BBC gay report is “flawed progress”
| Share |
Some gay issues still not addressed
London – 30 September 2010
“The BBC’s research on its portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB)
people is ground-breaking progress. But is also flawed in key aspects,”
said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of the LGBT rights campaign
group, OutRage!
“The report does not adequately address complaints that the BBC gives
proportionately little airtime to gay people or issues, and that its
news coverage of homophobic hate crimes and gay human rights violations
is often patchy. In the name of balance, the BBC too often reports
extreme homophobic views, whereas it would not give a platform to
similar racist or anti-Semitic opinions. It is guilty of
featuring too many camp, stereotypical gay comedians and either
neglecting or sensationalising transgender people,” he added.
Mr Tatchell was commenting on the publication today of the BBC report, Portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people on the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11437742
“The real bench mark is to compare the BBC’s portrayal of gay issues
with its depiction of black issues. Quite rightly, the BBC has a zero
tolerance of racism but when it comes to homophobia it seems to show
more leeway. Why two different responses to prejudice?
“At a time when the BBC national news was almost daily reporting the
murder of young men and racists attacks, in 2008 it failed to report
the homophobic murder of 18-year-old Michael Causer in Liverpool, other
than on the Merseyside section of the BBC website. In contrast, the
earlier racist murder of black Liverpudlian, Anthony Walker, received
national BBC news coverage for days. This is evidence of the BBC’s
double standards on racism and homophobia.
“I salute those BBC trustees, executives, editors and journalists who
have made positive changes to include and fairly represent the lesbian,
gay and bisexual (LGB) communities. Progress has been made. We need to
acknowledge that.
“Congratulations to the Beeb for its ground-breaking gay Muslim
storyline in Eastenders, which has helped highlight some of the
dilemmas faced by an often hidden section of the gay and Muslim
communities.
“But more remains to be done.
In 2006, the BBC was stung when gay lobby group Stonewall published a
damning report, Tuned Out, by Leeds University researchers. They
examined 168 hours of prime-time BBC 1 and BBC 2 television programmes;
finding that positive gay references totalled a mere six minutes,
compared to 32 minutes of negative, disparaging coverage. In other
words, gay people were five times more likely to be portrayed in
negative terms than in positive ones. Over half of all gay references
were jokes, which mostly played on stereotypes of sexually predatory or
effeminate gay men. Lesbian and gay issues were rarely mentioned in BBC
factual output. Overall lesbian lives and concerns were particularly
poorly represented in BBC programming.
“Sadly, there is little evidence that BBC coverage of LGB issues has improved significantly since Tuned Out was published.
“Last December, the BBC reported on legislation before the Ugandan
parliament that seeks to impose the death penalty for repeated same-sex
acts. In response, the corporation’s Have Your Say Africa website
hosted an online debate: ‘Should homosexuals face execution?’ The
BBC would not, I suspect, hold online debates such as: ‘Should black
people be lynched?’ Moreover, the BBC’s commentary announcing the
debate put a very weak case against the execution of LGB Ugandans. To
some people, it read like a tacit invitation for respondents to endorse
the state-sponsored killing of LGBs.
“This faux pas followed the furore over Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles using
the word ‘gay’ as an insult and getting away with it. Indeed, the BBC
governors ruled that the word ‘gay’ was an acceptable on-air synonym
for ‘rubbish.’
“The BBC 3 television programme, The Most Annoying People of 2008,
included an interview with BBC Radio 5 presenter, DJ Spooney, where he
was given free rein, without challenge or rebuke, to disparage
lesbians: ‘Let the munters and mingers get each other. That's cool. No
one really wants them ones.’" If he had been a white DJ making
similar remarks about black women he would have been disciplined
or even sacked.
“The BBC has few known gay, lesbian or bisexual people in senior
management or trustee positions and it refuses to recognise that this
represents a shortcoming in its diversity policy.
“Are any of its 12 trustees openly gay? And who is the corporation’s
most senior openly lesbian or gay executive? A BBC press officer told
journalist Simon Edge that these questions are an outrageous
intrusion. But the BBC would not think twice about saying how
many executives or trustees are black or Asian.
“This attitude is symptomatic of a bigger, wider problem at the BBC.
Progress yes, but more needs to be done to make the BBC fit for
lesbian, gay and bisexual audiences,” said Mr Tatchell.