Media Matters for America

www.equalitymatters.org

Equality Matters' goal is to enhance advocacy and activism across all platforms and to leverage our expertise in support of others who are working to make full equality a national imperative.

In 2011, Media Matters For America launched a new project - Equality Matters - devoted to correcting myths and misinformation in the media about the LGBT community and advancing the fight for full equality.

The three years since have brought some major developments. From the fall of DOMA at the Supreme Court, to the repeal of the so-called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law - from the move to end the ban on openly gay Boy Scouts and the progress being made to pass ENDA, the debate over LGBT equality has taken its place at center stage in national and local media.

Unfortunately, with every victory for equality comes a wave of right-wing misinformation, fear mongering, and even hate speech. And the closer we get to full equality, the more determined the right wing becomes, doubling down on spreading damaging lies about LGBT people, their families, and the fight for equal treatment. Their hateful rhetoric gets amplified by a conservative media machine that thrives on peddling horror stories about LGBT equality.

That’s why Equality Matters' work is so important. Since 2011, we’ve worked to marginalize the right’s most extreme anti-LGBT voices, fact-check conservative horror stories, and promote better media coverage of LGBT issues. Equality Matters is working to stay on top of the right-wing spin machine - monitoring dangerous myths before they jump to the mainstream and arming allies and media outlets with the facts they need to debunk misinformation.

But we’re still a long way from the realization of equal treatment for all Americans, both in the law and in the court of public opinion. 

The more that LGBT stories continue to dominate the news cycle, the more important it will be to have an organization dedicated to correcting misinformation and marginalizing groups and outlets standing in the way of progress. Equality Matters is working to make sure that our recent victories don’t get lost in a wave of conservative talking points.

About Media Matters For America

Media Matters For America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Launched in May 2004, Media Matters For America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation - news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda - every day, in real time.