On-air 'poofter' comment upsets gay listeners

Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

An outraged gay community has lashed out at a Tauranga radio station for using the word "poofter" live on air.

A Facebook page called More FM - Say Sorry! has been set up to demand an apology from the radio station after it broadcast comments from a caller accusing a breakfast host of "acting like a poofter".

A complaint was made to the Broadcasting Standards Authority but it was not upheld. The page has already attracted 134 members since it was created last week.

Auckland-based film-maker and writer Christopher Banks started the Facebook group. He said the word "poofter" was extremely offensive to gay men.

"Gay bashings are frequently accompanied by the attackers shouting abusive terms such as this," he said.

"A close friend of mine told me [on Thursday] the last time he heard the word was just before his partner got attacked by a gang of thugs."

Mr Banks said the strong reaction showed a lot of people were "sick and tired of putting up with this and then being told it's just a bit of a laugh".

"Particularly given the higher suicide rate among gay youth in New Zealand, many of whom would have had to put up with physical and verbal abuse at school. There are a lot of bereaved families out there today who wouldn't find this very funny either."

He was disgusted by the BSA's decision.

The authority stated that while the organisation accepted that "poofter" was considered to be derogatory towards gay men, in this instance it was intended to mean "wuss" or "wimp". The word was used in reference to a midwinter swim.

"While we are of the view that broadcasters need to be aware of the negative connotations of terms such as this, and take appropriate care in their usage, we consider that it was part of a brief, lighthearted exchange, and was clearly not uttered in an abusive or vitriolic manner," the ruling said.

Facebook page member Mess Schwarzenberg said "well that's Tauranga, homophobia seems to be trendy over there".

Member Adam Taylor said: "Yeah, it is a really stink word, brings back so many bad memories for me back in the school days. I haven't heard the exchange but it sounds like we are being a bit too precious. Perhaps it's just a little too close to home."

MediaWorks Bay of Plenty general manager Tim Lockhart said More FM did not plan to apologise.

"We believe the BSA's decision is a sensible one and we also feel this matter is worth further discussion and exploration," Mr Lockhart said.

More FM will play the audio again today to ask listeners what they think about it. Many people upset by the comment had not heard the audio, so they did not understand the context it was said in, Mr Lockhart said.

"More FM is a family targeted station and so anything derogatory or swear words do not even come into the vocabulary of announcers."

- APN