Viewers Demand BBC Apologize for Interviewing Anti-Gay Extremist

by Michael Jones · 2011-01-05 07:32:00 UTC
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Pretend you're a news producer, and you're running a segment on the announcement that Elton John and David Furnish were having a child. Would you turn to an anti-gay extremist who has said it's moral for gay people to be murdered, and who compares LGBT people to serial killers?

The BBC did. And they're not apologizing for it, despite growing viewer demands that the network be held accountable for giving a soapbox to a known hate group leader during their flagship news program.

The anti-gay activist the BBC turned to was Stephen Green, who leads a group called Christian Voice. But don't let the name fool you; Green's views are anything but Christian. Green has gone on record championing the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would sentence LGBT people to death or life imprisonment. When rugby star Gareth Thomas came out of the closet, Green called him a threat to children, and said that LGBT people should be publicly hung in order to keep children safe. And he once said that gay people are akin to Jeffrey Dahmer.

But according to the BBC, Green is just presenting an objective counterpoint to gay rights activists. "We recognize this issue can arouse a diverse range of contrasting opinions. This brief report featured Sir Elton John’s thoughts and an opposing view on the matter at hand. It must be stressed that over time we have heard from all sides of this debate, dealing the subject in a fair and impartial manner," the network said in a statement.

Good enough? Hardly, according to viewers and activists. And that's because fair and impartial coverage does not mean turning to people who think it's moral to kill gays.

PinkNews has been hammering this story from the get go, and interviewed some viewers to get their take on the BBC's decision to give Green a soapbox.

"Their reply acknowledges not a shred of improper behavior. Furthermore, their reply has about it a tone of arrogance, condescension and ‘Auntie knows best’. It’s like talking to a brick wall," said Andrew Bentley, a PinkNews reader who was one of hundreds who complained to the BBC.

Now things are getting really interesting. Though the BBC hasn't made any amends for interviewing Green, or promised to be more thorough in researching the backgrounds of the folks they're interviewing, Ofcom, a telecommunications watchdog, is allegedly investigating whether the BBC violated any codes of conduct by interviewing someone like Green. Nearly 100 complaints have come in to Ofcom about the BBC's decision to feature Green.

It's time to get the BBC to understand that when a story about LGBT rights or LGBT people breaks, the "objective" thing to do is not turn to someone who supports the extermination of gay people from the population. Keep up the pressure, and let's hold the BBC accountable for giving a megaphone to someone like Stephen Green.

Photo credit: Coffee Lover

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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