Lawrence O’Donnell Implies That Glenn Beck and Rep. Paul Ryan Are Gay – Updated

The problem of stigmatizing gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is a deadly serious issue that I’ve written about repeatedly. While liberals are generally considered to be more LGBT-friendly than conservatives, at least policy-wise, liberals aren’t automatically above an lgbt-phobic insult. Even with that knowledge, I was shocked by the shot that Lawrence O’Donnell took at Glenn Beck and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), during the intro to Tuesday night’s The Last Word, mocking the pair as gay.

In the closing seconds of the opening montage for the show, O’Donnell says, “The Republican budget plan softens Glenn Beck’s feelings about gay marriage,” before playing a clip of Beck telling Ryan, “I love you,” and Ryan returning the sentiment. To make matters worse, O’Donnell never even used the audio during his show, and included it in the opening for the sole purpose of this gag.

Here’s the clip, from MSNBC:

To some, O’Donnell’s crack may seem like nothing more than a juvenile schoolyard insult, which is likely how he intended it, but what he’s doing there is using the implication that Ryan and Beck are gay as an insult. Such stigmatizing behavior contributes to a hostile atmosphere that has resulted in a rash of high-profile suicides, among other things.

It’s bad enough when anyone engages in this behavior, but when it’s a liberal, their status as supposed allies to this community makes the offense that much worse, and the betrayal that much more acute. O’Donnell should apologize.

Update: The Blaze contacted Jon Bershad and me for comment on our respective articles. You can read our responses here.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.