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I agree with all your sentiments whole-heartedly - we're a society that thinks it's inhumane to prolong the suffering of our pets when a lethal injection will end the pain instantly, but we can't administer the ultimate act of kindness to our loved ones without risking criminal prosecution.
My beef isn't with the concept of assisted suicide, or euthenasia. The issue I have is with a pillock like Gosling thrusting himself forward as the public face of this cause without having what it takes to do the job properly.
I fear he'll do the cause far more harm than good.
As a number of people have commented, Ray Gosling has not been in the public eye much of late. However, those of us who remember the 70s and late 60s remember an excellent journalist and award winning documentary film maker, possibly one of the best around at that time. [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Gosling ]See wikipedia entry.[/url]
He had a lean period in the 90s but a series of documentaries about his life led to him being back on regional television.
He has always had a quirky view of life and has a history of activism in various causes, including in recent years gay rights, although the work I remember him for had nothing whatsoever to do with that. In all honesty, his delivery and use of language doesn't seem to have changed much from what I remember. Didn't see the program and don't have the full context, although from what I have heard second hand his "confession" was part of a piece looking at the difficulty and feeling of hopelessness of seeing a loved one suffer a slow and painful death.
This wasn't a live show as far as I am aware and therefore he and the producers etc. had time to think about this. I suspect that he is well aware that without more information from him the Police will get nowhere and I have read media speculation that the event described may have been changed in the telling to make pinning it down impossible. For some reason the phrase - crazy like a fox - comes to mind.
I agree that his 'performance' on the "Inside Out" show was obviously stage managed, carefully directed and no doubt done within guidelines advised by BBC lawyers.
But his interview with Sian n Bill left him looking bewildered, incoherant and completely out of his depth. He came across as being so wrapped up in maintaining his outward display of grief and desperation, that he failed to make a persuasive argument in favour of what he did. He looked disingenuous, like a bad actor.
Maybe the story is true. Maybe he did make make the pact of which he spoke. Maybe it was his lover's wish to die at his hands, in bed, whilst biting a pillow. Who knows. All I know is that thousands of genuine people who are faced with this heartbreakingly difficult decision must have cringed when he decided to appoint himself as poster boy for their campaign.
but do find 'campness' in men irritating, especially when, as others have said, it is only adopted post-coming-out
Hmmm ... pre-coming out presumably they were hoping not to be spotted as gay, so did not behave "camply"? So their behaviour is quite logical.