[justaskin]

Not that I think being gay is anything to hide, but there is that theory isn't there that the people who go around shouting loudly how straight they are and how much they hate gay people are the ones who feel very insecure about their sexuality.

You know, it's the ones who dream of trysts with David Beckham that spend the next day telling homophobic jokes just in case anyone "gets the wrong idea".

I'm not saying Chris Moyles is gay. I don't care either way - I don't think it's a positive or a negative thing to be gay, and it's up to him if he wants to be straight, gay or bi, I'm just wondering where the hostility comes from...

Hmmmmmm. Any thoughts?

[Console]

Chris Moyles isn't homophobic, he has homosexual friends for cryin' out loud.

[justaskin]

does that prove anything?

[Console]

Pretty much, yes. A phobia is an intense fear of something; something you would not choose to come up against, be it spiders, clowns or, as in this case, homesexuals.

[Betti911]

Chris doesn't tell homophobic jokes re gay people. Think you must be listening to another show.

[justaskin]

whaaat? doesn't say homophobic things? what about this

"OK - I admit, I'm homophobic, all these gay people do my head in" and

"We used to have a gay exec producer, he's gone now of course, spent all his time putting on make up and looking out the window at men"

both quotes from his show. Could he get away with saying "OK - I'm racist, all these black people do my head in"

He's not some shock jock from commercial radio in the states or anything, this is state funded stuff and he feels it's ok to say this stuff. But back the original point which is WHY does he feel he needs to keep banging on about it?

[Console]

"OK - I admit, I'm homophobic, all these gay people do my head in"

When exactly did he say that? And, more importantly, what context was it in? He may have been making fun of someone else that said he was homophobic.

"We used to have a gay exec producer, he's gone now of course, spent all his time putting on make up and looking out the window at men"

That's not a homophobic comment/joke, that's just making fun of the old exec producer.

Could he get away with saying "OK - I'm racist, all these black people do my head in"

That entirely depends on what context it was used in. If it's obvious he's joking then there's not really much to get away with.

WHY does he feel he needs to keep banging on about it?

I listen to all the shows and I can honestly say that I don't remember him 'banging on about it'. I think he mentioned the subject the other day because there was some unfounded press about him being homophobic.

[MK Chris]

Oh do shut up - if you're going to argue your point, make sure it's got a firm background first.

[Console]

Shall I assume that that was at him and not me?

[MK Chris]

Yeah sorry... I replied before I'd had a chance to see your post.

[donnie]

I remember him being really nasty to scott in the early days and i definitely remeber some gay jibes and him doing impressions of scott in a really exaggerated camp voice. i just remember it being more cruel than funny.

[justaskin]

do press reports about people being homophobic (or racist, or anti semitic or any of those things for that matter) just appear unfounded?

The press report came from an equal rights organisation that were concerned about his ongoing "jokes" about gay people, I hear. They wouldn't have just made it up (r would they?)

I'm not saying he isn't funny or popular or any of those things, but i think it is quite widely accepted he is very "laddy" and lots of his jokes are perpetuating stereotypes and homophobic. It's not like it's satire and someone public has done something for him to have a go at, when you use humour that stereotypes a minority group it can be quite damaging.

I'm not sure that is it's a joke it's automatically acceptable.... I can think of a few racist jokes right now that would prob upset alot of people.

But, yeah, don't think you can accuse Chris of never being homopobic. Maybe it's the word homophobic that is getting people's goats up, maybe if I talked about using gay people as the butt of jokes on an ongoing basis you might agree more?

[justaskin]

scott's his assistant, right? yeah i remember that.. think he still does that. I don't listen that often but i hear him making gay jibes alot, it's pretty common.

[donnie]

no I think u mean aled, I was on about scot mills who does the afternoon show.

[Console]

Ok, this is one of the areas is which the world has gone mad in. A joke, one intended to be funny and not harm, should never be unacceptable. In the vast majority of cases Chris is trying to be funny. Just because people don't understand his, or others, sense of humour does not mean that said person is being deliberately malicious or insulting.

I've just been talking to two of my work mates, who are homesexual and listen to Chris in the morning, and they don't find him offensive to them, they just see it as a joke, exactly as it was intended.

[justaskin]

so, do you mean that if someone chose you to be the butt of a joke and it made you feel uncomfortable and when you told that person it made you feel uncomfortable they said "but i don't mean to be offensive" and then just carried on using you as the butt of their jokes it would be ok?

the reason that racist jokes aren't ok for mainstream radio and tv programme is that black people started saying "this makes us feel under threat/uncomfortable/offended" or whatever they felt. There may always have been some people in the black communities that found Bernard Mannings racist jokes funny or acceptable but that doens't mean the majority of them did. There may always have been people that found Jim Davidson's mock pakistani voice the height of humour, and that it was ok for us all to mimick asian accents for a cheap laugh, but lots of people now see that as being outdated, cheap and not very pleasant.

So, you know a couple of gay people who don't find what he says problematic. The number of complaints and comments to the equal rights groups and the bbc and ofcom etc indicates that there is a large number of people out their that feel that when he uses a minority group as a butt of jokes and uses stereotypes of that group to get people to laugh at them, it's offensive. It just reminds me so much of when the camp kid in the playground got teased - it's just unpleasant to think that that the bbc condones that kind of stereotyped attack really.

When that is communicated to him, (by a national equal rights organisation) he goes on to tell even more of them. Go figure.

If I upset someone, they tell me I've upset them, I stop doing whatever upsets them in front of them. I'm not trying to be the thought police, he can think and feel whatever he likes, say and do whatever he likes in private, but he shouldn't be using the licence fee to perpetuate stereotype. He is quite well known for his homophobic joking - why does he keep on?

[Console]

why does he keep on?

And, even more importantly, why do you?

[justaskin]

cos I'm one of the people who finds it threatening and offensive.

[Chongster]

You know, there is an off switch on your radio if you dont like it.

Chris gets over 8 Million listeners now, and I should imagine a good half of them could be gay or bi, yet they continue to listen, Chris makes fun of an awful lot of people on the show, not just homosexual people. But none of it is intended seriously, I doubt he'd be allowed to be on the air if he meant every word he said. You just have to take a lot of what he says in stride, its a comedy show!

[Betti911]

Don't listen then. C'mon you can't expect to come on a fan site and be met with agreement when you come out with crap like this.

[justaskin]

i agree a fan site ain't the best place to find agreement. lol.

all i'm saying is that when a white person tells a joke/laughs at a black person [/b]and the joke is based on nothing except skin colour or stereotypes of black people [b] it is offensive. Most people expect that. In the same way, when a straight person tells a joke/laughs at a gay person [/b]and the joke is based on nothing except their sexuality or stereotypes of gay people [b]it is just as offensive.

Can you at least see that?

[/b]

[Dickie]

I have black friends and gay friends and jokes come out about sexuality or skin colour. They don't take offense from them, they usually laugh along, because the point of a joke is to make people laugh, that's all.

[justaskin]

and if one of them did take offence? what then?

[fish heads]

I'd tell them to go register their apparent disgust at Dickie's fan site and annoy everyone with their lack of evidence

[donnie]

i think the problem is chris isn't a comedian he has no idea about things like style of delivery and timing so he can say say things which people take the wrong way wheras someone like bruce forsyth can get away with it. Vernon Kay makes the odd gay jibe but does it in such a way that is completely inoffensive and uncruel.