Andrew Eaton-Lewis: Celebrities should choose their words carefully

As the argument spilled out from Twitter and into the national press last week, I kept thinking of the “only gay in the village” sketch from Little Britain. If you’ve never seen it, it’s the one in which Daffyd, dressed as if off to a Mardi Gras parade, minces around a Welsh village loudly declaring his sexuality to anyone who will give him the time of day, and accusing anyone who doesn’t of homophobia.

The joke is that no-one gives a hoot whether Daffyd (Matt Lucas) is gay or not. It’s a lovely, utopian vision of a rural Britain free of sexual prejudice; it’s also a cheeky dig at those who, as Doug Stanhope argued earlier this year about offensive comedy, “wear their hardships like a crown of thorns”. Each time Daffyd is offered the chance to meet other gay people and become just one of the crowd, he runs a mile. Better to be a victim than be ordinary.

All very amusing. But in the real world prejudice does exist, and you’ll find plenty of stories of actual gay villagers bullied by stupid people who missed the sketch’s point entirely, saw only a freakish stereotype, and used it as ammunition to hurt someone.

Should Matt Lucas (who is gay) be held responsible for that? Surely not. This, though, is more or less the position in which Gervais has found himself. A recurring point in the past week’s row has been whether the word “mong” is still generally thought of as referring to people with Down’s syndrome. Gervais says no, and that he would never use it in that way. Others say yes; and that, regardless of intent, a famous person saying it gives legitimacy to bullying language.

The case against Gervais is that, as someone with influence, he should choose his words carefully. The case for is that he’s a clever man who’s been doing exactly that for years, more than most of us, subtly skewering prejudice against the disabled in both Extras and a TV campaign about employment rights.

He is not, of course, disabled himself, but his knowingly scattershot use of “mong” feels like his “only gay in the village” moment – a joke told in the hope that people will be mature and aware enough not to miss the point. Some won’t be.

The question is: should that be his problem?