Fox News Evolving on Gay Marriage

Barack Obama came out in favor of gay marriage, so of course Fox News will have something awful to say about the president. Wait, what's that? They're not as threatened by the gays as they used to be?

 On last night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart watched the talking heads of Fox trip over themselves in calling out Obama's endorsement of gay marriage nothing more than pandering to liberals. What we didn't see as much was talk of how gay marriage threatened to tear society apart, which we frequently heard on the network just a few years ago. "And this is a true measure of how far we've come as a nation," Stewart concludes. "In five years the prime talking point from Republicans, on people who support gay marriage, has gone from 'It will destroy society via turtle-f-cking' to 'Oh of course you're for it, you'll say anything popular to get reelected.' And that is progress.”  

“The president of the United States: now in the 21st century,” Smith said, and asked reporter Ed Henry: “I am curious whether you believe in this time of rising debt and medical issues and all the rest, if Republicans would go out on a limb and try to make this a campaign issue while sitting very firmly without much question on the wrong side of history.”

  Buzzfeed.com :

The media picked up on the moment, which was covered like a one-off or an anomaly; The Atlantic Wire wrote that Smith’s reaction “was not your typical Fox News,” and Smith came under fire from Rush Limbaugh for the comment.

Smith hasn’t stopped since then — quipping recently that “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” was “the national day of intolerance.” And he’s been joined by Megyn Kelly, while other voices on the network — John Stossel, Andrew Napolitano — have shied away from conservative dogma on gay marriage.

Whether Fox’s on-air talent is going rogue or the mandate is coming from on high, some of the network’s most prominent names have started to speak louder and more favorably in support of a cherished liberal cause — winning grudging praise from the left and outrage from the right.

“There has been a softening [at Fox] if you look at the big picture,” said Michael Cole-Schwartz, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign. “It’s just representative of where the country is going on this issue. The more rabid anti-gay voices continue to be marginalized and there’s just not a lot of appetite for anti-gay sentiment.”

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