BBC Question Time Is Getting Dragged For Their Question About LGBT+ Teachings In Schools
Sydney Bourne via Getty Images / @JPLongland/Twitter
LGBT people have made significant strides in recent decades.
Much of the community is lucky enough to be themselves openly, with few people mistakenly regarding them as abnormal in most of the western world.
So why do so many feel the need to shield children from their existence?
This question arose after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)'s political debate program Question Time posed a question of its own on Twitter.
Our final question is about learning about relationships at school. #bbcqt https://t.co/QgVKWjiXnw— BBC Question Time (@BBC Question Time)1553815485.0
The question hinges on the presumption that LGBT people are abnormal, since no one questions whether or not it's "morally right" for young children to be fed fairy tales with heterosexuals in love or jokingly asked by adults if they have a boyfriend or girlfriend.
No one pontificates on whether or not straight couples on billboards and magazines should be shielded from young eyes.
This is likely because heterosexual relationships are seen to have more facets than sex. LGBT relationships—and people—aren't always granted this presumption of nuance.
As many pointed out, LGBT people exist and their existence alone isn't inappropriate for children.
@cutesnoot @AnaMardoll @bbcquestiontime Nailed it. I’m so tired of people acting like our existence is somehow up f… https://t.co/h2cgMTMUVA— Danielle Eadie (@Danielle Eadie)1553820808.0
@_Gmannn @bbcquestiontime Too young for what? My 5-year-old son asked why one kid in his class had two dads, so we… https://t.co/orlD3u0OMq— Pete,Rat Race Cycles (@Pete,Rat Race Cycles)1553816875.0
@bbcquestiontime Shame on you for this phrasing. Morally right. WE EXIST. WE’RE NOT GOING AWAY.— Tom [PositiveLad] (@Tom [PositiveLad])1553849188.0
Children are perfectly capable of understanding that two people of the same sex can love each other and have a perfectly healthy relationship.
@bbcquestiontime My best friend is gay and my children have always known this. This has made my children accepting… https://t.co/lEHGsm5lzh— karen kenyon (@karen kenyon)1553816071.0
@DrRanj @bbcquestiontime I don't think they've ever had a conversation with a 5 yr old - they are the most magical,… https://t.co/Ok32bNzE4l— Mrs W Tutus (@Mrs W Tutus)1553891043.0
@bbcquestiontime My granddaughter came out of school today and pointed out her teacher , she made a point of pointi… https://t.co/i70krYXdK1— Gord#FBPE (@Gord#FBPE)1553820885.0
@Unclearengineer @_Gmannn @bbcquestiontime Yes, of course. Far better that kids learn at 5 years old that it's norm… https://t.co/WtHw8rVpeW— Pete,Rat Race Cycles (@Pete,Rat Race Cycles)1553818353.0
@bbcquestiontime I mean, my three-year-old is mature enough to both explain to other kids that she has two mommies… https://t.co/3qoKAkmZcT— The Ineffable Em Grace (@The Ineffable Em Grace)1553881165.0
Turns out, the question sounds bonkers when 'LGBT' is replaced with 'heterosexual.'
@bbcquestiontime Is it morally right for 5 year old children to learn about heterosexual issues in school? Why do s… https://t.co/K2VJJ2dgiB— Dr Finn Mackay (@Dr Finn Mackay)1553846472.0
@bbcquestiontime Imagine if society had a moral mandate to hide the existence of heterosexual relationships from ch… https://t.co/gQFDaUt0I9— Alexandra Erin (@Alexandra Erin)1553857295.0
Soon, people were asking Question Time some questions of their own.
@bbcquestiontime is it morally right for whoever chose this question to be fired? hint: this has the same answer as the original question— Luna Brekke (@Luna Brekke)1553893531.0
@bbcquestiontime Question: in what way was it morally right to pose this as a question?— Elliot Vaughn (@Elliot Vaughn)1553879597.0
@bbcquestiontime Is it morally right for the BBC to peddle homophobia?— Jordan Raskopoulos (@Jordan Raskopoulos)1553891614.0
@bbcquestiontime Is it morally right for five year old children who have gay parents to feel that their families ar… https://t.co/HUhgehxnYm— MichaelT (@MichaelT)1553843645.0
Do better, BBC.
Making a real-world connection while dating is one thing, but doing it digitally brings an entirely new set of challenges.
Reddit user, u/SXC365, wanted to hear how you filter through the scrubs when they asked:
You're online dating and read someone's bio, what's an immediate turnoff?
