Jan Moir’s record speaks for itself


by Unity    
October 18, 2009 at 12:10 pm

You all know that I’m the kind of blogger who checks things out, so when Jan Moir claimed to be ‘on the record’ as supporting civil partnerships, I just had to go find out exactly where

Gay weddings are fine, but a gay divorce…
Since new legislation was introduced in this country nine months ago, more than 15,500 gay couples have done the decent thing and got married. The rise and rise of civil partnerships have pushed up sales of porcelain tea sets, Ralph Lauren cashmere blankets and quality Champagnes — none of your muck here, darling – and most people seem to be in agreement that the new laws were long overdue and a jolly good thing.

It is interesting, however, that the vast majority – more than 14,000 – of the ceremonies took place in England. And while the popularity of gay weddings has surprised everyone, is it too soon to point out that I can’t wait for the first of the high-profile gay divorces to start happening? Surely some of them will turn out to be the kind of fabulous ding-dongs that make a wet Monday morning, a hot cup of tea and a trashy tabloid worth living for.

Even the most well meaning and kindly Daily Telegraph readers know that, somewhere out there, among the nascent gay divorces hovering over Never-Never Land, there will be a few that will promise to make the McCartney/Mills ructions look like a teatime tiff at the Ritz.

Roll on round one.

With ‘friends’ like Jan Moir, does the gay community actually need enemies?


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About the author
'Unity' is a regular contributor to Liberal Conspiracy. He also blogs at Ministry of Truth.
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Reader comments


1. the a&e charge nurse

Not just the gay community, Unity, Moir does us all a disservice – I’m sure friends and family of SG must be especially appalled by her insensitive slant on his death.

Brown rightly championed the introduction of civil partnerships at the last NuLab conference – it is to his credit that this legislation has been introduced.

The only good news that came out of this is the massive backlash against Moir, the Daily Mail, and their specific brand of venomous bigotry. I have to say I wasn’t expecting so many people to react so quickly and in such numbers.

If any of those right-wing fuckers are harbouring any plans of a return to 1980s homophobia, at least they know they’ll be in for a very rough time.

P.S. With her “reply” on Saturday afternoon, Jan Moir missed a wonderful opportunity to keep her gob shut.

Screw being gay, I’m ashamed to be a human being when Jan Moir is around.

The Jan Moir articles remind me of the writing of Jean Rook. There’s a particularly reprehensible way in which arguments are constructed: “This is all fine for now, but nudge, nudge, wink, wink, you know how it will turn out”.

So I end up wondering whether a male commentator would write in the same way. Or is it just the tabloids’ practice to employ women to produce the personally directed filth? Richard Littlejohn is an odious journalist, but he generally turns his bile towards groups rather than individuals.

This is not intended as an attack on female journalists. I’m just questioning whether some are appointed because they are willing to act as attack dogs at times when a man would not.

Jon Moir: Who the hell are you to tell us what we can and can’t get hot under the collar about? You’re as bad as the self-righteous bigots at that very same Daily Mail with their ‘moral’ agenda, to be rammed home at every opportunity.

And who’s to say we haven’t all blogged/tweeted about those other subjects before anyway? This trended so quickly because it was a timely reaction to a specific publication, not an organised campaign against a long-running social injustice.

6. the a&e charge nurse

[7] fascinating observations about lightbulbs, Jon – anyway, if Moir has her say then why can’t we?
I mean, aren’t opinions the entire raison de’tre for blogs like LC?

You don’t like ‘liberals’ expressing their opposition to her bullshit, fine – but in what way does your tedious post add anything further to the debate?

Let’s say it was a dead relative or close friend of yours whose lifestyle had been rubbished by Moir (before they were even cold) wouldn’t that annoy you just a bit?

We know the Tories are coming, and one or two still remember their embarrassing association with Clause 28 – we don’t need the Fail’s propaganda machine feeding the fire again, do we?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28

7. the a&e charge nurse

[10] ‘Still if impotent fuming is what floats your boat, you sail right on’

It’s a bit more than that though, isn’t it?

Sponsors withdrawing ads.
Moir receiving a virtual spanking.
And I dare say the aftermath of her shitty article will follow her around for a while yet, certainly her paranoid retraction did little to help her, err, ‘reputation’.

A small victory for the ‘liberals’, perhaps? – but still rather satisfying, nonetheless.

Good post. Thanks. I was wondering about this, but found i was too swamped in pieces about the current commentary to dig out her supposed on the record advocacy of civil partnerships.


A consistent theme seems to be that she does wish those who are gay wouldn’t flaunt it in our faces ….

Take this attack on BBC Saturday night entertainment (headline “Norton’s sausage jokes …”) and the theme of “Today, they just seem to throw any kind of cheap, camp trash at the wall and hope that something sticks”.

“Like Norton, who presents myriad shows for them, Barrowman runs amok at the BBC. He’s in Torchwood, he’s on all the chat shows, he even made a documentary about coming out as a homosexual.

In last year’s The Making Of Me, he tried to find out if he had any gay ancestors. Who, in the name of Christmas campery, even cares?

