Dateline: 07/05/99
That was the headline that caused the problem....
As most of you know we have a great new forum section, with topics ranging from meeting people to marriage and everything in between (the sheets and otherwise).
One of my fave topics is the Gossip area, where we're dishing the dish, and currently speculating on who will be the next to come out --- not that we'll be surprised when they do.
Not an unusual topic.
After all, there are so many people we know are gay or lesbian, regardless of what the general public knows or thinks they know. And when those people are in the public eye, whether it be through music or movies or television, odds are that the "general public" that makes up the music or movie or television industry already knows as well.
(Isn't it funny how we hear how so-and-so showed up at such-and-such party with you-know-who when it's an actor and an actress and the tongues start waving speculatively --- but we never hear the same when it's a woman with a woman or a man with a man...? --- Wait, you're right - it's not funny at all. )
Were any of us surprised when Ellen came out? I'd ask, "Was anybody surprised?" but there are always those folks who feel that unless somebody says, "I am [gay/a lesbian]" that they just aren't.
(Which somehow brings us back to the talk show host comment I made in the post that started the above-linked thread.)
One of the nice things about our new message boards is that I'm able to promote threads individually. For example, not that long ago when we started discussing the various claims about what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality I submitted the following for promotion:
Proposed Message Board Promotion The promotion was:
Shall Not WHAT?
"'...not lie with mankind, as with womankind...' Well, what if one or both
are standing up?"
No problem with it, even though I, in my own special way, alluded to [whispering] sex [end whispering].
So, as the Gossip topic has moved from Kevin Spacey to Wynona to Leonardo DiCaprio to Jennifer Aniston to Brad Pitt to Ricky Martin .... I thought it might be fun to have some more folks come and play with us. So, I submitted the following promotion:
Proposed Message Board Promotion
Ricky Martin Gay!
And all knew he was until he "made it" says those who tend to know these things.
Now, while it is difficult, at best, to take seriously an editorial judgment in which that very word is spelled in an non-preferred, inferior and frankly, incorrect manner, the fact remains that somebody somewhere decided that speculation that Ricky Martin might be [snicker] gay is inappropriate for distribution.
Why?
Is there something so wrong with being gay that, if untrue [choke], the statement would be defamatory on its face? Isn't that belief defamatory in and of itself? (Who do I sue? Let me at them! They're saying there is something wrong with being gay!)
Or perhaps whoever makes these decisions doesn't think that it is appropriate to discuss so-called "private" things in public. Hmmm. I've seen promos about other gossip items. About marriages. About public figures doing things best left in private (or am I the only one who saw the Clinton/Lewinsky promotions?)
I wonder what the difference is.
The ultimate question remains: Will we ever know why the decision was made...
... because when what seems to be the proper folks are asked what constitutes "Editorial Judgement [sic]" they don't seem to have an answer. (By the way, I've given "them" one more chance to come up with an answer ... which I'll add right here when and if I get it.)
However, regardless of whatever basis is claimed, one fact remains: The decision was wrong.
More: Delphi Answers the Question
In Pride,
Deborah