Asian Gays Angered By Oscar Censorship

STAR-TV, an Asian satellite TV service controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, censored Academy Awards speeches by Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black when they referred to gays and lesbians, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. Although the words were not deleted during the live telecast, which aired during the day on Monday, the evening repeat, which was transmitted to 53 countries, removed the words "gay" and "lesbian." The AP quoted Pang Khee Teik, a Malaysian arts commentator as saying in a message to media organizations, "As a gay man, I am truly offended. ... Stop censoring the words that describe who I am." But Jannie Poon, a spokeswoman for STAR based in Hong Kong, responded that the company has "a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration."

25/02/2009