Back when I was president of Log Cabin of Northern Virginia, I knew I could count on Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro, Jr. to treat us (and all gay Republicans for that matter) fairly. When writing about us, he made sure to talk to us before writing about us.

So, I wonder why it is that Out magazine chose to ask Charles Kaiser to write its piece on gay Republicans instead of Lou, a gay reporter with a record of evenhanded treatment whereas Kaiser has consistently in his Advocate columns (and elsewhere I presume) repeated the trite, tiresome and untrue gay-left talking points about gay Republicans.

Did Out commission Kaiser to write this piece because they knew his anti-Republican leanings and wanted an article which “proved” what they already believed, that gay Republicans are closeted hypocrites, living a double-life? And that our political careers would be compromised by our coming out? (That latter point have been true at one point, but is hardly the case today.)

By contrast with columnist Kaiser, reporter Chibbaro has a long record of covering the Washington, DC gay community, earning the respect of individuals on both sides of the political aisle and having a good number of Republican contacts. That Out magazine didn’t turn to someone like him, but instead chose a columnist known for his critical commentary of Republicans suggests its editors weren’t interested in an unbiased account of gay Republicans.

While we gay Republicans give the gay media a lot of grief, we should remember there are those like Lou still committed to covering us fairly. I thought of Lou this morning when reading Michael Yon’s Moment of Truth in Iraq. On page 139, Yon writes that while conservative readers give “the New York Times grief,” that paper does have two reporters Michael Gordon and Rich Oppel striving to provide fair coverage of the War in Iraq. He singles out other MSM reporters who strive to be evenhanded.

As we give Kaiser (and Out Magazine for tapping him) grief for his “hit piece,” we should also remember the Lou Chibbaros of the world. As well as the MSM reporters not dedicated to their editors’ narrative.