The Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) recently posted a "list of shame," intended perhaps to raise the general public's awareness about LGBT actors, musicians, etc… It is, of course, a wholly offensive idea to begin with, particularly given the wide berth of the MBC's audience: 150 million people.
But the list was also inaccurate, calling Daniel Radcliffe gay, naming Cameron Diaz as a bisexual, and informing audiences that Elton John wore a dress at his wedding. All these things would be just fine were they not forced into a categorization of "shame." The MBC has now retracted the list and issued an apology.
In the apology and retraction, MBC noted that the list was “clearly not related to neither [sic] the presenter of the show.. nor the show itself,” and admitted that the junior editor who published it in the first place had failed to fact-check the story…
It is still unclear why the junior editor felt compelled to publish a “list of shame” naming gay celebrities, whether or not some were incorrectly named.
Other people named in the list included Ricky Martin, Neil Patrick Harris, Jodie Foster, and Lindsay Lohan. They may fall somewhere on the LGBT spectrum (unlike Radcliffe and Diaz), but they certainly should not feel ashamed.
