I don’t watch a lot of television.
When I do, it is primarily ‘pay’ cable programming.
Nurse Jackie, Shameless, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Real Desperate Housewives of Atlanta.
…and news. I don’t know about you, but I tend to watch news programs based on both content and the likeability of the anchor(s).
When I am at home in Philadelphia, I watch the same local news that I grew up watching.
Like a pair of old shoes, it is comfortable and familiar.
If I’m ever home on a Saturday evening I do make a point of catching Don Lemon on CNN.
Whether reporting on an ever-rising crime spree in an major urban market, the volatile U.S. economic picture or interviewing a pop icon like Mary J. Blige, Lemon always brings a fresh and personable slant to his reporting.
I never assumed that the slant had anything to do with his sexual orientation.
In fact, like many of my peers who watch Lemon, we do so beacuse we are pleased (and proud) to see an articulate, attractive, African-American ‘representing’ and doing his thing in a global forum.
So, I have to ask, at the end of the day, does anyone care about his sexual orientation?
It certainly doesn’t affect how this viewer will perceive this man and the fine job of reporting he does.
The real question, as my friend, Scott Manning, asked is “Will it affect others decision to watch or not?”