Gay partnerships and Bolivian elections

Roundup of your comments 1930 GMT - Kevin

We discussed the issue of same-sex civil unions. The new Civil Partnership Act in the UK provides same-sex couples with similar legal rights to married couples.

Two women, Shannon Sickles and Grainne Close exchanged vows at Belfast City Hall, became the first same-sex couple to enter into a civil union under the new law.

We had a flood of comments from around the world on this topic.

Robert Blum, Los Angeles, California, USA

I think that civil unions of all kinds are necessary in my country and the world, for taking care of same sex partners as well as elders, anyone where there is a relationship.

So far as homesexuality, that is between the partners and their conception of god and religion and NO business of anyone else.

Vibeka Mikkelsen, Washington DC in the US had this comment:

First, homosexual behaviour has been documented in many species, including our closest relatives, monkeys.

It is not simply a symptom of modern moral degradation, but something that exists in the "natural world" as well.

Secondly, if gays should not marry because they will not procreate, should that prohibition extend to heterosexual couples who chose not to have children, or who cannot have children?

Most heterosexuals marry for love, not just to pass on their genes, and gays should have the same privilege.

Hal Taylor e-mailed us this comment:

Hi guys, thanks for the great program!

To all those Christians out there who criticize gay marriage: What do they think of Jesus saying, "Take the LOG out of your own eye before telling your neighbour about the SPLINTER in their own eye"

How else can anyone interpret this saying without coming to the conclusion that we have no right to live other people's lives!

Francis in Nigeria sent us this text message:

Homosexual marriage is a violates natural laws as a biologist, it surely disrupts ecosystem in a way.

Nonso Ezenwa in Nigeria also had this comment in a text message:

This breaks my heart. Maybe we should learn from beasts. There are no gay goats, are there? Sorry world.

Dr Adamu from Lagos:

I consider this gay marriages are a reversal in human civilisation. Please let's avoid it so that we can avoid another human collapse.

Dylan Reece from Austin Texas in the US e-mailed us this comment:

Lynette Burroughs uses a funny kind of double-speak, comparing gay rights to fascism! What a ridiculous statement. The divide between straight and gay is amplified by the establishment in order to keep humanity divided against each other.

Progressive peoples and nations clearly show that equal rights for all must exist for healthy and inclusive societies of the future.

I wonder how the Nigerian man who wished all gays to be killed would feel if he had lived in the American South in the 1950's. I hope in the future such claims will be as untenable as past claims to wipe Africans out of America or Jews out of Europe.

p.s Lynette's statement that the world gay population is 2% is simply false.

Smoking

We also discussed the issue of 60-year-old Frederick Smith in Lincoln in the UK, a smoker who has been having pain in his legs.

His doctor referred him to a vascular surgeon, Dr Andrew Lamerton, who suggested that Mr Smith quit smoking and see if his symptoms persist.

Mr Smith believes that he is being denied treatment because he smokes, but the hospital said that smoking is the leading cause of Mr Smith's condition - poor circulation in his legs - and that if he quit smoking that there is a 75% chance that his symptoms would clear up.

We only had time to read part of this comment fromPatrick Parkinson, from Manchester in the UK on air:

Here is the rest of what Patrick had to say:

Regarding the case of Mr Smith who is being asked to give up smoking in order to receive further treatment one cannot help feeling that this is yet another case of rationing of health provision in disguise.

It is clear that public funding for healthcare is limited, therefore choices probably have to be made, but there needs to be an open debate about rationing.

Doctors treating (or rather refusing to treat) Mr Smith are probably right in saying that giving up smoking would be beneficial for someone with his condition. However, this would be one line of treatment and should not exclude Mr Smith from having access to other treatment options.

Only recently we heard that patients were denied hip replacement operations if they were considered to be obese.

We all make choices about our lifestyles - and we know which ones are detrimental to our health. If public health providers are going down the route of not treating conditions that are - or could be - due to a lifestyle choice considered to be unhealthy, we might as well live in a prescriptive society that bans everything unhealthy.

Pubs should all be closed, tobacco made illegal. Supermarkets would only sell vegetables and other healthy produce. But please also outlaw cars, and ban all sports - injuries sustained while driving a car or white water rafting are as much a result of a lifestyle choice as is smoking.

And Lawrence Gilbertson in the UK had this comment:

Once again the medical professions are discriminating against Smokers.

Smokers contribute to the finances of the country and for experts in the National Health Service (NHS) to complain at the costs to the NHS of so called smoking related illness is bunkum.

It is not the NHS's money that the NHS is spending but the Country's money that is allocated to the NHS on behalf of the people.

And the revenue raised by excise duty on smoking is equivalent to a very large slice of the NHS Budget so Smokers pay their share of the budget and more so should not be refused treatment.

I put it down to discrimination and bigotry. There are legal protection against bigotry to most sections of society so these merely transfer there bigotry from the protected by law to those that are not.

Person of the Year

We also asked you who you thought should be person of the year after Time Magazine in the US named Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates their

And we had a few more suggestions for who should be person of the year.

Fernando Uribe M., Bogotá, Colombia nominated his mayor

The person of the year, in Colombia, should be our Mayor (Alcalde) Lucho Garzón.

Who do you think it should be? Keep those suggestions coming.

Continue to send your comments via e-mail us or use the form below.

Person of the year 1445 GMT - Peter

Time magazine has named Bill Gates, his wife, Melinda, and rock star Bono its "Persons of the Year". And that got us thinking - who would our listeners choose?

Well? Let us know using the form below or by emailing [e-mail].

Glen in London suggests Burmese pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi "for standing up for democracy and freedom regardless of the consequences",
while Sean in Hong Kong goes for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who was on the Talking Point programme earlier this year.

Rajesh in New Jersey agrees with Time magazine's choice. What do you think? Let us know, and if you include your phone number we may ask you to explain your choice to all our listeners next week.

A new week 1300 GMT - Peter

In Northern Ireland today the UK's first civil partnership ceremonies took place, with Shannon Sickles and Grainne Close tying the knot.

Shannon Sickles (left) and Grainne Close say they are privileged

The ceremony for the two women was held at Belfast's City Hall.

The first ceremonies in Scotland will take place on Tuesday, and in England and Wales on Wednesday.

What are your views on the introduction of civil partnerships? Join the debate here or using the form below. And please include your telephone number if you'd like to take part in tonight's programme.

We'll also be talking about Evo Morales, who has claimed victory in Bolivia's presidential election.

The leftist former coca farmer has vowed to legalise the production of the coca leaf - which has traditional uses - although not the cocaine manufactured from it.

Is there a shift to the left in South American politics? And what might Mr Morales' victory mean for relations with Washington?

And a late addition, we will be discussing the case of Frederick Smith here in the UK. He has been having problems with circulation in his legs.

He smokes 15 cigarettes a day, and a consulting surgeon, Andrew Lamerton, says the best course of treatment would be for Mr Smith to quit smoking.

Hospital officials say that smoking is the most common cause of vascular difficulty like Mr Smith's and that by quitting smoking, 75% of patients see an improvement.

Mr Smith says he is being denied treatment because he smokes.

We'll hear from Mr Smith and a representative at the hospital. But we also want to hear from you. Let us know what you think.

Some are saying that Mr Smith's case is an example of the nanny-state forcing people to make healthy decisions, but medical professionals say they are simply asking patients to take responsibility for their own health.

What do you think? We'll be discussing these issues on the programme this evening, and you can too: [e-mail]

And if you have anything that you'd like to hear on the programme next week, send us an e-mail us or use the form below.

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