Is Channel 5 weaker than UKIP when it comes to combating homophobia?
Is Channel 5 weaker than the UK Independence Party (UKIP) when it comes to dealing with homophobes?
While UKIP is forced to remove councillors and candidates who have made homophobic remarks after media attention, the producers of Big Brother, which now appears on Channel 5, took no action when it surfaced that a contestant had called for a gay person to be shot for using the word “lush”.
Danielle McMahon also said in an interview with the Daily Star that due to her Catholic beliefs, she thinks same-sex marriage is “just not right”.
When asked by PinkNews whether McMahon would have been ejected from the house if she had made a similar remark based on race or disability, Channel 5 has not yet responded.
A UKIP councillor who made similar remarks, was expelled from the party less than a week after being elected, after it emerged he referred to gay people as “poofs, dykes, and perverts.”
Dave Small, who was elected to Redditch Borough Council’s Church Hill ward, made a series of homophobic and racist Facebook posts.
The party said: “He has now been expelled for clearly bringing the party into disrepute.”
Others have stepped down after making homophobic remarks in public and on social media.
On 1 May 2014, Channel 5 was acquired by Viacom, which also owns MTV and Logo TV, a US-based LGBT channel.
