Fridae

Gay rights groups have called for an explanation or apology from the Associated Press over the photo it ran in the US which showed a bomb being "personalized" with the phrase, "HIGH JACK [sic] THIS FAGS."

The photograph, taken on the USS Enterprise ran with a generic caption reporting that the soldier in the photo was "signing" the bomb which was used in Afghanistan.

Representatives of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network (SLDN), which represents gay members of the military, had complained that the caption did not address the slur that had been scrawled on the bomb. Although the photo was pulled from circulation, but the news agency offered no public explanation on the matter.

"We appreciate the timely efforts by The Associated Press to address this issue, but this image should be explained and discussed, not hidden from view," said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry. "It reveals too much about both our popular and military cultures and attitudes. By pulling the photo rather than exploring its content and context, the AP sends the message that anti-gay bias should be swept under the rug, not exposed and confronted."

"GLAAD hopes The Associated Press will report on this controversy, even though it involves AP staffers and editors," Garry said. "An in-depth examination of this situation could reveal much about anti-gay bias in the military, the institutional acceptance of that bias, the impact of these kinds of public displays on soldiers who are laboring under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and the journalistic and editorial decisions that led to this photo and caption's publication."

The US military was not spared either, the SLDN's legal director Sharra Greer blasted the military for allowing the issue to go unaddressed and has urged Navy leaders to condemn and hold accountable military personnel aboard the USS 'Enterprise' for anti-gay graffiti.

"The United States Navy would never allow racial epithets or derogatory graffiti based on gender or religion to be scrawled on American property. Messages like the one presented in this photograph only reinforce the ideas of hatred and division that our nation seeks to defend against. We must not emulate the intolerance of our enemies."

Historically, American military personnel often write messages on bombs before they are used. For example, some of the first bombs dropped in the offensive against terrorism carried messages of remembrance for the victims of the September 11th attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centre.