Good Advocate.
Good Advocate.
Bad Advocate.
A few days ago, I was browsing through the online version of The Advocate, the authority on all news even remotely related to LGBT rights and issues. I write a disproportionate amount about these topics, and I’d used the Web site in the past to do basic research on sexual orientation-inclusive hate crime legislation, marriage equality, and the FDA’s ban on gay blood.
The home page story was “Top 5 Music Videos of the Year,” featuring a photo of Lady GaGa’s creepy dead-eye puppet in “Bad Romance.” Other winners were Rihanna’s “Russian Roulette” and Owl City’s “Fireflies.” The story was exclusively about the videos, with absolutely no reference to anything LGBT-oriented.
Then why the hell is this the leading story on the Web site for the publication that touts itself as one that “sets the standards of LGBT journalism”?
It’s not just this one story. The Advocate regularly covers tabloidy, gossipy “news” stories about Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal, Cher, Britney Spears and other celebrities with a large queer following. One story from this week was even headlined “Palin Sues Johnston for Custody,” about supposedly gay eye candy Levi Johnston.
Sometimes The Advocate stretches to make a popular mainstream news story relevant to the LGBT community. Yes, Jane Lynch is a out lesbian, but that doesn’t mean that her new guest role voicing a character and getting animated in The Cleveland Show has anything to do with gay rights; it’s nothing new for gays to be featured in cartoons…just ask Stewie on Family Guy. So yes, Advocate staff, it’s not silly to feature the first-ever gay sex scene on daytime TV because that shit is actually ground-breaking. But “Bad Romance” or “Fireflies” didn’t do anything for the gays.
The Advocate continues to lowball itself and its target audience by diluting its very strong, well-written and –researched news content with crap about stereotypically orgaysm-inducing celebrities. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I want to read about Britney’s latest photo shoot when I’m actually just looking for the latest updates on news that’s actually important.
The Advocate should understand that it’s an authority on gay issues that really matter, and that unless they want to risk having their otherwise-excellent news coverage tainted, they should stop selling out and leave the tabloid fodder to Perez Hilton or sister magazine Out, which is specifically designed for “Fashion, Style, Celebrity [and] Opinion for the Gay Man.” Imagine that: sticking to your mission statement.
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