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BBC 'worst for on-screen portrayal of gay people'

A Stonewall study into how gay people are portrayed in TV programmes watched by young people has found that many depictions are negative, demeaning or stereotypical.

It found that the BBC – which has been plagued by controversy over its handling of on-screen homophobia in the last two years – was the worst of the four channels surveyed.

The report, titled Unseen on Screen, looked at the top 20 programmes watched by people aged between 12 and 18.

In 126 hours of programming across BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five, only 46 minutes showed gay people in positive and realistic lights.

In 39 hours of output, the gay charity said that BBC1 showed just 44 seconds of positive and realistic depictions of gay people out of 39 hours and 30 minutes of programming.

Channel 4 transmitted 12 minutes of positive and realistic portrayal out of a total 34 hours and 14 minutes of programming and was ranked the best for showing gay and lesbian people at all.

ITV1 transmitted 34 minutes of positive and realistic portrayal out of a total 50 hours and 3 minutes of output.

The best four programmes were broadcast by Channel 4 and ITV. These were I’m a Celebrity… , Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and How to Look Good Naked.

Young people interviewed across Britain said that in most of the programmes they watched, gay people were shown as predatory, comical or promiscuous.

They also said the programmes were unrealistic, showing gay people as rejected by their families, bullied and depressed.

Where programming depicted homophobia, three fifths went unchallenged. One 16-year-old interviewed by researchers said: "TV gives the wrong view of gay people because every storyline is about them being beaten up and discriminated against. They are never accepted by their family. In real life they just want to fit in."

Lesbians were found to be particularly underrepresented on television, as 77 per cent of depictions of gay people concerned gay men.

BBC2 and the corporation's other channels contained no depictions of lesbian and gay people. On BBC1, researchers found that only two programmes in the viewing sample contained portrayals of gay people. These were EastEnders, which has a storyline about gay characters Christian and Syed, and The Jonathan Ross Show, which features Four Poofs and a Piano.
The report said that the EastEnders storyline focused on Syed's fear of being outed and the turbulent relationship between the couple. Meanwhile, Four Poofs and a Piano has been repeatedly criticised as a stereotypical depiction of gay men, in addition to complaints about the band's name.

The BBC has had a number of run-ins with Stonewall in the last two years. In 2008, one programme featured "gratuitous" remarks about Lindsay Lohan's sexuality, Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has been criticised for calling a ringtone "gay" and mocking gay singer Will Young, Jonathan Ross was criticised for joking that gay children should be adopted and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been attacked for suggesting a car was "a bit ginger beer".

Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell recently appeared on Top Gear. He claimed that the two got onto the subject of homosexuality when Clarkson said: "I demand the right not to be bummed." The alleged comments were edited out of the programme.

A BBC spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk: "As part of ongoing work to better understand all our audiences, the BBC launched its most comprehensive research and consultation project into the portrayal of lesbian, gay and bisexual people – across all genres on every platform, engaging people across various viewpoints. We will publish the findings of this project in the autumn."

ITV did not return requests for comment, while a Channel 4 spokeswoman pointed to its own research on gay and lesbian portrayals on television.

Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill said: "Of course it’s welcome that some of the most obnoxiousness unpleasantness of people such as Jeremy Clarkson is now being edited out before transmission.

"However, it’s hardly surprising that there’s still almost endemic homophobic bullying in Britain’s secondary schools when, even if gay people do appear on TV shows watched by young people, they’re depicted in a derogatory or demeaning way.

"It’s tragic that in 2010 broadcasters are still under serving young people in this way, particularly when young people themselves say they want to see real gay people’s lives on TV."
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell added: "Congratulations to Stonewall for exposing the systemic, institutional homophobic bias of British TV. Unseen on Screen documents a shocking catalogue of negative, stereotypical and invisibilised depictions. Every television executive ought to feel shame."

"This report is a wake up call to the TV industry. It's time that channel chiefs ordered a dramatic change in the way LGBT people and issues are portrayed. We deserve more and fairer air-time, including more positive coverage.

