More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
Rev. David Weekley Featured on CBS News "The Early Show"
Thursday, October 1, 2009 - 3:58pm by Anna Wipfler, GLAAD's Transgender Advocacy Fellow
Last month GLAAD provided media assistance to Rev. David Weekley when he came out publicly as a transgender man in a sermon to his United Methodist congregation in Portland, Oregon on August 30. Media coverage of Rev. Weekley’s courageous coming out story caught the attention of producers at CBS News "The Early Show" and GLAAD worked with Rev. Weekley and his wife, Deborah to prepare for the interview.
We applaud CBS for their coverage, while also acknowledging that parts of the interview misrepented Rev. Weekley's story and contained improper terminology. The interviewer grabbed audience attention by emphasizing Weekley's identity as a long-held “secret,” but Rev. Weekley responded that he did not see it as a secret but a personal matter. He explained that he is telling his story as part of his ministry to support better understanding of the transgender community. GLAAD worked with CBS producers to remove the word “admits” from their web-site headline and will continue to work with them to improve the accuracy of their future reporting on transgender issues.
GLAAD will also assist Rev. Weekley with future media appearances. He was previously featured on ABC News.com and KATU in Portland, Oregon. We will keep you informed of any new developments.