Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Barnicle has a tough time with numbers
It shouldn’t surprise. A columnist having a rough time with demographics; however, Mike Barnicle showed his numbers ignorance when he wondered if Cambridge MA, Georgetown DC, the Upper West Side NY, Santa Monica and San Francisco, CA were not taken into account there would be minimal concern about Rick Warren’s invocation at Obama’s inauguration.
Maybe I’m being too harsh on the Barnicle but it would be nice if he paid attention to demographics before listing the places he thinks gay people live. Scholar Gary J. Gates has done yeoman’s work looking at gay population shifts and he has argued that “same-sex couples [are] becoming less urban, even as the population become slightly more urban.”
So places like Louisville KY, El Paso TX, and Albuquerque NM, are turning into cities where gay couples are making lives and possibly in a bad mood over the Warren choice. But this idea requires Barnicle to move beyond stereotypes of gay life and we know there is good money in trucking mythologies about gays and lesbians.
I think all columnists should be required to take an extended, annual drive THROUGH the central U.S., not just flying over it. It might help them overcome the coastal myopia that is so prevalent in their profession.
Mike Barnicle is a bananahead, but honestly, this seems rather petty. I love my gay ghettos, stereotype or not.
At least Barnicle had a Gay activist speaking on behalf of Gay issues instead of a straight person who slaughters the issues. Points for that!
Yet, he dismissed and negated the good points made by this brave activist by listing a few Cities that have concern for Gay issues and stating if those cities were taken out of the mix there would be no issue at all.
Michelle Bernard just agreed like one of those bobble-headed dolls on a dash board. It should not matter in principal the number of Gays or Cities…the principal is that every American is entitled to their inalienable or fundamental rights and all Americans should be concerned that no American is stripped of their Liberty by the Government absent a compelling interest.
I like the Barnicle. I find him to be a good guy with a good penchant for asking tough questions. While what he said was pretty ignorant, I’m not going to go so far as to say he pulled an Imus (who I also happen to be a fan of).
Although Mike got one thing wrong. There are gays in Georgetown but in DC the gaaaaaaay part of DC is Dupont Circle. MIKE, GET YOUR GAY SPOTS STRAIGHT!
I clicked on the link. “Where the Gays Live.” I didn’t have to go any further. I wonder if The Gays live in Hattiesburg, MS, or Albert Lea, MN. If it were “The Daily Show” and they went door to door in deep suburbia, it might be funny. But this isn’t funny because it’s pathetic stereotyping. Maybe next Mike Barnicle can ask where The Jews live. Maybe he’ll have a heart attack if he finds a synagogue in Des Moines. Hmmm…guess this is the season of hope…