Graham Norton: Ask

Graham Norton and his production company So Television have been reprimanded by the BBC after he wore a World Aids Day ribbon on air.

The presenter and his guests all sported the charity emblem on his BBC One chat show broadcast on 29 November.

BBC entertainment controller Mark Linsey said, although Norton "cares passionately about" World Aids Day, he was "in breach of BBC guidelines".

Wearing poppies in support of the Royal British Legion is the one exception.

Editorial guidelines state: "The BBC must remain independent and distanced from government initiatives, campaigners, charities and their agendas, no matter how apparently worthy the cause or how much their message appears to be accepted or uncontroversial."

BBC News.

Not arsed really, unless they ban those stupid poppies.
Graham wasn't SLAMMED or BLASTED or even disciplined etc.
The BBC said; "The production company has been contacted and reminded that he cannot do this".
If it's a general policy for the BBC "to remain independent and distanced from government initiatives, campaigners, charities and their agendas” (BBC editorial guidelines 4.4.20!), then this seems quite reasonable.
No exception for Aids or for war, though.
Unless you believe in gay and/or militarist exceptionalism.

PS Comment: How dare the presenter of a TV show that plugs films and albums promote HIV awareness. Ben Cohen, Pink News. A fair point...

PPS It has emerged that BBC presenters are allowed to promote National Christmas Day and Movember but are banned from promoting World AIDS Day. Pink News, who are going big with this.

PPPS More about this on Pink News - Ben Bradshaw speaks out!

PPPPS Even more! Tory vice-chair Michael Fabricant says it's "extraordinary".

Hope this isn't just the latest part of a Daily Mail-style campaign of bashing the "Biased BBC" by Pink News.

Elton John: "A********!"

"Sir Elton John has launched a foul-mouthed attack on the ‘fascists, idiots and a********’ who stigmatise Aids victims.
"The singer said doctors and campaigners were on the brink of beating the illness, but attitudes had to change too.
"‘This is not a faggots’ f****** disease any more. This is a worldwide disease that affects everybody,’ he said...."

Elton John speaking at a World Aids Day event in Sydney, from The Daily Mail.
I love it how the Mail use asterisks on every swear word... except "faggots", natch.

David Cameron: "I Really Really Care About Aids, Honest"

"That's why I'm kicking you off sickness benefits, slashing funding for HIV/Aids groups, and killing off the NHS."
"But I'm wearing a red ribbon, so NERR!"

Washington Post: Cancer Linked To Gays

The first story written about HIV/Aids in the Washington Post.
Who are duplicitously bigging this up on their website - even though the New York Native broke the story, and the LA Times and New York Times were there before.
Today is the 25th World Aids Day.
"Get your limited edition sparkly red ribbon!" from The World Aids Day website.
Fuck, that's tasteful.
When I think of a way to remember all my dead friends it has to be by buying a limited edition sparkly red ribbon.

World Aids Day: Elton Edits Indie

I'll get a copy of this special edition of The Independent when I brave the cold and snow.
I just hope there's something in it by David Furnish.
The biggest World Aids Day con I've spotted thus far is that Starbucks are donating 5p - five sodding p! - from each coffee sold to something called "the Global Fund".
"So why not get all your friends and work colleagues to choose Starbucks next Wednesday and together we can all make a difference."
And they wonder why anarchists smash their windows.

EDIT: The Independent does have this in an Elton John-themed diary column; "Elton made an appearance in the Wikileaks dump of American diplomatic cables, one of which mentions his trip to Kazakhstan to perform at a birthday party for President Nazarbayev's son-in-law. But he's confident that's the last he'll read of himself in the documents. "I haven't fucked anyone in the American government," he reassured me. "No blow jobs in the Oval Office for me."
The cable reads; "In 2007, President Nazarbayev's son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev, celebrated his 41st birthday in grand style. At a small venue in Almaty, he hosted a private concert with some of Russia's biggest pop-stars. The headliner, however, was Elton John, to whom he reportedly paid one million pounds for this one-time appearance."
In June, John was reportedly paid $1 million to play at the wedding of right-wing US shock jock, Rush Limbaugh.
Good to think Sir Elton sticks to these nice, round figures - and politically dodgy figures.

Press Briefing: We're Making The News

And in other news today - yes there is some - there's some stuff about The Gays and the news in the news.

A gay bloke has asked another gay bloke to marry him via the front-page of London's Metro!
I thought he sounded a bit flash and creepy when I heard, but apparently he won a competition where the prize was a Metro cover to do what thou wilt with so that's not quite so bad, I suppose.
And if it made some bigot's commute a bit more miserable this morning then it's all good with me.
Apparently, the other gay bloke has said yes.
No, I'm not really bothered either, but in a spirit of fraternal solidarity I hope it all works out better for them than it does for those other two people who've announced their engagement today.

Sir Elton of John will be guest editing a special edition of The Independent (and i!) for World Aids Day!
Bono did this in 2006 and it was predictably pretty wanky, but Fagburn is pressing the pause-button on his cynicism for this one.
When Mr John has contributed to newspapers in the past he's often shown an admirable internationalist perspective, he does get angry about stuff that people should be angry about, and he does have an interesting set of close-personal-showbiz-friends to call on for the other stuff.
Elton also knows some goons like Rush Limbaugh and Eminem, but let's hope for the best.
The Independent claims; "He is said to have already begun planning the special edition of The Independent."
I should ruddy hope so too, he's only got a fortnight.

And finally... just for once Pink News has an item of news that you won't have already read somewhere else ages ago!
"Wanted: A staff writer for PinkNews.co.uk"
Pink News used to be edited/written by Tony Grew - probably the best news journalist the British gay press has ever had.
It is currently edited/written by Jessica Geen - who's hopeless and clueless.
Fagburn sincerely hopes Pink News choose a new Grew this time.

Andrew Pierce: "As A Gay Uncle Tom..."

The Daily Mail's Andrew Pierce regularly peppers his columns with the dread words "as a a gay man..."
You just know he's going to follow it with some crowd-pleasing homophobic twaddle.
Today he writes about 'Annie's Insult To Remember'.
"A record 46 million poppies were sold this year. But not everyone joined the spirit of remembrance.
"While promoting her new song on TV’s Strictly Come Dancing last night, Annie ­Lennox, 55, crassly wore a red ribbon (denoting ­solidarity with Aids victims) instead of a poppy.
"As a gay man, you may think I would admire Lennox for wearing an Aids awareness ribbon. I don’t.
Lennox’s new song is called ­Universal Child.
But to our brave Armed Forces, her performance was more like a universal insult."
It's hardly pissing on the Centotaph, is it?
And World Aids Day is two weeks away.
Pierce's pissy little piece is as underhand as would be Fagburn heading this post; "Heartless Andrew Pierce has slammed Annie Lennox for wearing an Aids Ribbon".
But anyway, once you've ceased reeling from Mr Pierce's dazzling wordplay, you might like to ponder why so many gay journalists on the straight press keep going on about how much they don't like anything gay...