chrismoyles.net
- Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:32 pm
#247917
Hiarious story in The Huddersfield Daily Examiner by an odd camp man...
Chris Moyles, not that bad
I've got a real revelation about Chris Moyles and it'll shock and stun you. The truth is, he's not the raging homophobe some thought he was.
I bumped into him at the Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival backstage.
He was milling about with his mum, who lives in Wakefield, and the wife of Rob The Pub DJ from the Radio 1 breakfast show.
Regular readers will know I recently called Chris "aggressively heterosexual" in this column and joked that I couldn't wait to see him back on local radio.
This was after he caused a stink with his use of the word "gay" on the airwaves, meaning "rubbish" or "lame".
I strolled up to say hello - we go back a long way from when I was a DJ in Leeds clubs and he worked with Radio Aire.
But he was very frosty with me.
I told Rob The Pub DJ's wife: "Oh, he's fallen out with me about a piece I wrote for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner."
Chris snapped: "Yes I f*****g have!"
In the column I'd explained, from the heart, just how upset I was when he'd dismissed the happy news of my gay wedding, shouting "Ugh!" in mock disgust.
I wanted to justify what I'd written, telling him: "You made me feel stupid in front of lots of people, you belittled me."
He retorted: "It was just an act, it's what I do, it's entertainment"
Well, I've made some terrible faux pas in my time as a DJ.
I once made a Long John Silver joke about a man on crutches before I realised he only had one leg and called a bloke in sunglasses a "poser" in a nightclub, not knowing he only had one eye.
But if I've offended someone I've always gone out of my way to put things right after.
Moyles never bothered, and I pointed this out to him.
Then he said: "Well you upset me, with that stuff you said about me going back to local radio!".
We both laughed about it and agreed that we were equal now, we'd both insulted the other. Chris tried to be a bit friendlier, asking how the wedding had gone, and saying things like: "I have lots of gay friends, I'm not homophobic."
For some that might sound patronising, but it's true. Chris spends a lot of time with friends who are gay, including Aled Haydn Jones, his producer.
As we chatted we realised we associate with a lot of the same gay friends.
The truth is, I don't think he is homophobic, having talked to him some more.
I think he is a lot more sensitive than he would have us all believe. He's a real mummy's boy - he seems to take his mum to anything he can invite her to.
It must be very difficult to chat spontaneously on national radio with a group of friends and not cause offence to someone.
I'm trying to persuade him to do an exclusive interview for my gay lifestyle magazine, Bent. He hasn't said yes yet, but I'm confident.
I also asked him to be a judge at the final of Mr Gay UK, the competition I organise, on September 29 at the Flamingo Club in Blackpool.
He said "no" very flatly. Oh, well … that was his chance to prove to the world that he's not homophobic and he didn't take it!
Seriously, I think the gay community should stop having a go at Chris Moyles and be nice to him. He's a powerful man and if the animosity continues, we'll drive him away when we could make him an ally.
Having said that, he should stop using the word "gay" in that context.
I myself don't like the idea of saying "gay" to mean something's rubbish.
I think that John Quinn, director of children's charity Beatbullying, sums it up well: "Using the word gay as a derogatory word further propagates the idea that being gay is a bad thing.
"The BBC has green-lighted the use of gay as a derogatory word, therefore it has given credence to the idea that being gay is bad. This low-level homophobia is not acceptable and is outrageous considering how homophobic bullying destroys lives."
There are serious implications there that can affect people's lives - and I think that despite his public defiance, Chris is already a lot more aware of it, and we'll notice him quietly dropping the term "gay" to mean rubbish, from his vocabulary.
Chris Moyles, not that bad
I've got a real revelation about Chris Moyles and it'll shock and stun you. The truth is, he's not the raging homophobe some thought he was.
I bumped into him at the Carling Weekend: Leeds Festival backstage.
He was milling about with his mum, who lives in Wakefield, and the wife of Rob The Pub DJ from the Radio 1 breakfast show.
Regular readers will know I recently called Chris "aggressively heterosexual" in this column and joked that I couldn't wait to see him back on local radio.
This was after he caused a stink with his use of the word "gay" on the airwaves, meaning "rubbish" or "lame".
I strolled up to say hello - we go back a long way from when I was a DJ in Leeds clubs and he worked with Radio Aire.
But he was very frosty with me.
I told Rob The Pub DJ's wife: "Oh, he's fallen out with me about a piece I wrote for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner."
Chris snapped: "Yes I f*****g have!"
In the column I'd explained, from the heart, just how upset I was when he'd dismissed the happy news of my gay wedding, shouting "Ugh!" in mock disgust.
I wanted to justify what I'd written, telling him: "You made me feel stupid in front of lots of people, you belittled me."
He retorted: "It was just an act, it's what I do, it's entertainment"
Well, I've made some terrible faux pas in my time as a DJ.
I once made a Long John Silver joke about a man on crutches before I realised he only had one leg and called a bloke in sunglasses a "poser" in a nightclub, not knowing he only had one eye.
But if I've offended someone I've always gone out of my way to put things right after.
Moyles never bothered, and I pointed this out to him.
Then he said: "Well you upset me, with that stuff you said about me going back to local radio!".
We both laughed about it and agreed that we were equal now, we'd both insulted the other. Chris tried to be a bit friendlier, asking how the wedding had gone, and saying things like: "I have lots of gay friends, I'm not homophobic."
For some that might sound patronising, but it's true. Chris spends a lot of time with friends who are gay, including Aled Haydn Jones, his producer.
As we chatted we realised we associate with a lot of the same gay friends.
The truth is, I don't think he is homophobic, having talked to him some more.
I think he is a lot more sensitive than he would have us all believe. He's a real mummy's boy - he seems to take his mum to anything he can invite her to.
It must be very difficult to chat spontaneously on national radio with a group of friends and not cause offence to someone.
I'm trying to persuade him to do an exclusive interview for my gay lifestyle magazine, Bent. He hasn't said yes yet, but I'm confident.
I also asked him to be a judge at the final of Mr Gay UK, the competition I organise, on September 29 at the Flamingo Club in Blackpool.
He said "no" very flatly. Oh, well … that was his chance to prove to the world that he's not homophobic and he didn't take it!
Seriously, I think the gay community should stop having a go at Chris Moyles and be nice to him. He's a powerful man and if the animosity continues, we'll drive him away when we could make him an ally.
Having said that, he should stop using the word "gay" in that context.
I myself don't like the idea of saying "gay" to mean something's rubbish.
I think that John Quinn, director of children's charity Beatbullying, sums it up well: "Using the word gay as a derogatory word further propagates the idea that being gay is a bad thing.
"The BBC has green-lighted the use of gay as a derogatory word, therefore it has given credence to the idea that being gay is bad. This low-level homophobia is not acceptable and is outrageous considering how homophobic bullying destroys lives."
There are serious implications there that can affect people's lives - and I think that despite his public defiance, Chris is already a lot more aware of it, and we'll notice him quietly dropping the term "gay" to mean rubbish, from his vocabulary.
