UPDATE: National Media Keep an Eye on Vallejo, Calif. After Mayor’s Anti-Gay Comments
December 4, 2009
In an interview with The New York Times published on Nov. 20, Vallejo, Calif. Mayor Osby Davis told reporters that gay men and lesbians are “sinners” and will be kept “out of heaven”:
The sins that keep you out of heaven are not the just those sins of being gay, those are sins of lying, murdering, unforgiving, all kinds of sins. When you look at anyone you believe is not living a life along the principles of Christianity, you pray for them that they will one day see the error in their ways and change, but you don’t exclude them because Christ died for everybody. So when you look at someone who is gay, you see them as someone Christ died for and you look at them as if they’re in fact committing sin and that sin will keep them out of heaven. But you don’t hate the person; you hate the sin they commit.
That comment drew stern criticism from the LGBT community and its allies. (Read GLAAD’s original post about the incident here). Protestors gathered Tuesday night on the steps of Vallejo’s city hall in response to the Mayor’s comments and some advocates have called for the Mayor’s resignation.
Mayor Davis issued an apology for his remarks, but qualified that apology by stating his “words were taken out of context.”
Today, The New York Times published a follow-up article that recaptures the week’s controversy and provides quotes from both the Mayor’s supporters and those critical of his statement. The Times also provided the entire context of Davis’s interview, along with audio of Davis’s exchange with reporters.
The San Francisco Chronicle also published a column on Friday that directly challenged what the columnist considers a half-hearted apology by the Mayor:
The trouble with Davis’ claim – and a written apology issued later – is that there is no appropriate context suitable for such a statement, especially when it’s uttered by an elected official. What’s more, there isn’t a resident in the Bay Area who doesn’t understand the weight of such a comment.
Huffington Post columnist Byron Williams is also sharply critical of Mayor Davis’s apology and suggests that recalling Mayor Davis from his post would be an appropriate course of action:
The mere fact Davis did not know that some would find his statements offensive before he said them is more than enough fodder for a recall.
Unless, of course, I am guilty along like others before me, of taking Davis’ words out of context.
In a statement released on Friday, GLAAD condemned Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis for his defamatory comments:
“These sorts of hateful diatribes should not be spewed by anyone and most certainly not from a public official who was elected to serve all of their constituents.” said GLAAD Senior Director of Media Programs, Rashad Robinson. “Mayor Davis’ comments demonstrate a clear bias toward the gay and transgender community and promote anti-gay sentiments.”
GLAAD urges media reporting about this story to not only cover Davis’ misinformed remarks but also to examine how the anti-gay attitudes of elected officials impact their diverse constituencies. GLAAD is available to serve as a resource to any media outlet covering this story. GLAAD’s Media Reference Guide is an additional resource which provides helpful information on terminology and background.
GLAAD continues to work with Vallejo residents and local activists to ensure fair, accurate, and inclusive coverage of the outrage over Mayor Osby Davis’s anti-gay comments.
Updates will continue to be posted on GLAADblog.org.
Related Posts:GLSEN’s E.D. Calls Out OK Senator’s Staffer On His Anti-LGB Message
September 30, 2009
Last week media reported on various aspects of the Value Voters Summit, a yearly forum for ultra-conservatives. Last year, the summit made headlines for its wares depicting then presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype. This year one of the more alarming things to come out of the summit happened during a breakout session titled “The New Masculinity,” which brought speakers together to discuss “principles and ideals for a new masculinism.” During this session, the final speaker, Michael Schwartz, Sen. Tom Colburn’s (R-Okla.) Chief of Staff, made this statement:
“But it is my observation that boys at that age [10 – 12 years of age] have less tolerance for homosexuality than just about any other class of people. They speak badly about homosexuals. And that’s because they don’t want to be that way. They don’t want to fall into it. And that’s a good instinct. After all, homosexuality, we know, studies have been done by the National Institute of Health to try to prove that it’s genetic and all those studies have proved its not genetic. Homosexuality is inflicted on people.”
Just days later, The New York Times published an article online titled Coming Out in Middle School, which also appeared in the New York Times Magazine. The article profiles several gay and bisexual youth from across the country, some of whom live in Oklahoma. Though the article’s subjects came out in middle school, two report being aware of their sexual orientations earlier, at age ten and eleven. The article also references studies that put the mean age for recognizing same-sex attraction at age ten.
In response to Schwartz’s remarks, Dr. Eliza Byard, Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Education Network (GLSEN), who is also quoted in the Times article, penned a piece that was published in the Huffington Post, titled Colliding Realities In America’s Middle Schools.
