Jul201113
Aaron McQuade, GLAAD's Deputy Director of News and Field Media
Mainstream Media Covering So-Called "Ex-Gay" Programs
http://glaadblog.org/2011/07/13/mainstream-media-covering-so-called-ex-gay-programs/So I've spent the better part of today sifting through, watching, and re-watching various clips of the mainstream media discussing the idea of so-called "ex-gay" therapy.
We've had our problems this year with various outlets trying to tackle this topic, some less successfully than others - with only Anderson Cooper really nailing it. Before yesterday, there was something missing from much of the discussion – namely, the concrete harms that even attempting to change one's orientation can cause, and the fact that this idea has been discredited and discouraged by the America's mainstream (and impartial) medical, counseling and mental health communities.
Yesterday, the mainstream media largely did a solid job of pointing out that this type of "therapy" or "counseling" can be extremely dangerous and damaging, and is not accepted by knowledgeable experts in those fields. MSNBC in particular did a great job of letting its viewership know where those experts stand, which is one of the things we asked that the media take into consideration yesterday. You can see much of the coverage that resulted here, at Towleroad.
