Angry Tweets Accuse BBC Host of Stereotyping Gay Men

Evan Davis said dating apps like Tinder let straight people 'act like gay men,' a comment some took as saying gay men are promiscuous.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

August 13 2015 3:13 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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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.