Byard delivers a cautionary tale, urging readers to consider:
“…the clash of those two realities–10-year-olds intolerant of gay people and 10-year-olds realizing they are gay–playing out in both hidden and public ways every day in school hallways.”
She goes on to quote stark statistics from the recently released GLSEN Research brief:
“The brief reveals that middle school LGBT students reported rates of harassment and assault that were significantly higher than those reported by high school LGBT students: more middle school students had been verbally harassed, and a shocking 63% had heard homophobic remarks made by school staff. About two of every five LGBT middle school students had been assaulted – punched, kicked or threatened with a weapon – at school, as compared to “only” one in five of the high school respondents.”
This information is stark indeed and bears ill portent if Schwartz’s remarks are left unchecked by the media. His statements very clearly reinforce and even encourage homophobia in youth who are already, according to GLSEN’s data, committing acts of harassment and violence against their LGBT peers more frequently in middle school than high school.
During the course of his speech, where he addressed what men who are already good husbands and fathers can do to change the culture, Schwartz noted:
“If you don’t have love in you life it’s not a very complete life and yet we fail to talk about it to our sons and to their friends. They’re the ones that need to hear it the most.”
Perhaps someone ought to remind him that LGBT youth are deserving of that same love, acceptance and familial support, and that includes a life free from fear of harassment and violence.
Related Posts:GLAAD Attends National Summit on “Putting the “B” in LGBT”
June 29, 2009
Last month, the Bi Writers Association, with support from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City, organized “Putting the “B” in the LGBT”, a national summit whose aim was to “give people the tools to understand and include the bi community more fully,” said bi activist Sheela Lambert, who was also the driving force and primary organizer behind the summit.
The Bi Summit, as it was dubbed, was co-sponsored by The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the New York Times Company GLBT & Allies Affinity Group and Renna Communications.
The summit began with an incredibly stirring welcome address by Robert A. Woodworth, Director of Meeting and Conference Services and Capital Projects at the LGBT Center. During the course of his address, Woodworth recalled the time and efforts it has taken to make our communities as inclusive as they are now:
“After years of organizing and prodding by some people in this room – Sheela can tell you stories – the Center changed its name in 2001 to include the words “Bisexual” and “Transgender”. Words used publicly – like “gay” in the early 70s and “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” today – have the power to spark awareness as they are absorbed into the culture. But awareness is not true understanding. That comes with connection and dialogue. That’s why we need a Center where we all bump into each other day in and day out, and why we need this summit.”
Click here to read his entire address.
Summit attendants were also welcomed by Frank O’Connell of the Steering Committee of the New York Times Company GLBT & Allies Affinity Group and Hawk Stone, Board Member of NGLTF, who appeared on behalf of Dr. Jaime Grant, Director of the Policy Institute at NGLTF, who was unable to attend. During the course of the summit, O’Connell also mentioned he was the only openly bisexual person in the Affinity Group, though many others had come out to him in private. Click here to read his welcome speech.
Bisexual and marriage equality activist Robyn Ochs, who was recently honored by NGLTF for her tireless lifetime commitment to the LGBT movement, was the keynote speaker. She spoke of the problematic nature of bi invisibility as people only “see” bisexuals when we are simultaneously partnered with members of both sexes, which is not the reality lived by most of our community.
As a marriage equality activist who is married to a woman, Ochs knows first hand the ways in which media outlets and others have tried to make her bisexuality invisible. She situated part of the blame with the messaging of LGBT organizations and their own biphobia.
Bisexual and Marriage Equality activist Robyn Ochs gives the keynote address.
“We oversimplify our messaging so people will ‘get it’ but then they don’t ‘get it’ because we’ve given them an over-simplistic message…The ick factor with with regard to bisexuality is both about a resistance to sex and a resistance to complexity.”
Following the keynote address, was a series of panels, including Bisexuality: Exploding the Myths*, Bi Community Panel: Telling Our Stories and Crafting the Message: How to Put the “B” in LGBT. The Summit ended with a closing plenary discussion: Putting the B in LGBT: How Can We Do a Better Job?.
Many and varied issues were touched upon emanating from both within and outside of the LGBT community. In Exploding the Myths, Peter Ruggiero of the Bi Writers Association, spoke movingly of the despair that came from the lack of images of bisexual men.
“Hearing bi men don’t exist had detrimental effects on me – I literally though of doing myself in.”
Other speakers called for more representation on a national and political level. Author and activist Ron Suresha noted:
“We have a lack of representation on a national level. They don’t have anyone addressing bisexual issues full time. I think that’s a problem.”
