The Washington Post Misses the Mark Again in Its Profile of Anti-LGBT Archbishop Donald Wuerl
December 3, 2009
Just last month, GLAAD alerted readers to The Washington Post’s one-sided profile of anti-LGBT Bishop Harry Jackson published on November 18.
In response to that article, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios penned a Letter to the Editor that confronted The Washington Post’s bias and challenged the newspaper to set higher standards of fairness in future reporting.
That Letter, however, was not published by The Washington Post, though a Post staff member noted that two other letters that responded to the Bishop Harry Jackson piece were published. (Those letters can be found here and here).
(The text of GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios’s Letter can be found below)
On Tuesday, however, The Washington Post once again published an unfair article by staff writer Michelle Boorstein about the Anti-LGBT Catholic Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl.
Boorstein’s article advanced the misconception that faith communities and LGBT people are incompatible. Boorstein overlooked countless clerics and practicing worshipers who welcome equal protections for their gay and transgender brothers and sisters. Organizations like Clergy United for Marriage Equality – a group of over 200 African-American clergy members who are currently working to achieve marriage equality in Washington, D.C. – and Dignity USA – a national organization that affirms LGBT Catholics across the globe– could and should have been included in Boorstein’s piece to offer a different perspective to the anti-LGBT stance that Archbishop Wuerl has taken.
The article also omits the personal stories of loving same-sex couples whose families are directly impacted by the pivotal equality legislation that is advancing in the nation’s capitol.
GLAAD urges you to contact The Washington Post’s ombudsman, Andrew Alexander, and express your concern about the Post’s unfair articles on LGBT people and marriage protections for committed same-sex couples. Tell The Washington Post that loving same-sex couples and their families deserve unbiased and accurate representation in the newspaper so that readers can make fair and informed decisions about the community and its struggle for equality.
Andrew Alexander – Ombudsman, The Washington Post
____________________________________________________________________
Text of GLAAD President Jarret Barrios’s Letter to the Editor regarding Wil Haygood’s Nov. 18 article, “Seeking to Put Asunder”
Wil Haygood Misses the Mark in Profiling Bishop Harry Jackson
Wil Haygood’s profile detailing Bishop Harry Jackson’s opposition to Councilperson David Catania’s bill that would allow committed same-sex couples the right to marry was one-sided and misleading.
The article portrays Jackson as simply an opponent of same-sex marriage and suggests that he is otherwise unconcerned with the gay community. In reality, however, Jackson has a long history of opposition to equal protections for gay and transgender people. It was not long ago, for example, that Jackson spearheaded the “Muzzling the Pulpit” campaign that sought to defeat crucial hate crimes legislation meant to protect gay and transgender Americans from hate-motivated violence.
”Seeking to Put Asunder” not only presents a narrow interpretation of marriage, but also a narrow interpretation of the gospel. To be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender does not mean one cannot also be a person of extraordinary faith. The article omitted voices of gay and transgender African-Americans and African-American clergy who support equal rights for LGBT people. In the D.C. area alone, there are a number of African-American advocates and allies who could have attested to their community’s support for marriage equality. The group Clergy United for Marriage Equality, for instance, has over 200 African-American clerics who are currently working to achieve marriage equality in Washington, D.C. By not adding theses perspectives, Haywood further reinforced the false notion that the African-American community and its churches all share Jackson’s anti-LGBT views.
Haygood’s own bias becomes clear when he writes of gay and transgender people as those who lead “alternative lifestyles.” It should be noted that both The Associated Press and The New York Times have set guidelines that discourage journalists from applying the word ‘lifestyle’ because of its false implication that sexual orientation and gender identity are matters of choice.
The dialogue between the gay and faith communities merits a fair assessment of information, opinion and theological reflection. Instead, Haygood offered the same partisanship that continues to stifle a more informed and rounded conversation.
Jarrett Barrios — New York, NY
Barrios is the President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and a former Massachusetts state senator.
Related Posts:Washington Post Misses the Mark With One-Sided Profile on Anti-Gay Bishop Harry Jackson
November 18, 2009
In the November 18 edition of the Washington Post, staff writer Wil Haygood wrote a lengthy profile of Bishop Harry Jackson’s opposition to gay rights and to the current bill being considered by the Washington D.C. council that would extend marriage protections to same-sex couples.
GLAAD encourages media outlets to live up to the standards of fair and balanced reporting. Haygood’s article was neither. The bitter impact of Jackson’s work is trivialized by the opening line, “This is how Bishop Jackson spent his summer vacation.” The article positions Jackson as a crusader against marriage and is not at all against gay people.
Yet, it was not long ago that Jackson spearheaded the “Muzzling the Pulpit” campaign against basic legal protections for LGBT people. In the Post article he calls marriage for gay and lesbian couples, an ”oxymoron.” And, denying that he blames gay people for society’s problems or that he is homophobic, he says, “I’m looking at the extinction of marriage. And black culture is in a free fall.”
The story lacked any voices from pro-gay African-American clergy and African-American gay and lesbians. In the D.C. area alone, there are a number of African-Americans that could have been tapped: Dr. Sylvia Rhue of the National Black Justice Coalition; Aisha Mills, a black lesbian who testified at the D.C. hearings on marriage; The Maryland Black Family Alliance and the group, Clergy United for Marriage Equality, founded by Black clergy which now has 200 members listed on its website.
Although the article mentioned that Bishop Jackson has critics, the author only mentioned hate notes and body guards during worship services, implying that Jackson’s critics are violent extremists. Where were the credible critics who can speak to the harm done to loving couples, to gay young people and parents of gay people who go to church and are afraid to tell the truth because they are told they or their loved ones are rejected by God?
In addition, the lack of diverse voices in such a lengthy piece, reinforces the false notion that the African-American community and Black churches share Jackson’s anti-gay views. It plays on the belief that only white people are for gay and transgender equality and sets up the black community to be scapegoated when pro-LGBT legislation does not pass.
Haywood also showed his own bias when he used the term “alternative lifestyle.” Both the Associated Press and The New York Times have set guidelines against using that phrase because it denigrates the LGBT community and suggest that sexual orientation is a choice and therefore can and should be cured.
GLAAD has reached out to Haywood to discuss our issues with his story.
We urge you to write Wil Haygood at haygoodw@washpost.com to air your opinions about his piece. And now is the time. Hours after Haywood’s story was published, it was announced that Jackson filed suit against the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics over its refusal to allow an initiative to ban same-sex marriage. The board ruled that doing such would violate the city’s 1977 Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination.
Jackson’s lawsuit comes one week after D.C.’s City Council voted in favor of a bill that would allow for gay and lesbian couples to be legally married. A final vote is set to take place on December 1.
Related Posts:Two Transgender Women Stabbed in Broad Daylight, One Dead
August 28, 2009
Two transgender women were stabbed in Northwest Washington D.C. on Wednesday, MyFoxDC reported. The attack occurred on the 200 block of Q Street, NW at 2:30PM and left one of the women dead and one in critical condition.
Officers found 21 year old Tyli A Nana Boo Mack and her friend in front of an apartment building after the stabbing. Mack died after being rushed to the hospital, and her friend, whose identity is being withheld by police, is still in critical condition.
The attacker has not been caught, but witnesses say that they saw a man in his 30s fleeing the scene. The Washington Post reports that police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime based on information that they received from the victim when they arrived at the scene. The attack occurred two blocks away from the offices of Transgender Health Empowerment (THE), an organization that, according its website, hopes to “enhance the quality of life of the diverse transgender populations we serve”. THE released a statement condemning the stabbing:
As our organization strives to enhance the quality of life of the diverse transgender populations throughout the Metro Washington, D.C. area we are too often reminded that even our basic right to life without hate and the threat of violence and even death is in constant jeopardy.
The D.C. Transgender Coalition, an organization dedicated to fighting for human rights and equal access for the transgender community, also issued a statement which said:
The incident took place close to the offices of Transgender Health Empowerment, Inc (THE) and reminds us that the lives, health and safety of transgender, transsexual and gender non-conforming people are under siege by hate and ignorance. Attacks such as this one threaten our entire community.
