BBC Covers Foster Parents Case

She Wants To Break Free

On the BBC's Let's Dance For Comic Relief, controversial former model and author Katie Price dressed as Freddie Mercury in a recreation of Queen's classic 1984 drag video for I Want To Break Free. Those are her real actual boobies, by the way.

BBC's Big Picture Covers Britain's Anti-Gay Christian Hoteliers Case

This weekend the BBC's Big Picture covered the recent decision against the British hoteliers who had refused to rent rooms to gay couples. Good discussion here.

BBC On Elton John Flap: We Had That "Kill Gays" Guy On For Balanced Coverage

Yesterday the BBC ended a story about the birth of Elton John's son with an "opposing view" from the head of a Christianist hate group that has endorsed Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals. Today Pink News reports that even in face of widespread condemnation, the BBC sees nothing wrong with their action. Here's their terse statement.

The practice of surrogacy is a sensitive subject and remains controversial in some quarters. Our short news bulletin featured Elton John talking about wanting to have a child and an opposing viewpoint. All sides of the debate on surrogacy have been widely reported in the news media and our coverage has reflected this.

Pink News isn't having it.

The decision to include an interview with Stephen Green was hurtful not just to the millions of LGBT license fee payers but also to millions of Christians who do not hold or subscribe to the extremist views of Christian Voice. Most Christians would not support the abhorrent views of Mr Green and his small band of supporters who simply smear the name of the Christian faith. As many on Twitter, Facebook and PinkNews.co.uk comment pages have pointed out, the BBC’s logic would suggest that a racist be asked to comment on a mixed race couple having a surrogate child in order to reflect ‘debate’ in the country. Indeed the membership of Christian Voice is considerably smaller than that of many ‘racist’ organisations.

Here's how to complain to the BBC.

Another Anti-Gay Gaffe By The BBC

Pink News reports that as part of the BBC's story on the birth of Elton John's son, the network took an "opposing view" from a Christianist who has publicly endorsed Uganda's plan to execute homosexuals.

With the introduction “not everyone is pleased to see such a high profile same sex couple start to raise a surrogate child”, Mr Mzimba proceeded to interview Stephen Green, of right-wing group Christian Voice, without any warning that he is someone who has in the past supported the death penalty for gay men. In an interview that was visibly edited together, Mr Green told the BBC: “This isn’t just a designer baby for Sir Elton John, this is a designer accessory… [cut] Now it seems like money can buy him anything, and so he has entered into this peculiar arrangement…[cut] The baby is a product of it. A baby needs a mother and it seems an act of pure selfishness to deprive a baby of a mother.”

Amazingly, the BBC even managed to overlook Green's lawsuit against them for their airing of Jerry Springer: The Opera, which Green said was blasphemous for implying that Jesus was gay.

Pink News editorializes:

Given that little more than a year ago, the BBC Trust ruled that the BBC “reinforced homophobic stereotypes”, the broadcast yesterday is all the more shocking. The BBC needs to seriously reconsider not just who it interviews for stories relating to homosexuality but also reconsider its whole approach to how it covers the lives of millions of LGBT people, who themselves have no choice but to pay the television license fee.

RELATED: Last year the BBC earned international scorn for publishing a web survey that asked "Should Gays Be Executed?" The poll was yanked within hours and was followed with an "oopsie" apology from the network's ombudsman.

BRITAIN: Islamic Schools Teach That Gays Must Be Put To Death, Says BBC

According to a BBC investigative report to be aired tonight, children at Britain's Islamic schools are being taught that homosexuals must be put to death. The forty schools are operated under banner of the Saudi Students Clubs of the UK. Via Pink News:

Gay sex is punished by execution, the schools allegedly teach. However, children are told that clerics are said to differ in whether the guilty person should be stoned, thrown off a cliff or burnt. Other textbooks are said to ask students to list the “reprehensible” qualities of Jews and claim that Jews are transformed into pigs and monkeys. Michael Gove, the education secretary, told Panorama: “Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country. I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system. But I’m clear that we cannot have antisemitic material of any kind being used in English schools.” The Saudi ambassador to the UK said it had nothing to do with the schools and condemned the “dangerously deceptive and misleading” use of historical texts on Jews.

I'll have clips from the show later today. Watch a preview here.

One Collar, Two Sleeves

The BBC is running a series of shorts that uses mnemonics as spelling helpers. Mildly interesting, I suppose, but ultimately a wasted effort in the Google age. (Although I did recently use HOMES when trying to remember all the Great Lakes.) What mnemonics did you or do you use?

Everybody Ought To Have A Maid

The BBC celebrated Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday on Sunday with a special tribute edition of their annual BBC Proms series. Here's their delightfully fruity take on Everybody Ought To Have A Maid. Listen to the entire show here. The second clip is Dame Judi Dench's take on my most loathed Sondheim tune, Send In The Clowns, but hey, it's freekin' Judi Dench.

iBag - Get In It

The music sounds like Pomplamoose.

Everybody Loves A Lesbian

(Tipped by JMG reader Russ)

Daleks Are Gay

JMG reader Daddy Ray notes that the Daleks now come in the colors of the rainbow.