Educator and activist Renata Moreira spoke movingly about her inability to secure a visa for the woman she loves and the fact that the mere request for her partner’s visa has put her own citizenship in jeopardy. Moreira, who has a green card and was applying for her citizenship, was previously married to a man.
“Now they are now reevaluating my paperwork because they think my previous marriage might be fake.”
This suspicion has caused much stress and pain for Moreira, as well as her ex-husband and family, with whom she is still close, as they are all being subjected to an investigation as to the validity of Moreira’s previous marriage.
Moreira’s story illustrates what happens as bisexuality is made invisible on a national and international level. As LGBT organizations continue to do more work around the effects of current immigration law and same-sex couples, this is something we must keep in mind.
Joshua Lynsen, News Editor for the Washington Blade, followed up the panel on Telling Our Stories with a lesson on messaging for news outlets who want to be inclusive of bisexuality. You can read his article which covers all the main points of his talk here.
The closing plenary was a roundtable discussion that featured LGBT activists, media professionals, politicians as well as bi community activists. GLAAD’s Director of National News, Cindi Creager, also took part and addressed the issue of how LGBT organizations could work to keep their messaging consistent with a bi inclusive perspective. It was a rousing discussion with many diverse perspectives and as Ann Northrop, cohost of Gay USA, noted, as someone with 39 years of experience in journalism,
“People do not like complexity. The human race runs screaming from the room not to deal with this.”
Northrop’s suggestions for how to move forward?
“I want to encourage you to encourage the conversation. Talk more. Think more. Have conversations with everybody.”
The first National Summit on “Putting the “B” in LGBT” is a promising beginning to an inclusive and complex conversation.
*Segments of Bisexuality: Exploding the Myths can also be heard on Out FM WBAI New York. It begins about halfway through the segment. Tune in to 99.5 FM New York City on Mondays at 11 am for additional coverage of the summit or visit the station’s archives.
Related Posts:National Media Analyze Presidential Memo on Benefit Package for Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees
June 18, 2009
President Obama signed a memorandum on Wednesday that extends limited benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees.
Among those benefits is the right for a same-sex partner to use American medical facilities abroad as well as the right for a federal employee to take a leave of absence to nurse a sick partner or non-biological child to health.
Healthcare and retirement benefits, however, are precluded from the President’s package leaving some LGBT advocates dissatisfied with both yesterday’s memorandum and the President’s hesitance to fulfill his LGBT campaign promises.
Rachel Maddow covered the breaking news on her MSNBC program this past Tuesday:
An editorial in The New York Times, published on Wednesday, candidly exposed the discrimination rooted in excluding same-sex partners from federal healthcare and retirement packages:
Since benefits are an important part of employment compensation, gay people are effectively being paid less than their heterosexual peers for doing the same work.
The Times went on to clarify that while the new benefits are certainly a mark of progress, it is still “impossible to ignore how much of the glass is not full” and urged President Obama to fulfill his campaign pledges and “work to allow gay people to serve openly in the military and to persuade Congress to bar discrimination against gay people in employment.”
Similarly, in a June 18 article, “Gay Couples Express Hope over Benefits Extension,” The Washington Post profiled three gay and lesbian federal employees, all of whom are hoping for further action on the parts of the President and U.S. congress:
Jamie Price, a lawyer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said she hopes Obama’s action will “perhaps spur Congress” into approving the bipartisan legislation that would provide domestic partners of federal workers the same benefits as the spouses of federal employees.
President Obama has expressed his full support for such legislation.
Although the President did not directly address transgender people in his speech yesterday, the National Center for Transgender Equality reported on Wednesday that:
Officials [NCTE] spoke with today reconfirmed that the decision is firm that the new guidelines to agencies and departments will make clear that discrimination based on gender identity and expression is forbidden under civil service policies and that the policy will be enforced by this Administration.
The Associated Press reported that John Berry, head of the Office of Personnel Management and the highest ranking gay person in the Obama administration declared yesterday’s memorandum to be “a first step – not a final step” in President Obama’s pursuit of LGBT equality.
The blogosphere is also full of praise and criticism of President Obama’s federal employee memorandum.
Leonard Hirsch penned a thankful note to the Administration on Thursday via Bilerico.com:
Thank you, President Obama and your team (you know who you are). Thank you, Secretary Clinton and GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) for taking an important lead on these issues during this Administration.
Though Hirsch goes on to say “We still have much to do for LGBT equality and to eliminate hate, discrimination and harassment in our society and our laws” – a point of clarification that Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, took up in her Huffington Post piece, “Our Moral Imperative.”