Crimsons Flags On Their Profile Header
The easiest red flag to spot across enemy lines is the one they fly at their highest point: the header of their dating profile. Sometimes, it's innocuous, hidden among some cute descriptors about what their obvious careers or hobbies are. But it's there, waiting to be ignored.
What Are You Trying To Hide?
Having literally no personal information about themselves besides their name, age, and a half dozen emojis. Please, ma'am/sir I would like to know who you are besides what your body looks like.
Profile: Denied!
Likes: laughing, smiling, living <——— wtf yeah most people like the opposite..?
OR
Likes: ask me 😏 Dislikes: ask me😏 Work: ask me😏
Advertising Something Else
'Follow me on instagram! /ic3cr3amnut69'
Alternatively, if their only written info is their Snapchat handle.
I know what you're about.
What's Underneath The Hood?
On the other hand, maybe it isn't so obvious at first glance. These types take a little more digging through their About section to truly understand what they're about.
And it's not good. Not good at all.
Setting Your (Dumb) Standards
When they have requirements like height, weight, and so on.
This is what I came here to say. Having preferences in terms of physical features and personality are one thing. We like what we like, and we dont like what we dont like. That's fair and fine, but to have a bulleted list of requirements in order to even speak to someone is crass and shallow.
"I'm A Bad Boy 4-Lyfe!" - This Person, Probably
When they're flipping off the camera. WHY? Why are you flipping me off?
FINALLY, someone says it! I can't get behind this, never could.
So many people go hiking or enjoy long walks. Why can't I just find someone who wants to spend their Sundays never getting dressed properly and watching TV all day?
Don't worry, as someone that is an enthusiastic, serious hiker, I've found that 80% of OLD profiles that claim to like hiking and long walks mean they like 3-5 mile walks occasionally.
For me that's disappointing, but you might be able to work with it.
Terrible Slogans To Keep An Eye Out For
Fortunately, the most obvious people to avoid online are those who have some sort of motto or lifestyle creedo, blazoned across their header right under their name. It won't be inspiration, motivational, or reasonable, but they'll think it is. Which is all the more reason for you to swipe left and get out before it's too late.
Take Your Time Back
"Don't waste my time"
This one, I just immediately swipe No, like theres your precious time bro
Wearing Their Awful Flag Proudly
Any time someone describes themselves as an "a--hole"
I think it's meant to be cute and cheeky but why would I wanna spend time with someone who freely admits they're a jerk?
Point Is, It's A Bad Quote
"If you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve me at my best"
I remember a stand-up having a great response to this quote.
"This statement was made by Marylin Monroe, who killed herself. That, or she was murdered by the government. All we know is that at least one person really couldn't handle her at her worst."
Except there's no proof she ever said it.
Have your standards, have your prerequisites, and know what you want in a potential partner. Above all, never feel bad for declining someone because they feel the need to let you know their a d-ck.
Keep your dignity.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Forming a connection with someone is a challenge.
And then there's these folks, who felt the need to call it quits over something that, honestly, didn't even matter that much.
Reddit user, u/High_Sleep3694, wanted to hear why you turned someone down when they asked:
What was the pettiest reason you refused to date someone?
Loud, Observable Traits
There are some traits people carry with them like a sad, old piece of rotting luggage, flopping it down on the table for everyone to gawk upon before the appetizers re served. You either are okay with it or, as these people quickly decided, bail out before it gets you.
That Would Irritate Any Decent Human
My mom stopped dating a guy because he unfastened and refastened the velcro on his shoes throughout an entire movie.
What A Dummy. Everyone Knows They're Limes.
When I found out that he thought lemons were unripened oranges
I Guess I Don't See A Big Problem With This One
All The Words In Every Text He Sent Were Capitalised. Trust Me, It Got ANNOYING.
Learn Something!
He was awful in a trivia game we were playing. I mean, really bad, like it was his first day pretending to be a human on Earth and the aliens hadn't briefed him sufficiently.
The Littlest Things Can Turn You Off
Some stuff you can overlook, like maybe the way they hold their spoon and fork.
Other things are impossible to overlook, like...the way they hold their spoon and fork.
Goes both ways.
Her Name Is Anne, Guys.
Everytime I touched her, I would smell of egg. Like holding hands, egg.. Hug her, my shirt would smell of egg.
Strangest bit was, she didn't smell like that whatsoever.
Also, when I broke it off, the egg smelling stopped. So IDK.
