This week one of the most controversial topics was finally given a green light by the legislature, New York’s legislature voted in favor for same sex marriage in the state of New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the law making New York the nation’s sixth and most populous state to legalize same sex marriage.
New York Times cover on the historic same sex marriage did not just congratulate the event but also wrote about how those against same sex marriage will continue to fight against it and make sure it does not succeed in the other states. I felt that as the NYT continued to praise those that are getting married it also wanted to give the reactions of those against it. It gave sort of a history on how the gay rights activist pushed for the law in the very beginning and how they were being shot down. The quest for same sex marriage was very political and legal in how they were bills and laws that were against it and how voters rejected the legalizations. The focus of the New York Times was more on the process of how the bill became legalized and various states still fight on the topic. It also goes to show on how President Obama will face this issue. According to the NYT “Obama opposes same sex marriage as a Christian but describes himself as a “fierce advocate of quality” for gay men and lesbians. The New York Times comes across as a liberal biased newspaper.
Fox News was pretty moderate on the subject, it didn't really show to anything to conservative or liberal but saw New York's adoption of legal same sex marriage as "pivotal moment in the national gay rights movement. Rallies were in the streets protesting the bill and opponents are demanding for a "statewide referendum" But in other cases Fox was showing all the happy points of the event showing the people getting married after years of waiting, this was a big moment for them.
Yahoo news I found is very open on the subject regarding to same sex marriages, it portrayed a lot of happy people that are lining up to get married. Civil liberties activists states that "New York 's legalization of same-sex marriage sends a message that it must repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as between a man and a woman. " Yahoo shows that New York is sending a powerful message to the rest of the nation fighting for equal rights.
In the end I thought that New York Times, USA Today, Fox News, and Yahoo News were rather open for the discussion on same sex marriage. Each post had its own feel and approach on the topic was rather open and agreeing that it should be allowed. I thought that they all felt that same sex marriage in New York was a big step for the activist being that it has the largest population.
New York times- http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/same_sex_marriage/index.html
USA today- http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-24-gay-marriage-new-york_n.htm
Fox News- http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/23/vows-make-new-york-largest-gay-marriage-state/
Yahoo news - http://news.yahoo.com/two-grandmothers-first-legal-gay-marriage-ny-051842577.html
I loved reading all the articles and watching all the news stories pertaining to this issue, especially as someone who lives in a city that, for the most part, embraces diversity and multiplicity. It was great to see (and continue to see) such widespread coverage of the matter and I also found it interesting to see that Mayor Bloomberg married two of his employees. I noticed on the first day of legal marriage that the television station PIX, channel 11 on my t.v., had a rainbow colored station emblem running constantly at the bottom of the screen. It seems refreshing that so many journalists AND t.v. networks are more than willing to embrace, report and take part in such a historical moment of civil rights.
ReplyDeleteI feel too that it was nice to see the coverage of this important event, as the news and media play a great role in marking the significance of what they report about. This will help as well in promoting and spreading tolerance and acceptance across the nation as many more people become more aware of it. I also think that probably the news could not have reported it much differently, in other words, they had to react proportionally to the attitudes of the public to gay marriage, specifically in NY, and meet the expectation of the viewers while remaining somewhat moderate for accommodating a large audience.
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ReplyDeleteI saw the article about two of Bloomberg's staff members getting married as a gay couple. It was really touching to see that the gay couple were able to finalize this stage in their relationship. I also thought it was nice of Bloomberg to marry the two off. However I was not sure if he really wanted to do this or was he doing it because it is something the public expects of him. Well, Bloomberg did publically acknowledge that he supports gay and lesbian rights in the beginning, so maybe he really did want to marry them off. I also saw some pictures of gay and lesbian couples that are elders betweens the ages of seventy to eighty and they went off to get legally married as well. When I saw the pictures of the old gay and lesbian couples that finally got married I was so happy for them because they waited decades for this day, and it finally came.
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