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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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“I’m all for the LGBT community’s ongoing fight for equality. I support their fight in every way. But it seems like they’ve been in the news too much lately. Maybe they should take a short break. Go on gaycation, just for the weekend.”

—Dave Elliot, anchor for WLOX-TV, on his Facebook complaining about the prevalence of LGBT news.

Why it stinks: It is true that LGBT issues have been in a lot of headlines recently, particularly in Mississippi. Last week, a number of LGBT groups rallied to demand human rights. Earlier this year, a handful of conservative lawmakers tried to sneak through a so-called religious freedom bill that would have turned the clock on civil rights back to Jim Crow times. How can WLOX-TV anchor suggest that the LGBT community take a “gaycation” when Mississippi has yet to recognize the human rights of all of its citizens?