Just. Let. Me. CHEW.
Every time I took a bite of food he asked me a question, after which he stared at me while I finished chewing.
The date went on like this for an hour, he had a supernatural sense of poor timing.
Wearing Your D-Bag Flag
He wore a Bluetooth piece in his ear. The constant blue light blinking from the side of his head was too much for me. Another guy would text "dame" instead of "damn". It wasn't a typo either, it was every time.
The Pettiest Of The Petty
Then there's these reasons, where the person must have been having a bad day or maybe they hadn't had dinner yet, when they looked at what the other person was saying or doing or existing and thought, nice and loud in their mind, "Nope."
Just FINISH Your Thought
Every single text of her ended with '...'
I just couldn't do it man
Look At That Shimmer
His hair was prettier than mine.
Now THIS is petty. Love it.
You Can Never See Past The Name
She had the same name as my mom.
I went out with someone who has the same name as my cat. I brought him back to my house and the second I got home I greeted my cat and the guy looked at me and I knew right then and there that I couldn't do this.
Keep it up.
You'll find your true partner someday.
And don't ever feel bad if you break up with them over something silly or petty. People need to fix how they hold their spoons and forks, anyway.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
There's nothing quite like a good urban legend to put a chill into your bones. One of my favorites? The story about the babysitter and the man upstairs. You know the one. The creepy phone calls begin. The words, "Have you checked on the children?" Unnerving stuff. It's that story that gave us movies like Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls. I still get a chill up my spine when I think about that story.
It's not just murderers either. Monsters, spirits... Urban legends––and folklore as a whole––have for time immemorial been a part of our consciousness.
After Redditor BeardedDragonzRMine asked the online community, "What monster/urban legend is in your town?" people shared their stories.
"When I was in middle school..."
The Jersey Devil. When I was in middle school my grade went on a trip to a camp in the Pine Barrens where the jersey devil presumably is. I cried when my parents said they didn't want me to go.
The Pine Barrens is a freaky place.
Don't believe me? Watch that one episode of The Sopranos.
"She's the mistress..."
La Llorona. She's the mistress of a Spanish conquistador. When he left her to return to his wife, she went mad from grief and drowned the two children she had out of wedlock with him and killed herself. She arrived at the entrance to Heaven and God asked her what she did with her children. She lied and said she didn't know. So God doomed her to forever wander the Earth looking for their bodies.
This one is a classic.
And there has yet to be a good movie made about her.
"If you're canoeing..."
We have a river that's popular for canoes and paddle boats. Some kids stole a paddle boat one night from the rental place, flipped it over, and drowned.
If you're canoeing on the river and see what looks like an abandoned teal-colored paddle boat with a boat rental decal stuck in the weeds on the river bank, don't approach it. If you report the sighting to the boat rental place they won't bother sending someone out to recover it, because they know the boat won't be there when they arrive.
"He grew up in the Everglades..."
My hometown has the Skunk Ape. A distant cousin to the Sasquatch. He grew up in the Everglades and had long matted, moss-covered fur. Stinks like a skunk. Has been seen crossing back roads in the middle of the night and disappearing into the darkness
Not something I'd want to run into at night.
I've seen enough horror films to know that the one rule is to keep driving.
"All of my neighbors..."
I live in West Africa near a rainforest. All of my neighbors believe there is a "giant pangolin" that lives in the forest (bigger than a man). There have even been some cryptozoologists that have come out to try to find it.
"Rumors of a murderous faceless man..."
Charlie No-Face.
Rumors of a murderous faceless man roaming the streets at night were based on a real-life person who'd suffered an extreme accident that destroyed his face. He wasn't, as it turns out, a murderer; he walked at night because he wanted to get fresh air and be left alone.
Well, that ended well.
No reason to spread a rumor about the guy if all he wanted was to enjoy a walk by himself!
"People that cross the bridge..."
I live in St. Petersburg, Florida and the urban legend here has to do with the Skyway Bridge. There have been about 200 suicides. People that cross the bridge claim to see a blonde woman standing in the middle of the road and even sitting in the backseats of their cars. Caring people that got out of their car to help the woman claim that she vanished into thin air. I have crossed the bridge a couple of times and have not seen any sort of thing. I guess she was one of the people that took their own lives by jumping off the 200-foot drop into the water or died when the bridge collapsed ages ago.
"A headless French soldier..."
A headless French soldier from the Napoleonic time is said to ride in our local forest at night. It is an older legend.
