Why can't the Arts Council use Internet dating like everyone else?

Kevin Straw, Leicester,

Well done to Chris Palmer. I now adopt his position in filling out unnecessary bureaucratic forms.

But on a serious note, if, as an empoyer, I were to ask every applicant their sexual preferences, their living habits, their drug preferences not only would I be in Court on a criminal charge I would be spending hours before an industrial tribunal.

Delivery of the arts by whichever group if done sensitively will include an exploration of all types of sexuality, ethnicity and living hablits. An informed audience will always view a synopsys of the event before buying a ticket and te Arts Council's fatuous and illegal attempt to fund based on sexuality will founder.

Again it also falls into the trap of blaming others for the need for information when it is the prurient minds of the administrators using forms to identify that which is totally irrelevant.

Miss Redgrave is correct. either we are trisexual or if we are not active perhaps asexual.

Patrick, Taipei, Taiwan

I was particularly reasured by the comment that the information was for "government use only", as if this in some way made it OK.

Don't worry, history provides us with absolutely no examples of situations in which governemnts may have discriminated against sub-sections of their own population. After all, the intention of the national socialist government of Germany in asking and then demanding that Jewish individuals identify themselves, were entirely benign.

Similarly, anyone lucky enough to have made the US government aware that they had an interest in Socialism during the Mcarthy era, almost certainly had nothing to worry about.

Come on.

Bob, Reading,

What's the relevance of asking about board members, anyway? Will they ask about the lighting designer next?

Some artists and arts organizations do work that deals with gay and lesbian themes, either as a primary mission or as occasional projects. If a funding organization wants to encourage that sort of thing, fine.

But the personal lives of the board members (or even the artists themselves) are irrelevant. The exception might be for artists who state publicly that they are exploring gay themes based on personal experience, but they are out (by definition) long before the government asks them.

The problem as I see it is that the Arts Council appears to be trying to make a connection between the personal lives of organization members and the kind of art the organization does. This connection is very loose, to the extent it exists at all, and it's offensive to the extent it implies that gay and lesbian artists are limited to some particular kind of art. That's not true.

M.C., Washington DC, USA

The answer is to take steps to totally nullify the validity of the results acquired by this sort of questioning.

After some NHS treatment recently I was given a form to fill in to discuss my satisfaction (or not) with the NHS and required all manner of irrelevant personal information.

I object strongly to questions about race, ethnicity and such stuff.

So, I ticked the box that told them that I was black -African.

NHS functionary tried to take me to task by telling me that I clearly hadn't understood the question as I am clearly white and English.

This presented an opportunity for deep joy.

I pointed out the the jobsworth that I 'identified' myself as black-African and that he, and the NHS, had to respect my identity. This is something all the soft-Left equal-opportunity-seeking, multiculturalist have had drummed into them as they are programmed.

So, the box was left with my (false) self-identity, and I walked away with a smile and spring in my step.

Nothing beats a triumph.

Chris Palmer, Southampton, England.

Requiring more of our gay friends in the arts is truly carrying coals to Newcastle. At the opera company where my wife worked the only straight man there was the computer guy.

MichaelGOP, Dedham,

I think the stipulation should be that they spend at least 1/3 of the day in a closet, 1/3 out of it, and 1/3 in bed: otherwise they aren't normal and should be summararily executed by a fox.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

I'm horrified by the homophobia of some of the comments above (especially the person who says they feel like voting BNP as a result).

It's quite clear from the comments in the article that lots of prominent lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people oppose this idea.

It doesn't sound as if the idea was well-thought-through or well-implemented. Surely all six equality strands should be considered, anyway? And the information should obviously be confidential, and people should be promoted to boards & committees on their merits, not on the grounds of their sexual orientation. (Positive discrimination is illegal in this country.)

Yvonne, Bath, UK

Jolly good idea. It's about time heterosexuals got some Arts Council gravy.

Albert, Paris,

One of your columnists predicted this week that the BNP will do well in future elections and attracted an immense number of comments. Has this latest wicked folly of the Arts Council under Labour been condemned by the Tories and the Lib Dem? Have these parties asked for the resignation of those concerned? No, of course not. And that is why ordinary decent people are turning to the BNP.

Voter, Bolton , England

Sorry to break it to the Times but this isn't something new. I did a G4A application a year ago and they were asking this question. Why didn't you talk about it then?