In the piece, Carey admonished last week’s Department of Justice brief that defended the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) saying it was “not merely disappointing, it was a public abrogation of the promise of equality the president himself embraced as a candidate.” She goes on to list dozens of policies on which the President can take immediate action in a move toward LGBT equality. Carey does give credit where it is due, echoing White House officials in calling the President’s memorandum ‘a first step’.
Bilerico.com went on to publish the transcripts of yesterday’s White House press briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, during which Press Secretary Gibbs was pressed for answers on several LGBT issues. Among the most noteworthy of responses was one in which a timeline for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was disclosed:
Q: Okay. And on-just one more time on DOMA, “don’t ask, don’t tell” timeline, does the President want to see that overturned in this Congress? I mean, is there a plan to do that in this Congress?
MR. GIBBS: I think, as Senator Reid said, it’s something we can do in this Congress and it’s something that the President is working with members of Congress, working with-on “don’t ask, don’t tell,” working with the Pentagon to ensure that that happens. Yes, ma’am.
GLAAD will continue to monitor media reports of the Obama Administration’s stance and actions on LGBT issues.
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Related Posts:National Newspapers Respond to Prop 8 Decision in Editorial Pages
May 29, 2009
Following the decision by California’s Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8, national newspapers have taken a stand for marriage equality, publishing editorials that criticize the Court’s ruling as unjust and ultimately un-American.
On May 27, The New York Times printed an editorial called “A Setback for Equality,” lamenting the Prop. 8 decision and calling it an “affront to gay men and lesbians and to [the] fundamental values enshrined in the [CA] state Constitution.” The editorial minces no words leading in with the assertion that “the California Supreme Court got it terribly wrong.” Yet the The New York Times encourages the LGBT community and its allies to share in its optimism for the future:
Polls show growing support for marriage rights for all Americans. We remain confident that the California ruling was a temporary setback.
The Los Angeles Times published a similarly critical editorial titled “Prop. 8 Fight Is Not Over,” which called the Court’s ruling “crushing to same-sex couples and those who support their right to marry.” The Los Angeles Times also voiced its strong support of marriage protections for same-sex couples:
Marriage is a fundamental right under the state Constitution-or it was before Proposition 8-that should not be denied to any group long targeted by discriminatory practices.
In a Wednesday editorial titled “Proposition 8 Ruling: Separate and Unequal,”The San Francisco Chronicle also voiced its disappointment in the ruling:
There is a word for this type of unequal treatment: Discrimination.
The Chronicle goes on to denounce the decision on the basis that “separate is not equal” but ends with a note of encouragement for marriage equality allies:
It will take another trip to the ballot box to remedy this injustice. Public opinion is shifting, as evident by the lack of an uproar over the sanctioning of same-sex marriage in other states. Time is on the side of marriage equality.
The Ventura County Star “share[d] the disappointment of many” in an editorial called “Equality Just A Matter of Time,” which also mourned the Court’s ruling. Though the Star also pressed that it is only a matter of time before marriage for same-sex couples is finally realized in California.
In rebuking the CA Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Prop. 8, some of the largest newspapers in the country have once again voiced their support for marriage for same-sex couples. Though the Court’s decision is also a tremendous disappointment, newspapers such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Ventura County Star and many others across the nation are to be commended for their ongoing support for marriage equality.
For the New York Post, Help Should Begin at Home
March 17, 2009
Originally posted at The Huffington Post:
The New York Post seems to be awfully big on accountability lately.
Last week, the paper’s editorial staff praised school reform in New York for creating “great accountability on all levels.”
On Thursday, they slammed President Obama for signing the earmarks bill despite his reservations, citing his desire to view the bill as a “departure point for more far-reaching change” by saying, “Translation: We’ll do better next time. Sorry, Mr. President. That line may work in Chicago politics, but it doesn’t fly when you’re in the White House.”
On Friday, it was the accomplices in the Madoff Ponzi scheme that were in their sights: “This is one case that cannot be closed until the enablers — unwitting or otherwise — have been brought to account, too.”
The Post’s editors talk a big game about accountability but don’t seem particularly interested in holding themselves to the same strict standards.
Three weeks ago, a racist editorial cartoon by Sean Delonas sparked national outrage when it linked the shooting of a chimpanzee in Connecticut with President Obama and the passage of the stimulus package.
The community response was strong. Civil rights leaders staged protests outside of the Post offices, talking heads debated the cartoon endlessly on the 24-hour news networks, and advocacy groups from coast to coast — GLAAD included — expressed their disgust with the cartoon and the paper that saw fit to publish it.
In a rare move, NewsCorp CEO Rupert Murdoch printed an apology in the pages of the Post, saying he wanted to “personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.” He went on to say that, “we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.”
Sounds a little bit like trying to develop a standard of accountability. But what does it mean to “seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of the community” when the paper has such a long history of defamatory treatment of so many different communities?
That treatment seems unlikely to change. Delonas publishes inane and defamatory cartoons about the LGBT community with depressing regularity, and the paper refuses to embrace even the most minimal standards of journalism when it comes to reporting on and selecting terminology to describe our community.
I have to wonder about the folks who go to work at the Post every day. Are they hoping to make it a place that values quality journalism or fair reporting? Or do they not care about the power of the press to educate, illuminate and inform the public, and just enjoy working for a tabloid?
Whenever I see headlines like “Free to Be He-She” or “Attack of the Killer Lesbians” or “Tranny Heaven,” I ask myself, are these well intentioned? Or do the people who write them approach their work with an attitude of “hey, to hell with basic journalistic standards and the implications for communities.”
It’s not just about the Post either. There’s some guilt by association — I can’t imagine how the folks over at the Wall Street Journal feel about their own journalistic credibility when the other NewsCorp paper in town runs headlines like, “Woman To Claim ‘Tranny Defense’ in Murder Trial.” Now that rumors have circulated that Murdoch has set his sights on the New York Times, I can’t help but feel concerned about what this means for the state of journalistic integrity in the news media capital of the United States.
Close to a month has passed since Murdoch apologized for the cartoon, but we haven’t seen any real change at the Post — Col Allen is still Editor-in-Chief, and Delonas’ cartoons appear on Page Six throughout the week. What is it going to take for the Post and for NewsCorp to take the concerns of the communities that they serve seriously?
The elders in my family always used to say that, “help begins at home,” and it might do the Post some good to follow that advice. The LGBT community isn’t the only one that’s nearing the end of its patience with those who refused to accept responsibility and — there’s that word again — accountability for their actions.
HBO Omits – and Then Restores – Openly Gay Bishop Gene Robinsons’ Invocation
January 20, 2009
In the days leading up to the inauguration of President Barack Obama, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and allied Americans looked forward to the Sunday inauguration kickoff concert, set to be broadcast on HBO, which openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson would open with a prayer.
When the prayer was not included in the broadcast, LGBT bloggers, advocates and GLAAD staff reached out to HBO to express their concerns. At first, HBO suggested that the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) had kept the prayer out of the broadcast, as noted on AfterElton.com. After some back and forth, the PIC issued the following statement from spokesman Josh Earnest:
“We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson’s invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday’s program. We regret the error in executing this plan – but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event.”
Within 24 hours, after hearing the concerns of LGBT people across the country, HBO agreed to play Bishop Robinson’s prayer before the inauguration and include it in future re-broadcasts of the concert. Media outlets nationwide picked up the story, which was featured last night on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and in reports by Reuters, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News, among others.
Though HBO viewers did not have the opportunity to see the invocation, bloggers posted the full prayer as recorded by a Christianity Today reporter. Rev. Susan Russell’s blog also posted photos from the event and the text of the prayer, while Episcopal Cafe featured links to the full prayer. Numerous LGBT blogs, including Joe.My.God. and Pam’s House Blend, offered ongoing commentary and updates as new details about the story emerged.
In a press release issued today, HBO gave the following update:
An updated version of the exclusive HBO special : THE OBAMA INAUGURAL CELEBRATION AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL on WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21 (11:30 p.m. ET/PT). This presentation will include the invocation of the Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson, as well as all of the original performances of the live special, which was seen Sunday, Jan. 18.
The new version will also be seen this weekend on the main HBO channel and on HBO Latino, on SATURDAY, JAN. 24 (6:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT) and SUNDAY, JAN. 25 (3:30 p.m. ET/PT).
It will also be available on hbo.com starting Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Today, GLAAD sent out the following as part of a statement, which you can read here.
GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said:
“We are disappointed that at this landmark moment millions of people worldwide did not get the opportunity to see the invocation by the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson during the original live broadcast of the opening celebration of the Presidential Inauguration. Rev. Robinson’s incredible voice draws attention to the common ground we share and we are encouraged that HBO has restored his invocation to their historical record of that day.”
The Becket Fund & Character Assassination By Innuendo
December 15, 2008
Last week, GLAAD issued an action alert about a full page ad in The New York Times paid for by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, an ad which made a series of deliberately misleading claims about the national response to the passage of Prop 8. Later that week, Seamus Hasson, founder and CEO of The Becket Fund, drew comparisons between LGBT advocates and al-Qaida during a radio interview. After GLAAD and HRC issued responses about their outrageous claims, The Becket Fund struck back, criticizing GLAAD and HRC for having challenged their claims.
Let’s be clear. What The Becket Fund is doing is character assassination by innuendo with a wanton disregard for the facts. They would evidently prefer, in the face of laws that strip essential legal protections from hardworking Americans and loving committed couples, that we roll over and meekly accept it. And when we raise our voices and speak against these injustices, they attack us and call us “nearly mobs, seeking not to persuade but to intimidate.”
In the aftermath of Prop 8, there was an unprecedented response by LGBT people and straight allies across the country. We spoke out. We took our message to city halls and rallied together in Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Wichita, Portland, Orlando, Nashville, Seattle, Little Rock, Baltimore, New York City, and in cities all over the country. Were there insolated incidents of fringe individuals engaging in acts of vandalism? Yes – and media reported on them, and movement leaders condemned them. But the hundreds of thousands of community members and allies who rallied as part of our movement’s protests against Prop 8 were peaceful and respectful.
So it’s obvious that The Becket Fund is making inaccurate and misleading claims here. Inaccuracies aren’t just statements of “the world is flat” or “the stars revolve around the earth” variety. They can be dressed up with slippery insinuations about “mobs,” “violence,” “religious wars,” “intimidation,” and “numbing the public conscience,” all the way to manifestly defamatory comparisons of gay Americans to al-Qaida.
Inaccuracy is probably too mild a word for The Becket Fund’s brand of ugly, intellectually dishonest misrepresentations. The Becket Fund doesn’t have a legitimate case, so their only option is to stir up irrational fear and mistrust through innuendo and mischaracterization. It speaks volumes about their character.
Cross posted at The Bilerico Project.
Increased Visibility Comes With Increased Defamation
December 11, 2008
In a moment when our right to love was upheld by the California Constitution and then dashed by a narrow vote, the LGBT community has a right — even a responsibility — to make our voices heard. Since Election Day, there has been a tremendous outpouring of frustration and determination from the LGBT community and allies who have united across the nation to increase our visibility and spark new national conversations about equality.
Across the country since Election Day, demonstrations occurred without mass arrests or reports of violent altercations with authorities. Straight allies, local churches, elected officials including NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Washington State senator Ed Murray and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and celebrities such as Wanda Sykes, Alec Mapa, and Pink were all on hand on November 15, 2008 to have their voices heard during nationwide protests. Instead of demanding action against supporters of Proposition 8, the speakers and demonstrators called for equality.
This is why GLAAD issued a call to action in response to an advertisement that ran in the December 5, 2008 issue of the New York Times from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The full page Becket Fund advertisement makes inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about supposed “violence and intimidation” against religious groups by “mobs” since the passage of Proposition 8. Organizers and participants did not promote hate or violence. We did promote equality, come together as a community and bring awareness to how discriminatory laws like Proposition 8 impact our lives, which sounds more like the freedom of assembly than the “mob violence” that the Becket Fund references.
When GLAAD learned about the ad earlier this week, we contacted the New York Times, and after repeated back and forth, staff at the New York Times said that while they recognized GLAAD’s strong concerns about publishing misleading assertions, “we do not require opinion advertisers to document them unless we believe they are potentially libelous or otherwise legally actionable.” The standard should be based on the potential for a lawsuit, rather on truth examining if what is being published is accurate. While the ad will not have legal implications for the New York Times, it certainly impacts their integrity.
The factual inaccuracies made by the Becket Fund in this grossly misleading ad are the latest example of anti-gay activists’ use of fear and misinformation to try and strip LGBT Americans of constitutional freedoms. Just as we saw during the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, anti-gay activists are trying to reframe the debate by focusing on lies. During the campaign, it was their false claims that marriage for gay and lesbian couples would be taught in schools, and now it’s labeling peaceful demonstrations as “mob violence.” The publicity that Becket Fund achieved from this ad has already resulted in a resurgence of anti-gay dialogue. Most recently, singer Pat Boone compared those who oppose Proposition 8 with terrorists responsible for horrific acts of violence in Mumbai in a column for the anti-gay Web site WorldNetDaily, using an act of international tragedy to elicit homophobia, similar to how Rev. Jerry Falwell blamed gay and lesbian people for the September 11 attacks.
Rather than serving as platforms for lies and inaccuracies, media outlets should be calling out anti-gay activists when they resort to defamation, lies, and rhetoric that promote homophobia. Anti-gay activists have succeeded in taking the right to marry away from loving and committed gay and lesbian couples in California, and are now looking to silence us and gain publicity to spark new waves of anti-gay rhetoric.
We must not let their scare tactics work and must continue to respond to their defamation and raise the visibility of our community and our message of equality.
Crossposted at The Huffington Post.
Founder of Becket Fund Compares Prop. 8 Outcry to Al-Qaeda
December 9, 2008
On the Dec. 9 edition of KPFA’s “The Morning Show,” host Aimee Allison spoke with Seamus Hasson, founder and chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Rev. Susan Russell, priest at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.
The segment centered around a full-page advertisement run by the Becket Fund in the Dec. 5, 2008 edition of The New York Times. The ad sparked controversy for its unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims about supposed “violence and intimidation” against religious groups since the passage of Proposition 8.
During the interview, Hasson responded to a question by the co-host by comparing the marches and rallies in support of the LGBT community to the actions of Al-Qaeda:
Aimee Allison
Aimee Allison (KPFA Morning Show Co-Host): So, Rev. Russell was commenting, there may be a few individuals, but not a movement. Seamus Hasson, your response to that: if there are individuals, why are anti-Prop 8 movement folks being painted with that broad brush?
Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson
SH: Well, whether it’s an organized movement like Al Qaeda or whether it’s the Al Qaeda-like, um, inspired acts of terrorism elsewhere, people are right to be concerned about, um, radical Islamist violence-
You can read more of the transcript below, listen to the transcript clip here, or full show here.
Rev. Susan Russell
Rev. Russell rebuked Hasson’s statement and pointed to the widespread support of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in the religious community. Rev. Russell also said that the advertising campaign and statements like Hasson’s are an attempt by anti-gay activists to attack the California Supreme Court in the event that it rules that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
GLAAD continues to call on community members to contact The New York Times (letters@nytimes.com) about the Becket Fund’s advertisement and ask them to discontinue allowing inaccurate claims in their advertising.
Partial Transcript:
Seamus Hasson (Founder, Becket Fund): I gave one end of the spectrum and the other end of the spectrum. In between, there have been at least ten churches painted with swastikas, threats to close down or else. There’s been six churches with small-bore rifle fire through their windows. By my count, there have been at least six instances of burning Books of Mormon on the church steps. These aren’t isolated occurrences here and there; this is an uprising of some sort. Let me be clear, neither in the ad or here today, have I said this is the work of the gay community. We say in the ad, this is opponents of Prop 8, 46% of the California electorate voted against Prop 8. My understanding is that 5% of the California population, approximately, is gay. At least 41% of the opponents of Prop 8, maybe radical secularists, opposed to the church’s position, took these kinds of measures.
Aimee Allison (KPFA Morning Show Co-Host): So, Rev. Russell was commenting, there may be a few individuals, but not a movement. Seamus Hasson, your response to that: if there are individuals, why are anti-Prop 8 movement folks being painted with that broad brush?
SH: Well, whether it’s an organized movement like Al Qaeda or whether it’s the Al Qaeda-like, um, inspired acts of terrorism elsewhere, people are right to be concerned about, um, radical Islamist violence-
Susan Russell (Priest, All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena): Can I jump in here?
AA: I was going to say–yes.
SR: I’m sorry, please.
AA: Seamus Hasson, let me just give Rev. Russell an opportunity to respond because the anti-Prop 8 protestors were just compared to Al Qaeda. And I think that’s-
SR: Absolutely. And that is going to be the headline and it should be. I couldn’t do a better case of making my case than your other caller is making. These are people who are determined to paint American citizens, living out democracy in the streets, as similar to terrorists and Al Qaeda. We had members of All Saints Church, 40 years married, 50 years in the church, standing on street corners with No on 8 signs and people drove by and called them terrorists and hijackers during the height of the campaign. What we’re working to do is to lower the rhetoric, to end the polarization, to stop the violence. The title of the ad is “No to Mob Veto.” What they’re trying to do is frame the debate, already, as the Supreme Court begins to reconsider Proposition 8. I’m confident we’re going to get the Supreme Court to come down on the right side of history on this in May. You can see what they’re doing right now, they’re framing the debate so when that happens, they can say it was mob rule against democracy, they’re going to continue to compare us to Al Qaeda and I think the American people have got to stand up and say stop. We’re a nation of freedom of religion; we’ve got to be a nation of freedom from religion.
Call on The New York Times to Check Accuracy of Anti-Gay Advertisement
December 5, 2008
In the December 5, 2008 edition of The New York Times, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty published a full page advertisement that makes inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about supposed “violence and intimidation” against religious groups by “mobs” since the passage of Proposition 8.
