A Kiss Is Just A Kiss, Mr. Hannity…
February 26, 2009
The other night, Fox’s Sean Hannity had this to say about the Oscars:
“…they keep showing the scenes of men kissing. And I’m thinking do we have to expose our children to more and more sex, more and more violence, you know, more and more controversy?”
He continued:
“Listen, I’m just more sensitive. If it’s going to be a family event, you know, and you want to — you can’t watch a lot of programs now because of the adult content. We’re robbing these kids, Alicia, of their childhood. We’re over-sexualizing them at younger and younger ages.”
Though there were 14 straight kisses and just 3 gay kisses (all the same couple and all scenes from Milk, btw) aired during the Oscars, even kids know that a kiss is just a kiss.
Isn’t it time Sean Hannity figured that out too?
Full Transcript Below:
HANNITY: We continue now with our “Great American Panel.”
All right. The single most dull and boring and the self-righteous pat each other on the back, you know, actors and actresses. Here’s Sean Penn last night, the really big genius that he is. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN PENN, ACTOR: For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, and I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIETL: All I can say is I wore my pink tie tonight in support of Mr. Penn. I don’t think so. This is not a political event. He’s a great actor. He’s got the Academy Award twice. But he’s sucking face with pineapple face and with Fidel. What reasons? You can’t be gay…
HANNITY: He’s talking about Hugo Chavez.
DIETL: Yes, you can’t be gay and live in Venezuela. You can’t be gay and live in Cuba. They have no human rights there, so Mr. Penn, why don’t you go over and tell them to give some human rights to people over there?
HANNITY: That’s a great point. Why doesn’t he do that?
MENENDEZ: He lives in America, he’s an American…
DIETL: He hates America. He hates America.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: He hangs out with dictators. That’s Bo’s point.
MENENDEZ: That’s not what we’re talking about, though. We’re talking about the fact that, as I was driving in there who were — who were people flashing these messages of hate and…
HANNITY: Hang on one second. Hang on one second. Bo’s point is just the opposite. He’s hanging out with dictators where, if you’re gay, you’re going to be persecuted. And so he’s hypocritical.
DIETL: Right. Why are you sucking face with them for?
MENENDEZ: Right. To be honest, I do not know that that is what he’s doing, but in spite of that, I think the speech he made was eloquent and it was to the point.
HANNITY: All right, let me ask you.
EHRLICH: It’s all about politics, Sean. You know that. It’s all about politics.
MENENDEZ: It was a political film.
DIETL: Not too many votes, people who were viewing this.
EHRLICH: Sean’s point is, it’s just wildly inconsistent. He’s not consistent.
HANNITY: And let me ask — my wife said to me, and I wasn’t watching, because I was busy prepping for this show. But she said, you know, they keep showing the scenes of men kissing. And I’m thinking do we have to expose our children to more and more sex, more and more violence, you know, more and more controversy? Does that bother you at all?
EHRLICH: My kid’s asleep, but the point is, of course, it’s an agenda, and they don’t care. Look, these are adult subjects, but they’re not for my 9-year-old. This is not a discussion I need to have with my 9- year-old.
MENENDEZ: Do you get upset when you see heterosexual couples doing the same thing on TV?
DIETL: No, I don’t get upset when I see two people in love and kissing each other, but I get upset when a guy is sticking his tongue in another guy’s mouth. Maybe he wants that, but don’t bring that to my children at that age to show it’s an acceptable thing in daylight.
EHRLICH: And I agree. If it’s homosexual or heterosexual, I don’t want my 9-year-old…
DIETL: I’m not against lesbianics [SIC]. I’m not against gays.
HANNITY: What was that?
DIETL: Lesbianics [SIC]. I’m not against them, Sean. Whatever you want to suck on, that’s fine. But my point is — my point is, Sean, but don’t bring it in front of my children while they’re…
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Listen, I’m just more sensitive. If it’s going to be a family event, you know, and you want to — you can’t watch a lot of programs now because of the adult content. We’re robbing these kids, Alicia, of their childhood. We’re over-sexualizing them at younger and younger ages. We’re teaching them how to put condoms on cucumbers and on bananas. And you know what? Why don’t we leave the kids alone a little bit? Have some consideration for them?
MENENDEZ: I have even bigger problems with the amount of violence we show on television.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Sex and violence.
MENENDEZ: If we’re talking about hypocrisy, then let’s talk about a different standard…
DIETL: Look at the movie that Woody Allen made. This one about Barcelona. He had two gals that went there. One was engaged to be married. The next thing, this guy Javay (ph) — he was up for the Academy Award. Javier. Javier. He’s there, he’s — taking this one, this one, that one. And this is the realm of people’s mind.
This woman was happily engaged. She made some — groping (ph) with him. Then all of the sudden the one that won the Academy Award, she’s in it. She’s jumping in. I mean, this is what Hollywood’s all about, showing people, don’t be true to your loved one. Bounce around.
And you want to know something? Kids get affected by this…
HANNITY: They do.
DIETL: … when they think no one can be sincere.
EHRLICH: And there’s a difference between cartoon violence, like it didn’t impact anybody, and real violence. I don’t want my 9-year-old seeing real adult violence either, and that’s the parents’ job. I’m just tired of Hollywood, their agenda. Unfortunately, the agenda are not fair (ph) today.
HANNITY: I don’t want lectures from Penn or Baldwin or any of these guys.
DIETL: He’s an actor. He’s a great actor.
MENENDEZ: It’s his moment. Let him have his moment.
HANNITY: He’s not that great of an actor. Denzel Washington is a great actor.
DIETL: He’s a friend of mine. I love him. He’s great.
HANNITY: Morgan Freeman is a great actor.
DIETL: He was with me on the — at the table for New Year’s Eve.
HANNITY: All right. We’ve got to run. Good to see you all. Thank you.
DIETL: Good man.
HANNITY: And coming up Obama says that he’s aiming to cut the deficit in half. Well, I guess that means that the tax cuts he promised for 95 percent of Americans are being left on the campaign trail, along with some of his other promises. Dick Morris next. He’ll break it all down, straight ahead.
Share Your Stories From the Holiday Table
January 6, 2009
Last year, GLAAD partnered with Mitchell Gold, editor of the anthology Crisis, to urge folks to share their stories with friends and family during the holiday season.
That’s exactly what my family did this year. Our big annual holiday dinner included the usual grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, along with three of us openly gay grandchildren.
CRISIS examines the overwhelming effects of prejudice and discrimination on the lives of gay youth.
In preparation for our big meal, my mom added one task to her list of things to do – to call everyone coming over for dinner and let them know we were having two special guests: my brother and my cousin’s partners. To my mom’s surprise, everyone was just fine with the inclusion of our gay family members. I wasn’t too surprised, though. I work for GLAAD, and every day I get to see examples demonstrating that our work is making a difference in eliminating homophobia.
As part of being GLAAD’s Central Region Media Field Strategist, I work to ensure media coverage of our community in the region (which includes my family’s home base, Ohio) is fair, accurate, and inclusive. Going into the holiday season, I knew that my extended family has been seeing more and more images of gay and transgender people in the media regularly, and that these positive portrayals are inevitably playing a role in changing their hearts and minds.
My grandma’s reaction to the news that two new members of the family would be joining our holiday meal was amazing. I know how important the media advocacy work we do here at GLAAD is, but it hit home for me as I watched my grandmother simply smile and say, “That’s great. You know this guy on one of my soaps, he’s gay. I love all my grandchildren, this doesn’t change anything.”
The actors who play Luke and Noah on As the World Turns received a GLAAD Media Award this year.
Towards the end of 2008, GLAAD commissioned a poll from Harris Interactive, the results of which told us that if someone knows a gay person, they are more likely to favor legal protections for our community. In fact, 19% of survey respondents reported that their feelings toward gay and lesbian people have become more favorable over the past five years. The number one factor for this change of heart was knowing someone who is gay or lesbian.
I firmly believe that the fact that my brother, my cousin, and I have all come out to our family, coupled with the fact that my family regularly sees fair and accurate media coverage of our community has made all the difference.
Not only have we built up a great group of allies in our extended family, but we’ve paved the way for any future family members who may be gay. They will be comforted to know that Grandma loves Luke and Noah on As the World Turns, and that openly gay folks are welcomed to our family’s holiday meal table every year.
Please feel free to share your story from the holidays in the comments section below.