Why is the corporation obsessed with these men and their sexual leanings?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1198196/JAN-MOIR-Nortons-sausage-jokes-Barrowmans-rent-celebs-How-Saturday-night-BBC-TVs-graveyard.html

I’d like to echo Rissa’s excellent comment at 4.

Just a little detail I know but I can’t help noticing that according to Moir it is “interesting” that “more than 14,000″ of the “more than 15,500″ civil partnerships took place in England – the country which, off the top of my head, has roughly 85% of the nation’s population. i.e. not far off what you would expect. I am confident that the Telegraph’s (I suspect) proportionately fewer Scots,Welsh, and NI readers took the proffered reassurance that these things only happen in that perverse country to the south and east.

There is pattern here. When only a few people complain about politicians or self-important journalists, they say that this is only a few isolated malcontents. When hundreds of people complain, they allege that it is a conspiracy and that they are being stalked. But they never admit that they got it wrong.

12. Joy_to_the_world

Instead of judging gay marriages – why don’t we start judging sour faced old trouts who can’t get a job at a real paper and have to plump for the Daily mail instead.

I would have been offended but fortunately I would never read the ‘Nazi mail’ as it only serves to justify blaming everyone (except the reader and the paper itself) for the worlds problems.

The reality is most of the worlds problems are caused by people having attitudes in line with the Daily Mail.

Come on gay community – start your revolution and begin tearing those papers from the stands! – it is your destiny.

13. Jonathan Manson

Having read some of Jan Moir´s back articles online, I am no longer convinced that she is homophobic ( well not specifically), from what I can see she seems to have it in for just about every human being on the planet and can happily write the most cynical, negative crap to any brief. Is there any human being on the planet that she likes ???. Just do a google of her articles and you can see her pouring out the same old crap, just change subject, date, name.. etc….xx J


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. David O'Keefe

    RT @libcon Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/1QYWx6

  2. Tweets that mention Liberal Conspiracy » Jan Moir: On the record -- Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lianne de Mello and Dennis Jernberg, Sue Bailey. Sue Bailey said: RT @libcon Article:: Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/18X8m1 [...]

  3. Twitted by aseculargay

    [...] This post was Twitted by aseculargay [...]

  4. Jenni Jackson

    RT @antonvowl: RT @libcon: Article:: Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/18X8m1 (oh dear)

  5. Martin Black

    Reading: "Jan Moir’s record speaks for itself" (re. her claim be ‘on the record’ as supporting civil partnerships) http://bit.ly/2zmBm3

  6. Leah Parker

    RT @antonvowl: RT @libcon: Article:: Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/18X8m1 (oh dear)

  7. David O'Keefe

    RT @libcon Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/1QYWx6

  8. Jenni Jackson

    RT @antonvowl: RT @libcon: Article:: Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/18X8m1 (oh dear)

  9. Martin Black

    Reading: "Jan Moir’s record speaks for itself" (re. her claim be ‘on the record’ as supporting civil partnerships) http://bit.ly/2zmBm3

  10. Leah Parker

    RT @antonvowl: RT @libcon: Article:: Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/18X8m1 (oh dear)

  11. Liberal Conspiracy » Civil partnerships are the new Black friends

    [...] already, that Moir’s on the record ’support’ for civil partnerships is, at best, desperately shallow and voyeuristic and it takes very little effort at all to discover that she’s plenty of previous form to be [...]

  12. loveandgarbage

    @chickyog http://bit.ly/1nIeJd http://bit.ly/rSwXL http://bit.ly/3cIIIh http://bit.ly/3kkcmx (tangential) http://bit.ly/1MW4St

  13. loveandgarbage

    @chickyog http://bit.ly/1nIeJd http://bit.ly/rSwXL http://bit.ly/3cIIIh http://bit.ly/3kkcmx (tangential) http://bit.ly/1MW4St

  14. Sunder Katwala

    http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2009/10/18/jan-moir-on-the-record/

  15. Sunder Katwala

    Unity @libcon uncovered the truth of #janmoir previous so-called "support" for civil partnerships http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  16. antigherkin

    RT @nextleft Unity @libcon uncovered the truth of #janmoir previous so-called "support" for civil partnerships http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  17. Liberal Conspiracy » Jan Moir issues half-apology in new column

    [...] Yes, and Unity highlighted that abysmal ‘record’ here. [...]

  18. Sunder Katwala

    http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2009/10/18/jan-moir-on-the-record/

  19. Sunder Katwala

    Unity @libcon uncovered the truth of #janmoir previous so-called "support" for civil partnerships http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  20. antigherkin

    RT @nextleft Unity @libcon uncovered the truth of #janmoir previous so-called "support" for civil partnerships http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  21. nilsinela boray

    enjoyed this Jan Moir expose at Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  22. Juliet Harris

    Bang on the money RT @libcon Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/1QYWx6

  23. nilsinela boray

    enjoyed this Jan Moir expose at Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/18X8m1

  24. Juliet Harris

    Bang on the money RT @libcon Jan Moir: On the record http://bit.ly/1QYWx6

  25. Sunder Katwala

    @Phillip_Blond tho' many have defended civil partnerships in the Mail; even Jan Moir *claimed* to have done so (http://bit.ly/Nk9G1)





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