The Full Monte

‘WHILE plans for our lottery grant for the Museum of Losing Tickets awaits a stamp of approval and the release of considerable funds, the Mail shows us where money is already flowing.

Always bet on pink at the Monte Cassino

A grant from the Lottery Heritage Fund of £39,500 is to be spent on a ‘pink plaque’ walking tour in Manchester, something the Mail calls a ”gay heritage trail”.

The Mail overlooks the clear educational benefits of seeing where Quentin Crisp once bought a packet of bonbons and focuses on the ”uproar” and ”fury” caused by the decision.

Chief man incandescent with rage is Dr Adrian Richards, former director of the Conservative Family Institute, a title the Mail finds terribly relevant.

”If the gay community wants to celebrate its history in this way, it should put its hand in its own pocket,” says the upstanding medic.

By inference, homosexuals must not put their hands in Dr Rogers’ pockets, as that would be wrong and very possibly result in a criminal investigation.

And the Mail kindly shows us where the money should have spent. The members of the Monte Cassino Veterans Association want to return to the scene of their bloodiest nightmares and had applied to the Community Fund for funding.

But they were turned down. This prompts the Mail to relive the Second World War battle in some detail, employing a black-and-white photograph of a devastated battlefield and veteran John Clarke to call the entire thing ”an obscenity”.

”Without our lads, people would not be able to live the lives that they chose,” says Clarke. And he’s right – unless they chose a life where homosexuals were routinely shot on sight…

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Posted: 15th, August 2003 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink