Frank Sinatra’s ‘I Love You Baby’, once heard seldom forgotten and of course for all reasons good. However, I didn’t expect to hear it late last night in the cold wind and rain as I stood waiting for a taxi in the remote part of the country where I live.

But unmistakably there it was filling the night air. It was being sung by two teenage boys, no older I guess than 16 who, word perfect matched the rendition of Frank himself being streamed on one of the boy’s mobile phones.

In the almost total darkness, they seemed oblivious of me the only other person present. At some point I looked up to show my appreciation and saw that they were in fact singing it to each other. As the song progressed into its iconic showband sound of its era, the boys started to dance, together and for each other. Rhythmic, tender, intimate and most definitely with love. No adolescent piss taking from these two.

It came to an end. But clearly their love of each other didn’t, they remained held in each other’s arms.

Me, I remained deeply moved. I had spent the evening with a friend, engaged in our own intense way discussing sexuality, love, intimacy, the priesthood and celibacy. We were recalling experiences across four decades. So, these two very young confident men, without them knowing it, joined the evenings conversation and brought it to a beautiful conclusion. Just as ‘I Love You Baby’ is a song not possible to forget, I will never forget them…

Out of the darkness, wind and rain, A taxi eventually arrived and with love they shared it with me….

Br Stephen Morris fcc

Today, 30 April 2025, marks 26 years since the nail bomb attack on Admiral Duncan in Soho. Three people lost their lives and many were seriously injured in what was the third attack by a neo Nazi who also attacked the black and Indian communities. His hate was directed at people he considered ‘other’ and it seems more important than ever to not forget these hate crimes, those who died and were injured.

Before specialising in sexual crime, I would occasionally be asked to assess the risk and dangerousness of those charged with hate crime offences. It was always interesting to identify what had influenced the development of hatred in their lives and to the extent that it has manifested in often murderous behaviour. It was always horrifyingly poignant for me when defendants would quote distortions of christian teaching or church doctrine as a means of justifying their actions. Many did.

It is a chilling fact that when so called christians condemn LGBT people, in the myriad of ways that they often do, they are providing the fuel of hatred which others take up and later manifest in violent and deadly crime. The blood of LGBT people is not just on the hands of the guilty perpetrator, but it also extends to the hands of those who sow hatreds seed.

The laws concerning hate crime do not go far enough. They need to be extended and used against those who use faith as a vehicle of hate, for in clinical assessment terms they are indeed ‘very high risk of harm’.

Br Stephen Morris fcc