The infamous group that loves to hate gay people, the American Family Association (AFA), lost its promised 1 hour of airtime on a Grand Rapids, Michigan television station.
The AFA, which regularly fights LGBT civil rights legislation, originally bought time to broadcast an anti-gay infomercial on Monday at 7 p.m. But the station decided to move the broadcast when President Obama announced an 8 p.m. news conference.
WOOD-TV program director Craig Cole said, “We didn’t feel that it was the appropriate place, leading into the presidential event."
The station then offered to run the infomercial on Wednesday. But when opposition mounted and hundreds of e-mails began flooding the station, Cole suggested to the AFA that it run on Saturday at 2 p.m.
By late Wednesday, the AFA had not responded to Cole's offer so the decision was made to pull the show.
Station manager Diane Kniowski said:
“We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It’s been 24 hours and we had no response. Our station is being bombarded with calls and messages, and we find ourselves in the middle of someone else’s fight. Ours was a fair offer and we are removing ourselves from this matter.”
365gay.com reported that:
The infomercial, “Speechless: Silencing Christians,” is hosted by conservative talk show host Janet Parshall. In a 2006 appearance on the Larry King show on CNN, Parshall suggested Matthew Shepard’s “lifestyle” was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption “state-sanctioned child abuse.”
“‘Speechless’ purposely promote lies and distortions,” the national LGBT rights group Human Rights Campaign said in a statement to its members which led to the e-mail campaign to the TV station.
The program says that if hate crimes laws are passed, pastors will be prosecuted for preaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. It also claims that legislation providing employment protection based on sexual orientation or gender identity will force churches to hire homosexuals.
In addition to a litany of other lies and distortions, the AFA's production also claims that allowing the government to redefine marriage hurts children because studies show children need a mother and father to do well in life.
The reality is that every reputable study involving accredited and respected psychiatrists, psychologist and professional social workers has shown conclusively that not only do children of same-sex relationships do just as well as any other children, most also show a higher level of tolerance and compassion for people who are "different" from themselves. And, because of that, they're much more capable of adapting to and being comfortable with diversities of all kinds.
Speculation is that the AFA is attempting to negotiate with other stations across the country to carry the hour-long program.
We'll keep our eyes and ears open. If anyone does hear anything about the rescheduling of this travesty, please let me know.
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