Reality Check

To begin at the end. Garry Otten used to write a very entertaining column in Scotsgay magazine called Scottishmediamonitor, "examining the treatment of sexuality in the Scottish media" alongside this excellent logo. Each week he would turn that big gun of his on journalists and opinion formers in Scotland who had the temerity to write about sex and morality. Katie Grant and Joan Burnie were his favorite targets, but at last young Gazza has pounced on me, appending this comment to the piece I wrote at the weekend for Scotland on Sunday.

"Now, how about an opinion from a less sexually repressed writer - if SoS has one - that could give an entirely different account of this. It is full of inaccuracies. The writer yearns for the days of fishtrader, Cameron Stout. Perhaps because the Netherlands doesn't treat sex like a pantomime favourite is why they are generally less homophobic, start sex later and boast a teenage pregnancy rate seven times lower than ours."

To which I reply:

(i) Though I'd had the article in my mind for a month, sadly it was written in a hurry on Friday evening and if there are inaccuracies that's a shame and I apologise.
(ii) I have a thing for fish. As a lad I worked on a fish market and later very much admired the inflatable haddock which used to be carried to games by Grimsby Town football fans.
(iii) The article isn't about sex, it's about reality TV.
(iv) I had a look around the newsroom the last time I was in, and sad to say, Scotland on Sunday has no-one who is less sexually repressed than me.

But maybe Garry's right. Your call, at:

Reality Check