Ivan Idea, London,

The Arts Council's assurance that "the answers were confidential and exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act." is completely fatuous. The issue is the poor adminsitrator passing round the form to the Board and saking them 'are you gay / lesbian?' That is possibly the point at which people would prefere confidentiality to be rpotected - not with a load of distant burocrats who have no idea who they are!

But as has been said - no-one need fill it in, really. Just ignore it. It's been on GfA forms for ages. If they really want to monitor equitable benefit of arts funds (which is reasonable given that it is taxpayers money - and some of us who thrive on it have high respect for that) thye might look at class. Now that would be an interesting question - I look forward to the guidelines on how to self-assess.

Deborah, London, UK

As an artist myself, sadly living in England, I have watched with disgust and anger as my country is rather rapidly becoming a large detention centre off the coast of Europe, as a result of the policies and actions of the Blair and Brown regimes.
The actions of the Arts Council, confirm that we are moving towards the kind of tyranny that took place under the Nazi and Soviet regimes. In these states, personal
freedom and choice was curtailed 'in the interests of the state'.
Is there anybody out there listening in the rest of the world ? Please send help. I am not sure how long we have left ...

spellacy , Leeds, England

Organisations applying for Arts Council grants are being asked to state how many board members are lesbian, gay or bisexual - just the kind of matter you have to prove when applying for a National Lottery Grant, substitute sexuality for ethnicity.

JANE FLEMING, Whittlesey, CAMBRIDGESHIRE

This is the absurdity that results when government, no matter how ostensibly well-intended, meddles in such matters. If ever a ridiculous regime was inviting reducto ad absurdum, it is surely this and now.

Soon enough they will be asking if Shakespeare was gay enough. Lord knows what was really going on with his friend Mr WH. Or Oscar Wilde? He was married with children, after all. Perhaps proportions could be awarded, and bonuses granted for brief encounters of any sort. If the Woolfs were on board, or on the boards, how would that be graded by these silly arts bureaucrats?

Let's not even think about asking Kevin Spacey.

The only good thing about this laughable episode may be this: foolish bureaucrats have outed themselves for the make-work buffoons we have long suspected them to be.

Dr Charles Barber, Palo Alto, California

The Arts Council of England has become the laughing stock of the world arts community and this beurocratic nonsense will only confirm their current status. The only positive to arise from their year long debacle of crass activities is the inclusion of working for the ACE in their individual CV's which will not place them in a strong position when searching for future employment. These people should carry a serious health warning.

William Boughton, New Haven, USA

The comments here are extremely refreshing. You'll understand when I say I'm from California.

Though it doesn't matter and I apologize for the appearance of over-disclosing without prior permission and my bluntness, my ancestry is Irish/French, I'm 54 in July, a white U.S. border resident (San Diego/Tijuana). I'm gay, 100% disabled with psychiatric illnesses, effectively agoraphobic - with the kind help of Ernie (short for Ernestina, to keep the genders accurate), a U.S. citizen whose ancestry is Mexican (current most-favored targets of anti-immigrant acting-out bigots), whose services are paid for by the kind people of California. They also kick in US$89/month cash, and the federal govt. sends me a US$801/month payout from my Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which I had paid premiums into from every paycheck while I was working. The government knows all of this already, and they can always find a reason to justify sharing it with anyone. And then there's Bush and CIA...

Allan, San Diego, USA/California

This is utterfly daft. In what way could the British public possibly benefit from arts funding policies based on this information, even if the applicants would agree to provide it?

Sam, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Arts Council have asked for this information on their application forms for ages - why the fuss now? It clearly says that the information does not affect the outcome of the decision so don't tell them.
I regularly make applications to Arts Council and never give this information about myself or my board as I don't think it's any of their business. And leaving off the information doesn't seem to have affected the outcome of my applications, most of which, in the last 3 years, have been successful.

Beth, Newcastle, UK

The Arts council have probably been infiltrated by some Social Engineering Scientists. What was the purpose of these questions and which part of our community was to be discriminated against.

Mark, Gateshead, UK

I am surprised that Heidi from Munich does not mention that in her country it would be against the law to ask questions concerning people's sexual orientation on such a form. Do not forget what happened to gay people during the time of HItler.
Yet again one has to ask, what next?

austerity, Devizes, UK

I thought it was an April the first Joke!

