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Two organizations, both of which exist to push a particular belief system, have recently booked advertising space on London buses, promoting different ideas about the same thing. One’s on the side of buses. The other’s been banned.
Advert One
The first advert reads: Some people are gay. Get over it.
The first sentence is a statement about identity. Some people self-label themselves as “gay” because they experience and act on same-sex attraction, and see this as a core part of their identity. The last sentence is suggesting that some people have a problem with the first sentence, and shouldn’t do. In other words, it’s a statement of belief, a value judgment on anyone who thinks that being actively, physically homosexual is not right.
Advert Two
The second advert reads: Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it.
The first two sentences are statements about identity. Some people self-label themselves as not gay, either because they have never experienced same-sex attraction, or because they used to but no longer do, or because they have decided there is something about who they are which is more important than their physical attractions, and so have taken the choice not to act on how they feel. The last sentence is suggesting that some people have a problem with the first two sentences, and shouldn’t do. It’s another statement of belief, a value judgment on anyone who thinks that the idea of someone moving beyond same-sex attraction, or choosing not to act on that attraction, or choosing to think that that attraction is not right, are themselves not right.
So both adverts are simply two different ways of looking at identity, and two different value judgments of other people’s beliefs. And, let’s face it, both actually suggest that others are wrong to hold the views they do.
The first advert has run. The second has been banned. London Mayor Boris Johnson decided that his own value judgment was more important than free speech, and stated strongly that the second ad shouldn’t run.
What it tells us
Why does this matter? Because it shows that we’re into a new phase of public discourse about homosexuality. It’s not that there are now two views, each opposing the other, jostling for a hearing and for support in the public arena. It’s that now, there is only one view allowed in the public arena. Stonewall—the pro-actively-gay lobby group who paid for the first ad—are allowed to make statements about identity and value judgments about those they consider wrong. Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues—the Christian groups who booked the second ad—are not.
Here’s what Stonewall said of the decision to ban people who hold different views to theirs: “We are delighted by TfL’s clear commitment to diversity [diversity that isn’t actually diverse enough to include people who disagree with us]. It is fantastic that no adverts will be promoting voodoo, gay-cure therapy [can you imagine what would happen if a group holding the opposite view used such loaded words as “voodoo”?].”
Aggressively pushing a belief; using extreme words to describe others' views; refusing to accept that some people's experience might not fit in with your view of the world; and opposing the right of those who don’t agree with you even to have their voice heard. But that's all fine, because they're not Christians…
Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.
