Yes, I think this is more a story about toon cooncil petty bureaucracy rather than bigotry. The guy wasn't qualified to perform the ceremony, and their rules are that you have to go to Stromness or Kirkwall - the only two proper towns in the whole of Orkney. Neither one is very far from anywhere else on the islands, even if you do have to come across from one of the smaller islands. 'Mainland' in Orkney refers to the biggest Orkney island, not the actual mainland of British Isles. I suspect that a lot of people up there do have pretty conservative views about such things, but 'taleban' is way off. It's not the Isle of Man! (Knee-jerk Scottish defensiveness notwithstanding.)
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Yes, I think this is more a story about toon cooncil petty bureaucracy rather than bigotry. The guy wasn't qualified to perform the ceremony, and their rules are that you have to go to Stromness or Kirkwall - the only two proper towns in the whole of Orkney. Neither one is very far from anywhere else on the islands, even if you do have to come across from one of the smaller islands. 'Mainland' in Orkney refers to the biggest Orkney island, not the actual mainland of British Isles. I suspect that a lot of people up there do have pretty conservative views about such things, but 'taleban' is way off. It's not the Isle of Man! (Knee-jerk Scottish defensiveness notwithstanding.)
I did only scan the story, so apologies if I've rushed to a conclusion. If so, I'm clearly not the only one.
I am generally suspicious of council's admin/technical explanations in these kinds of cases - they're often an excuse for more sinister motivations.
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