EXCLUSIVE: LGBT groups hit O'Reilly for "equating gays" with "terrorists"
June 03, 2010 2:32 pm ET by Karl Frisch
DEVELOPING
Today, in
response to Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly asking, "Do they have an al-Qaeda
ad?" during a discussion on last night’s O’Reilly Factor of a gay-inclusive McDonald's ad, several prominent
LGBT advocacy organization had harsh words for the cable host.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) spokesperson Michael Cole called on O’Reilly to apologize in a statement given to Media Matters, saying the Fox News host should be “ashamed.”
“Bill O'Reilly should be ashamed for equating a family with a gay son to terrorists. It may be news to him but most Americans know and love LGBT people and would be offended at this kind of comparison. An apology is certainly warranted.”
In a statement also provided to Media Matters, Rea Carey -- executive director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force -- said O’Reilly was pulling “from his usual menu of bigotry” by “equating gays” with terrorists:
“McDonald’s/France invites us to come as we are, but O’Reilly pulled from his usual menu of bigotry, equating gays munching Big Macs with terrorists. O’Reilly will be served a Big Mac and fries at any McDonald’s in the world, but he can’t stomach the welcome to gay patrons at the Golden Arches. Eat it, Bill!”
Responding to O’Reilly on its blog, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said the Fox News host “stooped to the lowest level” and that his tone “was equally disturbing.”
Instead of discussing this groundbreaking commercial in a fair manner, O’Reilly stooped to the lowest level, using the occasion to compare the gay themed ad to the idea of creating an ad targeting a terrorist organization for business. His lighthearted tone in the segment was equally disturbing.
As Media Matters has repeatedly noted, O’Reilly has a long history of advancing homophobic misinformation about the LGBT community and related issues despite having once said, "I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff."
UPDATE
Robin McGehee -- co-founder of GetEQUAL -- provided Media Matters with the following statement late yesterday saying the cable host was "feeding a narrative of fear, hatred, and ignorance."
"Like the rest of the LGBT community, I was appalled by O'Reilly's comment -- and not the least bit surprised. As an entertainer who has built a profitable business out of "shock talk" and hate speech, O'Reilly has added another feather to his cap by comparing hard-working Americas with terrorists...for his own personal gain. GetEQUAL looks forward to working closely with other progressive organizations that refuse to allow O'Reilly to get away with likening our community to terrorists and to feeding a narrative of fear, hatred, and ignorance. Sadly, the government sanctioned homophobia and transphobia that exist in our country allows such hate-filled rhetoric to be perpetuated through these types of actions."
Related:
It meant to do your best to keep Failure at Bay.
"Stupid idiot" Sure, that covers "Bill-O the Clown"
When are we going to Boycott Newscorp, or do we in Protest continue to offer only a Frown?
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
Can't wait until some equates the Fox brand with terrorism, e.g. Conspiracy Terrorists or
how about someone breaking down the Party of the Right the Parties on the Right:
TeaParty--the First Right
Republicans--the Second Right
Conservatives--the Third Right.
Conservatives--the First Right
Republicans--the Second Right
TeaParty--the Third Reich
???
Billo is the man who didn't like Brokeback Mountain because he said it "humanizes homosexuals." I'm quite sure that gays are among the many groups he hates.
"in the "personal story" segment tonight, i make the case that the success of the "brokeback mountain" movie is partially due to its gay theme. hollywood sympathizes with gay rights, and this movie humanizes homosexuals."
hardly scathing hate speech against gays, but merely an indisputable statement of fact... to bring further context, this was said as he interviewed tab hunter, closeted teen idol from the 50's, and harry hamlin, a straight actor who suspects he was never again given a leading man role after once having played a gay character...
but he should have immediately apologized for the al-qaeda crack, it's just plain stupid... kinda like dick morris, also last night, saying something to the effect that obama would be lynched in louisana for his handling of the bp spill, then caught himself and said "i mean hanged"... yeah, that's much better, dick...
read the interview i referenced from which that quote came and try to understand the context... one of the interviewees, tab hunter, is a homosexual and at no time took offense:
homosexuality and hollywood
if you want to hate on o'reilly that's fine... but if you believe that those 2 words taken out of context were meant to infer that he believes gays are subhuman then you are terribly mistaken...
"in the "personal story" segment tonight, i make the case that the success of the "brokeback mountain" movie is partially due to its gay theme. hollywood sympathizes with gay rights, and this movie humanizes homosexuals."
hardly scathing hate speech against gays, but merely an indisputable statement of fact... to bring further context, this was said as he interviewed tab hunter, closeted teen idol from the 50's, and harry hamlin, a straight actor who suspects he was never again given a leading man role after once having played a gay character...
but he should have immediately apologized for the al-qaeda crack, it's just plain stupid... kinda like dick morris, also last night, saying something to the effect that obama would be lynched in louisana for his handling of the bp spill, then caught himself and said "i mean hanged"... yeah, that's much better, dick...
.
.
The reality is that Beck has been getting waaaaay more attention these days and his ego just can't stand it. That's why a couple of weeks ago he came out with his "hillary will run in 2012" hypothesis, that's why he is following Beck's avenue of the Obama administration being filled with "radicals." O'Reilly has to be seen as #1. When he feels that isn't happenning he does what any other narcissistic personality disorder person would do......"hey everybody loooook at meeeee!"
MMA is doing a good job of playing these guys against each other, even if they aren't doing so on purpose. It's now a
p!$$ing contest between the two for the most attention. Anybody who has kids knows this behavior. If one child feels the other is getting too much attention, what happens?
Mom: "You look so much like me when I was young... you know, I used to sleep around quite a bit back then. Too bad your class is all girls, I bet you could sleep with anyone you wanted too."
Cut to lesbian girl smiling slyly.
All i can say to this is--
F**K YOU BILL OREILLY!
I am backtracking here, but you had said before that I was wishing ill on you because of your previous defense of Stossel.
What I had said to about having your car break down in a place where you are not welcome and where you dont feel safe is the EXACT experience you were tacitly wishing on so many people just to defend a theoretical argument. Its an experience I, myself, am all too familiar with.
I do not wish you to experience what I already know as a reality, and I am sorry I made you feel that way. I just hope you understand that this kind of dangerous discrimination does happen, and some people don’t have a choice about having to endure it.
As a person who has been out since before it was safe to be, I know very well what that feeling is like. I’ll spare you my own sob-story.
But I will tell you this.
I drive all over the Mid-West for work, especially at this time of the year... how accepting of gay do think people in the Western Dakotas are?
What do you think their opinions are of Jewish people, Buddhists or vegetarians, let alone black or hispanic Americans?
Have you ever been in a place where there is a very open and explicit Klan presence, where something really could happen to you, and NO ONE WOULD FIND OUT?
I would love to take you on my own outings so you could see that it is truly different in the Heartland than you might think it is. Not everyplace is NY, NY. One does not have the option to just go somewhere else in the Heartland. For many younger gay people in the Midwest, the only escape is to run away or to live on the streets. Is that your solution of just picking up and leaving?
Or, on the other hand, when you are in an entire state that doesnt want you there, but you are contracted and have to be there for work and to make money, its very different than positing the argument that one simply go elsewhere.
And Billys recent outburst brings the point home.
Back in 2006, the republicans used the so-called threat of gay marriage in order to draw a smoke screen over the atrocities that came out of Abu Gharaib. It was obvious, petty and transparent. At that time, republican law-makers referred to gay marriage as an even greater threat to social stability than terrorism.
Its on record pal.
But Bill resurrects the argument over a Hamburger ad. And sadly, too many people already think like he does, and are incited by his rhetoric.
As a gay man, I don’t even want to be targeted by fast-food. But to use that as a springboard to equate us with terrorists!?!?!
Bill Orielly, with his painful temper, his rabid bigotry, his arm-chair blood-lust and his religious fanaticism has FAR more in common with Al Qaeda than I, or any gay person does.
I hate Bill Oreilly... I have family members that wont talk to me ONLY because of him. It’s a reflection of their own pettiness, but he is the one that makes it seem sensible for them. He is who they quote to justify their hatred. For that I hate him and will never forgive him. He isnt about family values at all. He is about hatred, anger, division and bigotry.
