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Opinion 
Shame on KSL For Pink Panic Story
On May 11 and 12, KSL Channel 5 aired a two-part story titled “The Secret Side of the Playground,” an exposé on public places where men go to have sex with men. At the Jordan River Parkway, helicopter cameras for the news program caught sight of two men together in the bushes. The report also included other parks and public restrooms listed on websites dedicated to men who cruise such areas.
No one is denying there are people who cruise these areas and engage in sex. But KSL’s story was offensive. Sensational journalism used to scare people and promote stereotypes may bring in viewer ratings, but it does a major disservice to the gay community and to the larger public.
First of all, the majority of the men who engage in public cruising do not self-identify as gay. Many of them are married men who are deeply in the closet about their sexual desires. As such, the only outlets they feel they have are cruising locations such as public parks and mall restrooms. There are deeper problems here than what a family might discover if they wander into the wrong area—we need to address the social situations in our culture that lead these men to feel that public cruising is their only option to explore their desires. Most of this sex is risky and unprotected as well, so there’s an additional health concern, too.
Second, the KSL story implied that these men are a danger to children. By and large, that is not the case. The worst thing most families will experience is having to explain what gay sex is to their children. Forgive us if we don’t weep at the idea that more Utah families have to acknowledge that gay sex exists. Still, KSL’s repeated warnings about what your children may see (even the title of the piece “The Secret Side of the Playground”) reinforces the archaic notion that gay men are promiscuous, child molesters, and predators. Promoting this stereotype of gay people, even indirectly, is undeserved and inexcusable.
More to the point, KSL producers didn’t even address the real safety concerns families should have at Jordan River Parkway and other public parks. These locations are rife with drug and alcohol use, and the evidence of it is all over on the ground. We should be more concerned about broken bottles and discarded syringes than what two men, who are desperately trying to avoid being caught, are doing.
Another aspect KSL producers missed entirely is the good work of the GLBT Public Safety Liaison Committee and the Court Diversion program crafted by the queer community and law enforcement working together on this subject. Salt Lake City has one of the nation’s best programs for dealing with men cited for public lewdness. Repeat offenders are few and far between, which is more than can be said about the programs in most cities. KSL’s portrayal of the police as ineffective and unable to do anything about the problem is both inaccurate and demeaning to the hard-working men and women in blue.
KSL ought to be ashamed of “The Secret Side of the Playground.” It is the opinion of QSaltLake that the story was misguided at best and deliberately biased at worst. We call on the entire queer community to let KSL know that we will not be used as the targets of “pink panic” stories for the sake of ratings. We also call on the community to let KSL advertisers know that we are offended by the content of this “news” broadcast.
KSL owes an apology to the queer community, to the police officers who have approached this issue with sensitivity and understanding, and to the viewers who have been treated to tabloid-style journalism masquerading as credible news. |
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