Tuesday, February 15, 2011

'Should homosexuals face execution?' might sound like a debate on Radio Uganda, but regrettably it was in fact a question posed by our very own BBC in December 2009. Rather than simply issue a fulsome and unreserved apology, the BBC has sought to compensate for the insult in other ways.

Last night's BBC Three documentary: World's Worst Place to be Gay? was presented by Scott Mills, who began the film showing what he does best: DJing in clubs. Scott claimed that being gay simply wasn't an issue in most places where he works.

Scott: So, I'm gay. Big deal you might think. And in this country it really isn't.

Maybe Scott ought to question why 'gay' is now such a rarely heard word on BBC children's TV.

Scott: Although things still aren't perfect, we've come a long way.

In fact BBC children's TV has gone backwards in terms of lesbian and gay representation. Scott and other BBC employees might want to make enquiries as to why this has happened.

Scott: In other parts of the world homosexuals are still hated and discriminated against. A wave of intense homophobia is washing across Africa, where homosexuality is already illegal in 37 countries. It's being fuelled by fundamentalist preachers, intolerant governments and homophobic politicians...

Scott Mills' first impression on arriving in Uganda was that it's a really cool and friendly place. But he soon found out from talking to the population that there was a real hatred of gay people, with some saying homosexuals should be killed. As a result LGB people are disowned by their families and made to live secretly in a slum ghetto.

After undergoing a bizarre ceremony intended to 'cure' his homosexuality Scott decided to find out the views of young Ugandans.

Scott: In western countries it was the young who led the fight against homophobia. So is that where the hope lies in Uganda?

It turned out that the high school kids he spoke to had similar views to the rest of the population, which left Scott rather disheartened.

Scott: It seemed to me that young kids think like this because as soon as they're old enough to learn they're fed an unending diet of anti-gay propaganda.

World's Worst Place to be Gay? on iPlayer till 21 February 2011

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