In the statement, the Coalition urged police and media to be respectful of transgender people in the process:
Too many times, police and media correspondents have failed to accurately identify and respect the gender identities of trans people, in spite of the commonly accepted Associated Press guidelines that clearly state that reporters should use pronouns and names in accordance with the individuals identity. This disrespect only perpetuates the ignorance that so often fuels verbal harassment and physical violence.
Beverlyn Mack, Tyli A Nana Boo’s mother, spoke out about the violence, remaining supportive of her daughter. She said, “I don’t like it ’cause my child was born the same way as everyone else– through a mother’s womb, and I don’t think it’s fair for people to take other people’s lives.”
As MyFoxDC reported in a follow up story, the D.C. police have offered a reward of $25,000 for help in tracking down the person who committed the crimes.
The D.C. Transgender Coalition is holding a vigil at the scene of the crime at 6:30 on Friday.
GLAAD will continue to monitor all further media coverage of developments surrounding this story.
Related Posts:Human Rights Watch Report Details ‘Gay Killings’ in Iraq
August 17, 2009
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a leading independent organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights across the globe, released a 68-page report on Monday that details the horrific campaign to torture and murder gay men in Iraq.
The report is based on interviews with over 50 Iraqi men who identified themselves as gay, though the report also notes that men who are simply “not ‘manly’ enough” also face persecution and murder. HRW reports that even “the most trivial details of appearance – the length of a man’s hair, the fit of his clothes” can determine whether a man lives or dies.
According to the report, the killing campaign began “in the early months of 2009.” Militiamen “invade the privacy of homes, abduct [gay] sons or brothers, [and] leave their mutilated bodies in the neighborhood the next day.” The report illustrates the gruesome torture wrought on the men, some of whom are “executed by injecting glue up their anuses.”
An Iraqi Interior Ministry Official told Associated Press that estimating the number of men already killed is nearly impossible “because in most cases the family members themselves are either involved in the killing or prefer to keep silent, fearing shame.” An official at the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) told HRW in April, however, that the death count was probably already “in the hundreds.”
In an article published Monday, The Washington Post quoted Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights program at HRW, as saying “The [Iraqi] government has done absolutely nothing to respond.” And, indeed, the report even claims that HRW “heard accounts of police complicity in abuse – ranging from harassing ‘effeminate’ men at checkpoints, to possible abduction and extrajudicial killing.”
The Post goes on to say that both “the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and American lawmakers have expressed concern about the reports of slayings.”
Although procedural laws in Iraq do not call for the death of a man who has consensual sexual relations with another man, the HRW report points to special religious laws called fatwa that may circumvent that code:
A young man in Sadr City told an Iraqi columnist that ‘the killing operations [against gay men] are not crimes since they fall under jurisdiction of a religious fatwa.
HRW concludes its report by calling on the Iraqi government to put a stern halt to its anti-gay killings and bids that the U.S. and its allies do all that is possible to assist in that effort:
The Iraqi state must desist from silence, and fully and immediately investigate the murder and torture of people targeted because they do not correspond to the norms of ‘masculinity’ or are suspected of homosexual conduct. [The Iraqi state] must appropriately punish those found responsible… [and] the US and the US-led multinational forces in Iraq should assist the Iraqi government wherever possible in investigating these crimes.
GLAAD will continue to monitor the media’s coverage of the anti-gay killings in Iraq.
Related Posts:Welton Gaddy Calls for a New National Discussion on Marriage
July 31, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, president of Interfaith Alliance, set off a firestorm of commentary in the Newsweek-Washington Post, “On Religion” blog, after putting out a call for a new kind of national discussion on extending marriage protections to same-sex couples. The blog post introduces the newly released paper “Same Gender Marriage & Religious Freedom,” wherein Gaddy lays out perspectives on marriage and recommends direction for the future. His first suggestion: leave religion out of it.
Dialogues about religion will not forge national consensus on any sociopolitical issue or serve as a source of national unity. The population of our nation is too diverse and the religions in our nation are too different for that to happen. Individual religious traditions are divided from each other externally and, internally, adherents within each of these traditions are divided from each other.
Citing recent studies that show a range of opinions among clergy and members of evangelical and mainstream churches, Dr. Gaddy suggests that law and not religious views (SHOULD)_be the starting point for any discussion on the government’s regulation of marriage:
Law, not scripture, is the foundation of government regulations related to marriage in our nation. Presently, the United States government recognizes marriage on the basis of a properly authorized, government-issued marriage license.
