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Jim & Lionel Blue
Feb. 6th, 2015 05:51 pm
Lionel Blue (born 6 February 1930) is a British Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster. He was the first British rabbi publicly to declare his homosexuality. Blue was the first British rabbi publicly to affirm his homosexual orientation and published Godly and Gay in 1981. He has been openly homosexual since the 1960s and has had three male live-in lovers. He met his most recent partner, Jim (born 1927), in 1981 through a personal advertisement in Gay Times. "We both knew what we wanted," says Lionel, "and we didn't want to be the oldest swingers in town. We wanted a home." However, his memoirs reveal that he considered marrying Joanna Hughes, a student whom he met whilst they were both students at Oxford in 1950.Blue used to share his house with his mother, Hetty, who lived until she was 93. She and her sister had the ground floor, while Lionel and Jim had upstairs. And did Hetty and Jim get on? "Yes," he says, "although she was very manipulative. When Jim came home she'd say: 'Hard day at work, Jim?' And he'd say: 'Yes.' So she'd say: 'Tired, Jim?' And he'd say: 'Yes.' So she'd say: 'Feel like a cup of tea, Jim?' And he'd say: 'Yes.' So she'd say: 'Make me one, too.'"
Blue is best known for his longstanding work with the media, most notably his wry and gentle sense of humour on "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
In July 1998 Blue was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University. He is also honorary doctor of Divinity and Fellow of Grey College, Durham.
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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Blue & www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/rabbi-lionel-blue-gays-have-quite-a-lot-to-learn-from-religious-people-2209466.html
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