Netflix gay category missing from UK iPad and Xbox versions’ frontpages
This story was updated at 15:40 GMT.
The video-on-demand service Netflix, which offers users streaming films online, has left the gay category out of its new UK apps frontpages.
The major American video-on-demand service launched in the UK yesterday.
But PinkNews.co.uk readers have said when using the service on an Apple iPad and XBox 360, films with clear gay themes are there, but they cannot be found through a search for the word ‘gay’.
Other search terms, including ‘thriller’ also returned no results.
Likewise, the gay category which features on the front page of the site has not made it onto the front page of the apps, making it harder to find gay content.
A list of gay and lesbian content can be found in the Drama section, but the search function does not currently appear to return films by theme or genre.
Netflix points out that there is gay and lesbian content on the app and says each user interface has to adapt to different devices. It points out that as the UK service continues to evolve, new content will be added.
The HD category has been left off the iPad version, because the iPad does not display in true High Definition.
Netflix has a Gay and Lesbian category on its website.
Films which feature online under the gay heading include Little Ashes, which stars Robert Pattinson and explores gay themes in its depiction of Salvador Dali.
Fingersmith is the 2005 BBC adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Victorian crime novel, which has lesbian themes.
Fried Green Tomatoes is based on the novel with a lesbian relationship, although this was glossed over in the film adaptation.
1975’s The Naked Civil Servant is the film of gay icon Quentin Crisp’s autobiography.
Searching for ‘gay’ does not return any results.
Other films listed in the gay category online include Chasing Amy, Midnight Cowboy, Mysterious Skin, Higher Learning, Black White + Gray, The Hours, The Mudge Boy, Party Monster, 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous and Lianna.
