The Rainbow Of Hatred - And Another Death

At the weekend, an 18 year old gay teenager in Liverpool, Michael Causer, died from serious head injuries following what police described as a homophobic hate attack.
My condolences go to his family and friends.

The weekend also carried reports of the Northern Irish MP Iris Robinson calling homosexuality an abomination (and 'worse than paedophilia', according to reports) while the Church of England's Lambeth Conference ended without budging from the position that homosexuality is contrary to scripture and therefore sinful.

There is no direct connection between any of these stories. The religious homophobes would deny there is any connection of any kind, asserting that they do not condone violence against gay people.
I accept the latter point. But when extreme fulminations against gay people are part of the background 'mood music' and when they come from people in positions of authority it can only provide justification, however misplaced, to those thugs who will kick to death a gay teenager.

It's noteworthy how little media coverage this killing has had. I heard about it on BBC Radio News but could not find any mention of it in print editions of the Guardian. It has received nothing like the coverage of recent stabbings, nor the coverage of the murder of the Goth girl in Bacup last August.
It's hard to avoid the conclusion that in death as in life, some people are more equal than others.