Stephen Fry Gets Dacred

Nick Davies observed in Flat Earth News that “The Mail is … designed to be sold to a particular market, of lower-middle-class men and women. Its addiction is to them; and if, in order to speak for their interests, the Mail must attack, it will. Black people, poor people, liberals and all kinds of lefties, scroungers, druggies, homosexuals: they will be attacked”. The legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre is particularly keen on kicking homosexuals.

What's f***ing wrong with kicking a few gays, c***?!? Er, with the greatest of respect, Mr Jay

This is because he has decreed that “The family is the greatest institution on God’s green earth”. The family must be projected as ideal, desirable, and above all as normal. And what repels Dacre’s sensibilities more than mere gays are those who are also celebrities. Worse again, in his eyes, are those who lend their endorsement to the dastardly pizza eaters of campaigning group Hacked Off.

Stephen Fry has done just that: he is gay, a celebrity, and has signed the Hacked Off “Leveson Declaration”. So when he recently announced his engagement to comedian Elliott Spencer, the word went out from Dacre, and Sarah “Vain” Vine went first: “So, Elliott Spencer, 27, aspiring stand-up comic, what first attracted you to Stephen Fry, 57, comedy genius and a man whose address book reads like a Who’s Who of showbiz?”

Amanda Platell was close behind: “some expressed scepticism over the forthcoming marriage of Stephen Fry, 57, to his toyboy comedian lover Elliott Spencer, 27. Those who voiced such thoughts risked being branded homophobic … I’m all for true gay equality. But that will come only when people can raise eyebrows over a 30-year difference between a gay couple - and an equally vast gulf in income - without being labelled bigots”.

See, it’s only a bit of fun! Just a little raising of eyebrows! Well, no it isn’t, and to underscore the point we now have the full homophobic Monty today from Tom Utley, telling readers “Neanderthal I may be, but - for all the actor's charms - I'd be less than thrilled if my son said he was marrying Stephen Fry”. But, whisper it quietly, nobody apart from the supremely courageous Mail was raising an eyebrow about Fry’s engagement. Why so?

You’ll love this: “the truth is that most of us are simply terrified of the awesome power of the gay lobby to silence criticism. In particular, we’re scared of Mr Fry’s ability to mobilise his Twitter mob of 8.3 million followers, condemning us at the touch of a ‘send’ button to torrents of abuse if we give a hint of offence … can it ever be truly healthy if newspapers don’t dare print thoughts harboured by millions?” “Millions” means one dopey pundit.

But he’s digging himself in deeper: “This was the week celebrities and politicians from all over the free world linked arms in defence of a Paris magazine’s right to give gratuitous offence to Muslims. OK, nobody is going to shoot me. But how many of them, I wonder, would show the same solidarity with a paper that showed similar disrespect for Mr Fry’s nuptial arrangements?” Oh, pity the poor helpless Daily Mail!

Some people are gay, it’s 2015, and the Dacre doggies are out of time. Get over it.