"TV programmes that neglect or demean us can fuel anti-gay attitudes and lead to depression, self-harm, teasing, ostracism and violence."

Researchers watched the 20 programmes most popular with young viewers for 16 weeks between last September and January 2010.

Source By:Jessica Geen

Obama healthcare summit fails to reach accord

A day-long televised healthcare summit in Washington hosted by President Barack Obama has ended without a deal to break the deadlock between parties.
Mr Obama outlined his reform plan but Republicans said it was not acceptable and called for a fresh start.
The president and his allies want to expand health coverage to include millions of uninsured Americans.
Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he was "discouraged by the outcome" of the summit.
He said it was "pretty clear" that Democrats and Mr Obama wanted to revive the healthcare bill passed by the Senate last December but now stalled in Congress.
"I do not believe there will be any Republican support for this 2,700 page bill," Mr McConnell said.
'Step closer'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Party would continue its campaign for healthcare reform.
"Those people who are struck will illness or pre-existing [health] conditions... want us to act, they want results," she said.
"We need to have the courage to get this job done, and we will. I think today took us a step closer to improve healthcare, to lower costs and to make it much more accessible to many more Americans."
The president had urged 40 Republicans and Democrats to avoid political theatre and focus on areas where they agreed.
He wants them to back the latest version of his $950bn (£621bn) plan to cover uninsured Americans, cut abuses by the health insurance industry and lower premiums.
Republicans say that the country cannot afford President Obama's plans and they want him to start again from scratch.
The stage is now set for a showdown in which the Democrats may use a controversial parliamentary procedure to force their plans through, says the BBC's Paul Adams in Washington.
The meeting - which began at 1000 (1500 GMT) - debated controlling costs, insurance reforms, deficit reduction and expanding coverage.
A long and often riveting day did little to break the deadlock, reports our correspondent, and healthcare reform, which everyone wants, is no closer as a result.
The two sides clashed, mostly politely but sometimes angrily, over a host of technical and philosophical differences.
The White House has signalled it may end up driving through a bill using a procedure called budget reconciliation, which only needs a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate.
Mr Obama said Americans wanted a final vote on healthcare. "I think that most Americans think a majority vote makes sense," he said.
Analysts say that was a hint he may drive the reform bill through Congress.
The reform plan is currently blocked as the Democrats no longer have the 60-seat majority required to thwart Republican obstruction tactics.

Partisan battle

The contentious debate was plagued by partisanship: even the shape of the table for the debate at Blair House, opposite the White House, was the subject of dispute.
President Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and other leading Democrats sparred with senior Republicans, including Mr McConnell and Arizona Senator John McCain.
Mr Obama opened the debate by emphasising that everyone present understood the importance of the healthcare issue, adding that there were significant points of potential agreement between the two parties on healthcare reform.
"We all know this is urgent and unfortunately, despite all the negotiations that have taken place, it became a very ideological battle; it became a very partisan battle where politics ended up trumping common sense," he said.
He added that he wanted to avoid the televised session becoming merely political theatre, hoping that those involved would work together to try to solve the problem.
"If we keep an open mind and are not trying to score political points then we may be able to make some progress," he said.
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander responded by saying that in order for Mr Obama to succeed on healthcare, he should scrap the health care bill that Senate Democrats passed in December, and start afresh with a clean sheet of paper.
"If we can start over, we can write a healthcare bill," he said. "It means working together... reducing healthcare costs... and going step-by-step to regain the trust of the American people."
Republican Senator Jon Kyl went on to argue that Democratic efforts to overhaul the current system would give Washington too much control over healthcare.
"There are some fundamental differences between us here that we cannot paper over," said Mr Kyl. "We do not agree about the fundamental question about who should be mostly in charge.

Cost of reforms?

