LOCOG Crass Cultural Illiteracy

So you're organising a truly international event that will attract tens of thousands of foreign visitors and training volunteers to provide visitor hosting services. Who do you get to train them? Why, a bigoted, blinkered, small-minded, moronic, untravelled, deeply ignorant, vacuous, addle-brained, culturally illiterate fathead of course. 

'a huge diversity of gay couples at the Olympics'

Part of the training package includes the question 'You're at the Olympic stadium, volunteering at the London Games. Someone complains to you that two men are holding hands. It is making them feel very uncomfortable. What do you do?' The correct answer according to LOCOG is 'explain that there is huge diversity (sic) of people at the London 2012 Games, which includes gay, lesbian and bisexual couples'

My Malaysian businessman mates, aggressively heterosexual, used to cause me some embarrassment  when they reached for my hand to hold on the street. It was, and is, of course a huge gesture of trust and friendship for which I am deeply honoured. Male hand holding is culturally extremely common not only in Asia but in Africa and particularly amongst Arabs. I suspect that not a few Wahhibi moslems will be deeply insulted this morning at being officially designated gay by LOCOG. 

If this kind of unpardonable gaffe is a foretaste of the organisational disaster to come, I shall be laughing my nadgers off this Summer. Locog chief executive Paul Deighton received a total package of £699,998 in 2010-11, including a £220,125 bonus. His chairman Lord Coe was paid £357,000. Calling the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia queer? Priceless.