Gay Bishop's Invocation Blacked Out at Obama's HBO Concert
By Susie Madrak Sunday Jan 18, 2009 7:00pmAlthough President-elect Obama did include gays in his mention of the various groups who supported him, HBO not only blacked out Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation at today's inauguration concert, they didn't introduce the Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus when they performed, nor did they identify them onscreen. I wonder who was behind that.
Via Joe.My.God:
After days of controversy and outrage from the religious right, openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson opened Barack Obama's inauguration concert on the National Mall today with a request that the nation pray for "understanding that our president is a human being and not a messiah."
But only the people AT the concert heard that, because HBO did not televise Robinson's message. Who engineered this blackout of Robinson? I suspect we'll hear lots about this in days to come.
UPDATE: The 7PM rebroadcast of the show was identical, no Gene Robinson.
UPDATE II: The full text of Robinson's prayer is here. If you'd like to express your unhappiness to HBO, you can do that here.
Oh, and Pam Spaulding has more.
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Color me surprised.
He said sarcastically.
Sigh. Change.
If not for this courageous move there would be nothing for some blog postes to seething about his morning. My morning cup of assume Obama is a closet heterosexual would have been empty. And who was that unidentified Negro fellow and unidentified somewhat lesbian looking woman with James Taylor? Who's behind that, Michelle or the girls.
/facepalm
But they can develop, air and eventually run repeats of something like Six Feet Under, which featured a 'hero'-like homosexual character. Why just that guy? What about the guy with the fuckin' eagle?
means that HBO doesn't stand for Homosexual Barack Obama. That is pretty sad though. Although, if they keep all the religion out of the ceremony it would be better for all.
I thought it stood for “Horrific Body Odor”!
Many right wing evangelicals refer to it as "Hell's Box Office".
I'm hoping that this is an unfortunate oversight. I would really pissed off if the new President is excluding the bishop simply because he's human and has a sexual orientation that affects all species. Just because he's gay doesn't mean he's less of a person. No gay or lesbian should be second fiddle to anyone.
Can they be the bottom?
We're all too used to getting fucked...so no.
HBO will broadcast Rick Warren you betcha. This was no oversight.
Absolutely. And he'll be re-broadcasted.
I really do not see the New President making or discussing the broadcasting decisions of HBO. It seems to me that this is most likely an in house decision that nobody in the Obama camp knew about. I don't even know that HBO set out to personally exclude this guy becuase he was gay. Broadcasting time is expensive and decisions have to be made to cut things down to fit in the alotted time. The guy may have been excluded even if he was white and straight.
How can you make such a broad statement "I don't even know that HBO set out to personally exclude this guy becuase he was gay." You dont know unless you have asked them. Im afraid the cut things down excuse doesnt work babe!!! You making excuses for their homophobic attitude I wonder? But of course not, you wouldn't would you?
PLEASE. The event was a live broadcast, and you're not going to lop the invocation at the start of the event. In fact, since it's a historic event, only the stingiest of executives would not make allowance for the event to run over.
We're more likely to hear the lame excuse that the omission was because some junior techie didn't understand his instructions (never mind that you try to have your top people working major events).
Now, if Rick Warren's invocation goes into the void between here and Mars, then your argument might stand up.
I suspect it was the HBO people who blacked out the "gay elements" of the program, not Obama's people. Sooner or later we'll find out.
Where the heck did you get 'Obama may be involved' in this one?
In fact, I'm seeing that in other comment threads, including the link to Pam's blog. What is this, stealth concern trolling?
Sheesh.
and was deemed inappropriate for children. It can be viewed on Cinemax after midnight for a pay per view fee of $5.
As far as the gay men's choir, maybe they shouldn't have selected this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chYba6bt4aA
yuck. yuck. so funny. jokes about gay sex. You should have been around during the civil rights movement in the 60's and you could have made off color jokes about blacks.
Just to clarify, I was laughing at what curtilingus said.
I found his comment funny. I don't think it was meant as an insult to gay people.
Plus I'm feeling slightly giddy tonight! Peace to you.
:)
LOL!
I loved it.
Dave
Viet Vet
&
Old Gay Guy
Gene Robinson's ordination is threatening to split not just American Episcopelianism but the entire Anglican communion.
For a church without really large membership in America, an unusual number of presidents and congressman have belonged to it.
The funny thing is here in Texas prejudice against the gays, have caused several Episcopelian churches and dioceses to split off, call themselves Anglican, and placed themselves under the bishopric of the Southern Cone, which is headquartered somewhere in South America, even though a lot of them are prejudiced against people from south of the border.
