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Loading ...Did LA TV station refuse gay marriage ad?
01.22.2009 9:21am EST
(Los Angeles, California) A group advocating for the repeal of Proposition 8 said Wednesday that Los Angeles television station KABC refused to run an ad Tuesday featuring a same-sex couple.
GetToKnowUsFirst.org produced five 30-second commercials featuring gay and lesbian families, with the message “Marriage promotes families. Support marriage equality.”The group is one of several preparing for a possible ballot measure in 2010 to repeal Prop 8 if the California Supreme Court upholds the ban.
Prop 8 limits marriage to opposite-sex couples. It was passed in November with 52 percent of the vote. Supporters of same-sex marriage have asked the court to overturn it on constitutional grounds and oral arguments will be heard later this year.
The ads were aired in 42 of the states’ 58 counties – everywhere the initiative passed by 50 percent or more – during and after Tuesday’s coverage of the Presidential Inauguration.
It appeared on local stations that carried Good Morning America, The Today Show, Despierta America (Univision) and Levantate (Telemundo), as well as on a wide range of regional news stations, CNN and FoxNews during evening coverage of the day’s events.
KABC was the only station that refused to sell the ad space, the group said. The rejected ad profiled two African-American men raising five children ages 6 through 25 in Los Angeles.
The media buy was attempted by the organization’s ad agency, New and Improved Media. Its CEO, Keith Fisher, in a statement Wednesday, said he was surprised that the station rejected it.
“We usually only see this with risque content, as in a trailer for a movie.” Fisher said. “If KABC thinks they have to protect the public from this family, something’s obviously very wrong over there.”
Last week, at the urging attorney Gloria Allred – one of the attorney’s challenging Prop 8 – Rev. Rick Warren indicated he would be willing to show the ads to his congregation at Saddleback Church in Orange County. Days before the Presidential Inauguration, he changed his mind, dropping the offer.
KABC has not commented on GetToKnowUsFirst’s allegations.
One can do is contact the FCC and file a complaint. Even though KABC-TV is private entity the airwaves which they use to make their money belong to the people and that means all the people.
So write the FCC and tell them that KABC-TV does not deserve the renewal of their FCC license since the airwaves belong to all people and KABC-TV is refusing to service all of the communities within their broadcast range. Tell the FCC that KABC-TV is doing a disservice to the people of the whole community.
Anyone who has watched even a few minutes of ABC News or their political commentary won’t be surprised by this.They have tried to our “conservative” the Fox News channel for years. I suppose they believe that this will bering them popularity and high ratings. But as Barak said so eloquently in his inaugural address: “they will be on the wrong side of history.” Frankly the real surprise is that FoxNews ran the ads. Once upon a time, ABC was a respected news organization, now they are just unbalanced.
The amicus briefs in the California gay marriage cases are available at this site:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/highprofile/prop8.htm
Don
If this story upsets you, let KABC know what you think. Information on how to contact KABC is available here:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/feature?section=resources/inside_station/station_info&id=5783592
With so much freedom in the United States, it’s a shame that a television station refuses to show the “gay” community’s family life of two men, who are taking care of children and providing them with a good family background. Will this ever change, not in my lifetime, but I do hope things will change eventually. By the way, I’m 35.