Gays in the Media

Wednesday, 26 April .... Have just been interviewed by a student journalist for a radio show he's producing on how society's attitudes toward gay people have changed.

Indeed, perceptions and tolerance levels have changed - and the media has played a huge role in that. These days, it's not acceptable to 'out' someone through the tabloid press and civil partnership legislation was passed without serious condemnation from leader writers and the Op Ed brigade.

But in Scotland, the debate over the repeal of Clause 2A - the equivalent of Section 28 - created some dreadful copy in our print media. It was discriminatory in the extreme, even though, since its repeal, society hasn't disintegrated into a pit of gay iniquity.

Still, it wasn't too long ago that I was singled out by the NoTW for attending a show which looked at gay dating. It didn't matter that I was on the board of Glasgay! which was producing the performance - but shock, horror, to think that a single gay man who advises the Leader of Glasgow City Council and writes a TV soap opera, might have a gay dating advert .... well, I shudder to think of the repercussions.

Thankfully, the NoTW put me down as being 29-years-old, instead of my 31 years at the time and didn't print the oh, so saucy pics of me standing around in a pair of surf shorts (I know, such depravity).

But it did show, yet again, that someone can be targeted by the media just because of their sexuality.

So has reporting of the LGBT community really changed? Elton John's 'marriage' to long-term partner, David Furnish, made front page news - none more memorably than The Sun's "Elton Takes Furnish Up The Aisle" headline.

Now that there's legislation to protect against discrimination in the provision of goods and services - the next time there's homophobic reporting, we may well be able to take action ....