During a deposition on March 8, DNC Chairman Howard Dean took issue with reporting published in The Washington Blade, Washington, D.C.’s gay newspaper. In fact, he implies that he’s stopped reading the paper altogether.

The revelation made Kevin Naff, editor of the publication, pretty angry. Naff offered the following heated comments on Queerty over the weekend:

As the editor of the Blade, I challenge Howard Dean to specify the facts/stories the paper supposedly got wrong over the years. The DNC has NEVER called me in the past few years to say we got a fact wrong and needed to run a correction.

His disdain for the gay press is obvious in his sneering, arrogant testimony. He cannot question the paper’s credibility like this without offering some specifics.

If we got something wrong, we’ll correct it. But the DNC needs to give me specifics. Until then, it’s just more anti-gay rhetoric. I’m waiting, Mr. Dean.

Coming on the heels of all the race and gender issues being raised during this year’s Democratic campaign for president, one has to wonder if this war of words might be a sign of another fissure in the traditional Democratic Party coalition.

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A DNC staffer sent an e-mail to a colleague saying she lines the bottom of her birdcage with The Washington Blade, D.C.’s prominent gay newspaper. And now Kevin Naff, the Blade’s editor, responds:

I’ll take the high road — someone has to — and ignore the personal attacks. It’s astounding, though, that the DNC’s communications director has time in her day to plot revenge against the Blade.

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Remember last month when we told you Kevin Naff, editor of DC’s always gay Washington Blade, was steaming mad that John Travolta had been cast as fat female housewife Edna Turnblad in the remake of John Waters’ campy, classic, girl-meets-world story “Hairspray”? Naff believed Travolta’s embrace of Scientology to be a slap in the face to gays, and ended up being quoted on the topic in the media nationwide (even appearing on Bill O’Reilly — now, that’s going beyond the call of duty).

Well, turns out, Naff wasn’t that angry. Otherwise, would he really have gotten tipsy with Adam Shankman, the director of the film, in Baltimore last week, buying him a shot and going gaga over one of the film’s young stars Zac Efron?

With that little love session in place, and now that the film’s out nationwide, having received overwhelmingly positive reviews (even for Travolta), we asked Naff whether he just might go see the damn thing.

“Hairspray may have won positive reviews, but that didn’t prevent it from opening in third place,” Naff told us. “The LA Times reported that the film’s producers were taking bets it would rake in $200 million domestically. I’d say that’s a pipe dream.”

He left us with this final comment (read your own bitchiness into it, if you must): “Didn’t see the movie.”

Earlier: Washington Blade Editor Calls for “Hairspray” Boycott

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Kevin Naff, editor of DC’s always gay Washington Blade, is steaming mad that John Travolta has been cast as fat female housewife Edna Turnblad in the soon-to-be released remake of John Waters’ campy, classic, girl-meets-world story “Hairspray.” Naff and many others see Travolta’s embrace of Scientology as a slap in the face to gays. 

“It’s well-known that Scientology has operated reparative therapy clinics to try to ‘cure’ gays,’” Naff told the NY Daily News in today’s edition. 

“Scientologists are required to donate a hefty portion of their income to the church,” Naff added. “So, by going to this movie, gay people are literally putting money into an organization that seeks to ‘cure’ them.”

The character of Edna Turnblad was originated by gay drag queen Divine, an icon for many in the gay community (who has since passed away). Naff recently lamented to MSNBC: “Divine is spinning in her grave.”

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