“The little faggot with the earring and the make-up — Yeah, buddy, that’s his own hair. That little faggot’s got his own jet airplane. That little faggot, he’s a millionaire.”
— Lyrics to the 1985 hit song “Money for Nothing” by British band Dire Straits, sung by a stereotypical computer-generated worker in the groundbreaking video. In response to a complaint about a radio station airing an unedited version of the song in 2010, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has banned playing songs that contain the slur. (Ottawa Globe & Mail, Jan. 13)
“The panel concludes that, like other racially driven words in the English language, ‘faggot’ is one that, even if entirely or marginally accepted in earlier days, is no longer so. It’s the word that is used most often in hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation, which we know are the most violent, against gay men.”
— Ruling from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, holding that songs like “Money for Nothing”with the word “faggot” can’t air unedited (Ottawa Globe & Mail, Jan. 13)
“In some ways, Lincoln Chafee is an accidental governor for Rhode Island, elected in the most unusual of circumstances. Yet he expects legislators to follow him off the cliff in pursuit of same-sex marriage.”
— Christopher Plante, coordinator for the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which launched a $100,000 ad campaign to counter Chafee’s call for the state to legalize gay marriage (On Top Magazine, Jan. 14)
Top photo: Out actress Jane Lynch. (Via Facebook)