If you follow us on Instagram, you’d have noticed that for the past couple of Saturdays the   little girl and I have enjoyed beautiful breakfasts at Ashers, a local bakeshop. And just in case you missed our pictures, here is what I am talking about 🙂 :

The pancakes are freshly made, the bacon is beautifully flavoursome and the coffee is generously provided. AND everything is reasonably priced as well.

If you live in Northern Ireland, you’d know that Ashers have been in the news lately over what the press has come to call “the gay marriage cake row.“

Did I start supporting Ashers because of the row?

Yes and no.

Yes, I went in to try their products last week and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and the friendly service.

Do I continue to go because I want to make a political or human right statement?

NO.

I go because I love their food and I think they should stay in business on account of the quality of their services. I also go because I don’t see the point in destroying the reputation of a perfectly good store over an incident.

Be it gay or not gay.

On the other hand, I support the gay “rights.”

Now, hear me out on this one.

REALLY careful and don’t twist my words.

I am not gay. I do not encourage people to become gay. I do not condone immorality. You will not find me on the roads during a gay parade scantly clad and waving a little flag.

BUT you will hear me speak against stupidity and narrow-mindedness.

I will ROAR against pushing people away and segregating against them just because their genes are different than mine.

I DO NOT understand gay people. I DO NOT know why they feel attracted to the same sex. I DO NOT know what I will tell Emma when she will first notice a gay couple.

But does this mean I will not want any contact with gay people?

Does this mean I will class them as different, grotesquely different and make their life a hell?

NO.

NEVER.

I know how it feels to be different.

I know how it is to be told to step down, “to take my time”, to stay away, just because my questions and anger and sadness baffle and perplex. Make people uncomfortable. Shake people’s “faith.” Force people to ask uneasy questions to which there are no logical answers.

So, here I am.

I will support Ashers, as a damn good local business. It provides jobs for the wee local girls. Keeps them out of trouble. Gives them a reason to wake up in the morning. Puts bread on a number of local families’ tables.

I will support the gay, in the same time, as a community of lonely people, who had no choice in the way they feel, who need heard and loved and accepted.

Does that make sense?

I am sure it does, if you listen to your heart. Acceptance and love always make sense over bigotry and hate and narrow-mindedness.

Go embrace someone whom you wouldn’t normally.

If you are gay, go have lunch in Ashers.

If you are straight and prejudiced against gay, bereaved and other “abnormal” minorities, go hug one from the other “camp.”

Have a lovely Sunday.

🙂