Fox News Ignores Passage Of California’s “Ex-Gay” Therapy Ban
October 02, 2012 2:51 pm ET by Carlos Maza
Not even Fox News seems willing to defend the widely discredited practice of “ex-gay” therapy. Rather than use California's new ban on "ex-gay" therapy to advance its usual anti-equality narrative, the network simply ignored the story altogether.
Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law over the weekend that made California the first state to ban the use of “ex-gay” therapy for minors. Both CNN and MSNBC covered the new legislation multiple times on Monday, with CNN devoting two full segments to the measure. Fox, however, was completely silent on the issue.
This kind of story should have been easy pickings for Fox. Conservatives have filed suit against the law, claiming that it restricts religious liberty and freedom of speech. The law deals with the sexual orientation of young people. And it’s in California – one of Fox’s favorite “progressive” punching bags.
In fact, the story has many of the same elements that fueled Fox’s outrage last summer over California’s FAIR Education Act – a law that requires public schools to teach students about historical contributions of LGBT people. Back then, the network ran segment after segment after segment criticizing the law for undermining parental rights and promoting homosexuality to children.
So what explains the network’s total silence when it comes to California’s new “ex-gay” therapy ban?
Perhaps Fox just didn’t think the story was worth reporting. After all, the network has demonstrated its willingness to entirely ignore positive advancements in LGBT equality.
Still, reporting on the measure would have given Fox a golden opportunity to promote the narrative that radical gay activists are restricting the freedom of Christian parents and therapists who merely want to help kids lead heterosexual lives.
Is it possible that defending the bogus practice of “ex-gay” therapy has become too extreme -- even for Fox News? Last year, the network showed a similar unwillingness to weigh in on the scandal surrounding Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s (R-MN) husband’s ties to “ex-gay” therapy.
It’s too soon to tell if the network has decided to relegate “ex-gay” therapy to – as Gov. Brown wrote – the “dustbin of quackery,” especially given the baseless comments of some of Fox’s top medical experts. Either way, given its track record on covering LGBT issues, it’s probably for the best that Fox opted to stay out of this fight.
Previously:
Thanks To Fox News’ Keith Ablow, “Ex-Gay” Pseudoscience Is Still Alive And Well
