The organization GLAAD, which is committed to making sure no one in any media venue ever says anything untoward about homosexuality, has launched a new campaign aimed at a number of my friends and colleagues, as well as myself.
They do not like that media channels have asked any of us about our views on anything having to do with homosexuality and that our answers do not line up with GLAAD orthodoxy. Therefore, they believe we should be silenced. They say their effort is only to hold commentators like us “accountable” for what we say, but nowhere on their site do they try to correct or refute anything that any of us have said.
Most of the comments by the folks they are targeting are just plain, everyday views that many, non-hateful, not-bigoted, good citizens hold about homosexuality and so-called same-sex marriage. GLAAD is upset that people would say such things out loud and any media source – liberal, conservative, mainstream, Christian, Jewish, whatever – might print them. Read their “smoking-gun” evidence listed under each targeted spokesperson for yourself and see how many of them are really a threat to civil society. A few might not demonstrate the smartest reasoning in the world, but if we ban all unrefined quotes in the media…
Most serve to demonstrate GLAAD’s unreasonableness. They take Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family, to task for having the audacity to say some gay activists want to limit the speech of others. And yes, he did say it.
“Unfortunately, this is becoming a pattern for those that oppose Christianity. They want to control our speech in the public square… It really is a form of fascism.”
Imagine. Doubtful GLAAD fully appreciates the irony of their selection of this quote.
Comments
3 responses to “Free Speech or What?”
Where exactly in that article does it say anything about GLAAD wanting to “silence” anyone? When has GLAAD said anything about wanting to prevent people — however objectively false, socially harmful, or hatefully ignorant their beliefs may be — from speaking their minds in public or even on an independently-owned, private platform?
They want to hold Focus on the Family and other organizations that push bigotry and beliefs in nonsense held accountable for the things they say that are blatantly false (like the notion that gay parents are harmful to children when they are, according to every piece of academic literature in psychology on this subject, statistically much more helpful and more loving parents than heterosexual parents, on average). They’re not calling for people to be silenced.
Dear Private Citizen – I notice a couple things in your comment. First, you’re the one using the very pejorative language that you accuse Glenn and other Focus spokespeople of using. Ironic. Second, of course GLAAD wants to prevent the people on their “list” from speaking. Let’s be real here. Do you think “accountability” means anything else?
“of course GLAAD wants to prevent the people on their “list” from speaking.”
That is simply untrue. Trust me, I know firsthand.
Yes, everyone who supports LGBT equality would like, ideally, for this “debate” to be as “settled” as possible. We would love to live our lives rather than fight for them. But with this project, the sole “ask” is for media types to simply use the commentators’ own words when said commentator appears in the media. We want media bookers to question the way LGBT punditry is handled versus other debates.
Other groups are calling for certain figures to be explicitly banned. GLAAD is not, not with this project. Again: few people know that facts of this project better than I do.