This past weekend, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) along with several thousand protesters, marched on D.C. to support President Obama and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) citizens in their efforts for equal opportunity marriage, and the repealing of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." These are topics that have been in conversation since the 1970's, and with each President arises again. Although, these topics are usually front-runners with Democratic Presidents.
The HRC supports efforts to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that doesn't allow gays or lesbians to serve openly in the military. There are many that do, they just are not allowed to express their sexual orientation or feelings among others on the job. This act was removed by Bill Clinton, and put back in place by George W. Bush. President Obama has pledged, and promised, to repeal it once again.
The story is how this was covered by the media. I personally did not watch much news this weekend besides local channels, due to my push in the last week or two to focus less on national issues. I overload myself with national news at times, and needed a break. Twitter does not stop though. As I checked my tweets, I constantly read @foxnewsradio tweets about the rally and how big it was. This did not surprise me. What did surprise me was one tweet in particular that said the HRC and LGBT community was getting all the press this weekend, and no one was paying attention to the pro-life rally also being held in D.C. I am personally unsure about this claim, as I didn't watch as much news this weekend, but wondered if any of you heard anything about both rallies? Considering the current President, and his recent statements to repeal both the marriage act and the military policy, it does not surprise me that coverage would be biased towards this particular group when the rally has been planned for weeks. I do hope there was coverage for both, as both need to have their voices heard. I want to hear from fellow students as to their opinions on the coverage, and the facts on what was seen this weekend.
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I only really heard about the LGBT protest in D.C. I do agree with you that both are equally important; however, because one has been spot lighted more so than the other I believe that's why it received the coverage that it did. There as been an increase in the LGBT community to address marital issues, equal rights, etc and since states have tried to legislatively deal with the situation it has been more on the forefront than HRC. I guess it still comes down to which station you do or do not watch.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think this issue needs to be drained of all emotion and analyzed in accordance with the law.
ReplyDeleteObviously, this could be just as impractical considering the range of judicial opinions but it's the only criteria that should have any bearing.
Do the current anti-marriage and army standards align with the constitution? Religion or personal sentiment should be secondary to the rule of law. Whether this fits with whatever the latest poll of Americans shows is irrelevant.
I'm open to other viewpoints, but have so far failed to see any alternatives not overtly motivated by feelings that are, IMO, unhelpful to the overall debate.