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Radio Host Gives Skewed Report on Polling Data

Our friends at Colorado Media Matters are calling out KHOW radio host George Brauchler for his anti-gay comments during a recent interview with SLDN client, and former Navy linguist, Jason Knight. From the Media Matters website: During a July 6 discussion about gays in the military with guest Jason Knight (pictured), an openly gay former naval petty officer and current communications associate for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Caplis & Silverman Show guest co-host George Brauchler followed guest co-host Darren McKee's question about "the worst thing in the world about being gay in the Navy" by asking, "It's like putting a kid in a candy shop, isn't it?" Brauchler later stated that he was "insinuat[ing]" that "the Navy are the light-in-the-loafers service." Additionally, Brauchler distorted a 2006 Zogby International poll that, according to McKee, found that in a "survey of military personnel who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan, three-quarters said they're comfortable interacting with gays and lesbians." Brauchler acknowledged that "75 percent of them said, 'Hey, I feel comfortable working around gays,' " but went on to claim that the "same group when they were asked this question: Do you agree or disagree with allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military? -- 26 percent agreed. Twenty-six percent. So, that's the true numbers here." While the Zogby poll did show that 26 percent of respondents either "agree[d]" or "strongly agree[d]" "with allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military," Brauchler did not mention that 32 percent of respondents said they were "neutral" on that question and 5 percent said they were "not sure." Thirty-seven percent of military personnel either "disagree[d]" or "strongly disagree[d]" with allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. __________ SLDN is joining Media Matters in asking supporters to weigh in with Brauchler and KHOW regarding the truth about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and changing attitudes within the armed forces. Click here for contact information for the station and Brauchler. More than 65,000 lesbian and gay Americans are on duty today, and another 1 million gay veterans are living in the United States today. Increasingly, their service is being honored by their fellow citizens - and our men and women in uniform - who support repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in larger numbers than ever before. In fact, when read correctly, the Zogby poll is clear: 73% of service personnel are comfortable with lesbians and gays and 69% either don't agree with the policy or weren't bothered enough about it to say that they supported the current ban. In truth, there is little support left for excluding qualified Americans who want to serve. As New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd recently wrote, "America has been Will-and-Graced since Bill Clinton had his kerfuffle on the issue in 1993. Tolerance has blossomed, especially among younger Americans." Unfortunately, George Brauchler doesn't seem to have caught up with those on the frontlines . . . but, at the very least, he shouldn't misrepresent their views by by only giving selected data - and not the whole picture - when it comes to their support for lifting the ban. - Steve Ralls

Labels: in the news, media matters, take action

07-10-07