In a recent interview with CNN, Dan Savage took the network to task for giving airspace (and by association, credibility) to hate-mongers such as Tony Perkins, the head of the anti-gay Family Research Council.
The interview ended right after Dan criticized CNN. Some have interpreted this as him being cut off by the network, although he says that wasn’t the case. You can read his blog post about the interview here.
I was happy to hear Dan criticizing the media for their role in perpetrating hate. He has had considerable media exposure for the It Gets Better Project, formed in response to a rash of gay teen suicides. In this recent blog post, I expressed my hope that he would use this platform to take the press to task.
At the Rally to Restore Sanity, Jon Stewart said it best:
“The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems and illuminate problems heretofore unseen, or it can use its magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous-flaming-ant epidemic.”
Unfortunately, right now, gays and lesbians are flaming ants. The press gives a amplified voice to bigots and haters and then put stories about our community’s miseries at the top of the news hour and on the front page.
Call them on it, Dan.
(Dan Savage will be interviewed about the It Gets Better Project on Monday’s Colbert Report.)
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