West Wing: CJ's cop-out

That night's West Wing had a storyline about bloggers speculating that chief of staff CJ Craig was a lesbian. This was based not any relationships with women, but on her sports record in high school and college. When she finally resonded to the question "Are you a homosexual?" she gave the "None of your damn business" answer.

Unfortunately, that response is seen by many as a "yes." But a direct denial would be calling more attention to the rumor-mongering bloggers than they deserve. A better response would be as follows:

It has come to my attention that some people on the Internet are apparently buying and promoting the stereotype that any woman with athletic ability must be a lesbian. If you feel that your job as journalists is to report erronious rumors based on dated stereotypes then you will report this story. But if your job is to file stories based on substantiated facts, you will ignore this one.