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Isaiah Washington
“No, I did not call T.R. a faggot. It never happened.” (Jan. 15, denying earlier reports that he called openly gay ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ co-star T.R. Knight a faggot)
Paris Hilton
“Faaggott!” (In a video laced with anti-gay and racial epithets. Surfaced online in January, reportedly from a private party that took place six years earlier)
Tim Hardaway
“Well, you know, I hate gay people. I let it be known, I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people. Yeah, I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world for that or in the United States for that.” (Feb. 14 & 15, detailing why he would not accept a gay teammate or family member)
Michael Savage
“I want to puke when I hear about a woman married to a woman raising children because, frankly, I think that it’s child abuse to do that to children without their permission." (Feb. 26, on his national radio show, responding to Melissa Ehteridge thanking her family in her Oscar acceptance speech)
Ann Coulter
“It turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I’m kind of at an impasse -- I can’t really talk about Edwards.” (March 2, commenting on Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards)
Garrison Keillor
“The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men -- sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control.” (March 14, Writing for Salon.com)
Don Imus
“That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and … That’s some nappy-headed hos there.” (April 4, on his national radio and television programs. GLAAD and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force were among the groups who denounced his words.)
Roseanne Barr
“Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about anything that was not about them. They don’t care about minimum wage, they don’t care about any other group other than their own self because you know, some people say being gay and lesbian is a totally narcissistic thing and sometimes I wonder.” (April 6, while co-hosting a Los Angeles radio show) |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: RYAN LEE
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In a world where the death of a third-rate, largely unremarkable actress gets more attention and TV time than a war in Afghanistan or genocide in Sudan, it’s impossible to overstate the power of popular culture in American society.
The gluttonous coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s accidental overdose — as well as her autopsy and baby-daddy-drama — was temporarily threatened as America’s top never-ending news story when radio shock jock Don Imus called members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “some nappy-headed hos.”
Had Virginia Tech not tragically experienced the deadliest school massacre in our country’s history, there’s no telling how long the What-Does-Imus-Say-About-Us-As-Americans media marathon would have continued.
Gay rights organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay & Lesbian Task Force have issued countless press releases in the past few months on everything from homelessness among gay youth to U.S. House subcommittee meetings on a pending federal hate crimes bill.
But arguably, the recent “gay” stories that resonated most with the mainstream public were conservative columnist Ann Coulter calling presidential hopeful John Edwards a faggot, former NBA player Tim Hardaway saying he hates gay people, and a bunch of folks getting upset about a homophobic candy bar commercial.
Gay groups continue to tap into the opportunities pop culture offers to elevate their platform, whether it’s going after “Grey’s Anatomy” star Isaiah Washington for calling a co-worker a faggot, or wagging their fingers at liberal humorist Garrison Keillor for making fun of gay men and their “striped sofas.”
“What resonates through the broader media may get a broader response to our [positions and press releases],” said Roberta Sklar, a spokesperson for the Task Force. It’s important for gay groups to “rise to the occasion” and get involved in gay controversies that involve pop culture and celebrity political figures, Sklar said.
“How engaged you get has to have a limit,” she added. “What is useful to the community, to the work of you advancing equal rights? And you can’t get pulled off track.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which honored the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy” at its annual GLAAD Media Awards on April 14, declined comment for this story.
The Human Rights Campaign did not respond to interview requests by press time.
Exploiting pop culture in an attempt to change society’s views on gay people and issues is not only practical, but practically unavoidable, said Ingrid Crepell, an associate professor of political science at George Washington University.
“It’s natural,” Crepell said. “People absorb a lot of their attitudes through pop culture — a lot of times they are more familiar with that than they are with long political debates.”
From Mel Gibson to Michael Richards to Don Imus, lately America seems to be in a particularly intolerant mood for bigoted potty-mouths, and gay people have had plenty of recent opportunities to express their outrage at insensitive comments.
“I think a major thing we look at is we do not condone the ‘gay exception’ [that it’s OK to still make fun of gay people],” Sklar said. “The U.S. culture has found certain kinds of slurs no longer acceptable.”
One word Sklar hopes has passed the threshold of unacceptability is faggot, which got quite a workout by celebrities and political figures in recent months.
Last October, Washington reportedly slung the slur on the set of “Grey’s Anatomy” to co-star T.R. Knight, who later came out as gay. Backstage at the Golden Globes in January, Washington again said the word faggot (this time to deny that he previously said it on-set), sparking widespread outcry and media coverage.
Also in January, a video began circulating on the internet showing pop socialite Paris Hilton — who served as the grand marshal at the 2005 Los Angeles Pride festival — freely using the words faggot and nigger at a party. A month later, speaking at a major conservative political conference, Ann Coulter indirectly called John Edwards a faggot in a “joke” that blew up in her face.
Other celebrities didn't use the word "faggot," but drew high-profile criticism from gay groups for other comments deemed homophobic. They include former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway, Garrison Keillor and Roseanne Barr.
And in the most offbeat anti-gay episode of all, several gay groups blasted Snickers for airing a Super Bowl ad that featured two men accidentally kissing one another and responding by ripping their chest hair off. An online component to the advertisement showed the men responding to their smooch by beating one another with crowbars, which some interpreted as promoting violence against gays.
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