He is as sour as a rotten moldy peach and spews out more noxious filth than a BP oil rig.
Bill Orielly is a useless and blistered waste of space.
And for the record, i LOVE flaming gay queens. They have FAR more backbone than most people give them credit for.
you must have quite the home entertainment system if you can actually smell o'reilly!...
while i stand by my stossel statements, i really appreciate your taking the time to clarify your point... i can't disagree with you more about o'reilly either, other than to say that his al-qaeda remark was ill-advised and apologies are certainly in order... i watch him often but would hardly agree with him 100%... his idiotic and ignorant war on hip-hop, for example...
but i'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that your hatred of o'reilly really is over the top, and that it might be better directed at your family... then again, i suppose it already has if they are willing to misinterpret a talking head on the idiot box and disown their own flesh and blood...
as a straight white male, age 50, i'm fortunate to not have experienced danger as a minority in a situation... while i have been the minority in some situations, i maybe at worst felt some uncomfortableness... but we're just going to have to disagree on the public accommodations issue... a private business should have the right to discriminate against minorities... emotion should not dictate public policy, no matter how repugnant the policy is... laws should be enacted for the public safety at large, not for some pollyannaic attempt to change a racist's mind...
i wish you well in your mid-west travels, sir, and godspeed...
No hard feelings.
I am backtracking here, but you had said before that I was wishing ill on you because of your previous defense of Stossel.
What I had said to about having your car break down in a place where you are not welcome and where you dont feel safe is the EXACT experience you were tacitly wishing on so many people just to defend a theoretical argument. Its an experience I, myself, am all too familiar with.
I do not wish you to experience what I already know as a reality, and I am sorry I made you feel that way. I just hope you understand that this kind of dangerous discrimination does happen, and some people don’t have a choice about having to endure it.
As a person who has been out since before it was safe to be, I know very well what that feeling is like. I’ll spare you my own sob-story.
But I will tell you this.
I drive all over the Mid-West for work, especially at this time of the year... how accepting of gay do think people in the Western Dakotas are?
What do you think their opinions are of Jewish people, Buddhists or vegetarians, let alone black or hispanic Americans?
Have you ever been in a place where there is a very open and explicit Klan presence, where something really could happen to you, and NO ONE WOULD FIND OUT?
I would love to take you on my own outings so you could see that it is truly different in the Heartland than you might think it is. Not everyplace is NY, NY. One does not have the option to just go somewhere else in the Heartland. For many younger gay people in the Midwest, the only escape is to run away or to live on the streets. Is that your solution of just picking up and leaving?
Or, on the other hand, when you are in an entire state that doesnt want you there, but you are contracted and have to be there for work and to make money, its very different than positing the argument that one simply go elsewhere.
And Billys recent outburst brings the point home.
Back in 2006, the republicans used the so-called threat of gay marriage in order to draw a smoke screen over the atrocities that came out of Abu Gharaib. It was obvious, petty and transparent. At that time, republican law-makers referred to gay marriage as an even greater threat to social stability than terrorism.
Its on record pal.
But Bill resurrects the argument over a Hamburger ad. And sadly, too many people already think like he does, and are incited by his rhetoric.
As a gay man, I don’t even want to be targeted by fast-food. But to use that as a springboard to equate us with terrorists!?!?!
Bill Orielly, with his painful temper, his rabid bigotry, his arm-chair blood-lust and his religious fanaticism has FAR more in common with Al Qaeda than I, or any gay person does.
I hate Bill Oreilly... I have family members that wont talk to me ONLY because of him. It’s a reflection of their own pettiness, but he is the one that makes it seem sensible for them. He is who they quote to justify their hatred. For that I hate him and will never forgive him. He isnt about family values at all. He is about hatred, anger, division and bigotry.
He is as sour as a rotten moldy peach and spews out more noxious filth than a BP oil rig.
Bill Orielly is a useless and blistered waste of space.
And for the record, i LOVE flaming gay queens. They have FAR more backbone than most people give them credit for.
i dont know why/how my post uploaded twice. but I do apologize for that.