If you were wondering about CNN's objectivity on liberal issues like gay rights, the lines became a whole lot more blurred recently as anchor Don Lemon received a "Visibility" award from the pro-gay Human Rights Campaign at its North Carolina gala, where Obama's HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke and stumped for the President's re-election.
Then on Friday, Sebelius addressed middle school students at an anti-bullying event where Lemon served as the moderator of an anti-bullying panel. His appearances at events with an Obama cabinet member blur the lines of objectivity and his receiving an award from a gay-rights organization makes his liberal bias all the clearer.
And at the HRC gala, Lemon quoted Martin Luther King in his acceptance speech that "There comes a time where silence equals betrayal," in reference to his own coming out as openly-gay. Could he also have been referring to his colleague Anderson Cooper's widely-discussed silence on his own personal lifestyle?
Lemon's words echo his statement from last May, where he professed his hope to "change minds" by coming out – as in, by coming out as openly-gay and not remaining silent, he hopes that will change people's minds on the issue. Contrast that with his telling Joy Behar that he would remain "objective" as a reporter.
And who was one of the corporate sponsors for the HRC gala? Time Warner, Inc., which owns CNN.
