Belgians to 'wed against racism'

[pampango]

Source: BBC

"More than 500 Belgian couples are to symbolically wed in a Flemish town where three couples had refused to let a black official marry them."

"Wednesday's events will kick off with hundreds of people joining in a "mass cuddle" before exchanging or renewing vows to be overseen by Mr Van Bellingen."

""I thought it was really nasty how the couples refused to get married because he was black - that's really racist, if you're not going to get married because of that, where are your priorities?" Ms de Richter told the BBC."

""It was the most primitive form of racism. Nothing but the colour of my skin," Mr Van Bellingen said of February's incident, in which three couples insisted on all-white weddings. "Like all coloured people, I live this on an almost daily basis," he told the Associated Press news agency. "

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6476115.stm

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Too bad that racism afflicts Belgium to this extent. I was under the impression that anti-Muslim attitudes were more common in Western Europe than were anti-Black attitudes. Guess you can't get away from it.

It is great to see that there are so many people willing to take a positive, public step to combat this.

[NMMNG]

1. Off to the Greatest Page with you

:thumbsup:

[mikelgb]

2. stunning

[Blue_Tires]

3. sickening...

my dad is a doctor, and he has plenty of stories about patients that didn't want a black doctor (him) operating on them....

[Miss Chybil]

4. 500 to 3. I like that. Times really are a-changing. nt

[kineneb]

5. great coverage of this on BBC

The city is Antwerp, one of my favorite places- great museums, and good food.

[Hav]

6. .

There will always be idiots. They just can't help themselves.
It's good to see that enough were willing to take a stand.

[Sabriel]

7. How about "divorce against homophobia"?

Married couples could get a divorce to protest lack of civil rights for gay and lesbian couples.

[David__77]

9. Gays can marry in Belgium though.

I'm not sure there are any more legal protections to afford there.

[David__77]

8. That kind of offense should literally be a crime.

They should be arrested and sentenced to community service and be made to attend classes to reform their thinking.