First let me say that we love our friends at The Advocate. The iconic gay-news publication has done great work for decades. But I remember when we were presented with our first NLGJA Award years ago the presenter said it was in part because we were not afraid to criticize the media’s handling of gay-sports issues. So here we go.
The Advocate released its top 21 news stories of the year and totally whiffed on the incredible shift in sports this year. Of the 21 stories only one – the use of the word "faggot" – focused on sports. Instead of the coming out of NBA team president Rick Welts they chose Neil Patrick Harris hosting the gayest awards show this side of the GLAAD Awards, the Tonys. Instead of the open support of Michael Irvin appearing shirtless on the cover of Out magazine they chose the U.S. census. Instead of the flood of MLB teams making 'It Gets Better' videos they chose a terrible Lady Gaga song.
First let me say that we love our friends at The Advocate. The iconic gay-news publication has done great work for decades. But I remember when we were presented with our first NLGJA Award years ago the presenter said it was in part because we were not afraid to criticize the media’s handling of gay-sports issues. So here we go.
The Advocate released its top 21 news stories of the year and totally whiffed on the incredible shift in sports this year. Of the 21 stories only one – the use of the word "faggot" – focused on sports. Instead of the coming out of NBA team president Rick Welts they chose Neil Patrick Harris hosting the gayest awards show this side of the GLAAD Awards, the Tonys. Instead of the open support of Michael Irvin appearing shirtless on the cover of Out magazine they chose the U.S. census. Instead of the flood of MLB teams making 'It Gets Better' videos they chose a terrible Lady Gaga song.
For years we at Outsports have said the gay media’s failure to cover sports issues is as big of a problem as the sports media’s failure to cover gay issues. This amnesia list of the “21 top stories of the year” is the latest example. Thankfully their sister publication Out magazine got it right with several sports-related selections to the Out 100. Most of the list was pretty spot-on, but the lack of inclusion of sports news undermines the credibility of the list.
Read their complete list here.
