It wouldn't take much browsing of the net this afternoon for anyone to have come across the hoo-ha of Jan Moir's Cunt Mail Article on a certain mysterious, yet natural, death. if you haven't read it yet, please do, and acquaint yourself with the kind of person who really does need to be sent to a remote island with the rest of her kind.

Charlie Brooker responded in the Guardian - brilliant, obviously, but it's not really a big deal as he only voiced what everyone else who read the Moir article was thinking: "Way to gay-bash, Jan".

He adds at the bottom that it would be delightful if we were all to pay a visit to "the Press Complaints Commission website (www.pcc.org.uk) to lodge a complaint about Moir's article on the basis that it breaches sections 1, 5 and 12 of its code of practice".

That is all well and good. It clearly does breach several clauses under 'Accuracy', 'Discrimination' and 'Intrusion into grief or shock'.

I read the Mail article BEFORE reading Charlie's article and had been suitably disgusted and shocked, so off I went to the website to have a little look.

At the top of its Make A Complaint site are the words IF YOU ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE JAN MOIR PIECE IN THE DAILY MAIL PLEASE CLICK HERE. I click. I fill in the form. I don't rant about how shocking and disturbing it is, or how offensive it is to his family - I complain on the statements made about civil partnerships and the implications of this.

This was my automatic response:

Thank you for sending us your complaint about the Daily Mail article on the subject of the death of Stephen Gately. We have received numerous complaints about this matter.
I should first make clear that the Commission generally requires the involvement of directly affected parties before it can begin an investigation into an article. On this occasion, it may be a matter for the family of Mr Gately to raise a complaint about how his death has been treated by the Daily Mail. I can inform you that we have made ourselves available to the family and Mr Gately's bandmates, in order that they can use our services if they wish.
We require the direct involvement of affected parties because the PCC process can have a public outcome and it would be discourteous for the Commission to publish information relating to individuals without their knowledge or consent. Indeed, doing so might unwittingly add to any intrusion. Additionally, one of the PCC's roles is dispute resolution, and we would need contact with the affected party in order to determine what would be an acceptable means of settling a complaint.
On initial examination, it would appear that you are, therefore, a third party to the complaint, and wemay not be able to pursue your concerns further. However, if you feel that your complaint touches on claims that do not relate directly to Mr Gately or his family, please let us know, making clear how they raise a breach of the Code of Practice. If you feel that the Commission should waive its third party rules, please make clear why you believe this.

Press Complaints Commission

I've highlighted the bit I have a problem with. I WAS complaining about something that does not relate directly to Mr Gately or his family. I was complaining about the following from the original article:

Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.

Gay activists are always calling for tolerance and understanding about same-sex relationships, arguing that they are just the same as heterosexual marriages. Not everyone, they say, is like George Michael.

Of course, in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately's last night raise troubling questions about what happened.

I literally cannot find the words for how angry that makes me. She has responded (I can't use the word apologise) in a press release, finishing with the words "In what is clearly a heavily orchestrated internet campaign I think it is mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones". You can laugh at that, or pull your hair out, as you choose.

There are no other links in the email from the PCC in order to let them know further information about your complaint, incidentally.

So that was a waste of time. Who do I complain to about the PCC?