Hillary's State Department Takes Global Journalists to Meet With Gay Media Censors

June 11th, 2012 10:40 PM

How much does Hillary Clinton's State Department lean left on social issues? The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) was deeply honored to be one stop on an international journalist tour of American LGBT organizations.

"We were one of several stops on a tour of the American LGBT media landscape including the Washington Blade, that was organized and sponsored by the U.S. State Department," they wrote on the GLAAD blog. "Journalists learned about GLAAD's history, about some of the battles we've had to overcome in order to get journalists to listen to us, and how accurate and inclusive media coverage of a community can open hearts and change minds." By "accurate and inclusive," think the opposite: they define accuracy as men identifying themselves as women should be called "she," and they define "inclusive" as pressing networks to ban social conservatives from the airwaves, or, if they're feeling generous, let them on but describe them as a "hate group."

The State Department began their educational tour with the journalists (from countries including Kosovo, Nigeria, and Singapore) by "treating them"  to  a viewing of Secretary of State Clinton's "inspirational and historic speech on LGBT rights as human rights." This pandering to the left wing of the Democratic base was very effective. But aren't foreign journalists supposed to learn from the First Amendment and freedom of expression? That doesn't match the GLAAD mission.

GLAAD concluded:

It was an absolute honor to be considered by the State Department as an essential stop for their guests as they learn about how American media deals with LGBT issues, and it was a wonderful experience getting to meet journalists like Hana Marku from Kosovo 2.0, Wai Pang Au from Singapore's Yawning Bread blog and Okechukwu Emmanuel Effoduh from BBC Media Action in Nigeria.

The journalists challenged us with many difficult questions, about several difficult issues, including one inquiry about what we would do if the LGBT media were to cause harm to the community. They asked us about how we deal with stereotypes, how we speak with reporters about the GLAAD Media Reference Guide, and how we would encourage good journalism in the face of cultural bias. It was a great discussion that could have gone on for several more hours.

We want to sincerely thank the State Department for allowing us this incredible opportunity, and all of the journalists who listened to us and took part in this discussion. It truly was an honor.