One of our top commenters (Michael T) brought to our attention an odd article from The Daily Beast. In it author David Freedlander advances the theory that Fox News coverage of LGBT issues has been sparse, and suggests a reason:

[Fox News] has one on-air talent who has come out of the closet, and that is Sally Kohn, a liberal analyst who is also an occasional—and unpaid—contributor to the network. (Shepard Smith, an [sic] weekday afternoon anchor, has long dealt with rumors that he is gay, but has not publicly addressed the matter.)

Something didn’t ring true with that claim, though many Beast commenters were unskeptical:

• Well duh. If FOXnews broadcast the truth more often, people might accept the Presidents birth certificate as well. But that's not going to happen either. --desktop
• Frankly, I'm kind of surprised they're not reporting from the alternate universe where the Romney Tsunami actually happened. --leftistmenace_1
• Fox has a very narrow viewpoint on all issues. That's what all their sheep want. --PBC
• Wait?!  FOX has an out lesbian/gay contributor?! I've been writing about the news for five years and this is the first time I've heard of her. --bridgettemacbride

But there’s a catch. Mr Freedlander’s claim that Sally Kohn is the sole ‘out’ contributor at Fox News is false. She isn’t! How do we know? We actually watch Fox News. Where weeks before Mr Freedlander’s June 29 article, Richard Grenell’s status as a contributor was announced on air. Oh, and what happened to Tammy Bruce? She’s been a Fox News contributor for years! How could Mr Freedlander have possibly been unaware of that? It’s almost like he left out Grenell and Bruce because he doesn’t really watch Fox News. How else to explain such a wildly inaccurate claim that Ms Kohn is their only out gay person?

But wait, there’s more. Did you catch the writer’s subtle diss at Ms Kohn--and Fox? Here it is again:

[Fox News]has one on-air talent who has come out of the closet, and that is Sally Kohn, a liberal analyst who is also an occasional—and unpaid—contributor to the network.

See, Fox doesn’t even pay her like they do other contributors. Really? We’ve never heard of such a thing before. That could be because this claim is another fake fact. A check with FNC confirmed that Ms Kohn is a paid contributor, just like all the others. Didn’t Ms Kohn explain that to Mr Freedlander? Oh wait, there’s nothing in the piece that indicates he talked to Sally Kohn, or anyone else working at Fox News. Even the photo of Ms Kohn is second-hand, credited to Wikipedia.

Oh no. Please don’t tell us that The Daily Beast went to Wikipedia for its facts?! A quick look at Ms Kohn’s Wikipedia page and…well, surprise, surprise…

Kohn is an unpaid contributor for the Fox News Channel

We emailed Mr Freedlander to inquire about all this, but he has not responded.