Alan Tucker, Slough , UK

Danny,

The "easy going majority" are probably smart enough to have worked out that most of the comments in the artilce opposing this were from gay people. So doubt we will be going back to the 50's any time soon.

rich, london,

Will someone please advise me when Homosexuality and lesbianism is to be made compulsory so that I may arrange to emigrate before it happens.

Alan, Reading,

It really is time to scrap the Arts Council.

robin, Southampton, England

The more I read, the more I feel we are living in Alice-in-Wonderland territory where the mad Hatters rule!

David, Carlisle,

Can anything like this happen without somebody saying “It’s bureaucracy and political correctness gone mad.”?

It's cliche making gone mad!

Tim, London,

Leonard Colquhoun asks why we need commissars for culture, media and sport. Commissars who live to monitor, control and administer the rest of us, in highly procedural, methodical, detail conscious, nit-picking and bossy ways that are entirely predictable. The answer is we do not need them, but we do get them, because we have a bloated public sector with tax-payers' cash to waste in employing them. By the way, try applying for contracts for London 2012. You will wade through page after page of questions such as "What percentage of your workforce is Jain?"

Michael Davis, East Preston, England

Don't just tick the box; send them photographic references to illustrate the key points.

David Masu, Zürich,

Whatever next? Will orchestral conductors be required to stipulate whether they use their baton in their left or right hand? Questions of sexual orientation are an intrusive irrelvance imposed by crazy busybodies.

Clive Burton, London ,

This is a logical progression of authoritarian target-setting by the state trickling down to an Arts Council desperate to be seen in political circles as proudly exceeding government objectives.
This piece of highly offensive and lunatic political correctness obscures the real question: if some theatres and galleries cannot survive without being heavily subsidised up by the state, are they culturally relevant and do they deserve such massive financial inputs.
In a country where state schools are often housed in buildings and facilities that would embarass third world countries, perhaps some cultural priorities need further examination.

Kiwi Expat, London, Middlesex

We have our personal records stored on central computers which do NOT safely secure our data.
We have CCTV taking photos or our cars if we happen to stop, momentarily, in the wrong spot.
Airports want to use our fingerprints for checking in.
We have legal miscarriages of justice which can be hidden from the press as required by applying a gagging order.

Now we have over-officious forms edging their way into helping the system gather all sorts of personal information about us.
The public may appear to be complacent about these changes but, I think , the government, needs to be wary about continuing along this path. Sooner or later, the camel will be loaded with one two many straws and then it will break.

Kim Domnick, Torquay, UK

Have the Arts Council been asked about their sexual orientation? I would have thought that it was extremely bad mannered to ask someone such a personal question.

Pat, Dordogne, France

I actually thought that the UK were quite a modern and progressive country with regard to the rights of minorities but some institutions prove my opinion wrong. Why on earth should it be necessary to state your sexual orientation when applying for benefits in the field of culture? What is this information for if it won't be taken into consideration for decision purposes as the Arts Council stated? Information gathering in itself is no crime or immoral task but you might wonder what will happen with the material afterwards. Pure statistics? A new survey of society? I hardly doubt that. They may claim whatever they want but institutions are always made by the people that represent them and human beings are by nature apt to act on personal preferences and tastes. So if information about artists' sexual orientations is added it will undoubtedly influence the Council's actions. The questions remains: will it change things for the better or the worse?

Heidi, Munich, Germany

Why do we need an Arts Council in the first place? If the self regarding luvvies can't make their shows pay then why should taxes be squandered on supporting their self indulgent antics?

Roger Angove, Truro,

How long will it be before the easy going majority get sick and tired of all this forced acceptance of other peoples standards and there is a massive back-swing which will take gay rights back to the '50s?
If this appalling shower that is laughingly called a "government" does not stop living our lives for us, not long I suspect.

Danny, Ashford., Kent

We know why totalitarian and authoritarian states need commissars for culture, media and sport, but why would modern, secular, pluralist, liberal nations like the UK, the USA, Australia, or any EU state, need them?

Leonard Colquhoun, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Could we please put an end to the false and cliched "politicial correctness gone mad"?

PC is mad, and this is just a quite sane and logical manifestation of it.

Toby, Sydney,

The Arts Council should all be sacked and replaced by normal people.

Ian, Solihull, UK