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If you are thinking of applying for a teacher training place, think twice." Among the criteria on which you could be rejected are not only alcoholism and bad eye-sight, but also "personality defects". This was recently uncovered by student epresentatives on the Board of Governors at Moray House College of Education. Their enquiries as to what constituted a "personality defect" met with a stony silence from all the governors except one reverend gentleman who remarked that, in his opinion, it referred to homosexuals.
This revelation is all the more disturbing as it comes at a time when the Government is promoting a Bill which reaffirms that all sexual acts between males will remain criminal offences in Scotland.
In reply to oponents of the Sexual Offences Bill (Scotland) the Lord Advocate, Labour MP for Leith, Ronald King-Murray, promised that noone would be charged as long as they were over 21 and restricted their affections to the privacy of their own home the same "liberal" conditions which apply in England and Wales. But promises can be broken. What happens if a local chief constable is not well inclined or a less enlightened Lord Advocate replaces Murray?
The implications for gays of the revelations about Moray House is that the Bill won't gather too much dust; after all prosecution is more likely under a law dated 1976 than the present one handed down from 1885. And for a law which won't be enforced, the Government has been very keen to get it passed. And though its attitude is the same as for all "moral" question - that MPs must decide on the basis of their own conscience the Callaghan administration has made clear its support for the Bill.
Although lesbianism is not outlawed in Scotland, this is largely because the law, like society, believes that the only sexual enjoyment a woman can achieve is in the service of her male spouse. The Bill clearly can't be seen as solely the concern of gay males.
It is simply another attack by the state on the small degree of sexual emancipation which has been achieved by women and gays. It follows on the heels of persistent attempts to infringe on abortion facilities. On that issue a large number of Labour MPs voted in support of reactionary legislation. The demand must now go up that all labour movement MPs vote against this Bill, and this applies, in particular, to SLP MPs Jim Sillars and John Robert- SOn.
The Labour Movement cannot afford to accept the view this is a "moral" issue or one that doesn't affect it as a whole. If the unity of
the movement is to be preserved and the substantial number of gay workers defended, the trade unions must give a clear commitment to defend any of their members charged for their sexuality.
But such defensive measures, while vitally urgent, are not sufficient. The repeal of all anti-homosexual legislation would be a major victory not only for gays but all those fighting women's and minority rights. for Getting a campaign underway to secure this objective today confronts socialists in Scotland as an urgent priority.
CHRIS BAMBERY