This Interfaith Alliance paper by Dr Gaddy invites a national conversation on the marriage. He cites Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson’s stance that marriage inequality results in second-class citizenship, but is clear that the country should protect the right of religious groups to define marriage for their own members:
All citizens should have equal access to civil marriage and to the benefits of marriage provided for citizens in this government. Couples who desire religious marriage can seek a house of worship in which to receive that blessing. But, as is the case now, no house of worship would be legally obligated to provide marriage for a couple whom it does not want to bless. All houses of worship should be free to advocate for, defend and perpetuate the view of marriage that is consistent with their religious traditions and convictions.
While wanting to sort out religion from government, Dr. Gaddy disagrees with Jonathan Turley in his USAToday op-ed which recommends that all couples have state-sanctioned “civil unions” while religious groups do “marriages.” Gaddy writes, “Civil marriages and religious marriages have existed side by side for an untold number of years. Both…have been respected and treated equally in our society. I see no reason for that situation to change.”
In this effort to invite more conversation Gaddy is hoping for a civil and respectful dialogue. “The subject of marriage equality merits our best thoughts and influential actions as United States citizens, whether or not we are religious people or individuals who adhere to no religion.”
As part of our overall work with communities of faith, GLAAD will continue to stay in regular contact with the Interfaith Alliance to lift up progressive faith voices that promote LGBT equality.
Related Posts:GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios Pens Washington Post Op-ed on Stonewall
June 29, 2009
WashingtonPost.com is running an opinion piece by Jarrett Barrios – former Massachusetts state Senator and incoming President of GLAAD – about his attendance at today’s White House event with President Obama commemorating the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Read an excerpt here:
“I have to admit I was ambivalent when I received the invitation, with its fancy curlicue script (truly, just like my sister’s wedding announcement) and a return address that read simply “The White House.” The problem is that I haven’t been as excited as I’d like to be about President Obama. I’d been excited by Candidate Obama. His campaign invited people like me and my husband Doug — gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans — into his aspirational vision of America the Possible. But, as President Obama, he has presided over an administration that has stumbled — sometimes symbolically, sometimes substantially — in its commitment to include us on the agenda.”
…
“When I told my 17-year-old son Javier about the reception, he could sense that I was torn. From across the dinner table, he looked straight at me: “Papi, you need to go to the White House, and you need to take me. It’s the President.” Not persuaded by that one, kid. “It’s the President, and he needs to see our family, too. To remind him that we’re counting on him.”
Click here to read the full article.
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:Lesbian Mom Gets Deportation Reprieve
April 23, 2009
Shirley Tan (R) with her family and Sen. Barbara Boxer. Courtesy of The Examiner.com.
Great news to report about a lesbian mother of two we told you about several weeks ago who was in danger of being deported to the Philippines and separated from her family.
Shirley Tan of Pacifica, California was set to be taken from her partner of 23 years, Jaylynn Mercado, and their 12-year old twin boys after her immigration status came into question in January.
Tan would have potentially faced violence upon a return trip to the Philippines. Two of her family members were murdered several years ago by a relative over an inheritance, and she was nearly murdered at that time.
U.S. immigration law prevents gay, lesbian and bi people from sponsoring a same-sex partner for permanent residency, so Tan’s partner Jaylynn, who is a U.S. citizen, cannot sponsor her.
However, on the evening of Wednesday, April 22, Tan got good news of her deportation reprieve. Senator Diane Feinstein of California introduced a private bill in Congress that will buy Tan nearly two more years in the United States. One of Tan’s advocates, Melanie Nathan, broke the news on her blog.
Here’s an excerpt from Nathan’s post:
When I spoke to Jay today she was crying with joy and said the whole family including the boys were absolutely overwhelmed with emotion. The news was conveyed to her directly by Senator Feinstein’s office. It has been a long and arduous process and so a very special thank you goes to Attorney Phyllis Beech, San Francisco and Fresno. I will write more later – but now I have to call and tell everyone the good news.
The gay blog Lezgetreal also reported on the story, as did Queerty.
