Our Ten Seconds of Fame

Well, I just watched four local newscasts, skipping frantically back and forth from one to another in search of any coverage of Phoenix Pride.

Only one of the four mentioned it at all. And their "coverage" lasted all of ten seconds.

The bright-and-perky info-babe stayed frozen in a chipper Botox smile as she introduced The Topic. Then off to a clip of the festivities.

What they showed was a group of gender-indeterminate young people with spiky hair, arms intertwined and beers in hand. Followed by a shot of two very-white, shirtless men, wearing gigantic 'fro wigs. Followed by a general crowd scene, then on -- as fast as possible -- to the next segment.

Not one word about the parade, which organizers have said they expected to be the largest parade ever (of ANY kind) in Arizona. No Tinkerbell or Leather Dykes, but no bankers, realtors, insurance agents or singers in a church choir, either.

They've been criticized for showing all the loonies year after year, so the brief portrayal this time was more restrained. They still can't bring themselves, however, to show mundane-looking gay folks. Three of the stations chickened out of showing anything at all, and the one that did took as little risk as possible.

The gays don't like it when only the whackies are shown, and the bigots can't stand it when the existence of normal gay people is acknowledged. The sorry excuses for journalists in this town are just plain cowards.

This won't change until we make it change. We'd get plenty of flak for it even within what is so euphemistically referred to as "the community," but I think it really IS time for the Normal Majority to assert itself.

If not, then we'd all just better fasten our seatbelts. The next couple of years, politically, are gonna be a bumpy ride.