Two popular gay contestants from The Great British Bake Off (known as The Great British Baking Show in the U.S.) say the show needs to do more for LGBTQ+ inclusion.The competition show has “embraced gay men very comfortably and highlighted them a lot,” but the “rest of the queer community has been slightly sidelined,” David Atherton, who won the program’s 2019 season, recently told PinkNews.His season, in which fellow gay contestant Michael Chakraverty placed sixth, marked a “turning point” for inclusion, he said. After downplaying LGBTQ+ visibility in previous seasons, in their season the show’s staff “let us wear T-shirts that were pro-LGBTQI+, and right at the end of the whole series is me and Nik [his fiancé] kissing,” he explained.But it’s time for the show to have a transgender competitor, Chakraverty told PinkNews.
