Barack Obama. Eckhart Tolle. Dr. Phil. With the Midas touch, Oprah Winfrey turned these men to gold. Her recommendations have rocketed a variety of books – from centuries-old literary classics to New Age drivel – onto the bestseller lists. Now, in the latest issue of “O” magazine, she's trying her hand at mainstreaming lesbianism.
The issue of homosexuality and the homosexual lifestyle is still a subject fraught with controversy and strong opinions on both sides. But with help from a lengthy, one-sided narrative about the wonderful world of lesbian love, the unparalleled power of Oprah Winfrey will surely bring the debate to a satisfactory conclusion.
“Why Women are Leaving Men for Other Women,” by Mary A Fischer in the April issue of “O” unambiguously promotes an attractive lesbian lifestyle. Fischer glowingly profiled three gay couples, along with glamorous television stars, and cited research to back up her claim that many women are leaving men for lesbian lovers. She posited that the lesbian lifestyle is good for women's sexual and emotional health, children, and families. Without a single dissenting voice, the article is nothing short of lesbian propaganda.
“On a warm spring night in Malibu, after attending a film screening together, Gomez-Barris and Halberstam walked on the beach, a beautiful pink sunset rounding out a perfect evening,” Fischer wrote. “They kicked off their shoes and ran, laughing, through the rising tide.” Wow, lesbianism is just super fabulous! It must be, since celebrities are doing it.
“Lately, a new kind of sisterly love seems to be in the air. In the past few years, Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon left a boyfriend after a decade and a half and started dating a woman (and talked openly about it). Actress Lindsay Lohan and DJ Samantha Ronson flaunted their relationship from New York to Dubai. Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl" topped the charts. The L Word, Work Out, and Top Chef are featuring gay women on TV, and there's even talk of a lesbian reality show in the works. Certainly nothing is new about women having sex with women, but we've arrived at a moment in the popular culture when it all suddenly seems almost fashionable—or at least, acceptable.”
And as if the preceding paragraph doesn't get readers, Fischer invokes the emotional appeal through children and politics. “Last fall, [DeClue's] 8-year-old daughter felt the backlash over Proposition 8, the measure that bans gay marriage in California. 'Some kids said they were yes on Prop 8, and Miles took this very personally,' says DeClue. 'She was hurt they would think her mom shouldn't be able to marry the person she loves because of being the same sex. Even in L.A. and in very inclusive schools, homophobia comes out.' DeClue deals with such negative reactions by bringing up the subject with her daughter, and for the most part believes that Miles and her peers are more open to differences than any generation before. 'I think the world will be in good hands when it's their turn to govern,' DeClue says confidently.”
This is pure social liberal propaganda – skepticism of gay marriage = homophobia. “Openness” is the highest virtue, and everyone has a right not to have her feelings hurt.
Lesbian love is not the first controversial lifestyle to be promoted by “the most powerful woman in the world.” Remember her exclusive May 2008 interview with Thomas Beatie, the “pregnant man.” Beatie, a pregnant transgendered woman, received world-wide attention after his interview with Oprah. It would be no surprise if an interest in female homosexual relationships spiked due to the attention given it by Queen Midas herself.
But Oprah the alchemist is only as good as her raw material, and in that her judgement is far from flawless. In 2005, Oprah promoted James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces and it turned out that this “non-fiction” New York Times Bestseller (thanks to Oprah's promotion) was full of fabrications. Similarly, a riveting holocaust memoir that she promoted as “the single greatest love story… we've ever told on air,” turned out to be fake.
