In plain sight

[DefinitelyNotMe]

I am looking at you, BBC.

Nice sentiment but can never happen in the current climate without being overwhelmed by people who think they are lesbians.

I agree. This would show up the situation for what it really is, although at a significant cost to the participants.

Kind of reminds me of something... Oh yes, Pride X years ago.

I'm constantly shocked by the lesbian and old fashioned LGB supporters who seem to not see how the kink and the T is undoing the work done to make being same sex attracted a version of normal.

This stuff is causing organisations to double down on their rights to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Which is legal in Australia for religious organisations, including schools and charities. How do we argue that being gay is not a fetish or a threat to vulnerable people when Pride tells the opposite story?

littlecababge i thought that might happen, I was going to say coudl it be archived. i dont know how and have my hands full. Fucking sick bastards.

Maybe the original web content reporter was trying to do the public a favour by showing what's really out there.

I completely get that there is heightened sensitivity to this right now, however the fetish stuff really isn’t a new event at pride. I lived in SF during the early 2000s, and it was absolutely a part of the pride parades when I went to them then. The attached photo was taken from the New York parade in 2000, and is very close to the BBC one. I distinctly remember being surprised by the fetish element back then, so I’m not sure why people are seeing it as a new event now.

I thought the adult babies picture would go, it really was indefensible

they're replaced it with yet another crowd scene though, not managed to find any pictures that centre any women

fuck you BBC

I took a screenshot.

MrsGface - they aren't dressed as little children. They're dressed a bit like Clare, Grayson Perryk's alter ego. Can you not see the difference?

In any event, I agree that there has always been an element of kink to Pride. When I used to go, there was leather and tiny cod pieces.

But there weren't gimp masks and adult babies, pups and fetished women's clothing. Nor was the whole event supported by every single FTSE company and positioned as fun for all the family.

There's been a simultaneous shift towards more kink and greater normalisation. That's what I find disturbing

There's been a simultaneous shift towards more kink and greater normalisation

Agreed.

I thought that orchid, but there are a few thinking quite critically about Grayson too on occasions. I'm divided but thinking of going to see him on tour to see what he says. Might query it to him if I'm brave enough! They do look for more panto dame in that pic, but all that's probably another thread...

From your screen shot I'd say the bbc are either totally and utterly blind with zero editorial ability, channelling brass eye or trolling!

Orchid the one on the right in the blue romper suit (I still can’t believe I’m typing that about a middle aged man) has a dummy in his mouth.

the one on the right in the blue romper suit (I still can’t believe I’m typing that about a middle aged man) has a dummy in his mouth

And is draped in a rainbow flag

Acceptance without exception!!

Complained via the online form that their online pride coverage (link from PP) features no women. I wrote:

This Pride festival coverage contains no images of women celebrating Pride. Lesbians have fought invisibility, discrimination and prejudice for years. Pride is about homosexual visibility and removing shame. This coverage undermines that struggle. It is also very male-focused and is not representative of the LGBT community or the population as a whole.

I am so angry that kink and fetish have been allowed to be conflated with being LGB, even T, for those genuinely dysphoric individuals. This does nothing for acceptance, it's actively working against it.

the one on the right in the blue romper suit (I still can’t believe I’m typing that about a middle aged man) has a dummy in his mouth

Look at the print on that figure's fabric as well - rainbow-maned and tailed unicorn ponies.

I can't believe that the Fortune 500 and FTSEs are wholly sanguine about this. Is nobody monitoring this as part of their horizon scanning and due diligence? Or is this the inevitable outcome of being so firmly behind the ideology that they've left themselves no reasonable mode of withdrawing? Even when the problems are becoming more flagrant are institutions and senior officials going to persist with their money and support even in the death throes?

This feels like Kids & Co yet again.

The 3 blokes isn't a posed photo, they obviously weren't aware it was being taken. I wonder if they've had a hand it its removal from the website. Could be uncomfortable at work today.......

