What's Pride in the Name of Love?
Summary: Gays and lesbians take to the streets of Pittsburgh for the annual Pride parade. Station: KDKA Channel 2 Reporter: Bob Allen When It Aired: June 22 Running Time: 2 minutes, 28 seconds Visuals: * A rainbow-flag corps. * Myriad shots of diverse groups marching in Pittsburgh's largest Pride parade to date. Highlights: * When a male gay-rights supporter offers, "Gay people are everywhere and we're an awful lot like straight people, and that's our dirty little secret -- is that we're all the same." * When Allen reports, "That's the message hundreds of gay men and women brought to the streets of Downtown during the annual Pride Pittsburgh parade." * When a female gay-rights supporter says, "[W]e're just like everybody else. Some of us are a little unusual, but we deserve the same rights and to be treated equally." * When another male participant says, "Unfortunately, there's a lot of people who are still here to judge, so this is why we're here." * When pride supporter Jezebel advises, "Live free and let others live the way they want to live. ... This is America, dahling. It's the best country in the whole wide world." * When Allen adds, "Sponsors say Pride Pittsburgh has come a long way since the '60s to finally be recognized as part of the community." * When city council president Doug Shields beams, "I'm very proud to be Grand Marshal in today's parade." * Allen's follow-up: "Mayor Luke Ravenstahl used the occasion to sign into law the domestic-partner registry just passed by council to benefit same-sex partners who live together." * When Ravenstahl drones, "It will give couples that live together the opportunity to register with the city and then provide proof to their employers, for example, to uh, receive benefits. We in the city of Pittsburgh in fact for many years now have already offered benefits to same-sex partners, so that won't necessarily change." * When anchor Stephanie Watson adds, "And while he supports same-sex benefits, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says, for personal reasons, he does not support same-sex marriage." What We Learned: That Luke Ravenstahl really needs to take a course in political rhetoric. Gawd! Unanswered Question: Can you promise us you won't wait for another parade to give us more coverage of gay and lesbian happenings? News Value: 8. This is an excellent example of balanced coverage that celebrates a fun event, but that also manages to address some of the serious quality-of-life issues facing LGBT communities -- all while offering differing views of what it means to be part of them.