Southern Cone always sounds to me like some of the kinky outfits Betty Page would wear. I wonder what part of her anatomy it would cover?
I was baptised and confirmed Episcopalian. Haven't kept up with it, though.
/where there are four there is usually a 'fifth' - old joke.
and found those Southern cones can be chafing to the uninitiated.
The gays are comming, the gays are comming and I think they have weapons of mass destruction. Quick hide the kids and tha woman folk. The gays are comming.
If we were coming, we'd be a lot happier.
After all, who else would make a movie about the 2004 tsunami without any Asian people in it?
Not to mention release the Jazz Singer at the same time Obama was running for President.
Someone has to think about those poor untalked about white people!!! Why do you hate the straight white people? It breaks my heart to hear the horror stories of the suffering of wealthy straight white Christians.....I'm sorry, I can't type just thinking about it...
/snark
poor poor poor
Wall Street Fat Cat
crooksBankers.They lost all of their money, trillions it was.
We felt so sorry for them we gave them all of ours, plus everything we and our offspring will make until 2209 AD, or later.
We hardly complained.
We're so nice.
Someone is looking out for wealthy white folk and their trial and tribulations ;).
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/austr...
doesnt make a bit of sense
I can't recall if HBO claimed to show "Complete" coverage.
/every local DC TV station is screaming that they will have "THE Complete Coverage!"
It's unfortunate that this happened. I seriously doubt it was deliberate.
/ya never know.
I refuse to pay for cable, but I listened to the whole thing on National Public Radio and there was no black out. Say what you will, but NPR is one of the best news sources in the MSM.
But that's only because I'm an atheist, but I don't mind if you or anybody else wants to thank God, that's fine, but I thank the powers-that-be* for NPR.
*And as a long-time donor, I suppose I can thank myself and everybody else who donates to NPR. I do have a serious addiction to NPR.
Are you sure "there was no blackout"? My NPR station broadcast the live feed from HBO, which excluded Bishop Robinson's prayer.
that HBO did not censor its content then you are in for a rude awakening.
For years they have censored its programming.
You pay a premuim for censored watered down programming.
It is about time you demand an end to American Corportate censorship of Amercian media and TV!
The has better uncensored information than Amercia Corportates allow Americans to see or hear.
Wise up and "Demand the Turth!"
It's called fear. They know what happened to Ford. They were placing ads in mags where gay readership was high and some wingnut group started a jihad that lasted 4 years.
The REMFs were relentless, like any good jihadist. Ford finally threw the towel in 2007 after taking a boatload of aggravation.
Too bad HBO didn't understand that they could have fend off those wingnuts much better than Ford could. After all, the pain they could have inflicted to the wingnuts by exposing them, the way they operate and so on. But no, lawyers, corporate groupthink and the fear of "troubles" prevailed.
Disgusting!
Why are you all suprised? HBO payed Obama for the rights to broadcast, and that means they can put on anything they want. HBO is not a news organization, its an entertainment network. Grow up!
Last time...they get a dime
The Inaugural Concert today was very moving but, in the face of all that hope among Americans, I couldn't help thinking about Gaza, where there is only mourning. I blogged about it, and included a brilliant video letter to Obama from an Israeli progressive. You can see it at
Now that I've read here about the elimination of Robinson's convocation and the identification of the Gay Men's Chorus (I've seen them in concert - they're world-famous), I'm really bummed. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Sue Katz, author
Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin
Never in my life have a seen a new president work so hard to include all Americans in his words and actions. Listening to this segment of his speech makes me proud of my country and I long for all of the good people to pull together to support him.
While I, too, have little faith in the corporate media to do the right thing, I'm sorry to see all the speculation here about HBO's motives without any facts to support them. I'm more sorry to see some nasty implications that the Obama administration was responsible for the omission.
As cynical as we might have become toward the media and other places of corrupt power, we have a responsibility to choose our words in the spirit of truth and justice and not sow divisiveness for its own sake.
I watched the rebroadcast of the HBO special after reading this post. It's true that there was no invocation shown and that's a shame. But it's also true that aside from the Glee Club from one of the service academies, NO OTHER choir was introduced. Even the two non-famous people singing with James Taylor went unidentified.
I can understand the concern about censorship and homophobia that's alive and well in our media, but sometimes conspiracies are seen where none exist.
So before we all jump to conclusions, let's remember to take a moment to reflect and then make our decisions and not make something bigger than it actually is.
Did HBO delete Bono's shout out to the Palestinians? That was my favorite part, along with Pete Seeger.
Letter e-mailed to HBO
I was shocked that the prayer offered by Bishop Robinson was blacked out of the HBO coverage at the Lincoln Memorial. Obviously we are in a new era of discrimination. It seems the dramatic message of this important moment is not getting thru to some executive at HBO.
Someone owes the country and Bishop Robinson a big apology. I will have no positive word to say about HBO until I hear that someone at the top has the courage to admit this mistake and correct the error. Just as an Alabama paper has today apologized for the civil wrongs of the past years so must HBO do the same for their discrimination today. You have forever marred that beautiful production. Shame on you.
C&L has been on my bookmark toolbar for years now, I visit the site at least once a day. Seems many of the writers are jumping to conclusions lately whenever it comes to a subject like this.
Another concern troll dodge. First, it's "God, I hope Obama wasn't involved in this," and then it's a bunch of people telling us it wasn't some kind of ham-handed attempt at censorship.
I've done my share of live broadcasts of major news events. You don't trim from the top, because even if you have a 3-hour block of time, you haven't had anyone go 'over' their alloted time. A producer would not be making that kind of decision that early in the show.
Awards shows go over their allotted time. Baseball games go over their allotted time. To suggest that the pre-inaugural event for the nation's first black president is going to have a tighter, less flexible time budget than a routine sports or entertainment event is ridiculous.
So we have a conscious decision to omit a portion of the event from the live broadcast that has not been explained.
...for giving me a link to Bishop Robinson's beautiful invocation and especially for giving me the link to HBO so I didn't have to waste time looking for their address to complain.
I was mad enough at them. After listening all week to their ballyhooing of their generosity in providing the concert to those of us who don't pay them, what do I find this morning but a blocked signal. Although I subscribe to cable TV via Comcast (and not even the cheapest package), my signal remained blocked all day in Tucson, AZ. I was able to see the concert on the Internet (on a 3x5 inch picture sitting in my office chair -- real FUN), but this snafu caused me to miss the beginning, so I thought I didn't hear the invocation through my own fault. But, NO!
Like HBO doesn't benefit EVERY DAY from the contributions of gay employees as well as many of the artists who create the content they air! What sick planet are they living on? We Are One, as long as one is not gay, I guess.
Can't wait to hear Rachel Maddow's take on this.
I tried to lodge my complaint directly with HBO - courtesy your links - but since I do not have a valid email address, I cannot register and therefore cannot lodge my complaint with them!
This is what I wrote - so if someone with a HBO registration would like to pass it on - I'd be very appreciative.
Thanks!
"I will NEVER EVER watch anything on HBO ever again!
How dare you CENSOR Gene Robinson's prayer and the Gay Men's Chorus performing from Obama's inauguration event tonight!
Whoever decided to practice their homophobia at HBO should be sacked immediately - AND there should be an apology to Mr Robinson, the choir and of course MR Obama and his team!
Come January 20 2009 - we hope to see an end of the homophobia that was so evident during George W Bush's disastrous 2 terms!!!
Shame on HBO!"
try this site
http://www.10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/inde...
it will give you a 10 minute email addy
I didn't see the names of any choirs.
And I bet the innovation was cut for time. Not that was right but probably the reason.
I hope it wasn't anything worse.
"Time constraints" may be what HBO pleads when they start making excuses, but it's a ridiculous notion. The invocation is the first thing - if they were already out of time in the first 5 minutes of the event, I'd say it's pretty damned poor planning.
It was a live event. They started airing at a fixed time, and what came before that could not have been live. I worked for HBO. Very liberal thinking, especially fair to vampires.
HBO is usually liberal as hell. I wonder why they would do this.
HBO has been at the forefront of pro-gay programming. So it suggests they were told not show the openly gay Rev. Gene Robinson.
The mainstream media is on the job preserving the moral purity of the Fatherland -- er, "Homeland". So, with newspapers becoming irrelevant pulp and dying, how have HBO's ratings been in general?
I cancelled my HBO service years ago so I can't really complain but I'm curious what they showed in place of Bishop Robinson.
Pray in one hand, crap in the other. See which one fills up fastest.
Hope that helps.
The irony is this HBO event was followed by the premiere of the third season of Big Love, HBO's comedy/drama about mormon polygamists in Utah.
I guess gay marriage isn't cool to HBO but no problems with polygamy.
...and I thought it said "Moron" polygamists...which I guess would also apply.
The program opened with "Fanfare for the Common Man", written by Aaron Copland- a gay american who was blacklisted in the 50's. They also performed Copland's Lincoln Portrait, a tremendously patriotic piece written in response to that blacklist period.
Come on---Pete Seeger, who was also blacklisted, performed This Land is Your Land, written by blacklisted Woody Guthrie who wrote it in response to Iriving Berlin's "God Bless America". Seeger even included the original lyrics that have been long sensored out of music books for years.
