Gay chocolatiers forced out of remote Scottish village

Pair of homosexual chocolatiers claim they have been driven out of their remote Scottish community after suffering a decade of homophobic and anti-English abuse. Paul Maden, 45, and James Findlay, 40, whose luxury chocolate company Cocoa Mountain has attracted fans from Prince Charles to Yoko Ono, claim their lifestyle offended locals. The abuse began as soon as they moved into the area, they say, with neighbours stalking the outside of their home shouting “---- off you English queer --------“. But Kevin Crowe, the chairman of Durness Community Council, has hit back, claiming: "They are not the only gays in the village.” The couple are considering leaving Durness, in Sutherland, after they were taken to court accused of assaulting one of their “tormentors”, ferryman John Morrison.

http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9825056/Gay-chocolatiers-forced-out-of-remote-Scottish-village.html



• The case was found not proved by Dornoch Sheriff Court after Mr Maden pleaded self defence. Mr Findlay told the court that he had found the homophobic abuse he claimed he faced from Mr Morrison and his son Malcolm “really upsetting”. He said: “We constantly live in fear. We're looking to get away as quickly as possible but at the moment it's difficult because of the financial climate.” The Morrison family denied the abuse and claimed the chocolatiers have made other peoples lives miserable. Mr Maden told the Daily Telegraph that the abuse began before he had even joined his Scottish partner in the village as the locals “thought he was English”. He said: “It was night time rants around the outside of our house.” Since then, he said, they have been threatened with death, physically attacked, pelted with seeds, and subjected racist and homophobic abuse and “gestures” – making the last decade “unpleasant”. “It is quite frightening when you are in a remote place, a lot of places you do not get mobile phone signal and you feel quite vulnerable,” he said. But Mr Crowe – an Englishman who sealed the Highland's first same sex civil partnership with his partner Simon Long – said he was “surprised” as he found the community friendly and accepting. The chocolatiers live in the Balnakeil Craft Village, a former Cold War camp, and count among their neighbours a German porn star. Cocoa Mountain, which uses milk from Highland cows in its exotic chocolates, some of which are allegedly 'natural aphrodisiacs', and the couple have not made the final decision to leave as they rely on locally sourced produce. Prince Charles once asked the chocolatiers to blend his Barrogill whisky into a truffle, but they turned him down because they did not want to use preservatives. © Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2013

• I foresee a quirky independent movie being made, perhaps a musical.

• Wow, you really can't get much more remote than Durness - unless you go off to an island. Very lovely, but small place.....just a handful of residents really. Army base nearby and nice beach / cliffs with lots of puffins.

• [quote]Army base nearby and nice beach / cliffs with lots of puffins. Two less now, apparently.

• Pack up your fudge and leave, poofters!

  Scotty%20MacHomophobe

• Actually, I think the real issue the locals may have had is that they assumed one of the gentlemen was English.

  R3

• Straw Dogs Scottish Style.

• That's the miracle of the Beekman Boys, they were able to bring a rural community together by sheer charm.

• Much more an issue with the English aspect I suspect. I hate visiting certain Scottish members of my family as I have to sit and listen to anti English tirades and nod and smile sweetly so as not to upset the apple cart.

• Why do the Scots hate the English? Isn't former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Scottish as well?

• Time for Michael Mayer to turn BRIGADOON gay.

  Peter%20Parnell%2C%20ready%20to%20adapt

• Nae Nae!

• I guess a production of Oscar Strauss' "The Chocolate Soldier" is not about to happen here.

• who is their german gay porn actor neighbor?

• [quote] "They are not the only gays in the village" An obvious reference to Daffyd Thomas.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DE27v-jmRmx0%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player

• It's well known that rural Scotland, especially the HIghlands, has a population of up-tight, insular, suspicious and envious natives for whom any evidence of ambition, being different, or having taste or money is considered an affront. There are many tales of sheep and pet poisoning, active vandalism, and outright violence and hate speech against anyone who stands out. The ingrained Scottish Presbyterian mindset is anti-intellectual and anti-humanist. I've never seen a more hateful-to-newcomers mentality. These guys have suffered, but their mistreatment isn't unusual. And the gay thing is just a handy excuse. It would have been the same thing if they were single straights. The point is that others' ambition makes the people feel like the losers they are.

• If you had read the whole article you would have seen they were forced out for using scat in the chocolate. Now I know all you hep and AIDS infected homos are into that, but normals are not.

• they can pack their fudge in my oven anytime

• R17, you appear again, great. Now, again, you closeted piece of useless fuck, go kill yourself. (Of course you're dying from the AIDS as we all know you bitter fuck.)

• r19 Why is it that a homo can't have a decent conversation without turning it into sex. And why does homo sex equal being a human toilet?

• The Highlanders ARE horrible to outsiders - which is odd (or not) because most of the land is owned by English-educated poshos' who are their clan chiefs

• [quote] Why do the Scots hate the English? Isn't former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Scottish as well? Scots are ornery people, prone to bitching and fighting about anything. When they came to the US they intermarried with the Irish, another group of resentful, bitching, prone to fighting for any --or no-- reason. The result was the Tea Party. They still think they're fighting English tyranny.

• The Hatfields and McCoys are Scotland in America.

• I watch too much Family Guy/American Dad/Cleveland Show because I could see lots of comedy in that story. The gay chocolatiers are the gay couple newscasters in American Dad. The salty homophobic ferryman is Sheamus the pirate. His son is the upside down face son of the anchorman on Family Guy. And of course in this very remote Scottish area, there's a German porn star.

• [quote] Isn't former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Scottish as well? yes, but no one voted for him. He was a left over from that horrible tony blair

• [quote] But Kevin Crowe, the chairman of Durness Community Council, has hit back, claiming: "They are not the only gays in the village.” The only gays in the village reminds me of Little Britain

• R26 - yes, and that's why it was said. And the guy who said it is gay, talking about his relationship and implying they've had no issues. BUT, there's a big difference between being an elderly gay couple (I looked them up - they're 72 and 60-something) and a younger, fit, good-looking gay couple. The older people don't get pissed on because they're old.

• What do people in the village do for a living? Live off welfare?

  No%20jobs

• [quote]a population of up-tight, insular, suspicious and envious natives for whom any evidence of ambition, being different, or having taste or money is considered an affront. So, basically, DataLounge with sheep.

• The troll at R20 has just coined his own DL nickname: The Human Toilet. So shall it be.

  What%20an%20excrescence%21

• They're adorable.

• So much for their "Local Hero" fantasy.