TV Stations Drop Controversial Program on 'Homosexual Agenda'
Two TV stations have pulled from their lineup a television special on the "homosexual agenda" that they deemed too "controversial."
WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich., and WSYX-TV in Columbus, Ohio, both canceled the paid television program "Speechless...Silencing the Christians," produced by the American Family Association, after gay rights activists "bombarded" the stations with protesting calls and e-mails.
AFA founder and chairman Donald E. Wildmon has accused the stations of bowing down to the demands of a handful of homosexual activists.
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"They said the program was 'controversial,'" said the pro-family leader in an e-mail sent Friday to supporters.
"The stations do not consider showing two lesbians or two homosexuals kissing or getting into bed with each other controversial. The stations do not consider all the profanity they air controversial. They regularly show network programs advocating the homosexual agenda, but those programs are not considered controversial."
The one-hour special originally was set to air Monday night on WOOD-TV, an NBC affiliate, but was rescheduled because the station did not think it was appropriate to lead into the president's 8 p.m. press conference.
Gay rights groups like GLAAD, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, had working with local supporters to mobilize activists to contact the Grand Rapids station.
The station offered to move the program to a different time slot but rescinded the offer after not receiving a response from AFA. The decision was also due to mounting pressure from gay rights activists.
"We made a gesture of the 2-3 p.m. Saturday time period. It's been 24 hours and we had no response," Diane Kniowski WOOD TV 8 General Manager said in statement Wednesday.
"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."
An hour prior to the announcement, Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, urged its members contact the station and ask that they pull the scheduled program.
WSYX-TV, an ABC affiliate station, had also agreed to air the special but then revisited its decision.
Initially, the Columbus station postponed the scheduled Feb. 7 airing of "Silencing the Christians," saying the manager of the station had not had a chance to review the program.
But WSYX-TV decided this week to nix the program. The manager of the Columbus station told AFA that the program's content did not represent "positive Christianity."
The cancellations, however, have helped drive AFA's point, according to Wildmon.
"Oddly enough, the TV special shows how the media censors Christians, which is exactly what these two stations did!"
The purpose of "Speechless: Silencing the Christians One Hour TV Special DVD," according a blurb of the product on the AFA's e-store, is to "reveal the truth about the homosexual agenda and its impact on the family, the nation, and religious freedom."
AFA reportedly has the support of over 2.6 million Americans.
