Mail columnist provokes homophobia storm over Stephen Gately's death

[oldironside]

"The Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir has walked into a storm of protest over her article today, Why there was nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gately's death.

Scores of comments, most of them highly critical, soon appeared on the paper's website, though some that I spotted earlier in the day appear to have been deleted or amended by the moderator. Similarly, the tweetosphere is boiling with rage against Moir's apparent homophobic stance.

The burden of her piece is that Gately's death is connected in some unspecified way to the fact that he was gay."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/oct/16/dailymail-stephen-gately

Ah, the Mail never disappoints.

[T_i_B]

1. The offending bitchy nonsense is here

Be sure to put on your nose peg before clicking on the link.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1220756/A-strange-lonely-troubling-death--.html

[oldironside]

2. I make it a rule never to read the Mail.

There's enough shit floating around in my head without adding any of that hateful bilge. Ditto the Express and the Sun. But thanks for the link.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. They've changed the article title

A PCC spokesman told PinkNews.co.uk that it was receiving "a significant number" of complaints, with around 200 logged by 1pm.

By around 3pm, the commission's website appeared to have crashed under the weight of the complaints.

Earlier today, a number of Twitter users suggested contacting companies such as Marks & Spencer, Enjoy England and BT which were advertising on Moir's page on the Daily Mail website.

In the last few hours, most of the advertisements on the page have disappeared.

The headline of the piece has also changed, from 'Why there was nothing "natural" about Stephen Gately's death' to 'A strange, lonely and troubling death'.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/10/16/twitter-storm-over-vile-daily-mail-column-on-gay-singer-stephen-gately/

[LeftishBrit]

9. Vile poisonous crap - but what is new about the Hate-Mail?

Pure poison since it was founded.

[T_i_B]

10. It's just bitchy, innuendo riven bile really.

The whole peice insinuates that Gateley somehow died of being gay. Although I'd like to see Jan Moir's medical reasoning about the death not being "natural" causes.

It's a nasty piece, although I would argue that Littlecock's infamous screed on the Ipswich murders is worse myself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-423549/Littlejohn-Spare-Peoples-Prostitute-routine-.html

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. "Why there was nothing 'human' about Jan Moir's column on the death of Stephen Gately"

Why there was nothing 'human' about Jan Moir's column on the death of Stephen Gately by Charlie Brooker

The funeral of Stephen Gately has not yet taken place. The man hasn't been buried yet. Nevertheless, Jan Moir of the Daily Mail has already managed to dance on his grave. For money.

It has been 20 minutes since I've read her now-notorious column, and I'm still struggling to absorb the sheer scope of its hateful idiocy. It's like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite. Spiralling galaxies of ignorance roll majestically against a backdrop of what looks like dark prejudice, dotted hither and thither with winking stars of snide innuendo.

(snip)

Anyway, having cast aspersions over a tragic death, doubted a coroner and insulted a grieving mother, Moir's piece builds to its climax: "Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships. . . Gay activists are always calling for tolerance and understanding about same-sex relationships, arguing that they are just the same as heterosexual marriages . . . in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately's last night raise troubling questions about what happened." Way to spread the pain around, Jan. Way to link two unrelated tragedies, Jan. Way to gay-bash, Jan.

Jan's paper, the Daily Mail, absolutely adores it when people flock to Ofcom to complain about something offensive, especially when it's something they've only learned about second-hand via an inflammatory article in a newspaper. So it would undoubtedly be delighted if, having read this, you paid a visit to the Press Complaints Commission website (www.pcc.org.uk) to lodge a complaint about Moir's article on the basis that it breaches sections 1, 5 and 12 of its code of practice.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/16/stephen-gately-jan-moir

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. Oh noes, it's a gay conspiracy

:eyes:

Jan Moir hits out at 'mischievous' online 'campaign'

Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir has this afternoon issued a statement claiming that a 'heavily orchestrated internet campaign' was 'mischievous in the extreme' to suggest her column today commenting on the death of singer Stephen Gately was homophobic.

More: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=44483&c=1

[T_i_B]

11. That is one very dishonest statement by Moir

For your information Jan, we've all read your article, it's hard to get away from it on Twitter so don't try and claim that people are ill-informed on this one. Anyone visiting Twitter yesterday would have actually found it quite hard to get away from all the tinyURL links to the article.

The Twitter campaign is not being orchesterated. If she really thinks so then she should name names. Although it is very doubtful that she's ever actually visited the site judging by how ill informed her statement is.

I don't know about you lot but I think we are going to get lots of anti-Twitter scare stories from the Mail for a while. Think something along the lines of TWITTER CAUSES CANCER or PAEDOPHILES ALL USE TWITTER, that sort of thing. The Mail is already very anti-Facebook so it's not a big leap for them to make.

[Hopeless Romantic]

6. I find it immensly encouraging that

this sort of nasty shit has become increasingly unacceptable.


Progress.

[oldironside]

7. Definitely

A large number of people have come to the stunning conclusion that... some people are just gay.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Agreed.

[TheBigotBasher]

12. Indeed.

I am very impressed by the commentators, a good slap down of vile bigotry.

(PS - I also expect to see her go after Twitter now for encouraging terrorists, pedos, etc).

[fedsron2us]

13. The joys of celebrity culture

When the star is dead the vultures can descend to pick over the bones.

Gateleys death is obviously deeply sad for his family and friends but the media hysteria it seems to have generated is symptomatic of the dysfunctional news reporting that is endemic in modern Britain.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

14. Tabloid Watch Will the Mail react to Moir as it expected the BBC to react over 'Sachsgate'?

Will the Mail react to Moir as it expected the BBC to react over 'Sachsgate'?

The obnoxious way in which the Mail tried to occupy the moral high ground over the Sachsgate affair should come back to haunt them in the wake of the Jan Moir article about Stephen Gately.

Take this quote from a Mail on Sunday editorial on 25 October 2008:

It is astonishing to discover that this torrent of verbal sewage was pre-recorded, approved by a nameless 'senior executive' and then deliberately allowed to go out on the air.

Quite so. So would the Mail like to name the 'senior executive' who gave the go-ahead to Moir's torrent of written sewage?

Moir, of course, has issued a feeble 'response' but there was no hint of an apology from her. Or from the paper. Surely the Mail wouldn't accept a failure to apologise if others caused offence?

Many of us would much enjoy the sight of Mr Ross and Mr Brand offering a five-star grovelling apology, with BBC Director General Mark Thompson at their side.

Change the names for Moir and Paul Dacre, the Mail Editor, and yes, we'd very much enjoy that sight, thanks.

Mail columnist Stephen Glover was also up in arms, asking:

How could a man of such high morals preside over the BBC's descent into the gutter

Is he equally worried about the Mail's descent into the gutter under Dacre who regards himself as highly moral, despite the filth his newspaper all too often spews out?

More: http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/2009/10/will-mail-react-to-moir-as-it-expected.html

A good article. The Mail are hypocrites and I really doubt that they'll apologise.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

15. I Read This Tripe

and whatever crap Jan Moir ends up in, she deserves it. The article was nothing but sheer homohating speculation. Fortunately the readers that took time to comment were overwhelmingly against the article. Nice to see some decent people left in the world.

[T_i_B]

16. The bullshit continues

Nosepegs at the ready folks as Moir attempts to defend the indefensible.

You've got to love how she twists it so the 20k+ crowd is somehow imaginary, but her invisible hoardes of supporters are real. Textbook fuckwittery. And if she thinks that people from Twitter didn't read the article then she is a liar.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1222246/The-truth-views-tragic-death-Stephen-Gately.html