SHOULD WE TELL JOKES ABOUT GAYS AND LESBIANS? BBC ASKS THE NATION

SHOULD WE TELL JOKES ABOUT GAYS AND LESBIANS?  BBC ASKS THE NATION
Source:Patrick Foster, Media Correspondent (Times online)


The BBC is to ask the nation if its comedians should be allowed to tell jokes about lesbians and gays. The issue will be part of the most wideranging piece of research on sexuality that the corporation has commissioned.
Tim Davie, BBC director of audio and music, will chair a working group on the portrayal and inclusion of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. It will examine how they are reflected

in the corporation�s use of language, tone,  stereotyping, humour and scheduling. The report was commissioned last August, months before the corporation received hundreds of complaints

Ruth Jones and Matt Lucas find TV humour in lesbian and gay characters

over a headline on the BBC News website relating to a debate on Ugandan government policy. It asked: �Should homosexuals face execution?� The corporation apologised and amended the headline


Mr Davie said: �Clearly, that headline was wrong. The debate was valid, the headline was wrong.�
2CV, a research group, will conduct the project for the BBC, with a report due this summer. It will even canvass parts of the community, such as religious bodies, that are seen as antihomosexual. Various BBC presenters have created a stir with their comments. Chris Moyles, the Radio 1 breakfast presenter, was criticised by Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, for mocking Will Young, the gay singer.

Jonathan Ross, who will leave the corporation in July, courted controversy by jokingly suggesting to parents that if their son asked for an MP3 player carrying the brand of Hannah Montana, the US teenage actress, �you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption before he brings his ... erm ... partner home�.
Mr Davie said: �As a public service broadcaster, we have a responsibility to serve all of our audiences and it�s vital that we reflect the differences among all of the UK�s diverse communities, nations and regions.

�The findings will be embedded in programme-making at the BBC . . . to ensure that when we make editorial decisions that there is continued consideration of LGB [lesbian, gay and bisexual] storylines or characters based on the best information and research about what audiences want and expect.

We are aware that people may have strong views, both positively and negatively, about how the BBC is portraying the LGB community across our services and that�s why it�s so important to hear what you�re thinking. Only in this way can the BBC be part of a real step-change in delivering accurate, authentic portrayals of LGB people�s lives.�

Gay rights groups have long called for the BBC to include more gay characters in its output. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, which lobbies for lesbian, gay and bisexual interests, said: �This is long overdue. Stonewall research into BBC output found that during 168 hours of programmes, gay lives were represented positively for just six minutes.

�Recent homophobic murders of gay men, similar to the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence, have not even featured in the BBC�s national news.