"Here in southern Wisconsin..."
Here in southern Wisconsin, we have the Beast of Bray Road, a large canid/werewolf creature that's been sighted several times.
This one has had a crappy movie about it.
The SyFy channel is great like that.
"Years and years ago..."
The White Lady. Years and years ago this woman's daughter got kidnapped by a man and disappeared into the woods of one of our parks. She went out with her dog, searching and searching but never found her. Eventually, the White Lady disappeared as well. For hundreds of years, people claimed to see her ghost and the dog's ghost wandering the park at night. And any man would get chased into the lake by her ghost. Four years ago we had a major windstorm that did a lot of tree damage and this actually happened Scary coincidence?
Creeped out yet?
If not, get to reading. The Dúllahan, a scary headless creature from Irish folklore, beckons. I personally wouldn't want to run into the berbelangs, vampirish creatures that feature in Filipino culture and that are said to dig up graves to feast on corpses.
Have some of your stories to share? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
People Confess Which Things They Should Have Grown Out Of By Now But Totally Haven't
You can pry my Pokemon games out of my cold, dead hands. Can't help it, guys––I love them. I love the games. I even check out the show from time to time (if you've never watched Twilight Wings, you're missing out). I'm not a competitive player, by the way. I don't really care about training an unstoppable team. I just enjoy a fun and engaging story. (I feel the same way about the Final Fantasy games. Perhaps I should have grown out of it, according to the people out there who can't let other people just enjoy things.
After Redditor Rare_Dragonfruit1885 asked the online community, "Be honest, what's something you should have grown out of by this age, but haven't?" people told us what things and habits they still love.
"I can't sleep soundly..."
Sleeping with my favorite stuffed animal. I can't sleep soundly without my little guy.
I still have my favorite stuffed animal, personally.
And while I don't sleep with it (all the time), it's nice to have it there.
"No."
Whenever I get asked what my hobbies or interest are. I always say video games and always get the typical "Aren't you a little too old to be playing them?"
No. No, I am not. It's my way of winding down after a busy and often stressful day at work. Why is it any different from binging an entire series on Netflix or reading an entire book in a day? I hate the fact that it's 2021 and there are people out there that still portray video games as a childish hobby.
Video games are art!
If you've never played Final Fantasy VII or Chrono Trigger (I realize I've naming some older stuff here) and you still think video games are just for children, then you're missing out.
"I'm 28..."
I'm 28 and love finding painted rocks. I say we go rock hunting and paint rocks for my kids but I definitely get the most enjoyment from it.
"I collect a variety of plushie brands..."
Plushies, I collect a variety of plushie brands, and my boyfriend, who works in a toy store, indulges me. I'd never owned a Squishmallow until I met him but now I have a small horde and every time he gets a batch at work I get first dibs.
"My boyfriend got me a bear..."
Teddy bears. My boyfriend got me a bear for Valentine's Day and I sleep with it every night I'm not with him and sometimes I just have it with me while watching a movie. I'm 21 this year.
"I'll admit..."
Ghosts and the paranormal. I'll admit even at age 26, I still find it so utterly fascinating.
Utterly fascinating, indeed.
Do I believe in it? Nah, not really. Do I love reading about it? Of course. I also won't turn down a good supernatural horror film.
"It's sometimes nice..."
I like to read my old childhood books sometimes.
Babysitters Club, Goosebumps, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Fudge. It's sometimes nice to go through a story that's not traumatic and full of death and sadness.
I also still like building with LEGO. It's therapeutic and relaxing.
"Most people I interact with..."
Writing and reading fanfiction. Most people I interact with within the fandom are much younger so I just keep to myself.
"At 57..."
As a never-married, childfree old crone, it'd have to be doing whatever I want to whenever I want. "You'll get bored of life without having children!" REALLY?!? At 57 I'm still finding new, fun, interesting things to see/experience/learn and I'm well satisfied.
Amen to that.
There's a lot of freedom in not having children, not to disparage people who choose not to have them at all.
"I'm also just a creature of habit..."
Chocolate milk. I'm 30, and I just enjoy having a nice cup of chocolate milk with or after dinner. My wife used to give me sh!t about it, but now I think she finds it kinda cute. I'm also just a creature of habit, so my daily things are predictable.
The lesson to be learned here is quite simple.
Let people enjoy things! This shouldn't be so difficult. "Professionalism" is a mask we put on during the work week. Let people be happy doing and exploring what they love.
Have some of your own contributions? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.