Jeff Schroeder, one of the participants in the current edition of American Big Brother, suggested during a discussion with another reality participant that gays are pedophiles. Jeff's statements went nationwide as the show was being broadcast live.
The discussion began because Kalia, one of the attraction's contestants, said she believed that writer JK Rowling, author of the "Harry Potter" saga, had written the wizard Dumbledore as a gay character. Jeff said he couldn't be gay because he was always around kids.
"He's at school with little kids. You can't make this guy gay! It would be perverted!" Jeff said. "Why? Gay men can't work with young children?" Kalia replied.
"It's not right to have it in a book for young children, it's not right that the grand master of this magical land is gay. It's not the right kind of thing to write about," Jeff continued.
After the participant's statement, controversy spread throughout the United States. CBS, the broadcaster that shows the attraction, went public and issued a statement.
"Big Brother is a reality show about observing a group of people who have no privacy. Sometimes participants make comments, reveal prejudices and other beliefs that we do not tolerate. Any opinion expressed in personal comments by a participant on any broadcast live from the house are those of the individual and do not represent the views and opinions of CBS or the show's producers," the statement said.
Glaad (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) considers CBS responsible for Jeff's homophobic statements. The association found the network's decision to bring the participant back to the attraction to be unfortunate, as Jeff had already participated in the program in a previous edition. Just like in Brazil, the American Big Brother used the resource of bringing controversial ex-convicts to boost the program's audience. We remember Marcelo Dourado well!
For the record, in October 2007, when questioned by a fan during an event in New York, author JK Rowling stated that Dumbledore is gay.
