# Arthur C Clark, Ahem...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309 "2005-01-12T01:25:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weeks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbce88/32.png) [@Weeks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeks)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/1 "2005-01-12T01:25:30Z")
Why in the hell is [THIS story](http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/feb/02clarke.htm) not all over the internet? ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/2 "2005-01-12T01:36:47Z")
:eek: :eek: :eek: I’m speechless. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/3 "2005-01-12T01:43:57Z")
This is not as much of a secret as it seems. The rumors have been circulating since the 70’s. The **admission** , now that’s different… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/4 "2005-01-12T01:44:24Z")
I noticed that the story dates from February of 1998. How did you come across this item, and is there anything more recent on the subject? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/5 "2005-01-12T01:45:49Z")
It’s really old news. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/6 "2005-01-12T01:49:47Z")
And [here is the followup.](http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/apr/06clarke.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/7 "2005-01-12T01:51:45Z")
[The investiture ceremony was delayed until Sir Arthur was cleared of charges of paedophilia, brought against him after an article published in the Sunday Mirror.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/765385.stm) (BBC, Friday, 26 May, 2000) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/8 "2005-01-12T01:53:23Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > This is not as much of a secret as it seems. > > The rumors have been circulating since the 70’s. > > The **admission** , now that’s different… I’ve never heard this rumor and I’ve been circulating since the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/9 "2005-01-12T01:56:12Z")
As of 2000 he was cleared and knighted according to The BBC. Also, from the “[Asimovs.com](http://Asimovs.com)” message board (not a link, even though it probably wouldn’t cause a board war) > [@](#): > > Anyway the allegations amounted to little more then rumor. Nothing was remotely proven or even accused I believe. However Clarke is an elderly batchelor who likes kids and his brief marriage in youth was by all accounts fraudulent. He’s hinted at times he’s gay, and I guess is confirmed as bisexual, but I don’t think he has any longstanding male partner known. (Despite Clarke being quite liberal, most older people I’ve seen find it difficult to admit general homosexuality or bisexuality. Also, until maybe his late forties, British laws against homosexuality were stricter than in some US states. In Clarke’s late teens the child of even the mega-rich British MP Nancy Astor spent months in prison for homosexuality, for ordinary men in the situation I imagine it was often harsher) So anyway no husband, no wife, likes kids that’s generally all you need these days to accuse someone of pedophilia. So it sounds like it was just tabloid journalism at it’s finest/worst. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/10 "2005-01-12T02:00:00Z")
It was a big deal when Clarke was going to be knighted, but, as the reports indicated, the story was discredited and an investigation cleared him. It was reported on at the time in the SF press and on the Internet. The original story was shown to be completely bogus. It was just an attempt to embarass Clarke (and the Queen, for giving him the knighthood). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/11 "2005-01-12T02:06:56Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I’ve never heard this rumor and I’ve been circulating since the 60’s. Circulating in science fiction circles. I first heard the rumor in 78, at a Star Trek con in Milwaukee, and we basically told the broad to “shut the f^^k up!” Heard it again in 85, & various times since. Maybe somebody’s been cheesed off at him for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/12 "2005-01-12T05:01:41Z")
Howyadoin, From [http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/apr/06clarke.htm](http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/apr/06clarke.htm) "Clarke was not available for comment today, but he said last week that he intends to file a defamation case against the British newspaper. "I know I have done no wrong and I know I am going to win the case. With the money that I will get, I am going to make an underground swimming pool for people in Sri Lanka,’’ he said. " Ummm… an _underground swimming pool?_ Am I being whooshed here? 😕 -Rav ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/13 "2005-01-12T05:14:47Z")
I remember hearing this rumor a few years a go from a stoner science fiction fanboy who told that everyone knew Clarke was into little boys and that he lived in Sri Lanka because “pedophilia’s like totally legal there and he can’t get in trouble.” I didn’t know anything about Clarke’s proclivities but I immediately called bullshit on the assertions about Sri Lanka’s laws regarding pedophilia. Then he changed subjects and started talking about how the new Star Wars movie was going to be “All CGI” and that it would have ET in it. (This was shortly before EP One went into production). I’m glad to hear the rumor was bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/14 "2005-01-12T05:26:54Z")
It’s been common knowledge in science fiction fandom for a couple of decades that Clarke is gay. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/15 "2005-01-12T08:32:26Z")
Puts a whole new spin on **Childhood’s End**. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/16 "2005-01-12T12:59:42Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I didn’t know anything about Clarke’s proclivities but I immediately called bullshit on the assertions about Sri Lanka’s laws regarding pedophilia. Then he changed subjects and started talking about how the new Star Wars movie was going to be “All CGI” and that it would have ET in it. (This was shortly before EP One went into production). > > I’m glad to hear the rumor was bullshit. Ummmm… You do know that ET was episode one, right? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/17 "2005-01-13T01:11:39Z")
Is part of the discrepancy that the law said “below the age of 12” whereas he’s talking about after puberty? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clark-ahem/284309/18 "2005-01-13T03:30:36Z")
He never said that. The first article is total bunk. The people who claimed that Clark said those things lied.