Snogging at the John Snow

Of course, there is a furore about two gay snoggers being thrown out of the John Snow pub in Soho. But there are a few things to point out to the activists who are protesting. Many people find watching other people snogging offensive; gay or not, heterosexual or not or bisexual for that matter. It is bad enough watching it in a private house let alone in a public one. The snoggers were in a pub and the landlords have the right to exclude whoever they wish. They have a duty to protect all their customers in a place where alcohol is sold; what would have happened if a customer who had had too much to drink took the law into his own hands and decided to punch the snoggers on the nose? The rights of man in Europe and the USA have been hard won under the opposition of illiberal religious and political organisations. Everyone is free to exercise their rights but should they not exercise them with restraint? If you want to snog why not find a more private place to do it? It is anyone's right to be a devil worshipper but surely you would expect to be asked to leave a Mosque if you decided to exercise your rights there. You may have the right to burn books in public, in the USA if nowhere else, but exercising that right is distasteful if not provocative. There is a danger that liberal political activism may start to manifest itself as self-obsessed decadence and that those who are campaigning for freedom of oppression will no longer be taken seriously. There was no need for a protest outside the John Snow pub as there are bigger issues to get upset about.