STEPHEN FRY

There can be a real backlash against various groups in a society during tough times and 'austerity measures' and general doubt and chaos. Racist and bigoted groups and secret societies get a jump in successful recruitment.

In the states, a bigot majority in north carolina passed a law which has legally defined indefinitely that marriage between same genders is officially illegal ( and therefore, punishable ). It also makes civil unions of any kind between heterosexuals illegal and unrecognizable, which means two adults living together 'as if' married have zero rights. You're either legally married, now defined as ONE MAN and ONE WOMAN (emphasis theirs ) or you're not. No other relationship under law exists.

Of course, this will likely result in law suits brought against the state and the law itself probably be struck down by the Supreme Court as that H8 bill in California was. Still, that it requires the expenditure of funds and time in the courts because of some rabid, mentally frothing politicians and their fearful constitutents, in a time when extra money is scarce as it is, really makes me shake my head.

We just don't seem to learn. The formula goes 'tough times; fear and panic; destruction; reconstruction; profit; utopia; tough times; fear and panic etc etc. And endless loop of forgetting and relearning.

I have heard that SA is indeed a very scary place for homosexuals right now and for whatever reason, lesbians are particularly being targeted. Homosexuals in the states are reporting an uptick in assault and battery.

No idea what's going on in these peoples heads at all. It used to be easy to chalk it up to religious ideation, but I've met enough non religious haters of homosexuals to know it's not just something that can be blamed on god or allah or whomever. And I've found a lot of the people who are fearful of homosexuals are also fearful of feminists are also fearful of...well... just about anybody outside their social norm.

Fear breeds hate, hate breeds bigotry, bigotry breeds violence, violence breeds death. Yeah, technology has really saved us from ourselves hasn't it?

And things don't get any better, do they? So much misery in that continent.