I did sent an email to the BBC and the picture has been taken down (www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-48893187). Text of email:
Hello
you have published on your website the attached photo, taken at the London Pride event 2019. It seems that this picture might breach guidelines on child sexual abuse. I am copying the following text from the NSPCC's Guidelines on Online Child Sexual Abuse.

In the UK the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) classifies films, trailers and advertisements on behalf of local authorities who licence cinemas and video works under the Video Recordings Act 1984. The BBFC Guidelines set out categorisation standards that will be familiar to readers of this report – U, PG, 15, 18 etc. There is also a category called R18, which is for material that is to be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults only. Not all content is acceptable for an R18 film, trailer or advertisement – specifically the guidelines state that material (including dialogue) likely to encourage an interest in sexually abusive activity which may include adults role-playing as non-adults is not acceptable .

We think that the rules that apply online, or lack thereof, are fuelling the demand for child sexual abuse images. This must change. As a society, we cannot tolerate adults engaging in role-play as children for the sexual gratification of other adults. This material is illegal offline and therefore must therefore also be illegal online.

(This is the link to the on-line publication learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1194/online-child-sexual-abuse-images.pdf)

There is no necessary connection between LGBT and paedophilia or child abuse. But the picture you published potentially establishes that connection. In this context, I would like to remind you that David Challenor was convicted last year of torturing and sexually abusing a 10 year old girl while he himself dressed as a little girl. (www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/coventry-captive-girl-attic-torture-den-david-challenor-coventry-a8502991.html).

While it is true that sometimes actors, or artists, will dress up as girls, this is not in connection with an event that is centred on people's right to their own sexuality. Surely this does not include the right to paedophilia. In any event, sexual kinks are allowed in the privacy of one's house, not necessarily in full view of minors.
I hope you will delete the picture from your website immediately.

They aren't doing any harm

Yes they are.

They're normalising the display of sexual kinks in public. They're moving the Overton window to make a man obviously exhibiting his sexual fetish, unremarkable.

That's an attack on all our sexual boundaries.

That's harm.

I'm divided but thinking of going to see him on tour to see what he says. Might query it to him if I'm brave enough!

Depending on what he's wearing, ask him if he gets sexual excitement from dressing like that in front of a crowd (the answer is yes he does, it's a humiliation fantasy that he admits)

Alessandra, that is an excellent letter.

A brilliant letter. Congratulations.

Interesting link about Refugee Pride CharlieParley. I don’t think I saw a single sympathetic response to the original tweet - they were all about how everyone should pay and how well controlled the march was.

Oh, and the more the corporations see the fetish shit the more they are likely to walk away. Who wants their brand tainted by adult males dresses as little girls?

Not sure about that Aspley if the reaction to the NSPCC employee is anything to go by. Might be different if Pride was led by refugee marchers. Was in the City on Saturday. Every big corporation had a Pride window display, flag etc. I think very few know or care about Get the L out or refugees from countries where they were persecuted for their sexual identity.

That is a great letter Alessandra!

I’m really looking forward to the reply from the BBC on this one. They can never admit they’re wrong, so the spin is going to be interesting

Μy reply - they didn't address the lack of women that I also mentioned

"Thanks for contacting us about the BBC News website article entitled, 'Pride in London marks 50 years of protest' (www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-488931877_).

I appreciate you felt an image used in the article was inappropriate and I'd like to reassure you that it has since been removed.

Your complaint was shared with BBC News and senior management in our daily feedback reports. These reports are among the most widely read sources of feedback in the BBC and help to inform our approach to reporting.

Thanks again for getting in touch with your feedback."

Good. It's been my experience that the Beeb will often (though not always) listen to complaints and feedback.

Double-edged sword of course, because while I'm personally pleased they've been influenced by the complaints from folk on this thread, it also means they're vulnerable to complaints or lobbying pushing them in another direction.