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'They are just a continuation of John Inman and Larry Grayson'
Alan Carr "cheap and easy laughs"
Tatchell: Norton and Carr - 'cheap laughs at the expense of gays'
Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has called for a wider range of gay presenters and comedians to be represented on television, saying that those such as Graham Norton and Alan Carr reinforce prejudice by pandering to "very tired archetypes of gay men".
Interviewed in The Stage, he questioned why other gay comedians had not been given prime-time TV work and accused BBC and Channel 4 stars Norton and Carr of encouraging "cheap and easy laughs at the expense of gay people".
"Gay comedians like Graham Norton and Alan Carr are great, but terribly cliched and stereotypical," he said. "They pander to very tired archetypes of gay men and are just a continuation of John Inman and Larry Grayson.
"It shows little imagination and can reinforce prejudices, The problem is not that they are camp comedians, but that they are the only kind of gay comedian that have major TV programmes. Why hasn't any intelligent, non-stereotypical comedian like Scott Capurro got a prime-time slot?
"Heterosexual audiences like laughing at gay men and so people like Alan Carr and Graham Norton fit that bill, whereas Scott Capurro is much too challenging. He makes straight people the butt of his jokes."
Tatchell noted that prominent lesbians on television did not "pander to lesbian stereotypes" and concluded: "I am not saying Graham Norton and Alan Carr should be taken off TV. I am just fed up with the way this camp, cliched stereotype is mostly the only one that gets broadcast."
Tatchell was speaking following an event organised jointly by BECTU, the NUJ and Equity, which discussed the media's portrayal of LGBT people.
The Stage reported that a spokesman for Carr refused to comment, as did the BBC and Channel 4, while Norton could not be contacted.