Nathan’s blog post went on to say:
This is unbelievably miraculous and indeed an extraordinary measure on behalf of the family. This also gives all our wonderful activists, LGBT organizations, and community supporters an opportunity to hit the streets, the phones, the faxes, the e-mails, the blogs etc. and to fight like crazy for the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) – in truth the only real long term option for Shirley and the 40,000 other couples/families in this dire situation.
The Uniting American Families Act, which was reintroduced in Congress earlier this year, would allow a gay, lesbian or bi person to sponsor a partner for permanent U.S. residency.
GLAAD continues to partner with the organization Immigration Equality to shine a light on the estimated 37,000 couples in this country that face choosing between their country and the person they love.
Media played a big role in highlighting the case of Shirley Tan. GLAAD helped pitch several stories and will keep up those efforts moving forward.
We featured two excellent pieces in the March edition of Best & Worst of National News, a Washington Post editorial pushing for the passage of the UAFA and a San Jose Mercury News piece that humanized this issue through Shirley Tan’s story. People magazine also did a great feature story on this case.
Look for more media attention on this vitally important issue in the months ahead.
We’re Mad for Bryan Batt
October 21, 2008
Bryan Batt is one of the few openly gay actors in television today portraying a gay character — and is certainly the only one on a show recently awarded an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series.
Salvatore with his wife Kitty
Mad Men is a phenomenal drama you need to be watching. Set in the advertising world of the 1960s, Batt plays Salvatore, an art director who is married to a woman, but harbors feelings for his bachelor co-worker, Ken (played by Aaron Staton).
Batt was recently interviewed by Washington Post columnist Liz Kelly. The two talked about the hit show, Salvatore’s love life, and the state of gay TV. Here’s an excerpt:
Liz: I was reading in Entertainment Weekly about a new study from GLAAD about the unprecedented number [16] of gay characters on network TV. So, unfortunately Sal wasn’t included [because the show airs on cable]. But Mark Harris at EW pointed out that despite having 16 characters, there aren’t any shows where the gay character is a central character to the show. And he finds it surprising considering the success of “Ellen” and “Will & Grace.”
Bryan: I am surprised at that mainly because — and I’ve said this before — Hollywood and the TV industry, the film industry, it’s a business, a money-making business. And I’m surprised because “Will & Grace” did so well that there aren’t other shows who have gay main characters. I’m a firm believer that if those shows who have gay characters sell tickets or get great ratings and the money’s flowing in, they [should] make them in a second. How many copies of “Friends” do we have? All those great series that turned the corner or did something different? Everyone else ripped them off.
Definitely read the full story here to learn more about the cast of Mad Men, as well as what the characters may have in store for Season Three.
And check out this behind-the-scenes look into a recent episode, entitled “The Jet Set.” Batt is interviewed, as is star Jon Hamm and showrunner Matthew Weiner.
The season finale airs Sunday, October 26 at 10/9c on AMC. And you can catch the entire season on On Demand now. What are you waiting for? WATCH IT, ALREADY!
Couric presses Palin to reveal position on gay issues
October 2, 2008
The Washington Post recapped the latest installment of the Katie Couric – Sarah Palin interviews being aired on The CBS Evening News. During the installment of the interview aired Tuesday night, vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made comments that suggest she believes being gay is a choice.
Responding to a question about reports that the Wasilla Bible Church in Alaska had sponsored so-called “ex-gay” programs, Palin responded by taking issue with the media reports. Palin is reportedly associated with the Wasilla Bible Church.
From the interview:
“Well, it matters though, Katie, when the media gets it wrong. It frustrates Americans who are just trying to get the facts and be able to make up their mind on, about a person’s values. So it does matter.
But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what’s prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my ‘gay friend,’ she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people.”
Kudos to Katie Couric for asking Palin to clarify her position on gay issues. With only a few weeks left for the American public to assess the candidates, it is important that these questions get asked.
We urge all mainstream media outlets to continue asking the presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls to disclose and explain their positions on critical issues, especially those that affect lesbian, gay, bi and transgender people.
Portions of the above Couric-Palin interview can be viewed below. Palin’s comments on gay issues come in at 7:29:
