A new Equality Matters analysis finds that Fox News largely ignored the government’s decision to certify the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, covering the story just 5 times between July 21 and July 24. Comparatively, “CNN covered the administration’s certification 26 times, MSNBC covered the story 11 times” and “ran a number of longer segments”:

Ignoring stories which benefit the LGBT community and undermine social conservative causes, however, is the norm at Fox. Back in March, Fox remained silent after a major law firm reversed its decision about defending an explicitly anti-gay law, and last year the network failed to report on former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman — who had orchestrated President Bush’s gay-bashing 2004 re-election campaign — coming out as gay.

Last month, a similar ThinkProgress analysis revealed that Fox News also offered slim coverage to New York’s historic same-sex marriage law. The network ran the story just 5 times, compared to 32 mentions on MSNBC and 23 on CNN:

In a response to the increased media coverage of the anti-gay environment in its schools, Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin district now hosts a specific GLBT page on its website where it has posted information on its controversial Sexual Orientation Curriculum policy (also known as the neutrality policy) and its approach to the nine student suicides allegedly motivated by bullying.

The controversy over the board’s neutrality policy — which prohibits staff from teaching about homosexuality — has sparked both a lawsuit and an investigation by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education following claims that the district’s policy enables an anti-gay culture of harassment and bullying. The district, which has 38,000 students and is Minnesota’s fourth largest, lies within presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district, but she has not yet commented on the situation.

Instead, the Anoka-Hennepin district has issued a specific statement on the policy:

“The school board feels the policy is appropriate for the community and is not changing the policy at this time. [...] The district’s Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy is constitutional. The Supreme Court has recognized that public school officials have a valid interest in taking neutral positions on matters of public controversy.”

Included among the materials available on the new GLBT website are the relevant school board policies, staff invoices regarding the events of the past year, and training materials devised to help staff better address gay students, as noted on the new site page:

–Sarah Bufkin

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) criticized presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) yesterday for her silence on the Anoka-Hennepin’s neutrality policy, which prohibits school officials from referring to homosexuality and may enable anti-gay bullying. A former Anoka-Hennepin student and self-touted education advocate, Bachmann represents the district and its 38,000 students.

Andrew Harmon from the Advocate reports:

Pelosi told The Advocate of Bachmann’s silence on the issue, “I would think that if she wanted to be the President of the United States, she would understand that this is a larger issue than whether someone is gay or not, but as to whether someone is harassed and bullied to the point of seeing no way out.”

“Obviously it’s an issue bigger than Michele Bachmann’s district, so maybe we should all be speaking out about it, and not just leaving it to her,” Pelosi added.

Following a two-year stint of nine suicides attributed to bullying, the Departments of Justice and Education are investigating the school district for its failure to address anti-gay harassment. Two human-rights groups have also filed a federal lawsuit challenging the neutrality policy, arguing that it stigmatizes gay students.

But as the district’s representative, Bachmann has not made any public comments regarding the anti-gay bullying charges or the neutrality policy. Instead, she has let her record speak for itself. In 2004, Bachmann decried teaching about homosexuality in schools as leading to “the personal enslavement of individuals” and in 2006, opposed anti-bullying legislation because “there always have been bullies…always will be.”

Pelosi also disparaged Bachmann over reports that her family clinic practices “ex-gay” therapy, saying, “You know, 20 years ago somebody might ask, Does it work? I think today, people are asking, Why would you want to have somebody be who they aren’t?”

–Sarah Bufkin

Recently, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) refused to participate in an “It Gets Better” video with the rest of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, raising ire from LGBT advocates and supporters. Brown’s spokesperson explained the rejection by saying Brown’s “main focus right now is on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track,” but this is only the latest example of the senator’s long history of enabling homophobia. Here is a quick look at Brown’s anti-gay remarks and actions:

- OPPOSES SAME-SEX COUPLES RAISING CHILDREN: In 2001, he attacked state Sen. Cheryl Jacques and her domestic partner, Jennifer Chrisler, for deciding to have children, calling it “not normal,” though later said he chose the wrong words.

- CALLED OUT YOUNG PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT EQUALITY: In 2007, Brown “crossed the line” when he quoted profanity from a Facebook group and identified the students who used it when he was invited to King Philip Regional School District to discuss his opposition to marriage equality.

- TRIED TO BAN SAME-SEX MARRIAGE MULTIPLE TIMES: As a Massachusetts state senator, Brown voted twice in 2007 to ban same-sex marriage after voting for two similar amendments in 2004.

- TRIED TO CENSOR HOMOSEXUALITY IN SCHOOLS: Brown cosponsored the “Parents Rights Bill,” which would have allowed Massachusetts parents to prevent their students from learning anything about same-sex families in school.

- TRIED TO OVERTURN DC MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Brown took a “state’s rights” position on same-sex marriage in his campaign for U.S. Senate, but in March of 2010, Brown voted for a referendum to overturn marriage equality in the District of Columbia. This was in contradiction to previous statements leaving marriage to the states.

- OPPOSES NONDISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS: Brown has made it quite clear that he would oppose passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would protect LGBT employees from unfair hiring practices.

- ACCEPTED MONEY FROM ANTI-GAY GROUPS: Many of Brown’s electoral victories have been thanks to the support of anti-gay PACs and organizations like hate-group MassResistance and the National Organization for Marriage.

- NO SUPPORT FOR ANTI-BULLYING BILLS: Though Brown’s spokesman said he has a “strong record…against bullying,” Brown has not signed on to support any of the anti-bullying bills currently before Congress.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has attempted to shift the focus from Brown’s snub by attacking Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project. To date, not a single elected Republican lawmaker has participated in one of the project’s anti-bullying videos.

Americans are split over whether New York’s same-sex marriage law is a positive or negative outcome, a new Washington Post poll finds. Support is increasing among political independents and religious respondents, however. While 50 percent of all adults viewed the outcome as a positive development (46 percent do not), 54 percent of Independents, 63 percent of White non-Evangelical Protestants and 59 percent of Catholics said they support the measure. Among African Americans, “more than six in 10 say the law is a negative development, while roughly one in three see it positively”:

At least six national polls have found that a majority of Americans now favor marriage equality, including a growing number of religious voters. An ABC News/Washington Post from March, similarly found that 63 percent of white Catholics and 57 percent of non-evangelical white Protestants now support marriage equality — huge increases among both groups over the past decade.

On a conference call today, prominent LGBT leaders from Massachusetts roundly condemned Sen. Scott Brown’s (R-MA) decision not to participate in a video for the It Gets Better project. Every single member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation besides Brown collaborated to make the video, which sends a hopeful message to LGBT youth who are being bullied. Sen. Brown (R-MA) was invited to be in the video, but declined. When asked about the decision, Brown spokesman Colin Reed said it was because Brown’s “main focus right now is on creating jobs.”

The LGBT leaders, including two Massachusetts lawmakers, agreed that Sen. Brown’s refusal to participate in the video sends a disturbing message to the staggering number of LGBT youth who are being bullied and harassed every day. They also said the snub was simply the latest in Brown’s long record of “being anti-LGBT friendly,” in the words of Jennifer Chrisler.

For Chrisler, the executive director of the Family Equality Council, Brown’s history of attacking gay families is personal. Brown once said it was “not normal” for Chrisler and her wife to be raising children, their twin 9-year-old boys. Chrisler said she is waiting for Brown to “walk the walk, not just talk the talk,” when it comes to LGBT issues.

Grace Stonewall, the executive director of BAGLEY (Boston Alliance of Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Youth), said he showed the Massachusetts delegation video to young people in his support organization. “They were all aware Scott Brown had not participated and had the same reaction that we’re having, that he didn’t support [them].”

State Rep. Liz Malia (D), an openly gay representative from the 11th Suffolk District, served with Brown for many years in the state legislature. She said that he was never very active on legislative issues, but when then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R) tried to dissolve an independent commission on gay and lesbian youth, Brown “went out of his way” to join Romney and vote against it — the only Massachusetts senator to do so. Malia notes that Brown has received tremendous support from “virulently anti-gay groups,” and has consistently voted against marriage equality and equal rights for the LGBT community. In this instance, “his absence speaks very loudly for where his true feelings are,” she says.

As for Brown’s defense that he didn’t participate because he’s so laser-focused on jobs, no one seemed to think that passed the laugh test. “We need to see that he can do more than one thing at once,” said Massachusetts Rep. Carl Sciortino (D). Stonewall pointed out that the video was “not difficult to do, it wouldn’t have taken much of his time,” so why would he “deliberately choose not to do it without a good excuse?”

Chrisler added, “I want to see the message that not only will it get better, but he‘ll get better.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) dodged a question about reports that her family’s Christian counseling clinics practice “pray away the gay” reparative therapy during an appearance this afternoon at the National Press Club. “I’m extremely proud of my husband,” Bachmann said in response to a question from the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson, but stressed that her business was “not running for the presidency of the United States”:

BACHMANN: I’m running for the presidency of the United States. My husband is not running for the presidency, neither are my children, neither is our business, neither is our foster children and I’m more than happy to stand for questions on running for the presidency of the United States.

Watch it:

Bachmann — who in 2004 said that an ex-gay group will “present the truth about homosexuality” — has repeatedly avoided answering questions about ex-gay therapy since an undercover investigation captured a counselor suggesting that homosexuality could be overcome through prayer and therapy. Bachmann’s campaign even black listed a local Iowa station for asking about the revelation.

Bachmann’s husband Marcus, meanwhile, has admitted that the clinic would perform reparative therapy upon request. Michele Bachmann insists that she is still “very proud of the business that we created.”