Gay Coverage on TV Criticised
Stonewall, the gay equality charity, has criticised the coverage of gay and lesbian issues on television. The charity has said that young people rarely see positive portrayals of such characters on television.
Coverage of gay issues and characters has been criticised by the equality group Stonewall who claim that young people rarely see positive examples of homosexuality on television – and it’s because of this that homophobic bullying is so rife in schools. The equality charity carried out a survey of 120 hours of programmes in which it said gay people were portrayed as predatory, slutty or figures of fun.
It’s tragic that in 2010 broadcasters are still underserving young people in this way, particularly when young people themselves say they want to see real gay people’s lives on TV”- Ben Summerskill Stonewall chief executive
The report, called Unseen on Screen, also concluded that ordinary gay people are practically invisible in 20 programmes most watched by younger viewers. It says that out of 126 hours of television only 46 minutes were positively portraying gay/lesbians. Out of those 46 minutes most were on either ITV1 or Channel Four on programmes such as Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and I’m A Celebrity. In poor comparison the BBC had just 44 seconds of good coverage in more than 39 hours of coverage.
The BBC is currently conducting its own survery into the corporations coverage of gay issues/characters following criticisms over previous years. However, the corporation has prompted outcry from some because it is allowing homophobic members of the public to take part in the survey which some claim rather defeats the point of it. While soaps Doctors and EastEnders do, currently, have gay characters as part of the cast the absence of such characters from other dramas on the BBC has been noted.
Later this year Matt Smith will star in a BBC Two drama on gay writer Christopher Isherwood. Starring alongside the Doctor Who actor will be Douglas Booth who earlier this year starred in a BBC biopic of the gay singer Boy-George. Also later this year BBC Three will launch a new lesbian drama, Lip Service. These three examples the BBC will doubtless point to when defending its gay output.
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