December 20, 2007 | Sex & Society

Do you hear what I hear?

You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God its our last

This small section of one of the best least-known Christmas songs has caused a recent stir for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).  BBC Radio 1 decided to bleep out the term "faggot" from the Pogues 1987 hit "Fairy Tale of New York" for fear it would offend their audience.

"BBC Radio 1 is right to bleep out the word faggot. They would do the same if the words n*gger, paki or yid were used in this song," said gay activist Peter Tatchell. "I challenge anyone who defends the use of the word faggot in these lyrics to state publicly that they would also defend the right of singers to use word n*gger as a term of abuse in a song."

However, the decision was short lived. According to station controller Andy Parfitt, "It is not always easy to get this right, mindful of our responsibility to our young audience. The unedited version will be played from now on. ... In the context of this song, I do not feel that there is any negative intent behind the use of the words, hence the reversal of the decision."

We think you should be able to make up your own mind. Check out the video here...