NO SUEDE: A video by acclaimed English...

NO SUEDE: A video by acclaimed English alternative-rock band Suede has been banned by one of the country’s major television stations for its gender-bending content.

The ITV network has refused to air during daytime programming the clip for “Animal Nitrate,” the band’s third single, which recently entered the British pop charts at No. 7. The reason: The video features scenes of two men kissing and embracing.

“(The video) was too contentious for the Saturday lunchtime slot,” says an ITV spokesperson. Howard Wuelfing, a New York publicist for Columbia Records, the band’s label, defends the video as mere “flirting with sexual imagery . . . through androgyny.”

The irony is that ITV had no problems with Suede’s two previous videos, for the songs “The Downers” and “Metal Mickey,” which both show scenes of women holding hands and exchanging longing glances, even though some of the couples are dressed as men. The images stem from the cover of the band’s album (see review, Page 60), which features a photograph of two androgynous-looking women kissing. It first appeared in “Stolen Glances,” a book of lesbian photography.

A representative of MTV in the U.S. said that the video channel, which has been airing the “Metal Mickey” clip on its “120 Minutes” show, has not yet considered the “Animal Nitrate” video for airplay and had no comment regarding its suitability.