The Daily Mail will have to respond to complaints about a column it ran on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, the Press Complaints Commission has announced. Last week, the paper ran an article by columnist Jan Moir that said Gately's death struck a blow to the "happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships". The PCC have said they have received more than 21,000 complaints about the column - the most they had ever made about a single newspaper article.
Although Moir has since denied any homophobic undertones in her article, following its publication it quickly caused an outcry on Twitter. "Whatever the cause of death is, it is not, by any yardstick, a natural one. Let us be absolutely clear about this," Moir wrote. "As a gay rights champion, I am sure he would want to set an example to any impressionable young men who may want to emulate what they might see as his glamorous routine. For once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see." Celebrity Twitter bloggers Stephen Fry, Peter Serafinowicz, Derren Brown and Charlie Brooker all urged their followers to complain to the PCC.
In a statement released yesterday the PCC said it would normally wait for a complaint from "directly-affected parties" - in this case Gately's family - before launching an investigation but added, "If, for whatever reason, those individuals do not wish to make a complaint, the PCC will in any case write to the Daily Mail for its response to the more general complaints from the public before considering whether there are any issues under the code to pursue."
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