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Jolly good
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 29,142
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Jolly good
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 29,142
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From Media Guardian
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Gays attack Sun's 'homophobic' Big Brother offer
Claire Cozens
Tuesday May 20, 2003
The Sun has come under fire from gay rights groups after it restricted an offer of £50,000 for the first Big Brother contestants to have sex on TV to heterosexual couplings.
Pressure group Stonewall said the offer, made in today's newspaper, showed the Sun was "out of touch" and would alienate Big Brother viewers, who had demonstrated their rejection of homophobia by voting an openly gay contestant to win two years ago.
"We think it's bizarre the Sun is excluding lesbian and gay people from their contest. Brian and Anna, two previous gay and lesbian contestants, topped the competition and their subsequent media careers have been strong compared with other straight contestants who have sunk without a trace," said Sacha Deshmukh, Stonewall's director of parliamentary affairs.
"The Sun's competition is clearly out of touch with Big Brother viewers, who have shown they reject homophobia."
Brian Dowling, who won the competition in 2001, has emerged as the most successful former contestant with a lucrative contract to host ITV's Saturday morning show, SM:TV.
Anna Nolan, who made it to the final of the first series, has a presenting job with the BBC.
The Sun's £50,000 offer to the first couple to have sex in the Big Brother house made plain the reward did not extend to homosexuals.
"The rules are simple - we will give £50,000 to the first Big Brother boy-girl bonk," it said.
It is not the first time the Sun has come under fire for homophobia. In 1998 the then editor, David Yelland, provoked a furious reaction with a front-page article demanding to know the sexuality of government ministers, headlined: "Tell us the truth Tony... are we being run by a gay mafia?".
The newspaper was forced to back down after a public outcry and promised not to reveal people's sexuality unless it could be justified on the grounds of overwhelming public interest.
No-one at the Sun could be reached for comment.
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