Today, the BBC defended its argument to play a censored version of The Fairytale Of New York, following backlash across the internet from a plethora of sad, closeted homophobes who are upset that they don’t have an excuse to say their favourite slur anymore.
The BBC says that it will be playing the alternative version as to “avoid offending” young listeners with the derogatory terms that feature on the track, but the discourse that it has occurred forced the BBC to explain their reasonings again, just 10 days after the announcement of their decision.
In a statement delivered to Metro, the BBC said: “We know ‘Fairytale of New York’ is considered a Christmas classic and we will continue to play it this year on BBC Radio, with our stations choosing the version of the song most relevant for their audience. We are aware that young audiences are particularly sensitive to derogatory terms for gender and sexuality, and after considering this carefully, Radio 1 has decided to play a version featuring Kirsty MacColl singing alternative lyrics, provided by the record label.”
“You Scumbag, You Maggot
You cheap, lousy f*ggot
Happy Christmas, you arse,
I pray God its our last
I think we can all identify the word in question, which, I think I saw somewhere online, doesn’t event mean the homophobic slur, but refers to an old British meatball food called a Faggot. In some midlands areas of England, people often refer to someone whos been a bit stupid as a “silly sausage” or just a “sausage” – I know I grew up with that in Derbyshire.
It took about 30 seconds for me to roll my eyes at this video. I just don’t understand why its such a big issue! I have never met a queer person who is that bothered about these lyrics. But I see so many non-queer people reacting like this, then turning around and calling us the snowflakes.
The problem doesn’t lie in the word itself, but the intention of how people say it. Unfortunately we do live in a world where a lot of language is heavily loaded with a history of oppression, and sometimes a word isn’t just a word, but a statement of how someone else views you. For example, as a queer person, if someone called me the f-word, I wouldn’t be upset or offended, but it would tell me a lot about the person and the fact that they clearly don’t see me as an equal. It is important also to remember that just because you are not offended by a word doesn’t mean that someone else also isn’t, and by not saying one word you will be making someone else’s life just that bit more stress free.
A lot of people who are upset about the censorship claim that their favorite Christmas song has been “Ruined” and “taken away from them”, when the simple fact is that….it hasn’t. You can still listen to the song on BBC, and many other radio stations. It’s always extremely noticeable as a queer person when someone screams that line extra loud because they know they kind of have a blanket of protection to say it in the form of Christmas joy and jingle bells. And I feel like I need to reiterate that I actually really like this song, it’s one of the few Christmas tunes I actually enjoy!
Its so unfortunate that even in 2020 we are still having to have conversations such as this, and although we have come so far with equality, there is still so much work to do.
Written By Mars Smith