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At 9pm BST tonight (Thursday), BBC One will air John Barrowman: The Making of Me, the first part of a series in which celebrities investigate the causes behind their "defining trait". In subsequent instalments, violinist Vanessa-Mae will investigate the roots of her musical talent, and sprinter Colin Jackson will investigate what makes him fast; in tonight’s segment, Barrowman will investigate what makes him gay. The programme considers factors both social (Barrowman visits his family and talks about his childhood) and biological (he undergoes brain scans and genetic testing).
Barrowman and his sister Carol have co-written an article about the question for BBC News Magazine. One segment from the programme can be seen on the BBC Magazine page, and another is also available on BBC News’ site. Barrowman has also been interviewed by The Guardian in conjunction with the special; the New Statesman also has a review.
Wow! Fascinating. Will be interesting to see the outcome. For those who have got the time, there’s a great six minute interview below, courtesy of the Guardian, where Barrowman talks about meeting an ex-gay as part of making the programme.
Tags: Bbc Magazine, Bbc News, Brain Scans, Bst, Celebrities, Colin Jackson, Conjunction, Genetic Testing, Guardian, Instalments, Minute Interview, New Statesman, News Magazine, News Site, Outpost Gallifrey, Peter Cross, Roots, Segment, Sister Carol, Vanessa Mae, Violinist, Weird Life
July 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Hi Peter,
This reminds that Innocent as Doves had a post about Terry Martin’s new blog
http://fathertlistenstotheworld.blogspot.com
I wonder if he would listen to the conversion stories of ex-gays?
July 24th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Did he say that Fred Phelps and his group are Seventh-day Adventists? That’s totally incorrect, and an insult to Adventists to boot.
The opportunity came my way for me to try and participate in this program, but I didn’t have the means to get to Chicago and I didn’t think I’d have much to say in regards to the main point (meaning the causes of homosexuality, which is a debate I don’t really get involved in). Now I wish I had taken the opportunity and at least tried, because I think Ron answered some of Barrowman’s questions poorly.
That, and I certainly wouldn’t have been offended if Captain Jack Harkness said I was good-looking!
July 24th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
I’ve just finished watching it and it was actually very good. I have a slight quibble with the last bit of evidence - birth order of sons - as the only interpretation given was testosterone in the womb. Birth order could also lead to second, third and fourth sons not having as much time with parents and therefore requiring to solidify their masculine identity in other ways (for example, sexualising the need for same-sex affirmation). Apart from that though, really good in the way it explored the subject.
Will try and do a review tomorrow.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Oh, and no-one approached me. Would have been happy to take part. You’re right about Ron…
July 25th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Peter, since I know that you have been interested in some of my pieces before, in preparing your review you might perhaps be interested in the discussion I produced arising from it, yesterday evening. Here:
http://conservativehome.blogs......kes-u.html
July 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Weird, not “wierd.”
I liked your recent article on GAFCON a lot.