"ELLEN" SHOW ATTACKED BY AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION
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The Show:
Ellen DeGeneres is the star of the TV sitcom Ellen, who plays the
role of the likable, chronically confused, unassertive owner of a book store.
It can be seen on Wednesdays over the ABC network.
She is a lesbian in real life. At the start of the season, word "leaked" out
that the character "Ellen" was going to gradually come out of the closet on the
show. The episodes have included the occasional hint of her character's
homosexuality: she was seen emerging from a closet with a cute comment; she came
within a hairsbreadth of coming out to her parents, implying that she had a
lifelong secret. But at the last moment, she confessed that she is
left-handed.
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American Family Association
When the word Family appears in the name of an organization, there is
a significant possibility that the group is a Fundamentalist Christian
organization that is profoundly homophobic, and opposed to equal rights
for all families.
The American Family Association was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon
when he "became angry one night because all of the TV programs he tried to watch
contained sex...." They maintain an extensive media monitoring service
which identifies the main corporate sponsors which fund programs with a
high "filth" content. They equate all references to human
sexuality as filth. Any realistic, sympathetic portrayal of gays or lesbians
is interpreted as promoting the gay lifestyle.
Their Email address is bud@afa.net;
their WWW page is at http://www.afa.net.
They offer free complimentary trial subscriptions to their monthly journal.
The Boycott
The American Family Association has sent postcards to its 750,000 members
pre-addressed to two of the show's frequent sponsors: PepsiCo and VISA. The cards
say in part:
"Now...Disney/ABC may bring the lead character Ellen's lesbianism out of the
closet for America's families. While we feel homosexuals and lesbians have
dignity and worth as fellow human beings, we don't feel homosexuality/lesbianism
should be promoted on television as a normal, alternative life-style. It is not
natural and it is not healthy. I am asking Visa [or PepsiCo] not to sponsor 'Ellen's'
promotion of such."
Their campaign seems to make a number of invalid points:
 | Portrayal of a lesbian character equals promotion of homosexuality.
Behind this assertion is the false belief that sexual orientation is
somehow catching - if gay and lesbian characters are portrayed accurately
then some viewers will decide to change their sexual orientation. In
reality, one's sexual orientation is unchangeable
|
| Homosexuality is not normal. It is
definitely not normal for over 90% of the human race, but then
heterosexuality is not normal for the rest. |
| Lesbianism is unhealthy. A comparison of statistics for AIDS and
other STDs shows that lesbians are far healthier than heterosexual women. |
| Lesbianism is a life-style. This implies that sexual orientation is a
choice. It isn't, as any adult, homosexual or heterosexual, can figure out
for themselves. A person only has to ask themselves how to go about changing the
people to whom they feel sexually attracted, to the opposite gender. |
You may wish to contact:
| Roger Enrico, Chair, PepsiCo, Inc., 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY
10577-1444, and |
| Carl Pascarella, President, VISA USA, P.O. Box 8999, San Francisco, CA 94128-8999.
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