Conservative Commentator Sparks Outrage With Apparent Support of Anti-Gay Violence

The fine folks [and former colleagues] over at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have certainly been quite busy lately presumably working behind the scenes with media professionals after news of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig [R-Idaho]'s arrest inside a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport restroom. The media watchdog most recently took on commentator Tucker Carlson and his network after he appeared to condone anti-gay violence during a similar incident he said happened to him in Washington in the mid-1980s.

GLAAD posted Carlson's comments and his subsequent statement on its Web site. One can easily conclude from his own statements that he appears to condone anti-gay violence from his masculine if not slightly aloof perspective. He clearly enjoys to push buttons as he and his guests have proven. Carlson's attempt at so-called humor resonates reasonably well with his target audience of white and presumably heterosexual viewers. The question remains whether to elevate Carlson's comments through a very public -- and messaged -- alert geared to respond to LGBT outrage and questions about a group's continued relevancy or to not respond [and further alienate an already suspicious community]. There is no easy solution in this case but to simply change the channel is not an option.