taken in

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jan 25, 2007

In the UK, a full-court press is on to enact legislation that will treat the Catholic Church as a "goods and services provider" and thus require her to conform to EU standards of non-discrimination, including and especially that regarding sexual orientation. The first place the shoes pinches is in the area of adoption services. Gays have gleefully pounced on this opportunity to push the Church yet further into the position of an outlaw, and the Guardian does it bit for the rainbow cause with a medium slurpy to go:

Mr Reynolds said yesterday: "Rowan must know that the Church of England's own adoption society welcomes gay people. It has done for eight years. In our case we were the first gay couple in Wales to be allowed to foster our boy by Barnardo's.

"The Catholic church has allowed it elsewhere. Cardinal Levada, who's become the Vatican's doctrinal enforcer, when he was Archbishop of San Francisco allowed at least three children from Catholic agencies to be placed with gay couples."

Mr Reynolds and his partner Chris, a hairdresser, have lived together for 27 years. They were first asked to foster the boy when he was four and Barnardo's could not find another home for him because he was so disruptive.

Note that Cardinal Levada's San Francisco squishiness on gay rights was not something dropped into oblivion but continues to be part of the polemic. And our come-back is ...?