‘The expensively coiffed airhead Elizabeth Vargas is no Mike Wallace. Her doe-eyed questioning never really confronted the killers with the many contradictions between their latest version of events and the one offered up by their lawyers at their trial—the ‘homosexual panic’ defense that said they were justified in the violence of their assault on Shepard because he’d made advances to one of them. Oh, this defense was mentioned (although never really explained), and Vargas allowed one of the killers to say it was only an invention of convenience cooked up with his lawyer. But none of the extensive accounts presented at trial as part of this defense were mentioned, nor were any legal or psychiatric authorities on ‘gay panic’ asked to comment or dissect the murderers’ equivocations.’ — Doug Ireland writing about the 20/20 Nov. 26 piece on Matthew Shepard’s killers.
‘Vargas and her scriptwriters left the impression that Laramie residents’ filmed statements now claiming one of the killers was bi-sexual somehow eradicated the possibility that homo-hate could have played a role in the murder of Shepard. That suggestion is, of course, utter nonsense: we have known for three decades that fear of, or socially induced hatred of, any degree of same-sex attraction a gay-basher may—a smothered desire sometimes acted upon, sometimes not—is a critical, common component of the makeup of young gaybashers. This was the finding of the first major study of gay-bashing youth conducted in the 1970s by the noted sexologist Dr. John Money, head of Johns Hopkins’ Gender Identity Institute, and has been borne out by a number of studies since.’ — Ireland.
‘The program’s worst omission, however, was its failure to breath even a hint that violence against those who love differently from the average heterosexual is a daily occurrence in a country drowning in a host of religious superstitions that justify it. For example, there was not any mention of the new FBI report released Nov. 22, which shows that bias violence against gays is now the second most important category of hate-crimes in the U.S., after race.’ — Ireland.
‘Dennis and I reviewed an advance copy of the show and were dismayed and saddened by the tabloid nature of the show, its lack of serious reporting of facts in evidence, and the amateurish nature of asking leading questions to the people who were interviewed…. The editing by 20/20 of my interview seems to leave out all of my relevant comments regarding the potential bias of the show and my deliberate restating of the facts of the case clearly ended up on the cutting room floor. My remarks were reduced to a few very personal maternal comments taken out of context to make it appear as if I agreed with 20/20’s theories. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.’ — Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, on the 20/20 show.
‘One of the most glaring omissions in the piece was the transcript of Aaron McKinney’s in-custody interview which took place a few days after the murder. This occurred before any ‘line of defense’ had been established by legal counsel for the two defendants. Had that document been included, it would have shown an un-rehearsed and unemotional anti-gay account of the events before, during, and after leaving Matt tied to the fence. Despite their promotional efforts to the contrary, 20/20 has not presented a ‘new’ theory. Much of this information was included in a Harpers Magazine cover story in 1999. What is new is the unfortunate downslide of a reputable news magazine show when its highly respected host retires. 20/20 has sacrificed years of professional journalistic ethics and values for a stab at revisionist history… and ratings.’ — Judy and Dennis Shepard.
‘I am not apologizing for being a gay American but rather for having let personal feelings impact my decision-making.’ — New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey resigning Nov. 8 following what he says was an adulterous same-sex affair with a subordinate. The subordinate, Golan Cipel, denies the affair took place. Cipel says he’s straight and that McGreevey kept coming on to him.
‘Homosexuality has never been a problem in my life. There’s always been a way for it to be part of my life without my having to be mistreated by society or being discriminated against.’ — Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar to Advocate.com, Nov. 9.
‘In the south [of Spain], the mariquita —and we’re not talking maricón [faggot] here, we’re talking mariquita—is much more feminine than the women. And he’s completely accepted. The problem is that the mariquita is sleeping with the husbands of those women, and the women have no idea. But that’s another story.’ — Pedro Almodóvar to Advocate.com, Nov. 9.
‘The truth is the president of the United States used the same device that Slobodan Milosevic used in Serbia. When you appeal to homophobia, when you appeal to sexism, when you appeal to racism, that is extraordinarily damaging to the country. I know George Bush. I served with him for six years [as a fellow governor]. He’s not a homophobe. He’s not a racist. He’s not a sexist. In some ways, what he did was worse… because he knew better.’ — Former presidential candidate Howard Dean speaking at Northwestern University, Nov. 11.
‘At no point did anyone, including [FCC] Chairman [Michael] Powell, positioned now like Attila at the head of the Huns, produce one single living creature—man, woman, child, toddler, infant, newborn, late-term fetus, dog, cat, rooster, horse or parakeet— who saw the briefly exposed [Janet Jackson] nipple and was in any tangible way harmed by it. Like most of the halftime entertainment, it was tastelessly inappropriate, but the ensuing mass fuss is a farce that has made America an international laughingstock again…. [Powell] is an agenda masquerading as a man, the proverbial pompous ass and, worse, a genuine threat to freedom of speech.’ — Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales, Nov. 22.