Twitter is burning up with tweets and re-tweets about a particularly venomous column from veteran UK journalist Jan Moir, about the recent death of Boyzone band member Stephen Gately.

In a piece for the Daily Mail, Jan comments that “the circumstances surrounding [Gately's] death are more than a little sleazy” and (this is choice): “Another real sadness about Gately’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.”

Gately and his husband, Andrew Cowles, were clubbing in Mallorca when they met up with another man and invited him back to their apartment for drinks. Gately’s body was discovered by the other man, Georgi Dochev, the following morning. Gately apparently died in his sleep, lying on a couch in the apartment’s living room. Preliminary reports have indicated Gately died of natural causes and found nothing suspicious in Gately’s death (i.e. no overdose of drugs, or toxic levels of alcohol). What makes the death “unnatural” and “sleazy” in Moir’s words is, simply, the fact that Gately was gay.

Thousands of readers, bloggers and Twitterers have responded to Moir’s article, which has been labelled hate speech by many.  Popular actor Stephen Fry has waded into the fray, and posted links (via Twitter) so that people can lodge official complaints against Moir –  even celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has added his outraged comments, calling for Moir to be dismissed if she does not issue a public apology. I have to say, I don’t disagree with him. Moir’s article is hateful, and ugly. If the same thing had been published in South Africa, it would be the subject of public hearings, and certainly dismissal if not other sanctions.

In another article, a media blogger describes Twitter as this century’s angry mob – quite a good comparison, I think. This is the second time this week that Twitter users have raised their “voices” (in 140 characters or less!) to protest about media-related issues. Earlier this week, a mass campaign really driven or fed by Twitter users forced the overturning of a ban against The Guardian newspaper from reporting on an issue to be put before the British parliament, concerning Trafigura, a lovely company that recently dumped toxic waste on the Ivory Coast. Which, in Moir’s world, adds up to a lesser evil than that of being homosexual?

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