skirtcafe.org

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7797269.stm

When I first heard this it made me chuckle I mean For the most high profile man in a frock to bash other men in friocks is well a bit two faced.

But I wonder if the pope classes a bloke in a dress & skirt as 'tg' like everybody else other then us or does he realise there's a bit more to being 'tg'

I haven't seen any references to "TG" in the extracts from the speech, or heard anything on the TV, either. He obviously holds genuine, strong views on the subject of homosexuality (which from a religious viewpoint, includes lesbianism). I find it slightly ironic, therefore, as the overwhelming majority of folk that I know (or of) who have adopted this particular lifestyle choice, would appear to have, or have come from, a Roman Catholic background.

Interpretations of biblical scripts are an anacronism at best. Translations of translations of translations (which most of them certainly are) tend to reflect the viewpoint of the time, and the original meaning is thus lost. I would emphasise that this is not a "religious discussion" (which we don't accept on this forum), as we're not comparing religions as such.

On the 'translation' front, though, I'm impressed by this Pope's apparent use of the word 'creator', rather than 'god'. From a Wiccan (i.e., totally non-religious!) point of view - that's real progress!

merlin wrote:I find it slightly ironic, therefore, as the overwhelming majority of folk that I know (or of) who have adopted this particular lifestyle choice, would appear to have, or have come from, a Roman Catholic background.

The way I first read that I though you were talking about popes tending to come from a Roman Catholic background.

Apparently the Pope sees exploration of gender as a bad thing for humanity. I'll take the opposite tack, people are better off without trying to jam them into expectations that don't match reality. Ziggy, to answer your question, I'm sure Pope Benedict XVI sees skirted men among those troublemakers blurring gender lines even if they are based in culture rather than biology.

I'm sure Pope Benedict XVI sees skirted men among those troublemakers blurring gender lines even if they are based in culture rather than biology.

Even if he wears a dress himself

Can't see why a supposedy Christian Pope should see skirt wearing men as troublemakers, after all Jesus Christ never wore trousers.

Deleted.

Robe = Dress? Dress = Robe? Nah, sorry, there's a world of difference! As for the lacy overgarments? Purely a sign of great (financial) wealth, just as they were 2/300 years ago. Any anyway, it's just another uniform - isn't it?

I think that the pope is reacting to impulses and information shared by the overwhelming majority of people in the world. As much as we might want to make distinctions, for most people, there are "normal" people and everyone else. It doesn't matter whether the people who don't fall into the "normal' category are lesbian, transvestites, bravehearts, transexuals, bisexuals, or pedophiles -- all that matters is that they are different and because they are different they represent a threat to their way of life.

Obviously that's not rational, but that's OK - we all make dozens of irrational decisions every day. I don't know if there is anything that we can do about it except to continue to make our presence visible to the point that we (men who wear skirts) no longer appear to be a threat to our communities.

alexthebird wrote: .
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As much as we might want to make distinctions, for most people, there are "normal" people and everyone else. It doesn't matter whether the people who don't fall into the "normal' category are lesbian, transvestites, bravehearts, transexuals, bisexuals, or pedophiles -- all that matters is that they are different and because they are different they represent a threat to their way of life.
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Ummmm, you probably didn't mean it to read this way but.......
Not sure how it is for you guys over on the western side of the mid-Atlantic Ridge, but these days here in the UK I'm pretty certain that 'most people' would recognise that, whilst lesbian, transvestites, bravehearts, transsexuals and bisexuals are perceived as being 'different' - 'other', if you like - they most definitely are not lumped in with paedophiles, who are truly recognised as sick criminals.