When GLAAD learned about the ad earlier this week, we contacted The New York Times, and after repeated back and forth, they said that while they recognized our strong concerns about publishing misleading assertions, “we do not require opinion advertisers to document them unless we believe they are potentially libelous or otherwise legally actionable.”
Click to see a larger version of the ad.
Neil G. Giuliano, President of GLAAD, made the following statement:
The factual inaccuracies made by the Becket Fund in this grossly misleading ad have no place in The New York Times or any credible media outlet.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and allies across the country have worked to make our voices heard in the face of laws that strip away vital protections for members of our community. The peaceful marches and rallies that have occurred since the passage of Prop 8 have given us an opportunity to become more visible and make our voices heard, and it is unacceptable for media platforms, particularly ones as respected as The New York Times, to provide space for groups to make misleading and false attacks that would only seek to silence us.
It is unacceptable to publish these kinds of dishonest claims.
The New York Times needs to hear from you. Contact them TODAY and demand that they discontinue allowing inaccurate claims in their advertising: letters@nytimes.com.
For tips on writing letters to the editor, see GLAAD’s Media Essentials Training Manual.
Announcing Equality and the Celebration of Our Stories
August 22, 2008
Cross posted at The Huffington Post.
Back in June, at the height of the wedding season, I took part in two very important family events. First, I sat with my parents as they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. With love and joy, they recounted the now well-told story about how they met, and also doled out some relationship advice — my dad’s general rule sounds a lot like something you’d hear on a classic sitcom: “Son, your mother is always right.” Then the following week, I stood next to my brother as the best man at his wedding–proud and emotional as he married his girlfriend of two years.
As my family has done on numerous occasions – from Dean’s List announcements to awards at art competitions — both milestones were announced in the Riverhead News Review, my hometown newspaper. Like many proud parents, my mother takes this very seriously, and makes sure the announcement gets in on time – and everyone knows not to protest.
Six years ago yesterday, The New York Times opened the pages of its Weddings/Celebrations section to gay and lesbian couples after meetings with GLAAD leadership. At the time, GLAAD was able to report that 68 additional daily newspapers around the nation also accepted and printed wedding announcements for same-sex couples.
This week, we were very excited to release a brand new list of inclusive papers as part of our Announcing Equality campaign. The change has been dramatic – now there are 1,049 daily newspapers that will accept announcements from same-sex couples, and for the first time, in nine states (Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont ) and the District of Columbia, every daily newspaper will accept and print announcements for gay and lesbian couples.
Every day in my work at GLAAD, we hear stories from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, friends and allies – stories of happy celebrations, but also of tremendous challenges and roadblocks. We see firsthand how those stories play an important role in changing hearts and minds. It’s amazing to see the level of progress in such a short time, and the numbers really speak to an opportunity that the LGBT community and our allies have: to share our stories with the communities where we live, work and contribute.
You see, when weddings and celebrations pages in our local newspapers become inclusive by including the milestones of LGBT Americans alongside their straight families, friends and neighbors, it breaks down barriers. It invests people in our joy and the stories of our celebrations. And it reminds us of common ground we share.
And the opportunities are everywhere – local newspapers, college and alumni newsletters, church and union bulletins. As we work to ensure that laws treat LGBT people fairly, we know that when our stories appear next to those of our friends and family – my future anniversary right next to my brother’s, right in the pages of the local paper – shows real cultural change.
There is still work for all of us to do – less than one-third of the papers with inclusive policies have actually printed an announcement from a same-sex couple. Why? Because they’ve never received one. It just underscores how vital it is that we take the opportunities to share our stories to make our voices heard and our lives visible in our communities. Standing next to my brother, I thought about how proud I was of him, how happy I was that he found someone with whom to share the love and security that marriage provides, and the commitment and responsibility it requires. And I know that he will feel the same way when he stands next to me.
I don’t doubt that my mom is already thinking about what my future wedding announcement will look like, just as she is looking ahead to the day when the laws of our state and our nation finally catch up to the reality of gay and lesbian couples and their commitments. But one thing’s for sure: newspapers in communities across the country are already there. They have provided each of us – LGBT and straight ally, family member and friend alike – with a way to advance the kind of cultural understanding and acceptance that paves the road to that change. We simply need to take the opportunity and announce our equality.
And for me, thanks to my mother, I learned long before my time at GLAAD that there is no arguing with the important of celebrating ones milestones.
For more resources visit: http://www.glaad.org/AnnouncingEquality You can also find out if your local daily runs inclusive announcements and find information on how to submit announcements, plus downloads for MySpace and Facebook pages and other easy, everyday ways that you can talk about your life in local media outlets and online.
