There’s shameless, and then there’s Fox News. Both Media Matters and LGBTQ blog Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters note that the propaganda outlet has aired a Pride Month promo purporting to celebrate the “incredible contributions” of LGBTQ people.
Why is this particularly brazen, when lots of companies do something Pride-related? Well, because Fox News marked the very first day of Pride Month with transphobic attacks across at least four different programs. Earlier this year, the outlet aired some 170 transphobic segments in the span of three weeks alone.
“Throughout Fox’s coverage of these events, the network spread dangerous lies about the trans community and repeatedly invoked the long-debunked myth that trans people pose a threat to minors and seek to groom them,” Media Matters reported in April. It is a fucking disgusting lie when it’s Republican lawmakers in Ohio who want to make it legal to inspect the genitalia of children who seek to play sports.
“This is truly bizarre medically and nonsensical, but looking at it practically, this bill means that if anyone decides to question a child’s true gender, that child must undergo a sensitive exam,” Democratic Rep. Beth Liston said in a HuffPo report. “I struggle to understand why we keep discussing bills focusing on children’s genitals.” Lots of folks in the LGBTQ community also struggle to understand why Republicans won’t just leave them the fuck alone.
Media Matters dated the promo June 2, which means it came after the network had aired the transphobic attacks that singled out University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas for harassment (because that’s the goal here). Media Matters said Thomas was “repeatedly misgendered” by contributor Katie Pavlich, and then mentioned by name on America Reports, Fox & Friends First, and Hannity.
America Reports in particular is supposed to be a straight (no pun intended) news program. Totally legit news network here, folks.
Perhaps the promo is supposed to be an olive branch to the corporation's LGBTQ employees, who’ve reportedly been outraged with the outlet’s bigoted coverage.
“Fox Pride denounces statements made regarding sexual orientation and gender identity on FOX News in the past week,” read an internal message posted on a Fox Corporation Slack channel, The Daily Beast reported in April. “While the internal support and resources Fox Corp. offers to LGBTQ+ employees are amazing and supportive, the public facing messaging and rhetoric is the opposite. We find it disheartening and a step backward in the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.”
It’s unclear what kind of “internal support and resources” the message refers to, but can it really be worth all this?
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