R.I.P. Whitney Houston

If you’re old enough to remember the 1980s, then there is no question that you often heard Whitney Houston’s voice emanating from radios worldwide. Only a handful of solo artists in the past few decades could claim to be in her league at the height of her powers. Her death this past weekend at the [...]

The Outing Scandal in GOP Land

It has the makings of a fascinating man-bites-dog story.  The provocative GOProud group went into attack mode against Rick Perry pollster Tony Fabrizio for not stepping-in to stop an offensive ad.  In the process, Fabrizio was allegedly “outed” as a gay man by GOProud (and the media that later reported it). The latest wrinkle to [...]

Is It Unethical NOT to Report That Apple’s CEO is Gay?

Since our last post on how journalists should deal with the sexuality of new Apple CEO Tim Cook, an interesting debate has emerged over the ethics of “outing” Cook. Felix Salmon, a Reuters blogger, kicked things off by saying: Tim Cook is now the most powerful gay man in the world. This is newsworthy, no? [...]

Is Apple’s New CEO Gay?

As NLGJA’s annual convention begins today in Philadelphia, the national news provides one of the enduring ethical questions when covering LGBT folks: when do we say someone is gay (or lesbian or bisexual or transgender)?  From our very first convention where Andrew Sullivan and Michelangelo Signorile had a heated discussion over when to “out” someone, [...]

Towleroad Interviews Thomas Roberts

Now that Thomas Roberts is a permanent fixture on MSNBC, it’s nice to see he continues to talk to online media like Towleroad as well as larger outlets. Roberts, who hosted NLGJA’s New York fundraiser in March, is unafraid of talking about his role as an openly-gay journalist and one of the few people to [...]