GLAAD Rips NYT's Puff Piece On AFA

Yesterday I noted that the New York Times handled the vicious American Family Association with kid gloves in a profile that was almost glowing at times. Today GLAAD denounces the piece and its author. An excerpt:

Anti-gay activists claim that those judges “supported” marriage for gay and lesbian couples – a claim which Eckholm repeats here. But this is a gross mischaracterization. The truth is that those judges ruled that under the state constitution, the state could not legally prevent gay and lesbian couples from marrying. “Supporting” something and saying “it’s unconstitutional to ban” something are two very different statements, particularly when it comes to judicial rulings. By adopting AFA’s own claims here, Eckholm may as well have called them “activist judges.”

There are other instances of this too, like saying Home Depot supports “gay pride parades” instead of correctly pointing out that it supports the entire LGBT community. Why the focus on just parades? I have to assume that’s the language AFA uses, because that’s the image it wants to conjure up in its boycott calls. By adopting AFA’s slyly inaccurate language – and by mischaracterizing this disagreement as one between the AFA and “liberals” rather than between the AFA and an overwhelming majority of Americans – Erik Eckholm has done his audience and his newspaper a great disservice.

Evil Homosexuals Are Winning Over America Through Television

Yesterday GLAAD released their annual assessment of LGBT portrayals on network television, declaring that ABC Family was the best place to find positive gay characters and plots. Right on cue, the Southern Baptist Convention is expressing its disgust.

Dwayne Hastings, a vice president at the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, agreed that TV has shaped the culture, but not for the better. Hastings said parents should instill strong morals and stand on biblical truth, which condemns homosexuality. "For families who seek to follow Christ and earnestly live out their faith, there is nothing happy in this report," Hastings said. "Those who push for so-called homosexual rights and lobby for same-sex interests ... have a powerful ally with deep pockets in the entertainment industry who are more than willing to use their media to recast the homosexual lifestyle as normative."

He added, "Unfortunately, many Americans are willing to allow Hollywood to manipulate their perspective on the world." Said Hastings, "The reality is that if we were to publish the same kind of report that GLAAD has produced but instead focus on the presence of evangelical Christians on television, it would be a very short report. But few are concerned about the lack of accurate, portrayal of Bible-believing characters on television or in the movies. "Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a well-financed and detailed plan at work to change Americans' opinions on those who practice homosexual and lesbian lifestyles. Given reports like this one, we can tell it is a very effective plan."

There's a lack of "Bible-believing characters" on television? I coulda sworn my cable system vomits out about about two dozen ALL-Christian channels. In multiple languages.

ABC Family Tops GLAAD's Study

According to GLAAD, the best place to find quality LGBT-oriented television programming in the last year was on ABC Family.

ABC Family became the second network in the NRI's history to earn an "Excellent" rating from GLAAD. Of its 103 hours of original primetime programming, 55% included LGBT-inclusive images which also reflected the ethnic and racial diversity of the LGBT community. It is notable that both ABC Family and MTV, which in 2010 received the first-ever "Excellent" rating from GLAAD, are both youth-oriented networks. "As television audiences get to know our community and the common ground that we all share on the screen and in their own lives, acceptance is growing," said Mike Thompson, Acting President of GLAAD. "Inclusive programming is a hit with critics and audiences alike who cheered for Kurt and Blaine's romance on Glee or watched the wedding of Callie and Arizona on Grey's Anatomy."

Hit the link for a breakdown of other networks.