"A CBSC panel concluded that the word "faggot," even if once acceptable, has evolved to become unacceptable in most circumstances."

When was the word EVER acceptable?!

I should clarify that I understand the song uses the word as part of a direct quote, as is most of the song. I don't think the song should be altered or censored. I just find the above quote asinine.

Me too MB.

When was the word EVER acceptable?!

Maybe back when it referred to bundles of sticks for burning in the fireplace of your rural hovel.

This strikes me as pretty darn dumb and a waste of everbody's time, but I don't think I'm gonna place a flag in the ground and defend it like crazy. The CBC can set whatever standards it wants - a lot of US stations don't play stuff with the word n----- in it, or what have you. There's an irony in that the content of the lyrics suggests an opposition to bigotry, but then there's always an irony with these things.

One nice thing is that this has reminded me of what a well-written song that is. It was such a hit at the time that it became aural wallpaper for me. But it's well crafted and cinematic and does a great job with its topic, which looks at class and cultural issues in a 1980s world of very swiftly changing values around pop culture, sexuality, and other stuff.

Faggots in the UK (I've never heard the word used as an insult here).

That was probably just a typo, but CBSC != CBC. And, just to clarify for those unfamiliar with the mixture of private and public input into Canadian airwaves, the CBSC != CRTC. No government body was involved in this decision. The CBSC is an industry association that a radio station may choose to join, and some stations, like this one, are going out of their way to say that they disagree with the decision.

No government body was involved in this decision.

Makes me feel better, thanks for clarifying.

Look in your bag,
Light up a fag,
Think it's a drag, but
Your so glad,
To be alive, honey.

That just came in to my mind. . .but I am really on the fence about this. Rappers have taken over the N-word, just as some gays have reclaimed the F-word, but use of those words by people not in those groups is still in poor taste.

I like the song, though, and Knopfler is obviously playing a character, and (I hope) not speaking in his own voice.

But, again, I do not know which side of the fence to fall on.

I think the song is classist not homophobic. However, I do not think classist lyrics should be excised from the radio.

How come no one points out that the song also insults yo-yos, people with blisters, Hawaiians, and chimpanzees. Who will speak for the yo-yos?

American Yo-Yo Association.

I recall a censored version of that song from the 80s without that lyric.

I also recently re-watched (or attempted to) "Miami Vice" which was a huge favorite of mine at the time. Whoa, there are some broad gay stereotypes and anti-gay slurs in there that would (I hope) never be broadcast today.

I remember some of the censorship battles of radio in the 1970s... the radio stations that played the Rolling Stones song "Bitch" but never announced the title... the Steve Miller song "Jet Airliner" with the lyric "funky shit" that got rerecorded for AM radio as "funky kicks" (while FM played the original)... and the BBC's rule against broadcasting lyrics that included brand names (they were so militantly non-commercial in those days), killing UK sales of Paul Simon's song "Kodachrome". (I also remember making my first sale of disc jockey jokes on the strength of the one-liner "Mama don't take my Kodachrome away, you're already over-developed". But I digress.)

But for the absolutely best job of dealing with the issue of offensive language, I nominate Tim Minchin's "Prejudice" song, with the refrain "Only a Ginger can call another Ginger Ginger" (fascinating coincidence that Ginger is an acronym for another controversial word). And I was grossly disappointed that, when Tim Minchin made his American TV debut this week on Conan's show, he did NOT play that song. Come on, who's more Ginger than Conan O'Brien?!?