Category Archives: religion

Homophobe Iain Macdonald of Miavaig, Uig, replies on Hebrides News after I criticised his earlier letter, which was removed after several complaints by open-minded readers, in which he said he would rather sit by a septic tank than share accommodation with gay people.

Much of what Macdonald now writes is a desperate attempt to excuse his pro-discrimination stance – as usual with such bigots, he portrays himself as a victim – yet he feels entitled to his foul views and pet hatreds because  other islanders sufer from the same “inner revulsion” he so publicly admits to.  There were many in pre-war Germany who supported Hitler. Didn’t make that right either.

In the hetero-friendly Macdonald guesthouse

Clever fellow that he is, he even tries to rewrite the textbooks on homophobia. Whereas the best brains in the world say it’s linked to the dominance of ‘machismo’ culture – fuelled by all the world’s most extreme hatred-based religions – as well as severe personal feelings of being unloved which causes sufferers to be jealous of anyone who is in love, Macdonald has wild theories of his own.

The Campaign To End Homophobia defines personal homophobia as feelings of fear, discomfort, dislike, hatred, or disgust with same-sex sexuality. That should end the discussion on what Macdonald actually is.

He does manage to say sorry but still drags up irrational nonsense over sodomy. What if the gay guests gave a written undertaking not to undertake that particular practise? Would that be OK? Does the Macdonald ban extend to non-gays who practise it?  Would he encourage accommodation providers to spy on guests to make sure they were doing it right?

A bizarre assertion, albeit tiresomely dramatised, that a male must inherit a strong aversion towards homosexuality in order to develop into a heterosexual is not funny and it’s not clever. It’s just a lie.

Macdonald’s glorious, unbridled ignorance even leads him to speculate that I’m an athiest. Standing up to the various splintered, in-fighting, self-seeking sects – what passes for organised religion in these parts – which impose their mediaeval rituals on others, does not make me an athiest. Whereas he claims to be undecided on spiritual matters himself, the arrogant philosopher makes out he knows my conscience. He is as mistaken about that as he is about everything else. Utterly pathetic.

His attempt at self-justification leads him to dream up many unfathomable, irrelevant questions. I’ll answer the one in paragraph 2 like this: if the conscience, belief or mental deficiency of any B&B operator means they cannot operate their business without practising the same type of anti-gay discrimination pioneered by the Nazis, they really should use their talents to do something else.

Keen to tell everyone he was in the hostel with me, Macdonald was obviously untroubled by reports over the years of the sudden deaths of some of our contemporaries. It is not that long since a family member of one such schoolmate told me he died wrestling with his sexuality after being made to feel condemned to hell by one certain, hateful, hurtful, unforgiving island minister.

So, yes, what Macdonald says is true. He is certainly not alone in nursing irrational fears and hatreds that threaten to destroy the tourism industry of these self-dubbed holy islands in one fell swoop. It is obvious he is comforted that fellow haters are even to be found in the Labour Party.

Meanwhile, Mr Macdonald shouldn’t fret about the possibility of getting an invitation to a gay wedding. The gay people I have spoken to in recent days – including some with Uig connections – aren’t likely to put him on their lists. Some said they’d rather sit by a leaking septic tank.