Tiffany,

Living in the Tacoma area, it’s been hard not to notice the trial of Maj. Margaret Witt. My post yesterday focused on media’s portrayal of Witt through their use word choices. Today, I would like to spend a bit more time on the subject.

For starters, I came across an article in The Advocate called ‘Witt Trial Enters Day 2′. As of now, it is the only article I have come across that address Maj. Witt by her name, and not merely as ‘lesbian’. For those who are not aware, The Advocate is a GLBT publication, so for them to empower Witt by name is of no surprise to me, but it’s encouraging nonetheless.

I then ran across an article in our local paper, The Tacoma News Tribune called ‘Air Force nurse’s homosexuality not a factor, witnesses say‘. Besides the obvious ‘duh!’ comment that I have to that title, it’s possibly the worst column title I have come across yet in the coverage of this story. Not only do they not mention Witt by name, but the title also implies that her homosexuality perverted who she is. And, not only that, it implies that such perversion effected how she served our country before witnesses came forward and said that wasn’t the case.

To those of you reading this conversation between Tiffany and myself, I would encourage you all to read the TNT story and The Advocate story. Then, read some of the reader comments to each. At the time this blog was written, no responses to The Advocate story had been submitted. However, the story in the TNT has received many. Many, but not all, of the comments are hateful and fear-based.

http://movieclips.com/watch/the-birdcage-1996/gays-in-the-military/

Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com