From the Left: Did you enjoy seeing the Rev. Gene Robinson at the inaugural invocation at the Washington Mall today? Oh, what’s that? You don’t recall seeing Rev. Gene Robinson?
Well, that’s because HBO, who Obama sold the exclusive televised rights to the broadcast events, chose to censor the openly gay Bishop from the televised feed.
An unfortunate accident? Maybe. But after the fracas following Obama inviting the wildly homophobic Rev. Rick Warren to perform the inaugural invocation on Tuesday, one might think the president-elect and his team would be a bit more mindful about how this looks.
One thing’s for certain. Don’t expect HBO to censor out Rick Warren from the festivities this Tuesday.
Editors Note: I received an email from HBO’s PR folks who claim the diss was due to a “technical glitch.” Curious. The Gay Mens Chorus wasn’t shown by HBO either. I guess the HBO cameras just flip out when pointed at a homosexual.
Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend wrote: Remember, this was the supposed salve on the wound to the LGBT community for the upcoming high-profile appearance of Rick Warren at the actual inauguration on Tuesday, which will be seen by millions and will float out there on YouTube in perpetuity. I had no illusions that Robinson’s appearance would reach the same level of exposure as Warren’s, but damn — no broadcast of it at all?
The site AfterElton.com contacted HBO yesterday, regarding the omission of Robinson from the network’s broadcast. HBO responded (via e-mail):
“The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show.”Michael Jensen of AfterElton wrote that it was unclear “as to whether or not that meant that HBO was contractually prevented from airing the pre-show.”
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