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The Wrong Box

by Zoe Strimpel
Thu, 3 Apr 2008

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Uh oh, the Arts Council is in hot water again. The rage this funding body elicits among the artsy elite is truly something to behold. It's not strictly about funding this time. Now, this seemingly befuddled institution has included a "sexual orientation" box on the forms filled out by the organizations applying for funding. Basically, it demands to know the bedroom preferences of every board member on the application form. The director of grants at the Arts Council, Audrey Roy, justified the odd new rule as a way of understanding where the funding was going. She was quoted in The Times as saying: "We see diversity as broader than race, ethnicity, faith and disability."

But the arts world — particularly theaterland — is not impressed. Sir Ian McKellen, who is openly gay, was quoted in The Times as saying: "It sounds extraordinary. It shouldn't be on a form. It's quite inappropriate."

Vanessa Redgrave was no happier: "Everyone should put down 'trisexual,'
whoever you are. Britain has become the world's leading population of
trisexuals." Michael Frayn said the Arts Council might as well go the
whole hog and "specify how many members are longsighted or shortsighted, how many wear black socks or brown socks."

Wonder how long that box will last.

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