What's a kiss between friends?
Media watchdog fines TV channel for gay
smooch in bid to keep viewers in the dark
http://www.greece.gr/LIFE/Media/whatsakissbetweenfriends-1.stm
Greek men often greet one another with a peck on the cheek, but when it
comes to displays of affection between two gay males, the situation still
makes some feel a little hot and bothered. So it is no wonder that a
smooch between two men on a high-rating, late-night television drama
series in October 2003 raised the hackles of some sectors of Greek
society, namely the Radio and Television Council (ESR), who slapped a
100,000-euro fine on private Mega
channel .
The show, Close Your Eyes, focuses on the lives of a group of
twentysomethings and features popular actor Christoforos
Papakaliatis. Though he himself did not partake in the now-infamous
kiss believed to be the first screened on Greek television he did pen the
script.
The ESR, in the words of its chairman Ioannis Laskaridis, viewed
the kissing scene as vulgar and unacceptable, saying it could damage
young people by making them too familiar with vulgarity. He said a kiss
between two men is not a usual phenomenon it is a particularity outside
lifes reproductive process.
Prevailing mores and reactions
When it comes to affairs of the heart, Greek society has a great task
ahead of it in bridging the generation gap. Much of the older generations
tend to stick rigidly to the conservative teachings of the
Orthodox Church
(98% of the population is baptized), which disapproves of homosexual relations. As one would expect, the younger generation is a great deal more open-minded, barely batting an eyelid over the kiss.
Gay rights groups in Greece and abroad strongly denounced the ERSdecision as hypocritical. On any given night of channel-surfing, one stumbles upon portrayals of nudity, graphic (heterosexual) sex and violence, in programs that would never be shown in countries like the United States without going under the censorship knife.
For their part, media critics lambasted the ESR for penalising a portrayal of affection simply because it involved two same-sex individuals. Television commentator Popi Diamandakou was particularly outspoken, stating in the daily Ta Nea newspaper: The council tells us & that its OK to be tolerant but we shouldnt go too far.She pointed out that no action was taken against television stations, which repeatedly showed a kiss between pop singers Britney Spears and Madonna during a performance at an MTV http://www.mtv.com/home/splash/ music awards ceremony a few weeks earlier.
Human rights watchdog Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) issued an appeal against institutionalised homophobia in Greece. Indeed, homophobia is a Greek word. Many Greeks simply refuse to acknowledge the fact that homosexuality is an inherent element of modern Greek society.
Indicative of the prevailing climate in the Greek media is the fact that even the media that rushed to criticise the ESR for its ruling, some calling it an act of censorship or hypocritical, stopped short of showing the kissing scene; this included not only television stations but also print media that have no authority to control them,GHM stated.
Kiss and tell about it
Homosexuality is not illegal in Greece but in previous years prosecutors have invoked a law on protection of public decencyto break up events viewed as having sexual manifestations or connotations. They want to tell us who we can kiss and what time kissing is appropriate,said gay activist Grigoris Valianatos. We believe a kiss is an act of love, tenderness and courage. We think the TV regulators should resign. Wed like to think of Greece as a tolerant country.
Around 30 gays, lesbians and transsexuals, encouraged by Mega channel, staged a public rally or kiss-in on the doorstep of the ESR. Jerome Castellano, a Frenchman living in Greece, who protested together with his Greek boyfriend Manthos Peponas said: Its a shame there are such problems in this country.Marina Galanou, a member of Greeces Transsexual and TransvestitesUnion, said: This decision is despicable and racist& what I hate most is the hypocrisy we have to deal with every day.
Same-sex couples also kissed in protest at the councils decision but, as GHM pointed out, their action attracted little media attention. Greek private television stations referred to the protest, showed the protesters but did not show them kissing,GHM said. Still, Mega channel said it would take the case to the countrys highest administrative court. Private TV stations signed a petition demanding a rethink of the decision.
Two daily newspapers reported on the protest namely the English edition of Greek daily Kathimerini with a photo of protesters kissing. Conservative Apoyevmatini, on the other hand, published a photo of demonstrators outside the ESR building, but not actually engaged in the act. The story made a splash in the international media, which did not hesitate to publish photos of smooching gay rights advocates.
Reality and its representation
Conservative Greeks love to laugh along with male actors (moustached and hairy-legged) dressed as women, prancing about in the wealth of revue-type theatre productions that mercilessly satirise politicians, other figures in the public eye, recent events and Greek society in general.
Trite gay characters frequently appear in such send-ups, which act as a vent of frustration for the masses, and whose origins date back to the satirical plays of ancient Greece. Its far more vulgar to repeatedly show the effeminate gay stereotype, of the shrill-voiced and foppish man, on family-orientedprograms,television critic Marianna Tziantzi wrote in Kathimerini.
The difference in this case is that the relationship between two gay males was embodied in a serioussetting, in a drama viewed by both young and old. According to one school of thought, such programs contribute to the shaping of social mores and values.
Although Greeces Archbishop Christodoulos has made attempts to portray himself as an open-minded representative of Orthodoxy, the church still views homosexuality as an aberration.
In 2000, Christodoulos said that granting gay partners marriage status would be legalizing a sin, while he urged compassion for all human weaknesses. He was responding to the European Parliaments non-binding resolution that encouraged European Union nations to extend rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples to one-parent families, unmarried couples and same-sex couples.
In classical Greek art and literature, same-sex romantic love was a common theme, with decorative ceramics frequently featuring homoerotic scenes . Nowadays, however, few individuals in the public eye openly proclaim to be homosexual though the Greek gay scene has spread its wings.
Nonetheless, the Cycladic island of Mykonos has long been a magnet for the international gay community, while the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos draws growing numbers of lesbian tourists wishing to pay homage to ancient homosexual poetess Sappho
5/12/2003
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Wed Dec 10, 2003 10:14 am
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