TV
Gay rights group Stonewall has criticised the BBC for its lack of realistic gay characters and its perpetuation of the the gay stereotype.
A report that has been assembled by the charity claimed that gay people were "almost invisible" on BBC1 and BBC2. The report said that out of 168 hours of television monitored on the two channels, only 38 minutes featured lesbian and gay lives. 32 of the minutes comprised derogatory or offensive references and only 6 minutes in the 168 hours showed gay and lesbian lifestyles in a positive light.
Among the most heavily criticised among the BBC presenters were Anne Robinson and Jeremy Clarkson. Anne Robinson apparently repeatedly used gay innuendo to belittle a contestant on The Weakest Link - Celebrity Chefs, asking him: "What do you do in your restaurant? Just mince around?"
Clarkson also came under fire for his use of the word "gay" to unfavourably describe cars and his treatment of lesbians as titillation for heterosexual men - using lesbian sexual fantasies as a metaphor to describe his enthusiasm for a car, saying: "Now this, for me, when I was little, was, kind of, Jordan and Cameron Diaz in a bath together".
The report said that gay sexuality was frequently used as an insult, and gay innuendo was broadcast across a wide range of programmes.
The BBC has countered the report, saying that the data was collected within a limited timeslot - between 7pm and 10pm on BBC1 and BBC2 - thus excluding "nearly all of the BBC's news and current affairs output."
A spokeswoman said: "We believe the researchers would have found a great deal of richness and diversity in our output across television, radio and online throughout the eight weeks they examined.
"We are committed to finding ways of reflecting the audience's daily lives in our programmes.
"But we feel the notion that gay men and lesbians only receive value for money from the licence fee through seeing direct representation of gay life is misconceived. Gay men and lesbians do enjoy our output."
A report that has been assembled by the charity claimed that gay people were "almost invisible" on BBC1 and BBC2. The report said that out of 168 hours of television monitored on the two channels, only 38 minutes featured lesbian and gay lives. 32 of the minutes comprised derogatory or offensive references and only 6 minutes in the 168 hours showed gay and lesbian lifestyles in a positive light.
Among the most heavily criticised among the BBC presenters were Anne Robinson and Jeremy Clarkson. Anne Robinson apparently repeatedly used gay innuendo to belittle a contestant on The Weakest Link - Celebrity Chefs, asking him: "What do you do in your restaurant? Just mince around?"
Clarkson also came under fire for his use of the word "gay" to unfavourably describe cars and his treatment of lesbians as titillation for heterosexual men - using lesbian sexual fantasies as a metaphor to describe his enthusiasm for a car, saying: "Now this, for me, when I was little, was, kind of, Jordan and Cameron Diaz in a bath together".
The report said that gay sexuality was frequently used as an insult, and gay innuendo was broadcast across a wide range of programmes.
The BBC has countered the report, saying that the data was collected within a limited timeslot - between 7pm and 10pm on BBC1 and BBC2 - thus excluding "nearly all of the BBC's news and current affairs output."
A spokeswoman said: "We believe the researchers would have found a great deal of richness and diversity in our output across television, radio and online throughout the eight weeks they examined.
"We are committed to finding ways of reflecting the audience's daily lives in our programmes.
"But we feel the notion that gay men and lesbians only receive value for money from the licence fee through seeing direct representation of gay life is misconceived. Gay men and lesbians do enjoy our output."
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