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March 01, 2006

Report: Gay representation lacking on the BBC

According to a new report, British broadcasting giant the BBC is woefully inadequate when it comes to gay and lesbian representation. The findings, by the British gay rights group Stonewall, suggest that LGBT people are "almost invisible" on the channels BBC1 and BBC2, reports the national Press Association.

In the 168 hours of television the group monitored, only 38 minutes were devoted to gay people. Of that amount of time, 32 minutes were considered to be derogatory or offensive, leaving only six minutes of positive portrayals.

The group also criticized various BBC television hosts for their antigay remarks, including Anne Robinson of The Weakest Link, who it said often makes fun of her contestants by using gay innuendos.

"The BBC rarely challenges homophobia and consistently allows its presenters to perpetuate negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and gay sexuality," the report said, adding that gay men and lesbians contribute some £190 million a year to the network in licensing fees.

The BBC said the report considered only a narrow sample of programming between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. each day, adding that had it looked at a longer time period across all of its outlets, it would have come to a different conclusion: "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." (Advocate.com)

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