Call to Limit Gay Presence on TV
The Nation, June 5,
2004
Thailand
Producers say they will comply with Culture Ministry’s
request
The Culture Ministry will next week ask all television
stations to cut down on images portraying homosexual behaviour, a senior
ministry official said yesterday.
Dr Kla Somtrakul, deputy permanent secretary for Culture,
said some television programmes clearly showed homosexual behaviour and if
unchecked some of them could cross the line to obscenity. Kla also dismissed
as misquotes recent press accounts reporting him saying that no homosexuals
would be hired at the ministry.
Next week, the ministry would send a letter requesting
television stations not to air “sexually deviant” homosexual messages but
leave the final decision to the stations’ own judgement.
Television producers said they would cooperate, although
they played down the ministry’s concerns.
“There is a third sex in the world and TV shows merely
reflect reality,” said Yutthana Lophanpaibul, an out-the-closet gay
director. “Maybe there are too many male comedians dressing in women’s
costumes. If so, then they should cut them down.”
Yutthana said he did not believe that television would
arouse “sexual deviation” among youths because homosexuals were what they
were because of hormones or different sexual tastes.
Kla said the ministry is concerned about the effects on
society of programming featuring gays.
“Many parents told me that they are worried that their
children would have sexually deviant behaviour after viewing such behaviours
on TV,” he said.
Thakonkiet Weerawan, a television producer from Exact
Ltd, said he would have to go back and look for excessive amounts of such
behaviour portrayed in his programmes and dramas and cut them out if there was
too much. But he urged the ministry to be understanding.
“You can’t just get rid of all of it because TV
producers also have work ethics and if the message was too much, society would
judge it. Also, parents should guide their kids,” he added.
Itthipat Rattanapanu, a producer from RS Promotion Ltd,
said cutting all programmes with homosexual people was impossible because it
would ruin the flavour of the programmes, but he would try.
“I do not believe that viewers would copy what they see
on TV,” he said, adding that the homosexual roles were there to spice up the
dramas, not to convince people to copy them.
Piya Sawetpikul, a gay actor, said sexual orientation
depended on how a child was raised.
“Parents should provide guidance while they watch
television. Actors only entertain their audience and the homosexual actors
also know their limitations for expressing themselves,” he said.
The cause of homosexuality possibly results from an
abnormal state during pregnancy due to hormone and chemistry in brain, said Dr
Taveesilpa Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the Mental Health Department. Watching
homosexual behaviour on television could spur people with homosexual
tendencies to act on their urges, he said.
In related news, Kla denied saying that he would bar
homosexuals from working at the Ministry of Culture.
“I have no intention to stop homosexual persons from
being recruited by the ministry like many Thai newspapers said because there
is no such rule and they do not cause great damage to society,” Kla said
Although there are no rules prohibiting homosexuals from
working at the ministry, they had to be careful about expressing themselves as
the ministry is the country’s cultural watchdog, said Anurak Jureemas, the
Minister of Culture. He said individuals have the right to express themselves,
but they must also respect the rules of society.
According to a source at the ministry, people are hired
depending on their qualifications for the positions they apply for, not their
sexual orientation. Even if an official wanted to have sex-change operation,
they would not have to ask for permission from their superior as it was an
individual’s right.
Kamolseth Kendkanreu, secretary to Fah Si Rung
Association of Thailand, a homosexual association, said the association was
happy that Dr Kla refuted his statement that he would disallow homosexuals
from working for him.
Sucheera Pinijparakarn
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