Sunday Shows Respond to the Popularity of Same Sex Marriage By Hosting Anti-Gay Bigots

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:04 pm

Even as support for same sex marriage reaches a record high, Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and CNN’s State Of The Union all gave air time to right wing gay bigots.

Here is Ralph Reed on Meet The Press claiming that it is better for children when gays aren’t allowed to marry.

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On Face The Nation, Tony Perkins and Austin Nimocks kept pretending that the nation is split on the issue of same sex marriage. Perkins repeated the right wing point that same sex marriage would be harmful to American families. For good measure, Perkins also threw in the churches are losing their religious freedom argument.On CNN’s State of the Union, Nimocks argued that civil rights should be denied so that social conservatives can vote to deny them to gay people.

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According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 58% of Americans support same sex marriage. Only 36% of those surveyed oppose it. Among those age 18-29, 81% support same sex marriage. However, on the Sunday shows the anti-marriage position treated as being equal with pro-marriage support.

On Meet The Press and State Of The Union, the anti-position was given 50% weight. Face The Nation was more accurate in their panel composition with 3/5 of the panel supporting same sex marriage. The problem is that the mainstream media has given the position of denying civil rights based on bigotry inflated standing. The anti-same sex marriage advocates rely on religion for their opposition. Their opposition is on moral grounds, and it is based on their faith.

However, faith shouldn’t trump facts. Opposition based on faith should not be treated by the media as being equal to facts. When that faith based position is out of touch with nearly 2/3 of America, the mainstream media should not be treating it as holding equal footing in a public policy debate.

Instead of challenging these bigots, the mainstream media has chosen to give them an equal platform. Instead of acknowledging that country is changing, Meet The Press and State of the Union catered to right wing fantasy of deep divisions. None of these shows questioned the validity of the opposition, and they all gave untrue statements about the impact of same sex marriage on families a free pass.

Until the media stops catering to the white conservative minority and starts talking to a majority of this country, they will continue to fail to fulfill their duties as the fourth estate.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association