The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says that while the president chaired the meeting firmly, trying to drag the Republicans into a concrete debate on detailed issues, there was almost no chance of the Republicans agreeing to anything that was on the table.
The House of Representatives and the Senate passed separate healthcare bills at the end of last year.
But efforts to merge them and sign a bill into law collapsed last month when Republicans won a special election in Massachusetts.
The victory deprived Democrats of their crucial filibuster-proof 60-seat Senate majority.
Republicans used Thursday's talks to highlight the cost of the Democrats' reforms, while outlining their own more scaled-back approach.
Democrats are expected to seek to portray the Republicans' plans as inadequate.
'Photo op'
The president has invested much political capital in his plans to make nearly all Americans take out health insurance and to stop abuses by insurance firms.
But the issue has become a rallying standard for conservatives, who say Mr Obama is bent on introducing European-style big government.
It has also worried a recession-mauled American public, which is not clear about how much reforms would cost them.
The US is the world's richest nation and the only industrialised democracy that does not provide healthcare coverage to all its citizens.





SOURCE BY BBC News and www.whitehouse.gov/

Sir Ian McKellen slams anti-gay sport fans

Actor Sir Ian McKellen has criticised the sports world for its lack of understanding toward homosexuality.
Sir Ian, 70, claimed lack of acceptance turned sports stars into "shrinking violets" when it came to publicly acknowledging their sexuality.
In an interview, to be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live's Tony Livesey show later, he said the sports world should be "ashamed of itself".
"The world is changing," he added "and sport is very slow to catch up."
The veteran actor, who is open about his homosexuality, said sports stars were "absolutely admirable people", but were afraid of negative reaction among fans.
"When it comes to the business of simply being honest about who they are, some of them become little shrinking violets because they're afraid, probably, of being booed from the terraces, and that must be a horrible experience and shame on people who do it.

"But it ain't [sic] going to stop someone being a fantastic footballer because they're honest about their private lives, is it?
"I don't believe so and the world is changing and sport, I'm afraid, is very slow to catch up".
Sir Ian's comments come just weeks after Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas revealed that he is gay but that he had hidden his sexuality for many years from all but his closest colleagues.

The full interview can be heard on BBC 5 live from 2230 GMT.

Source by BBC NEWS and BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC documentary on Brazilian music and Brazilian musicians

"A documentary on Brazilian music and Brazilian musicians, revealing some of the "battleground" from where the Tropicalia movement rose, among major changes in the society of this vast multiracial semi-continent. Documentário da BBC sobre música brasileira. Essa segunda parte conta a trajetória da música brasileira junto com os acontecimentos da época, a ditadura, a guerrilha, 68, era de Aquarius... mas a visão é um tanto diferente da que a gente tem, um certo estranhamento com as opiniões e visões, já que a comparação que fazem e o referencial que têm é a música inglesa, que nesse mesmo período estava com sua própria revolução, Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, etc."

Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 1


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 2


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 3


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 4


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 5


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 6


Brasil, Brasil - Tropicalia Revolution - BBC - 7


SOURCE BY BBC and Salmax

BBC NEWS/Middle East/Phone technology aids UAE dating

Aproveitando para falar de relationship aqui em Dubai, e muito crucial para os que vivem aqui, como ja falei uma vez e muito complicado mesmo, por exemplo se voce tem uma namorada ou vise-versa, nao e permitido uma serie de coisas em publico, como por exemplo uma demonstracao de carinho e por ai vai...e caso de voce levar uma multa por parte da policia e segurancas de shopping's e parques e as vezes preso e aguardar o processo de deportacao como ja vi em muitos casos por aqui.

As part of a series on young people in the Middle East, the BBC News website discovers how technology is aiding the secret liaisons of young men and women in the conservative culture of the United Arab Emirates.


Bluetooth user Ahmed says he is into poem

It happens in malls, cinemas and cafes - in Dubai's notorious traffic jams, and now by mobile phone.

Many of the city's black-shrouded UAE girls say they cannot check out the latest fashions in Zara or sip a smoothie in a cafe without being bombarded with the phone numbers of hopeful admirers.

Among UAE nationals - as the minority of the UAE's residents that are not expatriates are called - it is generally considered impolite for a man to speak to a woman he is neither married nor related to in public.

