Critiques their Ignoring of Nation's Openly Gay Heroes: Father Mychal Judge, Mark Bingham & David Charlebois |
Compiled by GayToday
At least we know much more about the heterosexual heroes and victims. But many Americans may be deprived knowing about the gay heroes. That is because some news organizations have selectively chosen to obscure or ignore the sexual orientation of some of those who also lost their lives. Consider the story of Franciscan priest Father Mychal Judge, the chaplain of the New York Fire Department who was killed while administering the last rites to injured rescue workers at the World Trade Center. Although Father Judge was openly gay and often worked in the gay community, this fact went unreported in many stories generated by the mainstream press. Mark Bingham of San Francisco was among the heroes on United Airlines flight 93 who tried to overpower hijackers and prevented the Boeing 757 from hitting targets in Washington, D.C. Bingham was also openly gay. He was planning to play on his gay rugby team in next year's Gay Games in Sydney. Then there was David Charlebois, the first officer on American Airlines flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. Mr. Charlebois, a 10-year veteran pilot, was a member of the National Gay Pilots Association. He lived in Washington, D.C., with his partner of 14 years. Some journalists may embrace outdated ideas that identifying openly gay and lesbian heroes will cast a negative image on their memory. This decision is based on a presumption that being gay or lesbian is wrong, a bias that works completely against news objectivity. Withholding relevant details about these lives, their partners and families is unfair and hurtful to the people they loved. In our mission as journalists, it also denies readers and viewers information about the true identity of those who are in the news. It is the same as withholding information about the spouse, children and other features about the heterosexual heroes. What about legitimate concerns about "outing" someone, or disclosing the sexual orientation of someone who preferred privacy? We suggest more and better reporting.
I invite you to call on NLGJA as a resource; you may reach me at 202-661-8414 or Pamela Strother, NLGJA's executive director, at 202-588-9888 ext. 11. NLGJA website: http://www.nlgja.org
Robert Dodge |