CBS Continues to Promote Gay Marriage, Offers No Opposing Views

At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Julie Chen praised Barack Obama’s election as the first African-American president but lamented the passage of California’s Proposition 8, preventing gay marriage: "One barrier falls, another returns. Married gays in legal limbo protest through the night as California voters ban same-sex unions." At the top of the 8AM hour, correspondent John Blackstone reported: "In disappointment, supporters of same-sex marriage gathered in Los Angeles last night, after the hard-fought campaign over California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, they were on the losing side, but not ready to give up."

Blackstone went on to describe the fight that lay ahead: "This may, however, be just one more battle in California's long war over same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates have already filed a lawsuit claiming Proposition 8 improperly writes discrimination into the state constitution." A clip was then played of the left-wing mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom: "Never before has our constitution been used to strip rights away." Blackstone did not offer the voice of a single person who supported the proposition.

This promotion of gay marriage is nothing new on the CBS Early Show, since May, the show has done five stories supportive of gay marriage. Those stories offered little or no dissenting perspective. In the last most recent story on September 16, co-host Maggie Rodriguez demonstrated her solidarity with actor George Takei, who had just married his partner Brad Altman: "George how was the wedding? Was it everything you dreamed of?" On June 17, Chen argued: "Same-sex marriage remains a hot-button issue throughout America. But it seems that tolerance for it appears to be growing. According to a new CBS News poll, 30% of Americans now accept same-sex marriages. However, 36% favor no legal recognition of gay marriages at all."

Here is the full transcript of the Thursday segment:

7:00AM TEASE:

PROTESTORS: No more hate! No more hate!

JULIE CHEN: One barrier falls, another returns. Married gays in legal limbo protest through the night as California voters ban same-sex unions.

8:03AM SEGMENT:

CHRIS WRAGGE: Well, voters in California, Arizona, and Florida passed bans on same-sex marriage, but the battle over California's Proposition 8 isn't over just yet. CBS News John Blackstone reports.

JOHN BLACKSTONE: In disappointment, supporters of same-sex marriage gathered in Los Angeles last night, after the hard-fought campaign over California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, they were on the losing side, but not ready to give up.

PROTESTORS: No more hate! No more hate!

BLACKSTONE: Over the past five months, some 18,000 same-sex couples have married in California. In Sacramento, the marriages continued yesterday. Until they were ordered to an abrupt stop.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We're ceasing right now at this minute.

BLACKSTONE: Jay Groh and James Eslick were next in line.

JAMES ESLICK: She basically said that as they were processing our paper work, they finally got a call saying they could no longer issue any further licenses because it's become clear that it is going to pass.

BLACKSTONE: This may, however, be just one more battle in California's long war over same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocates have already filed a lawsuit claiming Proposition 8 improperly writes discrimination into the state constitution.

GAVIN NEWSOM: Never before has our constitution been used to strip rights away.

BLACKSTONE: For now, the same-sex marriages performed over the past five months still stand, but they, too, could face legal challenges. John Blackstone, CBS News, San Francisco.