Blogging from the Highlands of Scotland
'From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step' - Diderot

Friday 21 May 2004

A newspaper bows to homophobia masquerading as sensitivity

The Advocate reports that a newspaper in Massachuesetts (The Sun, Lowell, Mass.) 'regrets' publishing a photo of two men kissing at Cambridge Hall on Monday, the day the law legalising same-sex marriage in Massachusetts came into force. It seems that many readers complained to the newspaper and/or cancelled their subscriptions alleging:

"Those contacted by the Sun said it represented an unnecessary, in-your-face intrusion, especially for parents with young children."

Of course I can well imagine the revenue implications for the newspaper if a significant proportion of its readership chooses to shun it, but let's call this what it is, on the part of the readership concerned - homophobia, pure and simple.

They can try to dress it up as "unnecessary, in-your-face intrusion" all they like, but that is not what is really going on here. Any more than it was when there was outrage in some quarters the first time an inter-racial kiss was shown on US network television in the 1960s ('Star Trek' - Captain Kirk sharing a kiss with Lt Ohura, I believe).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome to my comment area. Whilst all comment is welcome you are requested to respect the views of others. To read full terms for use of this facility, please visit my 'Terms of Use' section, linked to under the 'About this Blog' heading at top right of the blog. Note added 12JUL2010 - All comments will now be pre-moderated before they appear in this blog; this is a measure to prevent 'spam' commenting, which has become frequent of late. Thank you.