I am sick of watching marriage equality discussed exclusively by straight panels on TV talk shows

I watch all of Bill Maher's, Meet The Press's, and This Week's discussions of marriage equality and not a single, solitary, gay person was on any of the panels. This is hardly a new thing. I honestly can't recall the last time I saw a gay person on the Sunday Talk shows who wasn't Barney Frank talking about the economy. Try to imagine for a second, that a major abortion rights story, such as the deplorable Tiller assassination, being discussed by male only panels. Try to imagine a major decision about affirmative action being discussed by only white males. Literally unimaginable. Yet, for same sex marriage, it is routine. With the exception of Barney Frank and Andrew Sullivan try to name one gay person who is ever, let alone, usually, invited on a Sunday talk show. NBC employs, as a political commentator, a lesbian, so surely it isn't an issue of inability to find a gay person. If a gay person had been on ABC's panel I doubt George Will could have gotten away with the blatent nonsense he spouted on his panel. I have long since given up on having a gay voice on these shows with any regularity but when discussing gay, would it really be that hard?

Though some think Bill Maher is one of us.

Of course Bill Maher is on HBO, a channel that many people don't have access to at all, and some of us only view the program from "alternative" sources.

discussing whether something was racist or not and got several attack responses.

It's not right and it's not fair and it's not ethical.

There are plenty of non-profits, organizations, etc. that deal with the gay marriage issue who easily would have provided a spokesperson if asked by any of these programs to participate.

And yes, we'll be disgusted again tomorrow, when we have to listen to a bunch of old, white men discuss whether Sotomayor is being treated fairly, as well as listen to them bloviate about the doctor's murder.

MSNBC and CNN are equally guilty of trotting out some nut from the Family Research Council - a hate group, without question - to pontificate on OUR rights. If there's any token opposition at all it's usually someone straight, although MSNBC occasionally allows someone from HRC to comment.

This insistence on giving the FRC such a high profile is frustrating. I doubt that any cable net would allow someone from the KKK to comment on a subject regarding African-Americans, or skinheads to comment on issues affecting the Jewish community. But they regularly allow a hate group like FRC to act like experts on our issues.

and the first startled expression was "Why Would They Need Gay People to Talk About Marriage?" and it later changed to "Well Maybe They Couldn't Find Anyone"

We are so rare after all :-)

We are fucked. Remember the No on 8 people and their focus groups? No LGBT in the ads at all because heteros would be too weirded out.

The only gay people I can recall being asked to speak on this in recent memory were Dan Savage and a lesbian couple on CNN the other day.

pro-life or pro-choice and I have seen that too.

since the founding of this country. It's time the rest of us got equal time to express our first amendment rights too.

everyone who is discriminated against.

:bounce:

It's so preposterous, and especially so since no one even seems to notice. I just look at it and shake my head.