Obama's own remarks made clear "gay and Straight" were included in this unity theme.
Not Brodcasting the Bishop definately sucks, but putting this show in the context of history, I think that you are seeing one dead tree in what was a beautiful forest!
The whole show was a wonderful dream come true for me.
I've been reading through a ton of liberal blogs, and the posters are all up in arms about this, threatening to cancel HBO, etc. I'm incredibly disheartened at the omission of the invocation, but everyone's so ready to jump to conclusions. The information I've seen indicates it was a decision from the Obama team and HBO had nothing to do with it. That doesn't make the slight any easier for me, I just wish people would take a breath before declaring war on the infidels. Who does that remind me of? Hmmmmm.....
On the other hand, what we did see was pretty damn great.
Another troll with the suggestion that it was OBAMA who is responsible for this, not HBO.
'Cause we all know the Secret Service was in control rooms around the country, forcing technical directors to go to the commercial break.
Where is this 'information' you speak of?
I'll say it again - I work in television news and have done my share of live, major news events. This is not even remotely close to Obama's turf.
If not for this courageous move there would be nothing for some blog posters to seething about his morning. My morning cup of assume Obama is a closet heterosexual would have been empty. And who was that unidentified Negro fellow and unidentified somewhat lesbian looking woman with James Taylor? Who's behind that, Michelle or the girls?
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/01/bishop-gene-...
http://www.afterelton.com/blog/michaeljensen/...
All I wanted to see were the sources involved here. Instead, there was poster after poster going, "Gasp! I hope Obama wasn't part of this decision!" when the original citations said nothing of the kind.
Now, the excuse that the Inaugural Committee decided to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show is a non-statement, to which y'all obediently whipped around and started barking at the Obama's front door.
Who makes the decision as to when a program begins or ends on HBO? Obama? Someone on the fracking committee? REALLY? What's next, someone suggesting that the Secret Service was keeping people away from their cameras?
I've been inside a Secret Service cordon for something as simple as Bush arriving at an airport, and we were all told to be on site well in advance, how to prep our vehicles/gear, moved off to a line so we could all show our IDs while the Service was checking out our trucks, then allowed back inside the perimeter. There is no way that the crews weren't already in place, so the only reason the invocation wasn't included was HBO's decision, and not the Inaugural Committee's.
So I'm not buying HBO's excuse. The start/end times of the event are determined separately from the start/end times of someone's broadcast.
Help me understand. Why would Obama's "team" invite Robinson to give the invocation, and then request that it not be televised live along with the remainder of the concert???
Love to see you "information".....
Although an old, white, straight atheist, I really was looking forward to seeing Bishop Robinson's invocation. I've been very impressed each time I've heard him interviewed, liking his sincerity, humor, and lack of dogmatic censure.
I was very disappointed by the choice of Rick Warren for such a prominent place and distinct honor. As a matter of fact, that decision burst my bubble of enthusiasm for Obama. However, I felt that Bishop Robinson's inclusion was at least a nod in the direction of fairness and inclusion, a beginning, and this blatant, pointed disrespect--dare I say betrayal--is painful. At least it saves me the trouble of paying attention to the rest of the inaugural hoopla.
just as long as they sit in the back of the bus...
NPR didn't carry Bishop Robinson's segment either. I e-mailed the inaugural committee to express my displeasure, FWIW.
So why was rick warren picked anywho
Fred Phelps was unavailable?
I Have a Nightmare
So many people on the left lap up the whole 'mainstream media' meme, but when HBO hands out a weak excuse for not including Gene Robinson's invocation, you're all running off to blame Obama.
I'll 'express your unhappiness to HBO' by having them removed from my cable package!
I just canceled my HBO subscription, urge others to do the same without comment.
Susan McLaughlin wrote: "Never in my life have a seen a new president work so hard to include all Americans in his words and actions."
Yeah, everybody except progressives and gays.
You're absolutly right..
Im a proud gay men who voted for obama because he convinced me that he wasn't another dirty politician.
I think that i regret in giving my vote to him. First he choose a guy that preaches that gays are not equals in any format to be his inaguration preacher. Then the obama camp orders HBO not to show this event. I'm really having second thoughts now. Also, i know that i'm getting flammed here so let's go.
Maybe you guys should include Don Mishner Productions as one of the people responsible.... If he wanted it included, I doubt HBO would veto it.
*sigh*
I can't understand all the freakage. Seriously.
HBO scheduled the event to begin at 2:30pm EDT LIVE. Apparently, the invocation was given before then.
/gay here. I didn't lose any sleep last night because of this.
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