok.

I'm much more worried about the humourless bigots out there who pretend that they're in favour of equality but secretly hate everything about gay people and will discriminate against them at any opportunity.

Senna

As usual someone will be offended on behalf of gay people. Gay people themselves probably won't care about it.

kneemos

Tractors.

NachoBusiness

It's no worse than the: 'Better not bend down in the shower' line that's said whenever men's prisons are mentioned.

A little crass but I doubt it's something that Harvey Milk would have been too worried about had he heard someone say it.

But like everything, in the wrong setting it could be inappropriate.

Rough Sleeper

He probably wouldn't be going to a gay pride concert if he were a homophobe, would he? It would be nice if, just once, a notable figure could make an innocuous if mildly ill-judged remark without getting lambasted over it. Just once like.

DeadHand

It was a harmless joke.

Not that this will stop the perpetually outraged cyber shrieking for a few days until they find someone else to bully.

K4t

DeadHand wrote: »

It was a harmless joke.

But it's not harmless really though. The oldest argument in the book thrown about by the bigots has always been that the gays can't keep it in their pants - he's simply perpetuating this nasty generalization with an an idiotic remark - I have as sick as f**k sense of humour as anyone and I'm all for allowing anyone to say whatever the hell they want, but I'll also call stupidity whenever I see it, and what he said is just plain stupid.

GSF wrote: »

It's always the ugly boys isn't it?

Yeah, I think Mr Healy is overestimating himself just a bit..

StewartGriffin

Akrasia wrote: »

I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Last time I checked, jokes are still ok.

Oh, no they're not!

Panti, Release the Hounds!

The Dark Side

Idiotic comment.

He'll be apologising shortly, I've no doubt.

Amirani

Only silly thing he did was tweet it, not the right medium for that sort of joke. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt seeing as he was going to a gay pride concert.

Harry Palmr

Silly billy, why is every passing idiotic thought now tweeted?

The homosexual issue doesn't bother me at all. A harmless comment.

The repeated reference to it as a joke offends my sense of humour though. It lacks everything I like in a joke, it's not witty or original. I'm surprised an adult would use the line, not because of the offence issue, but because it's just so...stupid.

Charlie19

He should've had more sense. A comment like that might be lighthearted fun between friends but it shouldn't be broadcasted to the public.

K4t

StewartGriffin wrote: »

Oh, no they're not!

Panti, Release the Hounds!

His wife said it best-

"He just says silly things now and again".....Collins clutches her head as Hunt talks - “It was an unbelievably stupid thing to say,” she says.

And it's that simple - Say stupid things and be prepared to suffer the consequences nowadays. A man of science should ordinarily know that, but we also live in the age of social media and yes, political correctness. It's simply not acceptable to say those kind of things anymore from professional positions such as he held.

K4t

K4t wrote: »

His wife said it best-

And it's that simple - Say stupid things and be prepared to suffer the consequences nowadays. A man of science should ordinarily know that, but we also live in the age of social media and yes, political correctness. It's simply not acceptable to say those kind of things anymore from professional positions such as he held.

True. But it seems harsh to pay for it with his job. A fulsome apology should be enough for what was, again, just a very bad effort at humour.

Areyouwell

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Silly billy, why is every passing idiotic thought now tweeted?

Even worse when some cause a ridiculous overreaction.

tipparetops

Deleted User wrote: »

The homosexual issue doesn't bother me at all. A harmless comment.

The repeated reference to it as a joke offends my sense of humour though. It lacks everything I like in a joke, it's not witty or original. I'm surprised an adult would use the line, not because of the offence issue, but because it's just so...stupid.

the old joke is backs to the wall, as if one of them got on your back you would never be able to get them off, their grip is so tight.

K4t

Areyouwell wrote: »

Even worse when some cause a ridiculous overreaction.

I don't see any ridiculous overreaction here, mostly just posters rightly calling the tweet idiotic and at best ill-advised. Tbh, I'd rather people tweet these kinds of thoughts so that they are challenged and called out for what they are - that way they hopefully won't think there is any truth or sense to such thoughts.

Cookie_Monster

twitter causing outrage, well I never :eek:

RayM

It's the kind of 'joke' that you might find hilarious if you're around 10 years old. Or a privately educated rugby player.

gramar

Who cares what he said and who was offended.

Cookie_Monster

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

twitter causing outrage, well I never :eek:

Who is 'outraged?' Brian Kennedy merely said it was disappointing, and on here some users are objecting to the choice of phrase used by Healy. No more, no less

Supergurrier

Anything with a # before it that isn't a dialtone can feck right off

Cody montana

Senna wrote: »

As usual someone will be offended on behalf of gay people. Gay people themselves probably won't care about it.

I do, but only by the fact that it's usually a munter saying it.
And I was right.

ThinkProgress

K4t wrote: »

His wife said it best-

And it's that simple - Say stupid things and be prepared to suffer the consequences nowadays. A man of science should ordinarily know that, but we also live in the age of social media and yes, political correctness. It's simply not acceptable to say those kind of things anymore from professional positions such as he held.

Political correctness is a load of horse sh*t!!! It's ruining our society! It's ruining all western civilization!

There's fcuk all wrong with that joke. He's going to a gay pride concert FFS...

Satirical jokes are a great way of breaking down barriers and removing stigmas. He's just poking fun at the people who actually say stuff like that and genuinely mean it.

frostyjacks

It was a harmless joke. Some people must have little going on in their lives to be upset by it.

Do we really want to live in a society where people are afraid to open their mouth lest they be accused of some form of bigotry?