OPINION
4
WHY WE NEED
TO LAY OFF
JAMES ARTHUR
by Daniel Browne
S
crolling through my
Twitter and Facebook
timelines earlier this
week I kept seeing the
same thing over and over
again on the various
LGBT related pages I
follow; hate comments aimed at
James Arthur for daring to want to
put right his wrongs. How dare he
do such a thing!
Last year James Arthur caused a bit
of outrage among gay people when
he
used
a
homophobic slur in
a rap aimed at a
fellow artist. Since
then his career has
faltered as the
nation turned
against him and
branded him a
m o n s t e r
homophobe.
Although I do not
condone the use of
the words “fucking
queer”, I do actually
intend to stick up
for James Arthur
here because I do
not believe him to
be a homophobe.
What James Arthur
is actually guilty of
is speaking before
thinking it through.
move to get his career back on
track or not, it’s still a good thing.
It demonstrates that the perceived
homophobe can’t really be one and
that he is willing to go through
some form of rehabilitation to right
his past wrongs. Maybe becoming
involved with Stonewall will be a
massive wake up call for him, in
that he’ll begin to think before
speaking and realise the damage
that homophobic slurs can cause to
gay people.
Sometimes I
feel that the
LGBT
community
becomes
outraged too
easily. There
are genuinely
awful things
happening
around the
world that we
should be
angrier about.
In my book that
makes him human.
Can
anyone
honestly say they
have never said
something hateful
or nasty about someone and then
regretted it or wished they had
thought before speaking?
I know I can’t. That’s because I’m
human too. Is that such a crime?
Stonewall’s newly appointed Chief
Executive, Ruth Hunt, tweeted
James Arthur to offer him an
opportunity to meet some of the
organisation’s youth volunteers.
Arthur tweeted back to accept that
opportunity. Whether it’s a cynical
As a leader of my own
LGBTQ youth support
charity I’d also
welcome a discussion
with James Arthur
and extend an
opportunity to meet
some of the young
people that the charity
works with.
Sometimes I feel that
the LGBT community
becomes outraged too
easily. There are
genuinely awful things
happening around the
world that we should
be angrier about. It
was fine to be livid
with James Arthur
when he made that
rap containing the
words “fucking queer”,
but nearly a year on
and with him now
trying to do something
positive, I think it’s
time people climbed
down from their
soapboxes and left the
guy alone. 7
Some of the comments aimed at
James Arthur on social media sites
have been appalling and I believe
that makes those people no better
than him when he used that
homophobic slur.
What we should be doing is
applauding James Arthur for
accepting his wrongdoings and
trying to make amends. Surely
everyone deserves a second
chance?
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