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May 15, 2006
Black Media Outlets Expand Coverage of Gay Issues
Posted at May 15, 2006 01:04 PM in GLBTQ News .
GLAAD applauds articles on more than marriage, ‘down low’ and religion
By ERIC ERVIN
Southern Voice: Friday, April 28, 2006
Black media outlets have often limited their coverage of gay issues to an occasional article about same-sex marriage, homophobia and religion and the so-called "down low" phenomenon, according to a gay media group.
But in some black newspaper and magazines, recent articles have shown black gay men and lesbians as loving parents, activists and even a lesbian homecoming king, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation noted.
"There’s a multitude of reasons why coverage has increased," said Katina Parker, GLAAD media manager for communities of African descent. "There has been more visibility and activism of gay people and allies. There’s a direct relationship between visibility and activism."
Rapper Kanye West’s recent public denouncement of homophobia in the hip-hop music industry helped bring black gay issues to the forefront, Parker said. Rev. Al Sharpton’s efforts to unite black church leaders and gay activists also brought more visibility to issues faced by African-American gay men and lesbians, she said.
But publications targeting black readers, like mainstream media outlets, still face obstacles to covering gay issues, GLAAD noted in a recent release.
Parker said she monitors daily some 20 media outlets, including black and non-black newspapers and magazines, for their coverage of gay issues.
"Many outlets are concerned that if they offer too much LGBT coverage, anything beyond news about same-sex marriage debates and religious posturing against LGBT people, their conservative readership will respond with letters of complaint and phone calls," Parker said.
Parker and other GLAAD officials recently meet with representatives of black media outlets in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to assist in coverage of gay issues.
Stories ‘not a gay issue’
GLAAD praised the New York City-based weekly the Amsterdam News as leading the way in providing extensive coverage of gay issues and touted the 97-year-old black newspaper for insightful articles on black gay men and lesbians.
Especially poignant, according to GLAAD, was the newspaper’s publication in May of "Kids with gay parents talk about their families," an article that included diary-style entries submitted by teenagers with gay parents.
Amsterdam News Publisher Elinor Tatum said she was unaware of GLAAD’s recognition, but added that she doesn’t characterize the noted articles as gay news.
"It’s a community issue," she said. "I don’t look at it as a gay issue because we’re all affected."
GLAAD officials also praised Essence magazine’s coverage of black lesbians with articles such as "Two Mommy Household," published in July 2002.
But Essence’s extensive coverage of the "down low," black men who have sex with other men while married or in relationships with women, stigmatized bisexual black men as "irresponsible disease carriers," Parker said.
"Coverage about same-sex relationships that places the blame on one person is problematic," she said.
In the pages of Jet, readers have been presented coverage on WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes’ coming out as a lesbian, the late Coretta Scott King’s support of gay rights issues and the story of a black lesbian college senior who was named homecoming king.
Officials at Essence and Jet did not respond to interview requests by press time.
The Swoopes story, including coverage of homophobia in male sports, was also covered in the Tennessee Tribune, an African-American weekly newspaper in Nashville.
"We tend to cover everything regardless of the consequences," said Jason Hughes, managing editor.
Source: Southern Voice Online
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Comments
When one is appointed solely by an organization to cover media issues of a specific "descent" it is not empowering, it is merely a placative remedy masquerading as an act of attrition.
Posted by Silvermoon3 at May 20, 2006 05:22 PM