Gay Washington, DC newspaper publishing Jeff Gannon as columnist

The Washington Blade, the increasingly irrelevant print gay paper in Washington, DC, has apparently now made White House man whore Jeff Gannon/James Guckert a columnist at the paper.

A few weeks ago Guckert wrote a column for the paper that was, as usual, from another planet (he scolded me for not being representative of the gay community), and factually incorrect (he said something weird about my "ties" to North Korea and Cuba). Well, today there's another "column" for JeffyJim in the paper, so apparently this is now a regular gig.

Which begs a lot of question. First, why the Blade now has what appears to be a regular column on gays issues from a guy who won't even say if he's gay. I mean, do we really need to be lectured to about who really represents the gay community when the lecturer pretends to be a heterosexual, and when most of that lecturer's writings about gay issues have been favorable to the religious right point of view? I mean, tolerance is one thing, but since when do we need more radical right panderers in the gay press?

It also begs the question of what the once-august Blade has now become - just a few months ago the Blade was publishing articles about Gannon supposedly attending gay sex parties in Virginia, and now they have him as a columnist? And finally, apparently anyone can now write for the Blade - even if they have no real background in journalism, and have been repeatedly accused of plagiarism.

I used to like the Blade, but they've become a shell of what they formerly were, partly from obsolescence due to the Internet, partly because the straight press has increasingly covered gay issues anyway, and partly, I think, due to lousy management.

One thing is for sure, if the Blade is going to practice Jerry Springer journalism by using people like James Guckert as an expert on gay issues, then I can take my hyperlinks and future ads elsewhere.

NOTE FROM MICHAEL IN NEW YORK: The Blade's email address is forum@washblade.com. I strongly second John's comments -- and not strictly because of Guckert's politics. I hope the Blade will reconsider because Guckert has lied repeatedly to the mainstream media about his connection to pornographic websites, his access to the White House press room, and even something as simple as whether he was giving interviews to other outlets, among other details. Also, Guckert has been believably accused of plagiarism (his articles online disappeared shortly afterwards), he is not openly gay and Guckert provided a front for a far right activist group and actively promoted anti-gay articles and ideas. I'm all for a diversity of gay opinion, but why include closeted people who hate queers and actively work to demonize us?