Norton ‘f**king furious’ after RTE pays out to anti-gay marriage activists
By Josh Haggis
Graham Norton has spoken out about RTE’s decision to offer a financial settlement to anti-gay marriage activists.
On January 11, drag queen Panti Bliss, who is performed by Rory O’Neill, appeared on RTE’s The Saturday Night Show and singled out a number of Irish journalists and institutions for being homophobic.
Complaints from those named led to RTE, Ireland’s state broadcaster, offering an official apology and paying out 80,000 Euro (£66,000) to the Iona Institute Catholic Group, a conservative lobbying body with staunch anti gay-marriage views, and journalists including John Waters, whom Panti Bliss had claimed was homophobic.
Speaking in an interview with Hot Press, Norton said: “I’m not registered to vote in Ireland but I do pay the licence fee there and I’m fucking furious that some of my money has gone to these idiots,” he said. “RTE settling wasn’t gutless, it was absolutely moronic!”
He went on to say of the Iona Institute Catholic Group: “The Iona Institute, and people like that, are like rats trapped in the corner of a barn. They know the jig is up. That’s why they’re screaming so loud.”
RTE received over 800 complaints over “Pantigate” – not just because it apologised and paid out compensation, but because it has censored the drag queen’s comments from its online archive. The issue was even raised by an Irish MEP at the European Parliament, and has contributed positively towards the growing debate on attitudes towards LGBT people in Ireland.
Following the incident, Panti Bliss went on to deliver a powerful speech on homophobia in a Dublin theatre – watch it here.