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A right-wing group is up in arms about a scheduling change due to take place at Fox News Channel that has slightly more progressive commentator Megyn Kelly taking over uber-conservative anchor Sean Hannity's 9 p.m. weeknight time slot.
A right-wing group is up in arms about a scheduling change due to take place at Fox News Channel that has slightly more progressive commentator Megyn Kelly taking over uber-conservative anchor Sean Hannity's 9 p.m. weeknight time slot.
America's Survival Inc., which bills itself as a "public policy organization," issued a scathing press release condemning the transition as evidence of Fox's descent into liberal, pro-gay anarchy.
"Pushing Sean Hannity out of the 9:00 p.m. slot, to make way for pro-homosexual advocate Megyn Kelly, is another sign of the channel's left-ward drift and decline," America's Survival president Cliff Kincaid said in a press release reported on by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The conservative group laid out its arguments in a massive 73-page report, written by notable antigay activist Peter LaBarbera of the hate group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. The hysterical report features apocalyptic headlines like "Fox News Rolls Over on Homosexuals in the Military," "Long Term Consequences: The Decline of American Civilization," and "Shepard Smith: The Next Anderson Cooper?" The 40,000-word report seems to document every single instance where anyone on Fox has said anything remotely tolerant of LGBT people.
But what makes Kelly, currently a regular daytime commentator on Fox, such a radical pro-gay activist? In a section titled "Megyn Kelly: New Hero to the 'Gay' Lobby?" the group cites two instances where she expressed the most tepid support for marriage equality or the basic humanity of LGBT people.
Kelly challenged hate group leader Tony Perkins of the antigay Family Research Council to provide compelling evidence that marriage equality harmed the nation, saying she was not convinced that same-sex marriage was any different from opposite-sex marriage. The report also blasts Kelly for her support of Chaz Bono's transition, ultimately asking if Kelly's "obvious bias in favor of the LGBT cause as an apparent 'straight ally' so strong that she in incapable of fairly covering the issue?"
Of course, as Media Matters points out, Fox News has a long — and continuing — history of homophobic, sexist, and transphobic comments airing unchallenged. In just the past two months, Fox panelists have repeatedly attacked a California law ensuring equal access to facilities and sports teams for transgender youth as "anarchy and madness," alleged that President Obama is secretly gay, used slurs to refer to trans people, gay folks, and drag queens, predicted that marriage equality will bring about the end of the world, and referred to a trans woman as "a burly man in a dress." Media Matters also notes that while Fox whips itself into a hysteria about basic nondiscrimination laws, it has neglected to report on the anti-LGBT climate in Russia, the fatal point-blank shooting of a gay man in New York City, or the recently enacted marriage equality laws in Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Delaware.
<p>Sunnivie is an award-winning journalist and the managing editor at <em>The Advocate</em>. A proud spouse and puppy-parent, Sunnivie strives to queer up the world of reporting while covering the politics of equality daily.</p>
<p>Sunnivie is an award-winning journalist and the managing editor at <em>The Advocate</em>. A proud spouse and puppy-parent, Sunnivie strives to queer up the world of reporting while covering the politics of equality daily.</p>
