An excellent report about gay rights in Uganda on Newsround this afternoon (1.50pm bulletin) -

Ricky Boleto: Next - what rights gay people should have is a big issue around the world, particularly in Africa. In the African country of Uganda, gay people have been holding rallies to try to change the law.

Ricky reports on gay rights in Africa

Ricky: Hundreds of people waved the Ugandan national flag and Rainbow banners. They danced and sang. They say they're fighting for more freedom to admit you're gay across Africa. It's against the law to be openly gay in Uganda and in many other African countries. But there have been some changes recently. Up until last year gay people could be sentenced to life in jail. Now that can't happen any more, and the demonstrators think African governments should be more understanding. They say they want equal human rights for gay people.

Moses Kimbugwe (gay rights supporter): Violence, discrimination, harassment and stigma against all LGBT people is bad. So we are here to send a message to the wider population that we do exist and we do want rights like any other Ugandan.

Ricky: The demonstrators say they're proud to be gay and they want society to respect them. In Africa many people hold traditional beliefs and do not approve of gay people. Some African leaders have said it's not part of their culture. But a few weeks ago President Obama visited East Africa and gave his support for equal rights. The gay rights demonstrators are hoping that President Obama's words and today's marches will begin to change people's minds.

Yesterday, most news channels, including BBC news, devoted tonnes of time to reporting the same-sex marriage referendum count in Ireland - and rightly so. The large majority voting 'Yes' is a hugely significant result, not only for Ireland, but also for gay people around the world, who have been treated as second-class citizens for way too long. Most of the coverage was good and reflected modern-day thinking on the need to treat all people fairly, without discrimination.

TV producers have traditionally sought to include minorities such BAME and disabled people, though virtually no current children's series portray lesbian or gay characters. Hopefully the outcome of the Irish referendum will help to drive things forward.

Making factual programmes inclusive presents more of a challenge than making dramas. The ideal answer is simply to look out for opportunities to report stories, issues and facts relevant to diverse families and children.

Newsround did report the same-sex marriage referendum today. They could have improved their reports by mentioning that many thousands of young people, both gay and straight, returned to Ireland from abroad just in order to vote for equal rights - #HomeToVote

Ayshah Tull reports on the same-sex marriage referendum
Newsround reports at 10.05am ... 12.05pm

The Commonwealth Games are about to start in Glasgow, the home town of Newsround reporter and disability rights campaigner, Martin Dougan.

Martin's report this morning explained what the Commonwealth is supposed to be about.

Martin: .. Many years ago Britain controlled lots of countries as part of something called the British Empire. Although these countries are now independent, they have chosen to become part of the Commonwealth. It's a group of countries across the world which signs up to a set of values including democracy, law and human rights. ..




Martin fails to tell kids that many of those countries breach the human rights of LGBT people.

This morning's 8.55am bulletin also included Martin reporting live from Glasgow. I suspect he would be less enthusiastic about these Games if some of those Commonwealth countries routinely imprisoned disabled people. But then CBBC, like so many Commonwealth countries, seems to have little time for the equal rights of LGBT people.

The main Newsround story today related to Greg Dyke's comment about the World Cup in Qatar. It would be much too hot in the summer, said Mr Dyke. Of course that sporting competition isn't taking place for another nine years.

But the Winter Olympics, due to take place in Sochi, Russia in only six months, has been another big talking point recently - especially so after Stephen Fry called for a the event to take place in another country where LGBT human rights are respected.

It hardly needs to be said that Newsround has completely avoided reporting the latter controversy. You could easily conclude - rightly or wrongly - that the people who decide what news items British kids see on TV are sympathetic to the aims of those who drafted the anti-gay laws in Russia.

Is religion good for children? That's the topic for discussion on next Sunday's The Big Questions on BBC One at 10am.

Last week it was revealed that the Catholic Education Service had been in touch with Catholic schools in England and Wales, advising them of a duty “to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations.” The duty is a reference to a letter by two archbishops, which was read out in Catholic churches on 11th March 2012.

St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls in Carshalton acted on the "duty" by suggesting pupils could sign a petition against marriage equality.

So why was this story ignored by Newsround?

Recall Newsround's 40th anniversary survey, and the spurious finding that kids these days are twice as likely to say religion is important than they were in 1972.

Newsround recently reported on human rights, but when it comes to secular and LGBT human rights there is a wealth of evidence that the BBC, and in particular BBC children's TV, is still mired in old-fashioned religious intolerance.

BBC School Report

A great deal of hard work was put in by schools from around Britain.

How many of the participants in BBC School Report have considered the extent to which journalism actually affects attitudes? Who was making the editorial decisions in the two hour live web stream which went out from 2-4pm?

Newsround at 3.45pm yesterday began like this: "Hi guys. It's Ore here with everything you need to know this afternoon. Now it's our job on Newsround to tell you the stories that matter to you ...."

The programme went on to include three items. Firstly the BBC School Report, which was already underway on the web. Next there was a story about boyband One Direction, who are making it big in the American charts right now. And the last story was about the British Animation Awards:-

Ore: "And finally Peppa Pig, Postman Pat and Shaun the Sheep and these guys Wallace & Gromit will be dusting off their bow tie for the big British Animation Awards taking place tonight. Up for grabs is the best cartoon character of all time award ..."

The flagship 5pm bulletin on BBC One yesterday reported the following 7 stories -

1} Row about cruelty involved in horse racing

2} Refugees fleeing violence in Syria

3} BBC School Report

4} St Asaph has new status as a City

5} Prince Harry interview on the Jubilee celebrations

6} British Animation Awards

7} One Direction

So those were yesterday's stories which, as Ore said earlier, matter to Newsround's viewers.

As you can see, there wasn't a word to say about the big human rights story of the day - plans to end marriage discrimination against lesbian and gay couples. Isn't it just possible that a story about gay equality might be relevant to quite a lot of Newsround's audience and/or their families?

Religion, on the other hand, is treated as something quite suitable for kids. And today's announcement by the Archbishop of Canterbury was the lead story on Newsround at 3.20pm and 4.25pm today. In the 3.20pm report Nel told viewers that Rowan Williams is "the most senior person in charge of the Church of England, apart from the Queen and God of course."

With kids' TV happy to report on faith news, whilst the same time maintaining its anti-gay censorship policy, is it any wonder that homophobic attitudes are prevalent in Britain's primary schools?