[Acrylic-bob]

I think I am with John Donne on this one; to an extent, that is.

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

So, it is unfortunate that this young man is now dead. May he rest in peace. One feels for the parents, naturally, it is a hard burden to bear to have to bury one's child. One feels a little also for the loss felt by friends; one is sad that they are grieved.

But there it ends. And it ends because I did not know the deceased personally. Of course I had seen him cavorting on television once or twice and I was vaguely aware of his reputation as a gay person, but that is all. And I would argue that this will be true for the vast majority of people who have worked themselves up into such a fine fury over the comments of a Daily Mail journalist, variously described as 'hateful', 'homophobic', 'bigoted', etc etc. . I mean, The Daily Mail, for heaven's sake!

I don't think that there was any need for the Jacksonesque weepfest that his funeral became, with Ronan Keating apparently usurping the position of chief mourner; if you are intent on looking for skeletons, that would be a closet case well worth examining. It strikes me that there is too much wearing of one's (in)sincerity on one's sleeve in all this, to be justified by Gately's meagre contribution to the national cultural life. Does every 'celebrity' death have to bring the country to a grinding halt and dominate the national consciousness for days? And which particular celebrity list does one draw the line at; 'C', 'F', --- 'Z'?

As for Jan Moir's observations on the relative value of Civil Partnerships, I think that she has got it pretty much right. It is a truism that men have a roving eye and nowhere is this more true than among gay men; and before anyone starts, I'm gay, so I know whereof I speak! And so to expect that Gately's Civil Partnership was as pure and untarnished as those he sang about in his mawkish ditties is naieve, in the extreme!

To those who have rushed out to have "Stephen I will remember you forever" tattooed across their forheads in vain attempt to out-Keating Keating, I would offer the following observation: the world is a big place, you really should get out more!