FOX News rejects gay troops TV ad

November 23, 2010

Cross-posted from LGBTPOV.

By Karen Ocamb

Apparently Fox News is afraid of any opinions not their own – especially if they’re – gasp – foreign! How else explain Fox’s rejection of this simple 30 second ad produced by the Palm Center in which two Generals from allied forces say on May 2010 that gay troops do not undermine combat effectiveness.

Major General Semianiw, Chief of Military Personnel in the Canadian Forces,: “There is no negative impact of having men and women of any sexual orientation fighting together, be it in Afghanistan, be it in Iraq.”

Major General Simon VL Willis (ret) former Head of Defence Personnel in the Australian Defence Force: “The lifting of the homosexual ban was a bit like Y2K. It was a non-event, and it continues to be a non-event.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0qAAtLQ8zw&fs=1&hl=en_US

Filed under: DADT trial

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715427 CommentsFOX+News+rejects+gay+troops+TV+ad2010-11-23+22%3A14%3A00couragecampaign Leave a Comment

1. Ronnie | November 23, 2010 at 8:21 am

Faux news can…erm…starts with a "B" & rhymes with show…as in just show the fraking commercial & stop being a ungrateful little reich wing brain washer ….me….. <3…Ronnie
2. Alan E. | November 23, 2010 at 8:25 am

Duh. Fox News has to tell Americans what they think, even if 70% of 'Murcans support the repeal of DADT.
3. Lesbians Love Boies | November 23, 2010 at 8:28 am

I periodically change the channel to Fox News just to see what they happen to be saying…too many lies. They live in a separate reality than most Americans.
4. Lesbians Love Boies | November 23, 2010 at 8:34 am

Great commentary. I do have much hope that we will eventually have equal rights in the US – but I also fear for the lives, emotions and dignity of many 'family' members while our nation transitions to LGBT equality.

Hate Groups Waiting in the Wings

A steady theme of my weekly column this year is the notion that the LGBT community has reached a tipping point and is winning the war. While the trajectory of history is clear, there will be another 10-20 years of hard-fought battles ahead. During this period, life for LGBT people will gradually improve, punctuated by unsettling instances of violence caused by the increased desperation of anti-gay activists.

The only way the LGBT community can lose is if America is overcome by extremism. Thus, it is disturbing to see the radicalization of our opponents, and watch as these once semi-nuanced organizations have simply gone nuts.

This week, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a landmark report on anti-gay defamation. The SPLC certified several new hate groups, including well-known organizations, such as The Family Research Council and The American Family Association.

A perfect example of alarming rhetoric came from FRC spokesman Peter Sprigg. Responding to a question about uniting gay partners during the immigration process, Sprigg said, "I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them."

Last February, Sprigg appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and said, "I think there would be a place for criminal sanctions on homosexual behavior."

"So we should outlaw gay behavior?" Matthews asked.

"Yes," Sprigg replied.

The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer claimed in a May 27 blog post that "homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and 6 million dead Jews."

The Traditional Values Coalition, which was already an SPLC hate group, has a page on its website headlined "Homosexual Urban Legends", which ridiculously asserts without evidence that, "[t]he cold, hard fact is that teens who are struggling with homosexual feelings are more likely to be sexually molested by a homosexual school counselor or teacher than to commit suicide over their feelings of despair."

More: http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/7876-hate…
5. nightshayde | November 23, 2010 at 8:35 am

I just can't. More than a minute or two & I'm fighting the urge to throw something at the TV.
6. Lesbians Love Boies | November 23, 2010 at 8:40 am

You should always have a basket of marshmallows handy!
7. Bill | November 23, 2010 at 8:45 am

This must be read to be believed…
http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/22/dont-hint-dont-…

I have no words…
8. Ann S. | November 23, 2010 at 8:47 am

Fox News lies.

Yet again.
9. Lesbians Love Boies | November 23, 2010 at 8:51 am

hmmm. it seems to him it's okay for lesbians to be in the military – cause we make good nurses and secretaries? HA!
10. Kathleen | November 23, 2010 at 9:00 am

√
11. Lesbians Love Boies | November 23, 2010 at 9:24 am

Firstly I like these young men, Sean Simonson and Bernardo Vigil…they have tenacity and should be applauded for both of their strength and courage.

They wrote an editorial that condemned Archbishop Niestadt's anti-gay and anti-equality marriage DVD that was mailed out to people.

Benilde-St. Margaret censors student newspaper
Article and editorial contained anti-homophobic messages

Sean Simonson and Bernardo Vigil expected the latest issue of Benilde-St. Margaret's school newspaper, The Knight Errant, to cause a stir.

For one thing, the November 11 issue would contain a staff editorial, written primarily by Vigil, that condemned Archbishop John Niestadt's anti-gay-marriage DVD mailing. At a Catholic school like Benilde in St. Louis Park, that was a shot across the bow.
Sean Simsonson and Bernardo Vigil, seniors at Benilde-St. Margaret, had their writing on homosexuality censored by the school administration.

The paper would also include a personal essay written by Simonson, talking about his experience as a gay teen at Benilde, and his own flirtation with suicide.

