Petrelis Files

AP Quotes only Gs in Obama Story;
Forget about Ls, Bs and Ts

Speaking as a gay man, there's nothing wrong with quoting one of us in Associated Press stories about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and our complex relationship with President Obama and his administration.

AP reporter David Crary today filed a story about gay impatience with Obama, and the following seven community leaders and lobbyists were quoted:

Kevin Cathcart of Lambda Legal, Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, Tico Almeida of Freedom to Work, Andrew Tobias of the Democratic National Committee, Ethan Geto who's a political consultant, Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado, and Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry.

If those seven gay men are not enough, Crary also cited gay GOP advocate Richard Grenell, who resigned from the Mitt Romney campaign this week.

But where is the voice of a single lesbian, bisexual or transgender lobbyist or executive director? Missing from this AP wire story and I don't think that is ok. I'd like to suggest that Crary update his contract list for LGBT officials to contact when writing about the community.

And I also suggest that the AP and all mainstream media outlets look beyond gay marriage and federal employment protections. Many ordinary LGBT people worry about affordable housing, jobs with decent wages, affordable education opportunities and guaranteed access to healthcare and medicine.

Let's insist the media expand the LGBT they seek out for quotes and the issues they report on.