Gayle King Scolds Country Music Industry for 'Rejecting' Lesbian Singer
Gayle King forwarded the agenda of the cultural left on Wednesday's CBS This Morning as she interviewed country music artist Chely Wright, an open homosexual. The Obama-supporting anchor targeted the country music industry for supposedly giving Wright the cold shoulder: "I'm a little disappointed and surprised by the reaction of the country music industry....they do seem, Chely, to have rejected you, ever since you came out."
King also gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up the musician's new documentary
about her "coming out process." The CBS personality gushed, "Chely
Wright, I have to say, your documentary took my heart and ripped it out a couple times when I was watching you."
The close associate of Oprah Winfrey previewed the Wright interview: "When she opened up about being gay, the door to country music stardom closed.
We're talking to Chely Wright live in Studio 57." King led the segment
itself with her "heart-ripping" plug for the documentary, which is
titled, "Wish Me Away." The film was directed by Beverly Kopf, a former
writer for ABC's The View, who, according to an online bio, "has written and co-produced a feature-length documentary that celebrates the lives of six everyday heroes in the GLBT community," and later adds that she "resides in New York City with her partner of fifteen years."
Midway through the softball interview, which aired 10 minutes into the 8
am Eastern hour, King launched her scolding of the country music
industry. Wright acknowledged that other factors contributed to her
apparent diminished stardom in her reply:
KING:
I'm a little disappointed and surprised by the reaction of the country
music industry. Which, by the way, I like country music and think they
have the nicest-
WRIGHT: I do too-
KING: I do. I think there is some of the nicest people in country music industry-
WRIGHT: There are-
KING: But they do seem, Chely, to have rejected you, ever since you came out. You've
not been invited to perform or really appear at any major events. Is
that a fair assessment, that you've been rejected by them?
WRIGHT: Well, as my friend Rodney Crowell said in the film - he said, I
don't think it's going to be fire and brimstone. I think they're going
to freeze her out. And, you know, it's not my belief that I should be
performing on every awards show. There was a changing of the
guard, you know? Now, it's the new Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood and
Lady Antebellum, and that's all a natural part of entertainment.
But what has been missing, is there's an institutionalized friendship
within country music. Once you're in, and once you're one of us, you're
always invited to certain things to present or be a part of it or chair a
committee for the Country Music Hall of Fame, which -- I used to do
things like that.
And so, it's a rejection by silence, and a rejection -- mostly, because
I would like to hear a country music artist - the big ones - not just
say, well, I like Chely. I like her even though she's gay. I need a country artist who is a big deal, like Jay-Z in his community. He came forward and said, I believe in equality for all-
KING: Yes, he did.
WRIGHT: I'm struggling because I have not heard that from the big stars in country music.
Near the end of the segment, co-anchor Charlie Rose gave his guest a platform to forward her left-wing cause. King also chimed in to congratulate Wright for her same-sex "marriage":
ROSE: So how will you navigate the future? You'll ask people to come
forward for you? You'll continue to perform? You'll be as creative and
as good as you possibly can?
WRIGHT: I have my sights set on the positive things that I can do, the
advocacy groups with whom I work. You know, I don't need much from
Nashville. I don't need -- I'm fine. I'm not losing sleep over the fact
that no one's standing up and saying, Chely Wright has done a great
thing and this is important. I'm focusing on my energies on how to work with GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. We try eradicate bullying in public schools...my organization, Like Me - we opened a brand new LGBT center in Kansas City this spring.
I'm trying to work on those things and to use my voice, to make sure
that everyone out there in America knows, you do love a gay person. It
might not be me, but I promise you: you have a neighbor, you have a
coworker, you have a niece; and be mindful of the negative things you
say about gays and lesbians, because someone is listening.
KING: Well, you said you didn't speak up. You didn't come out to shut up, and you are speaking up. And congratulations, you got married last year.
Just under three weeks earlier, on the May 12, 2012 edition of CBS This Morning, King slammed conservative Dennis Prager for supporting tradition marriage and equated it for opposing desegregation: "You recently wrote...that you can be against same-sex marriage and not be anti-gay...it's sort of like saying to a black person...I want you to sit at the back of the bus, but I'm not anti-black."
