… and more takeaways from an analysis of more than 5,000 briefings by BuzzFeed News.
The way the White House talks about LGBT issues reveals how much America's views have shifted and how far there is to go. BuzzFeed News analyzed more than 5,000 White House daily press briefings since 1993. Here are the big takeaways:
Reporters have used the term "transgender" 15 times in press-briefing questions — all during the Obama administration — but officials have shied away. Instead, they've tended to rephrase "transgender" as "LGBT." Obama isn't entirely allergic to the phrase; outside of press briefings, he's used it at least once. In August, 2013, he told late night host Jay Leno, "I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them."
While both the Obama and Clinton administrations have used the word "lesbian," it was never used by a briefer during the Bush administration. The press used the word "lesbian" nine times in questions, but the administration would not bite. Here's one such exchange between Tony Snow and a reporter in Dec. 2006 about former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, Mary Cheney:
Q: Tony, in an interview with People Magazine, the President was asked about Mary Cheney's pregnancy, and said he's confident — he believes she'll be a loving soul to her child. In the past, he said that he believes the ideal is that a child be raised in a married family with a man and a woman. Does he still believe that's the ideal?
MR. SNOW: Yes, he does, but he also believes that every human life is sacred and that every child that comes into the world deserves love. And he believes that Mary Cheney's child will, in fact, have loving parents.
Q: Does he believe that children who are raised by gay and lesbian parents are at a disadvantage?
MR. SNOW: He does not make comments on that, and nor will I.
The Clinton administration said "lesbian" in press briefings a total of 24 times. The Obama administration has said it 10 times, though they've moved towards the more-inclusive "LGBT." This chart shows the use of both phrasings since 1993:
The Bush administration said “gay” just eight times. The Clinton administration used it 87 times. (The majority revolved around the 1993 debate over the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.) The Obama administration has used the term during a White House press briefing 17 times.
John Templon / BuzzFeed