A Twitter user this past week uncovered archived blog posts from MSNBC host and national correspondent Joy Reid’s blog that some are calling homophobic.
Before working for MSNBC, Reid was a commentator and morning show host on several print and television outlets in Florida. During this time, she also kept a blog called The Reid Report, where she mostly wrote about Florida politics.
From 2007 to 2009, she wrote several posts about Republican governor Charlie Crist and repeatedly said that he was gay and called him “Miss Charlie.” In some of the posts, she chastised him for leading women on.
1/x From 2007 to 2009 @joyannreid authored a dozen homophobic posts not only attempting to out Charlie Crist as gay, she attacked & mocked him for being so.
She repeatedly referred to him as "Miss Charlie" and tagged posts about him under "gay politicians." (thread) pic.twitter.com/tRYvJ3lTc8
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
2/x Joy constantly refers to Crist mockingly as "Miss Charlie" and insinuates that his marriage is a fraud to cover up his being gay. pic.twitter.com/2E7i8rCq8C
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
3/x She makes a joke about John McCain "tapping" Crist, says Crist spent his honeymoon ogling male waiters and thinking about how he didn't want to see his wife naked, and mocked Crist's big gay wedding. pic.twitter.com/KmWxJymc3J
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
4/x Joy mocks Crist as Will from Will and Grace, says he is faking a marriage to a woman to run for VP. pic.twitter.com/dTShwF1ecQ
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
5/x Joy says Crist would decorate the White House with flamingo-shaped napkins making it gayer than George Takei. pic.twitter.com/Y7euWsip0P
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
6/x Joy writes a post on Crist under the tag "not gay politicians" and shares her awful opinions on gay men who get married. pic.twitter.com/ZX2sOGDvL6
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
7/x Joy calls Crist "Miss Charlie" and again declares his potential wedding to a women is a fraud and a "veep marketing strategy". pic.twitter.com/ZMCbEfURfn
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
8/x Joy constantly refers to Crist mockingly as "Miss Charlie" and insinuates that his marriage is a fraud to cover up his being gay. pic.twitter.com/HMcGE1LlPr
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
9/x More garbage from Joy. pic.twitter.com/ANnS72PHFH
— James M (@Jamie_Maz) November 30, 2017
I was working in LGBTQ media at around that time, and I remember hearing that Crist is gay or bi so many times that I had to google to find out that he has always denied those rumors and never came out.
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I also remember that LGBTQ media and activist types didn’t do much to fight those rumors. Crist was a Republican governor who opposed LGBTQ rights, plus there’s nothing wrong with being gay or bi.
Which is to say that accusing Reid of being homophobic just because she thought Crist was gay – or even because she criticized him for being a closeted gay Republican or the GOP for wanting a heterosexual VP pick – is overwrought. Those rumors were rampant because a lot of people who knew Crist were contributing to them.
And it’s not like Reid said that Crist was going to burn in hell. If anything, her overall position is that the GOP is wrong for being homophobic.
Some of her specific comments, though, go too far. The “Miss Charlie” thing might be funny if, say, a lesbian stand-up comic said it, but not a straight journalist. I would just roll my eyes if a drag queen made the Will & Grace joke, but a straight person? Not so much.
Reid hasn’t commented on the posts yet and a lot of straight people’s attitudes have changed in the last ten years. For example, Crist himself left the GOP in 2014 in part because that party is “anti-gay,” and he now supports marriage equality.
Update: Reid has apologized for the posts.
Are MSNBC host Joy Reid’s gay comments homophobic?