MSNBC's Contessa Brewer Says Asking for Balance on Gays Is Like Asking for 'Fair Coverage of Racists'

March 25th, 2013 10:24 PM

Social conservative Peter LaBarbera crashed a big liberal-media party in New York – the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association “Headlines and Headliners” fundraiser, hosted by NBC Universal. The long list of media elite guests raised $75,000 for the gay activist group.

Former daytime MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer (now consigned to hosting the Sunday night show "Caught on  Camera") bluntly told LaBarbera that anyone wanting equal time for conservatives on a gay issue is like advocating “fair coverage for racists”:

LaBARBERA: My question is: for some in the media, are you afraid that there’s not fair coverage for the other side – [that] now it’s veering so far the other way, that sometimes there’s a tendency to—

CONTESSA BREWER: – You know what’s so funny about this? When we’re talking about racism, nobody ever says, ‘Do you think there’s fair coverage for racists?’ That’s my feeling about the matter. I think that there’s a difference between being objective and being fair.  And sometimes wrong is wrong, and the right thing to do is say when it’s wrong.

LaBARBERA: A lot of Christians, for example, think that racism is a sin, but they also think that homosexuality [is a sin]–

BREWER: –You know what I say? I grew up as the daughter of a Baptist preacher, and you know what my answer always is? If you think it’s wrong, then don’t do it. Thank you. [she walks away]

The NLGJA isn't just a support group for gay journalists. It advocates for "fair coverage," such as politically correct terminology like AP's recent declaration it would use terms like "his husband" and "her wife" in news stories. They've argued no one should use the term "traditional marriage" in a news story when it should just say "opposite-sex marriage."

NBC Universal hosted this fundraiser, but other media outlets kicked in financial support: Bloomberg News, CBS, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, and Newsday all funded it. The event host was gay journalist Javier Morgado, a longtime producer at NBC’s Today who is now a morning producer for CNN.

LaBarbera found that other liberal journalists in the room wouldn’t go as far as Brewer, like CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King:

In an interview, King — who called support for “gay rights” a “no brainer” – rejected the idea of comparing opponents of homosexuality and ”gay marriage” with the KKK (see graphic below) as “very extreme….I don’t agree with that comparison.”

When this writer asked ”Today Show” co-host Morales if she believes there is a “legitimate other side” to the homosexual movement, she responded, ”Of course there’s a legitimate other side. I mean I think …this in an open debate before our country, where people are entitled to their opinions.”

The interview with Morales continued:

LaBARBERA: So being pushed in the bracket of – say, if you disagree with homosexuality – you’re in a league with racists… if you disagree about gay marriage, disagree about fundamental issues surrounding homosexuality – do you agree with that view?

MORALES: I think what’s happening here is this is a new civil rights movement. I mean I think clearly… I believe that gays have as much equal opportunity as we all should have. And I believe that they should be allowed to get married and love equally….But I don’t think everyone else has to believe how we believe….I think there is a freedom of speech in this country and a freedom of free thought….

The Brewer interview is in this video package at about 2:52: