Perhaps CNN stands for the Closeted News Network. No, that doesn't work. There's nothing closeted about CNN's clear advocacy for homosexual causes.
A Culture and Media Institute analysis of 239 programs aired on CNN from the period June 15 to July 15 revealed that CNN quoted or interviewed nearly four times the number of gay-agenda supporters as critics.
Nexis searches for the terms "gay," "homosexual," "LGBT," "same sex marriage," and "marriage equality" revealed that CNN quoted or interviewed 98 people who supported the gay agenda, 48 people who posited no opinion regarding gay issues, and 28 critics or defenders of traditional marriage.
And CNN's on-air personnel haven't been shy about their advocacy. Whether congratulating newly "married" gays, excoriating marriage traditionalists or citing skewed statistics from gay organizations, pro-gay groupthink is obvious at the network - and some even admit it.
Guest Selection
Given the contentiousness of the same-sex marriage debate, a news network would be expected to represent both sides in stories covering the issue. But in addition to that 4-to-1 ratio of guests, CNN aired 41 stories in that month that featured only gay advocates, leaving out critics altogether. Just nine stories featured only critics to the exclusion of gay advocates.
CNN also likes to give air-time to some of the most strident and purposely vile LGBT advocates. "Comedienne" Margaret Cho, a self-identified bisexual, infamously wrote of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 2008, "Even though I would never, ever vote for Palin, I am kind of obsessed with f***ing her." What followed was a graphic description of sex acts Cho wanted to perform with Palin.
Cho appeared three times on CNN from June 15 to July 15 to discuss gay issues.
Dan Savage is a gay sex columnist who infamously wished on live television that Republicans were "all f***ing dead," (which he apologized for) and also proclaimed that he wanted to "f*** the s**t out of [conservative presidential candidate] Rick Santorum." (He did not apologize for that.) Nor has Savage apologized for a campaign against Santorum, the result of which is that Googling "Santorum" returns a disgusting sexual definition. That's what you get for disagreeing with Dan Savage.
That didn't stop Joy Behar from inviting Savage onto her HLN show.
Hosts Voice Support
Three CNN hosts have ties to the homosexual community. CNN anchor Don Lemon is openly gay. Behar and Anderson Cooper have been honored with awards from, The Gay and Lesbian Award against Defamation (GLAAD).
(Imagine the outcry among liberals if any CNN anchor received an award from a pro-life or pro-traditional marriage group.)
Not surprisingly, the hosts sometimes show their sympathies on-air. On July 15, CNN anchor Ali Velshi argued in favor of the California gay history bill: "It's the idea that everybody's contribution should be counted. I've been getting a lot of tweets about this to suggest that somehow history is being displaced as a result of it. I think this is just a move toward inclusion."
Also that day, anchor Suzanne Malveux celebrated Atlanta's "gay population. Atlanta was named the 'Nation's Gayest City' last year by 'Advocate' magazine, a national gay and lesbian publication."
New York's legalization of same-sex marriage occasioned plenty of on-set happy talk. On June 24, CNN anchor Kyra Philips congratulated openly gay correspondent LZ Granderson on his engagement. The next day, Don Lemon congratulated a gay couple on the success of the gay marriage bill in New York: "I'm happy that you've been together for so long. Anyone, gay or straight, has been together as long as you guys, I say bravo."
On the July 14 Joy Behar said "About gays getting married now. It's very nice, it's lovely." Guest Margaret Cho, responded that it was "thrilling" and jokingly suggested Behar officiate at a gay wedding.
Behar is CNN's head cheerleader for the gay agenda. On June 23 she proclaimed of New York's annual gay pride parade, "To me, it's the most fun event of this season." Behar also bizarrely claimed on June 16 that "The only people I know who are having children are gay people."
Maybe in her world.
The network's choice of stories and how they report them also clearly illustrate its pro-gay stance.
On June 20, Anderson Cooper aired a segment in which homosexual teachers expressed their feelings about exposing their sexual identities to their students. The segment featured a homosexual male, a lesbian, and a spokesman for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, with no counterbalancing voices to assess any potential impact on the students.
On June 19 and 20, an interview and fawning profile of a homosexual couple of 61 years was aired by three different anchors (Don Lemon, Suzanne Malveaux, and Fredricka Whitfield). CNN anchor Don Lemon teased the piece: "Imagine what it was like to be a gay couple 60 years ago fighting discrimination." The couple predictably weighed in on the gay marriage debate in New York, complaining that "It's terrible to be look down [sic] and considered a second-class citizen."
On June 28 and 29, anchors Suzanne Malveaux and Randi Kaye ran a story featuring a legally married lesbian couple about to be separated because one of them was an illegal immigrant (a fact which was not directly stated in the piece). Correspondent Soledad O'Brien ominously teased the piece: "Takako Ueda and Frances Herbert appear to be living the idyllic life of a newly married couple. But time is running out on their happiness." Cut to Frances Herbert weeping and claiming: "It will feel really, really criminal, just because we're two women."
Gay Agenda Opponents the Real Second-Class Citizens
Predictably, celebrities and advocates who favor the gay agenda get favorable notice on CNN.
On June 27, a Showbiz Tonight segment favorably quoted five celebrities who supported the Marriage Equality Act in New York, which legalized gay marriage. Host A.J. Hammer weighed in with his opinion in an interview with openly gay George Takei, stating that: "I've been hearing a lot of people today comparing New York's new gay marriage law to other major civil rights victories over the ages." Actor Tom Hanks and actress Charlize Theron were allowed to express their support for gay marriage without question or opposition.
The same can't be said for former New York Giant David Tyree, a public opponent of gay marriage. Tyree went through a hostile June 17 interview with Kyra Phillips in which she relentlessly demanded he justify his position. "There are women and women come together and raise a family as well and a man and a man come together and raise a family as well." When Tyree stated that he understood her views, Philips underscored her point by stating that "Oh, no, I'm not expressing my views. I'm just stating a fact."
Her facts, of course, came from citing a study by the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, which "advances sexual orientation law and public policy through rigorous, independent research and scholarship, and disseminates it to judges, legislators, policymakers, media and the public."
In other words, the Williams Institute is a gay advocacy think tank. In 2008 Williams bizarrely claimed that same-sex marriage was a remedy for California's budget deficit, raising "about $63.8 million in government tax and fee revenue over three years," and be boon to the state's economy. Simple arithmetic, however, showed that, even using The Williams' Institute's own numbers, gay marriage would ease the deficit by less than three tenths of a percent and add a little more than 1/100th of a percent to the economy.
When Marcus Bachmann, husband of GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, was 'exposed' for offering reparative therapy at his clinic (orchestrated by the homosexual activist group Truth Wins Out), ran the story of during seven different timeslots, and brought on numerous experts to challenge reparative therapy, which holds that homosexuality is a condition that can be cured.
When Southwest Airlines reinstated a foul mouthed pilot who insulted homosexuals, insulted old people, and complained about ugly flight attendants over an open microphone, CNN quoted the pilot's vulgar rant an incredible 19 times.
CNN admits its own Bias
Two CNN correspondents were honest enough to admit that the networks were biased in favor of gay rights.
Howard Kurtz, on his "Reliable Sources" show on July 3, acknowledged "the media's celebration - there really is no other word - of the gay marriage debate in New York."
On June 26, Kurtz asked CNN reporter Carl Crawford whether or not the "coverage has paid equal attention to both sides of the debate." Crawford replied that "I think the media has been kind of rallying behind the marriage equality movement. I think we're always prone to any civil rights movement. We like it. It's democratic to us, and that's just one of our soft spots."
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