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Is ABC Gay-Baiting DHS Secretary Napolitano by Calling Her “Big Sis”?

by Michael Triplett | 8:58 am, February 25th, 2010

» 6 comments

Is it gay-baiting to call the head of the government agency responsible for surveillance and airport screening “Big Sis”? It is–according to Huffington Post’s Eat The Press Columnist Jason Linkins and Towleroad’s Andy Towle–when you are referring to the never-married Janet Napolitano and you reference Matt Drudge.

ABC is taking some heat for an online article that describes Napolitano as “[t]he former Arizona governor, dubbed “Big Sis” by one conservative blogger,” who “oversees more than 188,000 civilian employees, 200,000 contractors and an amalgam of 20 subagencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration.”

It is the reference to Drudge–who knows a little something about being gay-baited–that raises the spectre that ABC was furthering a suggestion/smear that Napolitano is a lesbian. In January, Drudge featured a picture of Napolitano and a picture of naked female scan on top of a headline that read “Big Sis Wants to See Under Your Clothes.” Andrew Sullivan, and others, immediately called “foul,” with Sullivan quipping “Isn’t outing people something Drudge might want to avoid?”

ABC’s reference to Drudge is what’s drawing the current heat. Linkins said there was “no substantive reason” for ABC to include the reference, and suggested “[t]hey just want to smirk about Napolitano’s sexual back story which, I guess to their minds, has some important bearing on her ability to carry out the duties of her office.”

Drudge didn’t invent the “Big Sis” line. There are references to Napolitano as “Big Sister” going back to the beginning of her tenure at DHS. She does, after all, run the agency responsible for snooping in luggage and setting up scanners at airports. And it was her agency that suggested, controversially, that conservative fringe groups were a terrorism threat and should be watched.

While the Big Brother/Big Sis is certainly a great parallel–especially if you worry about such things–it’s less clear whether that was the reference ABC was going for when it used the name and then name-checked Drudge. While it seems fair game to accuse Drudge of gay-baiting, does that accusation extend all the way to ABC just because they referenced him?

abc, Andrew Sullivan, Andy Towle, gay-baiting, Huffington Post, Janet Napolitano, Janet Napolitano lesbian, Matt Drudge, Matt Drudge gay, Towleroad

pola

ABC is trying to get some fair and balanced in. That Huff post article was just crazy.
Puter Boi

I am not sure what “gay baiting” actually is…but wouldn’t it be stranger to call her Big Bro? I understand the big brother reference…and the big sis play on words….but isn’t that all it really is? A play on words.
http://www.nukethefridge.com MartiniShark

Suppose for a moment that someone actually came forward and declared emphatically that Nopolitano was a lesbian: How would that impact the story involving what is going on at DHS? If she is married to a male, or a lesbian, the story would remain the same by my reckoning. I think this is yet another way of one side trying to stifle commentary with a charge of PC insensitivity. The impact is non-existant.
ImNotBlue

Exactly what part of “Big Sis” is an “accusation” of homosexuality? That’s just nonsense. It’s an Orwell reference (as the story says), with the gender changed!

To me, this is the equivalent of all those people crying, “racism,” every time someone says Pres. Obama isn’t the best thing since sliced bread… and in fact, the best bread slicer ever. It’s a last ditch effort to defend someone, by attacking someone else and changing the story. The real problem is more than just the glossing over of the issue at hand (ie: whatever Napolitano is saying at the moment), rather it’s the damage it does to the gay community. Just like every time a woman falsely accuses a man of rape it damages those actual victims… this damages those who have actually been discriminated against.

Racism, sexism, etc. all should be looked at and treated very seriously. However, false claims like this cause people to roll their eyes and say, “Yeah, right…” and that damages the whole. It’s a BS claim, and those responsible should either get a grip, or acknowledge their willingness to use serious charges of discrimination as political weapons.
J Baustian

Although I never read the Huffington Post, I always assumed that the people over there had a few brains. Now I’m not so sure, if they think “sis” is a gay term. Is “bro” also a term of gay affection? “I ain’t your bro!”
felixw

Since when is “Big Sis” a reference to gayness? Honestly, the political correctness these days has gone overboard. To people looking to be victims, everything is twisted into an insult.