Let me tell you, internets

Should Homosexuals Face Execution? 

Seriously, BBC? Seriously? 

Okay, let me explain this one. The BBC's debate board - Have Your Say - is infamously full of the biggest nutters you will ever find on the internet. You will find more absurd bigotry there than even in the Daily Mail site. There is even a website dedicated to collecting the best examples of stupidity on those boards:

The Destruction of the Iron Curtain was just another step in Germany’s march to win, by peace, that which it could not win by warfare.
-Atom John, Derby, United Kingdom

So the BBC has to be very circumspect and phrase questions as gently as possible. They try, on the whole, to avoid serious political debate and instead ask for opinions on the smoking ban, or if gnomes are too provactive. People have complained over the lack of serious debate at Have Your Say.

So the BBC attempts serious debate. By asking if gay people should be killed. (Note - after the backlash on this one, they have changed the title, after several hours.) I just... what? This topic was brought about by the dilemma in Uganda at the moment, but there are a thousand better ways to try and engage debate about this issue rather than making it seem like murdering someone is a viable debate! I would love to know if they are going to ask if Jews should be killed or women stoned to death in future debates.

Granted, the BBC article did not go on with Fox-esque hate speech: it actually attempted serious debate and tried to address the fact that people are facing death over prejudice in Uganda. However, of over 600 comments submitted, only 200 were actually sane enough to be published. This was Have Your Say, after all, and the goons read the inflammatory title, logged in and started hammering away at their keyboards. It must have been like all their Christmases had come at once!

Look, I completely agree that a) we cannot force change on Africa and that we should not enforce our own way of thinking on other people - education is the way to go - and b) that this is, therefore, something that needs to be debated and must be constantly questioned so that people can engage rather than give way to ignorance and hatred, but the stupid, stupid phrasing of the question doesn't help. To add insult to injury, the BBC insists that they thought 'long and hard' about whether to publish this question. Strangely enough, once people reacted, they decided that maybe it wasn't worded in a good way. Long and hard questioning, hey?
 
The British media has picked up on this. Generally, the response is something along the lines of 'WAT!'

In case you think this may be an overreaction, here is a comment from one of the people who complained at the BBC website: 

Thanks to the BBC's inappropriate use of the title of its debate "Should homosexuals face execution?" I faced my office debating my right to exist because of my sexuality and was subjected to homophobia as a direct result of the have your say debate.

Tomorrow I will hand in my notice as I cannot work in a environment where I am not considered worthy to exist. I have reported the BBC to my local police LGBT officer as I feel the BBC have committed the offence of insightment to homophobic hatred.

The BBC published that headline on its site as it knew it would get lots of comments it did not care about the content. Most of the people who posted never read past the title before they commented. I believe the BBC spectacularly failed to protect LGBT people and instead of issuing an unreserved an apology it has dug in its heels and added insult to injury.

Why should I pay my TV licence for the BBC to subject me to homophobia?

I am so angry with the fucking BBC right now. Not to sound like a Have Your Say twat, but our licence money is being spent on this?