The Civil Partnership War: Earl Of Devon Takes On Gay Army

THE Earl Of Devon has yet to go on the record and say how he has squired up to 30 women, like Nick Clegg, or between 70 and 100, like Simon Cowell, or even 10,000, like Georges Simenon, but he is undoubtedly not in the least bit homosexual.

The Telegraph reports that The Earl, “whose castle was a Royalist garrison in the English Civil War, is under siege from gay rights campaigners after banning same sex civil partnerships at his stately home”.

How do gay campaigners besiege Powderham Castle, a fragment of the Civil War?

Indeed, they are just like the rest of us, and would do their besieging as men of yore, dressed in short-waisted doublet with long skirts, with slits on the chest and sleeve, allowing for movement, knee-length breeches, ribbon points at waist and knee, a lace-trimmed ruff and boots and gloves in a soft leather.

To the battle!

Says Lord Devon: “I am a Christian and therefore it [homosexuality] is objectionable to my Christian religion.”

To avoid breaching the 2007 Sexual Orientation Regulations he has banned all civil marriage ceremonies whether they are gay or straight.

He goes on: “In order to stay on the right side of the law we have decided to do away with hosting civil ceremonies altogether at Powderham Castle. We are not the only place that has come across this issue.”

The Telegraph says that this is at odd with the venue’s history, for it was the ninth Earl – “who was responsible for the addition of a music room with the largest carpet in the world” – fled to France in 1811 after being accused of sodomy.

Says Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay rights organisation Stonewall: “We do think the Earl’s approach is rather sad given the family history.”

Tough words that echo sieges of eras past…

Anorak

Posted: 30th, May 2008 | In: Broadsheets Comments (7) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink