Irony&Sarcasm Alert

All right... there's something in the air.

This time, I'm having a hard time with this.

I started shaking my head from the very start: in BBC's Sherlock, John and Sherlock have to tell everybody that they're just friends, because two blokes living together can't be just "friends", and nobody believes them.

*cough*

Sweetie, by Series 3, you should realize that this is a continuing joke that the writers have decided to keep because it works and it makes people chuckle or smile.

It's a very good thing that I'm not home, where I finish my cuppa whilst reading the news at my desk, otherwise I'd have killed my keyboard and monitor, spitting my tea, when I read this: 'The creators of the series, Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the latter is a gay man) have explained that they wanted male friendship to be at the heart of the story.'.
Mr Gatiss is a gifted writer; full stop. His being non-heterosexual, and yet writing about Sherlock and John as just "friends" isn't a point in favour of the argument.

I do understand that many people (putting both sexes in the same basket here) are unaware of slash and/or yaoi, and unaware of the other many people who are quite fan of pairing same-sex characters together (I know that Holmes and Watson are just friends, and that Rizzoli and Isles are just friends, as well - that doesn't change the fact that my lil' slashy heart beats a tad faster when the canon writers feed the illusion of slashiness).

The journalist must be living in a quiet place, in quiet circles; slash is all around, and friendship isn't an endangered species.

We're going back to the "gay cake" in Northern Ireland, and once more, The Irish Times misses the point (but serves Rome beautifully!).

I still haven't checked what the local laws say, but that's not important as human rights and common decency should be the only guide (and yes, I do mean all over that sad, petty, disheartening rock that we call home).

This is a happy mix between 'I want to have the right to bully, and not be called a bully because that's giving me a bad reputation and my skin isn't thick enough' and 'the world is about ME, ME, ME, and I want to do only what I like' (hint: being an adult isn't always "fun". Sorry, Cupcake).

If you make a living making cakes, you take the order, bake the cake, and hand it to your customer with a bright smile.

Apart from the fact that someone wants a free pass to discriminate against someone different, it's an open door to being childish. As a teacher, should I be allowed to toss out the students who aren't good enough according to my horoscope? As an editor, should I be allowed to read the first and last page of a novel or a script and say that I've done my job? No, that's not how the world works.

I've got a hard time dealing with weddings (for personal reasons). If I were a baker, should I (and would I) tell Mary and John to got to hell with their wedding cake order? My answer is: No, I wouldn't. I'd make the most beautiful cake, because they believe in weddings and married life, and because their beliefs do not threaten mine.

It's all about not being afraid of the other, and knowing oneself, and being strong enough to not be bothered and frightened.

Incidentally, it's relatively well accepted that the first to mention the Nazis loses the debate. I would like to add to the list of debate-losers the ones who quote/include/mention/think about Queen Marie-Antoinette in anything related to cakes since the cake quote attributed to her is a fake.

The last paragraph loses the plot (and the debate): "It is both sad and ironic that the cake featured an image of the two Muppets pals. It is sad, because it means that even children’s programmes are fair game in the culture wars. It is ironic, because the real message of Ernie and Bert is about learning to get along with people, even when they are very different to you.".

You see, there are two things.

First, this is 2014 and everything is potentially slash-able or yaoi-zable. Get a copy of the book, and deal with it. It may not be your cup of tea, but it's a cultural fact all around the globe. (Join us... we have fruitcakes and fancy teas)

And then, if the real message of Ernie and Bert is about getting along with people, even "when they are very different to you", this shows that the journalist is one silly bunny because she's just proved that the bakery was bigoted and did discriminate people who are "different". That is ironic and sad... and the bullies don't want to look in the mirror and see how heartless they are because they feel entitled to behave the way they do, and to treat the sinners (according to them) like lepers. Veeeeeeeery tolerant, enlightened, modern - and yes, that's me being sarcastic.