found the documentary “Batty Man” online, and I think it’s a fantastic production. It features some of our good friends at JAS.


There is a moment in the forthcoming Channel 4 documentary, Batty Man, when the presenter, Stephen K Amos, asks some teenage girls for their views on gay black men. One girl says bluntly: "Black people don't go on them nasty ways. That's just bringing shame on our race." Later, when the same question is put to some young boys, one tells Amos: "If I'm gay, I'm put down for dead." Another says: "I am a Christian, so I'm against gay people."
A number of young people quote lyrics from songs by Jamaican "dance hall" musicians, such as Elephant Man, that claim "batty men" should be killed. Amos looks stunned and bewildered by what he is hearing.

Batty Man - a controversial choice of title that the producers say will help to draw public attention to the seriousness of such prejudice - is a slang word used to insult gay men. The programme follows Amos, a stand-up comedian who happens to be black and gay, all the way from the estate he grew up on in London to Jamaica as he attempts to find answers to why some black people harbour such attitudes to gay black people. He interviews children, rappers, gay men afraid to come out, and religious figures - including the Bishop of Jamaica.

from http://society. guardian. co.uk/societygua rdian/story/ 0,,2017239, 00.html


Visit www.channel4. com for more information.