Is Pep's demeanour a sign this is all part of the plan ?
It is the perhaps the ultimate challenge for a sports team manager at the very top - to reverse an unheard of slump that has come about through no rhyme or reason (I don't agree with the Rodri theory - their squad is just too deep that one player's absence can be solely responsible).
The scary part for their rivals, is that this unprecedented lack of form is happening only a third of the way through the season. Pep is smart enough to know that this could happen and I am in no doubt he had a contingency plan for such a situation all along as his
smiling face throughout City's slump would suggest.
Why The Olympics needs to start leading the way in inclusion for all, under one roof
After a period of segregation for minority groups, it's time everybody united again, regardless of sexuality, colour or religion.
I recently received an email from my old school declaring that they were launching events specifically for the LGBTQ community. With the way the world is at the moment, I can imagine a large amount of people would welcome this or, at worst, be indifferent.
But I was dismayed by this move, not because I don’t believe in LGBTQ rights but because, just as the way we pigeon hole people into various boxes of colour, race and religion (which in my opinion is horribly divisive) we need to stop segregating people on the basis of sexuality and gender.
Why?
As mentioned, this kind of initiative only serves to divide society even more, quite literally and we don’t need any more divisions in society, not now, not ever. In many cases, it makes people take sides (it shouldn’t but regrettably the intelligence level of many is not advanced enough to handle the complexities of different opinions and beliefs).
That aside, it’s completely non progressive for a society to start putting some people in one room and others in another when the reason for the get together or meeting is because they are bonded by a common industry or interest, which is nothing to do with their sexuality or beliefs.
If you look at my old school’s initiative on this, it’s mainly about reunions. Why would you only want to reunite with people who are exclusively gay or trans-gender ? Given that old school ties often lead to business opportunities (like it or not, this is still a real thing because people who grew up together trust each other and business is based around trust in many ways).
Even if you take the business aspect out of it, I find it obtuse (and completely untrue) that the LGBTQ community only want to socialise with people who are also the same and even then, being gay is not the same as being trans-gender and whilst you may assume that anyone who is gay embraces all trans-gender people and vice-versa, you shouldn’t.
Likewise, if we are going to start segregating people on this basis, then we’ll need another group for alcoholics, so they feel comfortable being in what is usually a booze influenced environment, another one for those that have become morbidly obese so they feel comfortable and we could go on...
If we carry on down this rabbit hole you are going to end up with a lot of very small different groups, having to organise multiple events instead of one and lose the benefits of a social or business gathering.
The more I think about it, the more absurd it becomes. Thinking like this is like saying “I have 2 friends who are both from Somalia so I should introduce them” on the assumption that because they come from the same country they will have things in common. Even if they were both gay, if this is the only thing they have in common, it’s going to be a very short conversation…
Thirdly, I find it offensive that someone like me, classed as “white, middle class, heterosexual” cannot be trusted to act in a professional and accepting manner, even if I did harbour any reservations about sexual orientation, which I don’t.
So, we now return to the theatre of sport, and the reason the article is titled as it is. I was recently having a conversation with friends and I said, something like “Well, it’s a bit like the Gay Olympics”. They had no concept of what this was. Originally the Gay Olympics, it was renamed the Gay Games because the Olympic Committee wanted to distant themselves from this, and quite rightly in my opinion. Why on earth would you have a sporting competition that only allows the gay community to take part when you are supposedly pitching yourself against the best athletes on the planet? Given that the main Olympic Games does not forbid anyone who is gay or lesbian to take part (of course !) then the Gay Games also sort to discriminate against heterosexual athletes, which is completely wrong.
But the main point is, of course, that a competition only open to the gay community is pointless as a sporting event and there is no reason why people of different sexual orientations should not compete against each other given sexual orientation does not affect physical prowess one iota.
So, I hope that this Olympics, which clearly includes athletes of all orientations, can be a shining example of groups of people coming together for a common reason, in harmony and that the organisers of the Gay Games can appreciate the divisiveness of what I am sure is an event born from good intention. It's time ti change course and bring everyone back to the middle.
G. Hoff - Editor
