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Biodiversity and the GLTBQ Community
Kitch-en Gardens or Virgin Mary and the Seven Gnomes
Tell Your Story
Tell Your Story
by Cathy Renna
A couple of weeks ago, GLAAD’s executive director, Joan Garry, was a guest on Michael Medved’s radio program to discuss her op-ed in USA Today regarding adoption, her kids, and Rosie O’Donnell. After the interview, Medved told Joan he wanted her to come back to debate the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Her response? “Michael, you know GLAAD better than that. We’re not the experts on this.”
Joan’s encounter with Medved is something I run into daily. I know we’ve made progress in educating media professionals about the nuance of our issues and the specialization of our organizations, but sometimes they simply look up “g” in the phone book and dial the first number they see. In the same way, many habitually turn to a list of the “usual suspects” on the anti-gay side to “balance” their stories.
One of the problems with this approach is that reliance on this rolodex of anti-gay groups results in a predictable litany of mean-spirited rhetoric. It doesn’t matter who we debate – Family Research Council, American Family Association, Focus on the Family, etc. – their messages are pretty identical. To quote FRC: “We do not consider homosexuality an alternative lifestyle or even a sexual ‘preference;’ it is unhealthy and destructive to individual persons, families, and society.”
Rosie O’Donnell’s interview on ABC’s “Primetime Thursday” and its attendant media attention offer a perfect example of what’s right and what’s wrong with a news media system that employs these simplistic dualisms in the name of “objectivity.” Let’s start with the good: in its coverage of Rosie and her advocacy on behalf of children, ABC made a decision to challenge to the status quo in the way our stories are told. Rather than following the stale pro-gay/anti-gay script, they decided to allow those who had a real stake in the debate to take center stage. Those who were directly involved in gay adoptions – including the children – were finally given the opportunity to speak.
Rosie and the Lofton-Croteau family spoke to an audience needing perspective on their lives and, more importantly, their families. They showed that gay parents are creating quality homes; loving, nurturing and supportive families; and healthy, well-adjusted kids.
They showed that gay adoptive parents are willing to go through the same screening process and be subject to the same scrutiny as other prospective adoptive parents. They showed that the most important people in this discussion are the kids. And they clarified and refocused the basic issue: that our ability to create families should not hinge on the whims of the select few who profit from institutionalized prejudice against us.
As with their excellent “20/20” report last year, ABC gave kids a platform to share their experiences, and in doing so offered audiences across the nation the opportunity to hear from those who generally have no say, no rights and no ability to advocate for public policy that meets their needs. And the kids turned out to be far more persuasive on the issue of equal adoption rights than anyone from the Family Research Council (or, for that matter, most LGBT organizations) ever could be.
This first-person approach seems to be having an unintended impact on groups like FRC. In a telling gaffe during our debate on MSNBC, FRC spokesman Peter Sprigg provided a brief moment of clarity during his commentary: “They [gay couples] want to be treated on a fully equal basis with heterosexual married couples.” Amid his calls for discrimination and inscrutable references to “strengthening marriage,” Sprigg actually got “the gay agenda” – if only for a moment.
It would be nice to think that hearing the stories of kids who are growing up in gay families is subtly challenging the tightly scripted mantras of folks like Sprigg. But we’re not that naive.
Although ABC News previewed and followed-up its “Primetime” special with strong segments on “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America,” cable news generally stuck to the predictable. CNN conducted two gay/anti-gay spokespeople debates – neither of which departed from the standard script. MSNBC boasted somewhat better coverage, featuring an intimate sit-down with a gay couple and their two children, as well as a debate that included Felicia Park-Rogers, executive director of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere and the daughter of gay parents.
The centerpiece of Fox News Channel’s coverage, on the other hand, was a series of lectures by Bill O’Reilly equating the act of coming out with public discussion of explicit sex acts. (To his credit, O’Reilly shares Rosie’s view of Florida’s discriminatory adoption law.)
Perhaps the most moving story to come out of the coverage of Rosie’s interview happened on “Good Morning America.” Having been so moved by a segment on Rosie and the Lofton-Croteau family, actress Rene Russo (who was promoting her film “Showtime”) revealed to Charlie Gibson that her mom had raised her in large part through the support of her lesbian friends.
This is the kind of story that makes people reconsider their often-detached approach to gay and lesbian lives. There’s a reason effective public speakers engage their audiences with stories: they make abstract issues come to life. If Rosie’s interview with Diane Sawyer teaches us anything, it should be that our stories open the truth of our lives to those around us. They demystify us, demonstrating that we are connected through common, human experiences. These are stories that we – and the media – have a responsibility to share. And they make for good television, too.
Cathy Renna is news media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).