On Monday I published a post that outlined a new effort by the American Family Association to disseminate grossly untrue anti-gay propaganda via a one hour television program called " "Speechless: Silencing Christians." The airtime premier of this fraudulent hate piece piece was to air on WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Except, the station has rescinded its prior agreement to air the paid broadcast. No doubt Don Wildmon at AFA is convulsing and the spittle is flying. I suspect that once the station realized precisely what poison it was being paid to air, it quickly wanted to distance itself from the hate speech. From my years tracking of "family values" organizations, AFA is among the most dishonest in the lies it disseminates about LGBT citizens. Here are highlights from the station's website:*
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - WOOD TV8 has rescinded the offer to air a controversial paid program originally set to air Monday. "Speechless: Silencing Christians" was scheduled to air Monday at 7 p.m ., in the slot immediately before President Barack Obama's prime time press conference. The program was pulled from that slot. The producers were contacted and offered another time slot.
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In a statement Wednesday, WOOD/WOTV/WXSP General Manager Diane Kniowski said the offer is now off the table. "We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It's been 24 hours and we had no response," Kniowski said. "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."
In a statement Wednesday, WOOD/WOTV/WXSP General Manager Diane Kniowski said the offer is now off the table. "We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It's been 24 hours and we had no response," Kniowski said. "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."
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HRC had the following things to say about the AFA program as it called upon concerned citizens to contact WOOD-TV8 and voice their concern over the airing of a fraudulent and hate based program:
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Make no mistake: this is the opening salvo in a coming battle over pro-equality legislation. Just as we are on the cusp of historic change – a federal hate crimes law, protections for LGBT workers against job discrimination – extremist groups like the AFA are launching a well-funded national campaign of hatred and fear to halt our progress.
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This program recycles familiar lies: that hate crime laws will “do away with our freedom of speech,” or that pastors will be “criminalized for sharing the love of Jesus Christ.” (In fact, the proposed federal hate crimes law explicitly states that it only applies to physical violence – not speech.). The “anchor” of this faux-news program, which may have already aired in smaller markets, is controversial talk show host Janet Parshall, who in 2006 suggested Matthew Shepard’s lifestyle was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption “state-sanctioned child abuse.”
This program recycles familiar lies: that hate crime laws will “do away with our freedom of speech,” or that pastors will be “criminalized for sharing the love of Jesus Christ.” (In fact, the proposed federal hate crimes law explicitly states that it only applies to physical violence – not speech.). The “anchor” of this faux-news program, which may have already aired in smaller markets, is controversial talk show host Janet Parshall, who in 2006 suggested Matthew Shepard’s lifestyle was responsible for his murder and called gay adoption “state-sanctioned child abuse.”
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The AFA has worked for years to silence LGBT people and their loved ones. Now it claims to be a victim of censorship. But this isn’t civil and this isn’t a debate. This is lies and anti-gay propaganda launched to defeat an inclusive Hate Crimes bill.
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