Friday, December 04, 2009

ABC = GLAAD Sponsor;
Org Silent on Buju's Grammy Nod

The criticism of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for its lame handling of ABC Disney's decision to give the network a pass on its fear of allowing gay singer Adam Lambert to appear on its shows, continues over at the Queerty blog today:

Charging itself with policing media to ensure positive representations of queers, GLAAD is now backing ABC's decision to yank Adam Lambert from its network. And in doing so, [group leader Jarrett] Barrios has shown GLAAD to still be the spineless, ineffective Gay Inc. organization that Neil Guiliano left behind. [...]

GLAAD's involvement in the Lambert situation is actually harming the gay community. As our self-appointed representatives, GLAAD is telling America that ABC's treatment of a gay man is just fine, nothing to see here, move along.

In their statement yesterday, GLAAD had this to say about some of ABC's past with the gay community:

“ABC has a history of positive gay and transgender inclusion that includes featuring kisses between gay and lesbian couples on-air.”

What was omitted by GLAAD was any mention of ABC Disney's sponsorship of the org's money-making media awards' ceremonies. The media giant is listed on page 22 of GLAAD's 2008 annual report as a corporate sponsor of this lapdog org. Nooooo conflict of interest of there. Just Gay Inc business as usual.

Showing yet again how another part their agenda is driven with light celebrity gossip from the entertainment industry, GLAAD shared this post on their blog about a few Grammy nominees this week:

Openly bisexual pop sensation Lady Gaga received five nominations [...] Openly lesbian classical guitarist Sharon Isbin was nominated [...]

Several LGBT allies received nominations, including Kathy Griffin for Best Comedy Album, Liza Minnelli for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and Carrie Fisher for Best Spoken Word Album.

Nice of the lapdogs to cite these nominees, but GLAAD completely ignored the nomination of homo-hating Jamaican singer Buju Banton. Our community has been handed a golden opportunity on a silver platter with Buju nomination this year, a year in which he faced controversy over a meeting with gay activists in San Francisco, which I was at, and pickets were staged outside of his many USA concert appearances, or the concerts were canceled from pressure by protesters.

If GLAAD were up to the task of taking his nomination and educating the music industry about murder music from Jamaica and the performers who created it, and its impact on gay people, we might see the org calling some attention to the issue. But all we're getting right now from the lapdogs is silence.

1 comment:

Larry-bob said...

Maybe Elton John can do a duet with Buju. It looks like the LA Gay Center has made a statement:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14367/condemnation-for-buju-bantons-grammy-nod