Tag: British

British MI6 Chief Apologizes for Past Discrimination

The head of MI6 has issued a public apology for unjust treatment in the past of staff and recruits because of their sexuality, acknowledging that talented and brave people who wanted to serve their country suffered because of ignorance and prejudice.

Moore, who took over as MI6 chief in October, said that until 1991 — nearly 25 years after same-sex relationships were decriminalized in the U.K. — being an openly LGBTI person while working as a spy “would cause you to lose your job or prevent you from being allowed to join in the first place.” A directive that stemmed from “the misguided view that [LGBTI spies] would be more susceptible to blackmail than straight people.”

Moore’s first prominent appointment was as the British Ambassador to Turkey. He held this post for three years, from 2014 to 2017. He spent a short period of time working as Deputy National Security Advisor (Intelligence, Security and Resilience) in 2018. He held the appointment of Director-General, Political in the FCDO from 2018 until August 2020. On the 29 July 2020, it was announced that Moore would become the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in autumn 2020.He took up this position on the 1 October of the same year.

Lesbian Kiss in Protest at British Supermarket

A naive and rather uninformed security guard tried to stop two lesbians sharing a kiss at a British seaside town of Brighton, England. Brighton is a Mecca for gays and lesbians and it is just about an hour’s drive by car from London.

The incident that sparked the protest happened last week when a customer complained about Annabelle Paige, a Sussex University student, and her partner kissing.

Ms Paige told The Times newspaper that she had only given her girlfriend a light kiss, but was told by a security guard to stop or leave the store. “I’m so shocked and upset about it. I get that if another customer is uncomfortable that’s a bad thing… but the problem is the other customer was in the wrong and essentially being homophobic. The guard didn’t seem to understand that, I was absolutely humiliated,” she said shortly after the incident.

Well, never underestimate people who stand up for equality whether they are gay or straight. The result was a “Big Kiss-In” has been held in the Brighton branch of Sainsbury’s. This is a nation-wide chain and the top brass wanted to get rid of the bad publicity generated by what was clearly a homophobic security guard.Kiss_In_3

Dozens of people – men and women, including one couple in wedding dress – descended on the store on Wednesday as bemused shoppers looked on.

Video footage of the event shown by ITV News showed a number of couples, some in fancy dress, kissing as people held signs with supermarket-style slogans like “Live well for lez”.

Sussex University’s students union said in a tweet: “Thanks to everyone who took part in the #bigkissin. Great to see people in Brighton and beyond showing we like kissing and hate homophobia.”

P.S. Trish and I visited Brighton in the spring of 2014 and we had a great time. Lesbians in pubs chatted with us and welcomed us to their wonderful seaside resort. Hello and well-done, Brighton!