Biased Coverage Can Help Gays

In the opinion piece, "Covering Homophobia: Media Moralism Distorts Coverage of Homosexual Issues" (Feb. 23,1994), Timothy P. Yu stresses that the responsibility of a good journalist is to present the "facts and people before us" rather than serve as a "facile moral guide."

It is difficult to argue with the importance of objective journalism. However, if you were gay or lesbian, you would give thanks for the moral guides who write for some of our nation's major newspapers and periodicals.

Every single day, gay men and lesbians are told (either outright or by purposeful omission) that there is something wrong with them. On the same day that The New York Times presented, as Yu claimed, a "deceptive objectivity" when it covered the gay-harassment case in Ovett, Mississippi, it also excluded a very mater-of-fact news brief stating that Pope John Paul II recently affirmed homosexuality as "deviant" behavior.

Fortunately (and I must admit I have a personal bias), some journalists are beginning to write articles with a gay-positive slant. The media plays a tremendous role in shaping public opinion.

Therefore, I, and millions of other gay and lesbian Americans would rather the public be exposed to these positive portrayals of our lives. Such "biased" coverage may actually begin to balance out the hatred of gays and lesbians that society is exposed to every day.

So, while it is easy for Mr. Yu to assert the importance of objective journalism, I believe he would change his tune if he were in my shoes. Thomas P. Lynch   Boston, MA