But neither of the high school seniors anticipated that the articles would generate so much controversy that the school would yank them from the website within 30 hours, or that it would become a national news story.

"At the time, we thought the staff editorial might upset some people at the school, just because it was talking about the Archdiocese," says Vigil.

Simonson interjects: "We didn't think there would be as much reaction to my piece, because it's really just about my experience, and you can't really argue against someone's experience."

Vigil and Simonson are the kinds of friends who finish each other's sentences. They've known each other since Vigil moved here from North Carolina in 2008. When Simonson first came out as gay a year and a half ago, it was to his best friend—the girl Vigil is now dating.

Within hours of the articles going live, comments came streaming into the website. Traffic to the site spiked fivefold, then tenfold. Many thought the staff editorial of a Catholic high school newspaper shouldn't be criticizing the archbishop's actions. The reactions to Simonson's essay were more varied. Many praised Simonson's courage and his eloquence.

I love the duct tape – Censored!

Vigil was furious. As soon as he got to work, he fired up his laptop. First, he re-posted both pieces on his Facebook page. Then he composed a press release detailing the censorship, and emailed it to every local news outlet he could think of.

Last Monday, Vigil's cell phone started blowing up. He couldn't pick up his phone, because he was in class, but that problem was soon remedied when his teacher kicked him out for wearing a duct-tape gag scrawled with the word "censored."

Full Article: http://www.citypages.com/2010-11-24/news/benilde-…
12. Steve | November 23, 2010 at 9:24 am

That whole segment is from a discussion at the Brookings Institute earlier this year. Well worth reading (or listening to):
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0519_militar…
13. bryce | November 23, 2010 at 9:33 am

the production value of this commercial falls far below what would normally be accepted at any major television station. in fact, its such a poor looking commercial, i'm not sure it would help the push to repeal DADT, especially considering this instance where it is targeted directly at folks who are likely to resist.
unfortunately, the delivery of the message is more important than the content. somebody please put together a better ad. lets get this right and really make a difference to those viewers.
14. Marlene | November 23, 2010 at 9:48 am

Makes me glad I don't have cable. I do wish they'd go to ala carte — wonder how many folks would drop Faux News from their package?
15. Sagesse | November 23, 2010 at 10:09 am

Ticking the box
16. Chris in Lathrop | November 23, 2010 at 10:24 am

I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh every once in a while just to laugh at the crap that fell from his mouth… until I was old enough to realize that people actually took him seriously. Now, like Rush, Faux News just makes me sick.
17. JonT | November 23, 2010 at 10:29 am

Fox news is a propaganda arm of the right wing in this country. Hardly surprising they wouldn't run this ad – it doesn't fit their narrative.

Did anybody see last week's Simpsons? In it, they had a fox news helicopter, and on the side it said something like:

'Not Racist.
But #1 among racists.'
18. JonT | November 23, 2010 at 10:35 am

Heh, I stopped reading after '…gays spread disease at a rate far…'

I've already read this shit. Can't these thugs make up some new shit for a change?
19. Alan E. | November 23, 2010 at 10:45 am

Did you hear what the pilot said when the guy jumped off?

We're unbalanced! It's not fair! It's not fair!

(or something like that)
20. JonT | November 23, 2010 at 10:54 am

Yep, then it crashed and exploded.
21. nightshayde | November 23, 2010 at 11:23 am

Homosexual men are turned on by the sight of other men, as shown by the amount of gay porn on the internet. o.o? Am I missing something, or is there a significant amount of straight porn online, too? Or is straight porn just not an issue because men and women don't shower together in the military (as far as we know)?

What a load of tripe…
22. Richard A. Jernigan | November 23, 2010 at 1:32 pm

And no, it does NOT surprise me that FOX ("guarding" the henhouse) refused this ad. As we all well know FOX is not known for speaking the truth.
23. Bob | November 23, 2010 at 2:44 pm

bryce, perhaps some truth to what you say about production value, and delivery of the message,

the really valuable point is that it is allied forces, with experience, that would annoy Fox more than the message, it's very odd that these allies continue to support these wars??? the U.S. army is used by FOX , big business, and the church,
24. BK | November 23, 2010 at 6:10 pm

LOL, definitely! Good idea… thanks.
25. Kathryn Howie | November 23, 2010 at 8:49 pm

For anyone who wants to read the article in the" Knights Errant "school publication by Sean Simonson you can find it here:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14941078/kecensorcache.ht…

Sorry the link I had to the Editorial has been tampered with since I read it – I’m sure it will be casched somwhere, but I dont have the link –

If you want to look at and can stomach watching it – it truly does Dr Gorbels art proud- The DVD sent out by roman catho;ic bishop Neinstedt in Mn. is on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MnCatholic#p/u/1/Mr7Z…

Im sure the people who produced this could sell ice to eskimo's. The thought is chilling. Shudder!
26. Alan E. | November 24, 2010 at 2:29 am

Here is the editorial:
http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/11/15/23404…
27. Rhie | November 25, 2010 at 6:42 pm

Of COURSE they didn't want them on there.

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