In 2020, the online news organization The Intercept revealed that HRW’s then-Executive Director, Ken Roth, accepted a $470,000 donation from a Saudi billionaire based on the condition that HRW would not use the money to protect the rights of the persecuted LGBTQ-plus community in the Middle East.
Roth was compelled to return the donation after The Intercept report.
I haven’t seen either version, but I’ve heard very good things. Britain has been more accepting than America (although there’s obviously still a lot of bigotry) because there have been some very famous gay actors and comedians in the country throughout the second half of the 20th century. There were two openly gay characters on a very popular 1960s radio sitcom (radio is still a very popular dramatic and comedic medium in the UK) called Hancock’s Half Hour. They spoke in Polari, which was well-known as a coded language in the British gay community. Kenneth Williams, who played one of them, was beloved by the British public and he made absolutely no secret of his sexual orientation.
And, of course, there’s been a long history of men and women in drag in the UK. Christmas pantos always involve men dressed in women’s clothing and women dressed in men’s clothing and it wouldn’t be Christmas in Britain without them.
Probably makes sense why I loved so much British TV as a kid and still do today. Most of the comedy I watch/listen to is UK based. Mostly because I see way more LGBTQ+ people there and that they aren’t treated like the butt of a joke. Or that people don’t freak out. Like I was watching Would I Lie To You the other day and one of the lies was someone saying “I only took one guitar lesson because my teacher was too hot.” The first question from the opposing team was “Did you find her attractive?” And then, barely a beat later “Or, him attractive?” Instead of immediately feeling like he needed to prove his sexuality, the other dude just says “I’m recently married. They were a threat.”
It’s those tiny things. The big grand gestures are nice but don’t mean anything by themselves. Anyone can do something big. But letting the small things like that go through and just being a kind person like that all the time? That shit is seemingly inherent to a lot of UK comedy but non-existent in the US and Canada.
Have you watched Taskmaster? Not only is it incredibly funny, but last season they had a nonbinary comedian on the show and this season there are two gay people, a man and a woman. One of them is Julian Clary who is very frank (and very funny) about his homosexuality and has brought so much value to the season. For other reasons too, but that has always been a big part of his comedy and it’s a lot of fun.
More interesting to me was the situation in the show Never Mind the Buzzcocks whose host, Simon Amstell, came out between seasons. No one seemed bothered by it.
Julian Clary I’m familiar with. Didn’t know that about Taskmaster overall though. Gotta definitely check that out. Also yeah I forgot about that Simon moment too. Really no one gave a shit. QI is another great example. Both hosts have been gay and both hosts were never given shit for it.
Definitely check out Taskmaster. It’s become one of my favorite shows. A group of comedians are given very silly tasks to complete- for example, getting three yoga balls up a steep hill or making a meal where all the ingredients start with the same letter. The comedians on the show have all been top level talent from around the world. The nonbinary comedian was Canadian, so you might have heard of them- Mae Martin. Their deadpan delivery cracked me up.
I’ve seen clips from the show but just never seen a full episode. I’m a big Greg Davies fan so i’ll watch anything with him in it.
Also unfamiliar with Mae but I’ll check them out