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Rupert Murdoch's New York Post Slammed for Anti-Gay Cartoons
By Jennifer Millman
July 18, 2007
LGBT-rights groups slammed the New York Post for publishing the anti-gay cartoons of artist Sean Delonas twice in October. Now the Post has done it again.
What's behind this? Will it spill over to The Wall Street Journal if Post owner Rupert Murdoch takes over that publication?
Here's a review of the three controversial cartoons and their corresponding illustrations:
July 16, 2007: Delonas depicted openly gay former New Jersey Governor James
New York Post, July 16, 2007
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McGreevey clad in a bikini with a "Miss New Jersey" sash over his shoulder and a sign in his hand that reads "Resign or Else"—a blackmail threat against Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo, who faced public calls to forfeit her crown after someone threatened to blackmail her with scandalous photos of drinking and partying. In the cartoon, McGreevey stands in a room while a man lying in bed is highlighted in the background.
Oct. 27, 2006: Two days after New Jersey legislators voted to become the third state in the
New York Post, Oct. 27, 2006
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nation to grant civil unions to same-sex couples, the Post published a Delonas cartoon of a man walking up to a N.J. marriage-license booth with a sheep wearing a veil tucked under his arm and hearts floating around his head. (To learn more about civil unions in New Jersey and read an eye-witness account, read Same-Sex Couples Celebrate Civil Unions and Beth and Joanne's Civil Union.)
Oct. 5, 2006: In the aftermath of the Mark Foley scandal, Delonas depicted McGreevey
New York Post, Oct. 5, 2006
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"comforting" the ousted congressman, who resigned after sexual e-mails and text messages with teenage male pages became public, and saying, "Look on the bright side Foley, You'll have a best-selling book." There was a sheep in the background. (See also: Homosexuality Is Not Pedophilia: The Mark Foley Fall-Out)
"Twice in one month the New York Post has seen fit to publish a repugnant anti-gay cartoon," Sean Lund, GLAAD's director of messaging and communications strategy, said in October. "It's unacceptable for any publication to platform this type of bigotry."
Hailed as the "Picasso of Prejudice" by Gawker.com, Delonas has been less than apologetic. In response to an angry reader's October e-mail, Delonas essentially says this: Don't read the column if you don't like it, I have gay friends and support AIDS organizations, and I've illustrated pro-gay cartoons before.
We don't see any on his web site, which touts Delonas as an "award-winning painter and illustrator whose work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, television and Broadway," and is "best known for his cartoons that appear daily on PageSix of the New York Post." You can also look at the archived cartoons from the New York Post here.
Don't want to see any more of these cartoons? Speak up. GLAAD is running a call-to-action campaign to stop the Post from publishing more anti-gay Delonas cartoons. Sign up here. Contact information for Delonas and the Post editors is also provided.
Who's Behind the Post?
Although the Post's anti-gay cartoons appear shocking and offensive to many, this is not a surprise. The paper is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, head of the News Corp. behemoth, which owns conservative outlets such as FOX and hundreds of others across seven distribution categories.
The board of Dow Jones now supports Murdoch's $5-billion takeover of Dow Jones, which owns The Wall Street Journal. The deal now is in the hands of the Bancroft family, which controls 64 percent of the shareholder vote.
Murdoch-owned FOX streamlines bias on a regular basis and uses Murdoch's bully pulpit to advance his political agenda, which includes donating money to dismantle affirmative action. (See also: Do They All Look Alike? FOX News Shows Wrong Black Congressman Indicted and Who Is Paying to End Affirmative Action?)
Prior to Murdoch's purchase of the Post, it had been viewed as a politically liberal publication. That changed during the "Murdoch years." Murdoch purchased the Post in 1976 but was forced to sell it in 1988 in accordance with federal regulations limiting media ownership. Political friends orchestrated a buy-back in 1993 that granted Murdoch a waiver from the cross-ownership rules.
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