CBSC rules Dire Straits song unacceptable

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s been playing on Canadian radio since 1985, but the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has just ruled the song “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits is unacceptable.

Someone in Newfoundland complained to a radio station last year that the song includes the term “faggot” and is discriminatory to gays. The Council agrees, ruling it contravenes the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council says even if the term was once acceptable, it’s evolved to become unacceptable and should be edited out of the song for radio.

A national gay rights organization says the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council did the right thing. Egale Canada states it’s time to take hateful words out of popular culture.

Mark Robins, the head of GayVancouver.net, agrees. “There’s no place in Canadian media for that type of lyric. It’s not a ban. Dire Straits can certainly be played on the radio. But those lyrics need to be removed.”

He adds, “It’s no different than a lot of lyrics that get bleeped out of songs. Where do we draw the line? The word ‘faggot’ is an offensive word to the gay community. It’s an offensive word to me, personally, as a gay man.”

Robins says the person who made the complaint had every right to do so, as does anyone who finds something offensive on the radio.

On the streets of Vancouver, some people wonder why it wasn’t offensive until now. “If it had been a big deal, it would be gone by now. Probably within the first week it came out,” says one man.

Others say the CBSC has to wake up, “You gotta get real sometimes. We’re fighting a war in Afghanistan… there’s a war here at home with violence. I saw it last night, with teenagers fighting each other on the streets. Let’s fix that. Let’s not worry about a little song, you know?”

The following video contains an edited version of the song: