Dear Glaad,
We don’t know each other, but I find what you’re doing these days to be rather disappointing. On Super Bowl Sunday you seemed to develop tunnel vision and put all your resources behind this Roland Martin campaign to get him fired from CNN for tweeting a tasteless David Beckham H&M joke (that’s how I took it). But it seems while you were scanning social media for vitriolic, anti-gay tweets, it seems a gay bashing situation happened right under your nose.
I won’t pretend that your organization is equipped to handle, and bring attention, to every single gay attack that occurs. However, one can’t overlook the swiftness in which CNN’s Martin became the focus for your cause. And your lack of action regarding the unfortunate gay bashing event in Atlanta, GA.
Call me an ass, but the Gay & Lesbians Against Defamation seems to have dropped the ball horribly in this situation! While I understand that anti-gay speech from anyone at anytime isn’t cool. I find actual attacks on gays and lesbians to be far more important than your current Roland Martin fixation. While your vast and extremely organized organization focuses on the likes of a CNN contributor, a viral video has hit every corner of the internet showing a young, presumably gay man, being attacked for being nothing more than a homosexual.
I’ve checked the Glaad.org site numerous times over the past 24 hours and its appalling to me that, though I can find several anti Roland Martin blogs, I haven’t viewed one post on the horrible gay bashing debacle that took place in Atlanta. As a gay man who’s background and blog caters to hip-hop and entertainment stories, the fact that I posted the news report before you is disgusting. The past 24 hours I’ve been forced to examine your decision to place a ‘witch hunt’ over an actual attack as it relates to people of color. Are you aware that now the FBI is involved and there’s a hot-line for any tips and leads that lead to the arrest, and hopefully, conviction of the alleged assailants? You’re platform could be better used in so many ways, but your greed for attention – by attacking public figures to gain more notoriety for your organization is very sad, and very obvious.
Is Roland Martin’s destruction so important to you that you’d ignore a more pressing matter, like an actual violent attack against gays? It seems it is.
It’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of your cause. Personally, I find your attacks on free speech–cloaked as equality for same gender loving people– to be nothing more than a rouse geared at silencing anybody who is anti-gay. Being an African-American, I get that. However people of color, and different cultures, still get called racial epithets despite all the advancements in our society. It sucks, but it’s very real. And though I don’t use racially insensitive terms to address people. I’d have the right to do so under our countries First Amendment under the Constitution of the United States of America. Anti-gay people have that same right. And I don’t feel that a public shaming is always necessary — or effective to the overall plight. Though I understand the bigger picture in curbing, “hate speech,” I also understand the importance of people having the right to say what they want as it relates to anything, or any person[s]. Add to it your swiftness whenever a public figure expresses anything the people at GLAAD find offensive, but not the same speediness as it relates to actual violence on gays and lesbians, particularly those of color, and I find it hard to defend your plight to non gays who question it.
In the past couple of days information has surfaced that shows an actual violent attack has taken place against a young man for being gay. The vicious assault is inexcusable! But what adds insult to injury in this matter is your failure to utilize your resources to bring better attention to it. I think we can all agree that Roland Martin is a douche bag when it comes to his opinions on gays and lesbians and the “reparative therapy” conversation. But when your organization allows a brutal beating of gays to take the back seat to a series of arguable “hate tweets” I find it my duty to call you out on it. You all need to get it together. And fast! Because we have more pressing matters.
If a gay person can see the swizz cheese-like holes in your plight then I assume straight people have the same confusion. I suggest you learn how to multi-task, and or, focus your attention on situations that directly affect how gays and lesbians are treated in the actual community. Not in the virtual world.
Sincerely,
Gyant
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