Traditionally, a young man's first amorous approach to a woman is supposed to be a marriage proposal made by his parents to her parents.

But the cards, scraps of paper and mobile phone messages that pass from male to female are testament to the double existence of some young UAE nationals as they take their love lives into their own hands.

Wireless advances

One technology is proving particularly useful.

"Our governments are all corrupt and, though there is some change for the better, nothing is really improving"
Rasha, Bahrain


Bluetooth is a feature built into some mobile phones which enables the user to transfer data to another wireless device nearby.

But crucially, it also enables one person to contact another within a 10 metre radius without knowing their phone number.

Ahmed Bin Desmal's friends joke that he is a "Bluetooth king". The 20-year-old says he has used the technology to send notes to girls he sees in public places.

"In our country it's very rude to go up and talk to them," he says. "I sent some notes, they liked them - they took my number and they called me. I say nice things - I'm into poems."

While to many like Ahmed, Bluetooth is just a way to start a conversation, for some it can go much further.


Usually only married or engaged UAE couples go out in public
Mohammed, 24, does not know how many girlfriends he has had. He prefers expat girls because he can take them to the beach or to parties, but finds Bluetooth useful when pursuing locals.

"In some areas you can't talk to a girl except through Bluetooth."

His flirtations by phone and other means sometimes end in sex. Even with national girls, it is possible to keep it secret: "Hotels, flats, houses, anything - there's always a way," he says.

But he wants to marry a virgin eventually: "The girls I have sex with are different from the girls I would marry - these girls want to play around," he says.

Choosing a wife

But not all are like this - far from it. At Dubai Men's College I meet several bright, studious young men.



I don't think I'd have a love marriage - family marriage is a bit more risk-free
Maryam Abdullah Bin Bilaila, 19

Most want to wait until they are established in careers and in their late twenties before marrying. Few have had friendships that would approach the Western definition of a girlfriend.

"If I tell you I don't think about it, it's a lie. Every day I meet a lot of women, but in the end if you can control yourself that's something good," says Salim Alakraf, 25.

For them the issue is how much they will be involved in choosing their wife.

"Nowadays people are really open-minded, although we still follow our culture. If I'm working with a girl and I think she is suitable for me, I can ask my family to go and ask her family about her to see if she is suitable," says Saeed Suwaidi, 27, the leader of the student council.

'Perfect talk'

Among national girls, it is virtually impossible for a young woman to admit to clandestine meetings with boys, although from the tales young men tell, it is clear that these take place.


Bluetooth can be used to locate and contact nearby devices
Even being friends with such a girl can damage a reputation, a word that comes up often.

And while some would like to meet their future husband "by coincidence" or through work, there is still caution about "love marriages".

"I don't think I'd have a love marriage. It's not that I don't want one, but our contact with guys is not that good, and a guy talks his perfect talk when he sees a girl so it could be a misjudgement. Family marriage is a bit more risk-free," says accounting student Maryam Abdullah Bin Bilaila, 19.

Instant messaging

But other young people are treading a cautious, secretive path towards love marriages, aided by technology.

Ahmed, 26, is in love with his girlfriend of five years, but neither of their families know.


"Dubai's traffic jams provide opportunities to exchange numbers
They talk often by mobile phone, but their meetings are limited to the 10 minutes between her leaving work and arriving home."

"Yes, I think I will marry her. We've had a long relationship, for five years. She knows all my secrets, I know her secrets," he says.

And Saud, 22, met the girl he describes as his girlfriend two years ago on the internet, through instant messaging software.

Although they talk on the phone, he has seen her only five or six times, by following her from a distance as she shops with her family in a mall. He says she's beautiful.

But, while the couple are finding ways around their society's cultural mores, for them, as for many young people, the consequences of being caught remain all too real.

"We are afraid someone from her family will see and there could be big problems which would mean we couldn't ever marry," says Saud.

Some names have been changed to protect the interviewees' identities.

Source by By Heather Sharp
BBC News, Dubai (Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:53 GMT 16:53 UK )