A Murdoch Apology That's Long Overdue

It's all well and good that Rupert Murdoch apologized for that New York Post chimp cartoon that upset so many people. Unlike Al Sharpton and the NAACP, I even find his apology satisfactory (while reserving the right to throw it in his face the next time the Post does something similarly obnoxious).

What I want to know is: Now that we know Murdoch is capable of saying "I'm sorry," where's his apology to gay people?

Whatever else you want to say about Sean Delonas's cartoon -- and I have yet to hear anyone call it a trenchant and timely piece of satire -- it at least had the virtue, from a defensibility standpoint, of being ambiguous. The same can't be said for the many, many drawings Delonas has made with the clear, unmistakable intent to provoke and ridicule homosexuals -- usually by depicting them as mincing sissies, transvestites or lovers of farm animals. And the Delonas oeuvre represents only a fraction of the Post's frequent and reflexive gay-baiting, as GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, notes in this blog post.

"We've repeatedly had our supporters -- our community and our allies -- rise up and call for a change in the way the Post covers LGBT issues," says GLAAD. "Unfortunately, a majority of the time the calls and the letters and the protests have fallen on deaf ears."

Why is that? No doubt because a gay-led boycott of the Post and/or News Corp. could never inflict the economic pain of a boycott spearheaded by the NAACP. A thought: Seeing as GLAAD was quick to denounce the chimp cartoon and call for action, maybe the NAACP will return the favor next time Delonas draws some gay celebrity in a tutu holding hands with a sheep and calls it commentary?

P.S.: I asked for GLAAD president Neil Giuliano's thoughts on this. Here's what he sent, via a spokesman: