CNN received two awards on March 13 from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) during its annual GLAAD Media Awards. The American Morning program received the "outstanding TV journalism segment" award for an interview of a child who refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance until homosexuals have "equal rights," while Joy Behar received their "excellence in media" award for her HLN program.
The homosexual activist organization's press release on the awards revealed that "CNN's American Morning producer Beth Marengo and Will Phillips accepted for the Outstanding TV Journalism Segment, 'Why Will Won't Pledge Allegiance' which featured Phillips and his father. In a rousing speech that elicited a standing ovation, 11-year-old Phillips said: 'I know there are certain political restraints that make action difficult, however lack of equality for some is lack of equality for all and I think its time for us all to get equal.'"
Anchor John Roberts interviewed Phillips and his father on the November 16, 2009 edition of American Morning. As NewsBuster Noel Sheppard pointed out, the two were given much better treatment than tea party protesters were given earlier in 2009.
Behar received her "excellence" award from NBC Today show anchor Meredith Vieira. The GLAAD press released trumpeted how the HLN host "has shown a strong commitment to educating the public about the lives of gay and transgender people." The TVNewser blog on March 14 reported Behar's beyond positive reaction to the recognition: "I'd rather have that than the Oscar...It shows that people who struggle in this society with public image and being behind the eight ball with their rights, they recognize that someone like me who has the microphone can support them."
During the first two-plus months of 2010, the HLN anchor has indeed "shown a strong commitment...to gay and transgender people." On ABC's The View, where she is a co-host, you might say she gave the group excessive attention when she noted on January 26 that homosexuals "don't take monogamy and infidelity the same way that the straight community does." Over a month later, during her March 2 broadcast on HLN, Behar spurred Olymic figure skater Johnny Weir to say that he thought Jesus was a woman.
