Angry Tweets Accuse BBC Host of Stereotyping Gay Men

BBC host Evan Davis has aroused some ire with his comment that dating app Tinder lets straight people "behave like gay men."

Several observers thought that Davis, who is himself gay, was implying that gay men are interested primarily in casual hookups, U.K. media outlets are reporting.

Davis's comment came on Wednesday's edition of Newsnight in a discussion of Vanity Fair's recent article on Tinder, which portrayed the dating app as a source of casual sex. Tinder officials objected strongly to the piece.

"Tinder is the biggest of a number of apps that allow straight people of any gender to behave like gay men," Davis said. "It's an easy hookup service. You upload your profile and scroll through others to find someone to meet.

"It's love at first swipe. Swipe left for the ones you don't like, swipe right for the folks you're interested in. And then if the feeling's mutual, you can message each other and take it from there."

"The strange comments provoked instant reaction on Twitter, where users complained they were 'offensive' and implied all gay men are promiscuous," the U.K.'s Daily Mail reports.

Davis's critics included Little Britain star and cocreator Matt Lucas, who is also gay, and tweeted that the comments were "pathetic," the Mail notes. The BBC has declined comment on the controversy, The Huffington Post's U.K. edition reports, and Davis has so far offered no public reaction.

Take a look at Lucas's tweet and some of the others below: