France Starts Gay TV Channel

[jamie]

France Starts Gay TV Channel PinkTV

Sep 28, 11:52 AM EST

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=169167

The Associated Press

PARIS -- The transgender sportscaster wears a miniskirt, the porn is gay, lesbian and bisexual, and Wonder Woman will be on every night at seven.

France's first gay television channel, PinkTV, is an eye-opener. And that's the point. Pink's founders believe there's a ready audience for the channel, and not just among France's estimated 3.5 million gays.

Pink's "a giant leap for television, a small step in high heels," said presenter Eric Gueho in a promotional clip shown at the channel's unveiling Tuesday, which was feted with pink champagne.

"Gays are speaking to the French. But not all French speak to gays. But it will come."

Well, maybe.

This at times surprisingly conservative and largely Roman Catholic country is still divided when it comes to homosexuality.

France has in recent years made big strides, legally recognizing gay couples and electing a gay mayor for Paris. Homophobic remarks will be punishable with prison and fines under a draft law expected to be debated in parliament before the year's end.

But the group SOS Homophobia recorded a doubling in attacks on gays last year, with 86 cases against 41 in 2002. In January, a 35-year-old gay man was severely burned by attackers who doused him with gasoline and ignited it. Sebastien Nouchet told investigators that one of his aggressors said: "You're going to die, faggot."

The government suspended Noel Mamere, a figurehead in France's green movement, from his post as a town mayor for a month after he presided over France's first gay marriage on June 5.

A court in Bordeaux in the southwest later annulled the union of Bertrand Charpentier and Stephane Chapin

[ted]

Now how did I know that France would be the first?? :whistle: :flowers:

t.

[dgolvach]

I wonder if the Village People will tour France now? Why do we need permission from this bunch to use our military? I hope the U.N. moves there. Good Grief!!!

[hmh]

If the UN moves to France, are they going to change the color of their flag and helmuts from blue to pink? Is France going to create "No Skipping Zones" in certain intersections? How far down is the morality going to sink before Christ returns?

[apothanein kerdos]

Well you know what, it's about time! The majority over in France hasn't been represented on TV there at all...so it's about time they let the majority rule!

Don't worry, don't worry, I'm a quarter french and obviously don't mean that joke. As much crud as we give the French, without them, we wouldn't be a nation (then again, without us, neither would they).