Or those who are attracted to both sexes

I can tell you exactly what causes me to be attracted to the same gender. Willies. And it's been like that since I was born.

Have you heard of that guy in South America who has two of them?

That too.


Same here! Apart from the bit about being that way since I was born, of course. Took at least 10 or 11 years for me to realise I liked them.

Having an opinion like this is bad enough - just no excuse for this type of mindless bigotry - but having such apalling judgement as to openly express such an opinion on tv in front of millions and not understand that an awful lot of people would find it offensive shows that this is not a credible candidate. It speakes VOLUMES about her lack of professionalism and respect for other people. Nasty ignorant bigot.

I would hate to have to share office space with someone like this and I'm sure Alan Sugar (and his employees) are no different.

No excuses. She needs sacking, and fast.

people are born black and you can't change it..unless you are MJ

it can be argued you choose to be gay, that is if you want to bring up science...


did mona even know he was gay?

And HOW exactly do you or why would you CHOOSE to be gay? Do people CHOOSE to be straight? How can it be argued?

Well, just because it wasn't necessarily talked about, it doesn't mean it didn't exist, or that people didn't think about their sexual orientation, or act upon what they felt naturally.

As for sexual orientation being a modern social construct, the word 'homosexual' as we know it first came about in the 1800s and there is homoerotic poetry dating back to the 1300s and 1400s. I don't believe sexual orientation is something that has just been discovered or just come about in modern society. There is evidence through art and literature that it has existed for several generations. It's just that it's taken a great deal of time for any orientation other than heterosexual to be accepted to some degree in some and certainly not all societies.

I think Mona, in this situation was verbalising a common misconception, i.e. that a homosexual man is the same as a paedophile. Wrong, wrong, wrong and I hope Howard saw fit to educate her.

Cool. Maybe we can now tell the pope to drop it, seeing as its mentions in the old testament are a modern construct by hoaxers.

What does turn u on/off people if it's not their views/beliefs?

And freedom of speech doesn't justify any form of prejudice as far as I'm concerned.

Mona showed herself up for the bigoted woman that she is. I hope she's booted off soon.

Why would anybody choose a lifestyle that made you more susceptible to abuse and discrimination (even torture and the death penalty in times gone by)?

It makes no sense.

I know for a fact that I was born gay. It certainly wasn't a conscious decision that I made.

Not in Iran. As recently as 2005.

http://http://www.hrw.org/en/news/20...sexual-conduct

There's homoerotic poetry dating back to Sappho and beyond. Same gender love has existed throughout history - I was hardly disputing that.

What I was disputing was the supposedly universal applicability of very modern descriptions for what is imagined to be an individual's essential sexual nature - something which seems especially odd in a scientific context. People are neatly categorised into groups of heterosexual, homosexual, etc. Some might argue that there exists a continuum of sexual behaviour with homosexual on one end and heterosexual on the other. However, such models do not easily translate to other societies.

Look at the way most Semitic religions have historically viewed homosexuality. As far as they are/were concerned, there's an underlying assumption that all human beings are supposed to be attracted to the opposite gender, and that sexual acts (note the difference between an act - sodomy - and essence - homosexuality) between people of the same gender were inherently wrong. There is simply no room for the idea that there exists something in the nature of some people the desire for the same gender.

We, living in the modern West, looking back on the behaviour of long dead Native American 'Two-Spirits' might describe them as bisexual or transgender, but that's simply down to the lens we're viewing them through. Again, from their point of view, these terms would have no meaning, inadequate descriptions of their experiences within the structure of their societies.

What they do and how they act. Mona seems harmless and nice enough. OK she has this views but to me that doesn't matter, I know it does to some but she has her views for what ever reason, religion, upbringing what ever. It might not be her fault ... but I can be put off people if they have their views in a bad and malicious way, e.g. the Westboro Baptist Church.

Also, remember that a lot of people haven't given much thought to homosexulaity. They know it's not for them but they've no desire to investigate any of the myriad things that impinge on the subject.

What is far more important than an off the cuff remark by someone who may not have given the matter any great thought is what happens when (or if) someone talks her through the subject in a friendly (i.e. non confrontational) and non hysterical fashion.

Some of the self-righteous comments in this and the previous thread on the subject are at least as bad examples of intolerance as Mona's comment.

You can't educate people and change their outdated and inaccurate impressions by simply attacking them and their views.

Being against homosexuality is a fairly recent social construct actually. There is plenty of evidence to show that sexual attraction to both sexes was acceptable, if not acknowledged and celebrated in ancient Greece (eg at the time of Alexander the Great). Its only the last few hundred years that its become seen as abnormal, and that is more down to religious interpretation.

Mona's ideas could be based in cultural or religious practices, but that just means she's ignorant and possibly scared, due to ignorance. We shouldn't beat her over the head with it, but she's not intelligent enough to get a high powered business job if she takes the attitude that she can express those sort of views in public.

It's very hard to have a friendly and non hysterical discussion with someone who thinks you need to be kept away from their children.

But we are speaking of Mona's actions.

What she does, is keep her child away from homosexual men like me because she thinks there's something wrong with or inferior about us.

So I most definately would not class her as 'harmless' and 'nice enough.' She's a homophobe, and in my book that's as bad as being a racist or sexist.

I'd have thought this was a sackable offence. Sir Alan should fire her and pronto.

I agree, but the thing is, comments like hers, whether she expects or not do actually impact on other people, I can imagine it must have been a very hurtful thing for Howard to have to hear.

It is no wonder that gay teenagers are 3 times more likely to commit suicide when things like this are being said by people who are not actually 'giving much thought to homosexuality'.

... and that is the exact high and mighty attitude I can't stand from people, imo that makes people worse than homophobes. "I don't do this therefore I am better than her".

I've read that posters reply several times, and I really am failing to see where they displayed a high and mighty attitude.

Perhaps you could point it out more clearly for me?

What's high and mighty about expecting people to treat me with respect regardless of my sexual orientation?

Sounds like human decency to me.

So she needs a straight person to talk her through it. There are still a few of us around.

There is actually evidence that one's sexual orientation is determined by what they actually want, or expect, or are told i.e. some argue that it's all of the mind.

However, there's evidence against that too. To be honest, nobody truly knows what determines our sexual preferences, although, obviously, some people like to think it's genetic (e.g. those that are pressured by their family or friends to be straight, and want to make a point that it wasn't their decision), and others like to think it's to do with significant life events (e.g. those that believe that bullying in their infancy and such is the reason that they're gay). These factors can skew the beliefs of people about the source of being gay.

All in all, it doesn't matter what causes heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, etc. I really don't care what genders people like (unless I want to have a relationship with them I guess). Likewize, I don't care what people's views are on certain sexual orientations. If someone hates all straight people. Fine by me. If someone is bi, fine by me. If someone believes that gay people shouldn't get married, fine by me.

I'm not going to dictate people's lives. Mona can be homophobic if she wants, and Howard can be gay if he wants.

So was what she said, difference? I haven't slapped her (nor has anyone else) she however is presumably practicing her comment by keeping her kids away from people she "knows" to be gay. I think she is an absolutely awful person with nasty views.