Why is the corporate media ignoring the McCain gay-sex donor story?

John Aravosis (DC), AmericaBlog.com: No one has covered it that I can find. No one, other than gay and other non corporate-media sites. What's going on? Not only did the owner of the top gay pick up site in the world give McCain $2300, which is kind of a story right there, that the top gay pick up site is being run by a McCain Republican, but McCain accepted the money, and now a few days after the story went public, McCain still hasn't returned the money. How is this not news? And today Andy Towle reports that the chairman of the board of Manhunt, the Republican who gave McCain the maxed out donation, had to step down because of the donation. This is news. And the corporate media is again ignoring a story that hurts McCain because they know that he's really a nice guy inside, regardless of the facts. Donuts, anyone?

Actually, there's another thing going on here, I suspect. The corporate media is afraid that they'll be seen as anti-gay if they report on a gay donor scandal. They do this all the time. See: Jeff Gannon. What they don't understand is that they're not reporting on the story because the donor is gay, as if gay is bad. This is a story not because the donor is gay. It's a story because John McCain is running for president in a party that has a serious problem with gays, that rails against gays, that will very likely put some more gay-bashing in their party platform as they always do. So it's news when a lead gay businessman gives to McCain. And it's even bigger news when the donor just happens to run the largest gay sex site in the world. Because of the Republicans' ongoing problem with gay people, all of this makes this news. It's also news that the guy had to step down as chair as a result. And finally, it's news that McCain hasn't given the money back - he's chosen to keep it.

Don't you think getting the religious right's comment on this might make an interesting story? The fact that Bob Dole had to give gay money back in 1996, tying that to today? That McCain recently held a meeting with gay Republican leaders and got slapped around by the religious right as a result, and then had to promise to be more vocally anti-gay in public to make amends - so McCain's ambivalence also makes this news. There are lots of angles to this story, none of them anti-gay. Do your freaking jobs.

UPDATE: McCain returns gay sex cruising site Manhunt founder's $2300; Crutchley gives it to Obama.