HOME > VIEWPOINT > ACTION! ALERT
By: ZACK HUDSON
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Fade in: An advocacy group with an eye toward grabbing newspaper headlines is using a television commercial as its latest target. This time, the culprit in the ongoing war against "traditional American values" is—cue the organ music—a soap opera.
With melodrama reminiscent of the television genre it is taking on, the Traditional Values Coalition denounced as "propaganda" a public service announcement that aired at the end of the May 9 episode of the long-running soap opera "As the World Turns."
The episode marked teen character Luke Snyder’s announcement to his parents that he is gay.
"Luke’s journey to come out is a powerful multi-generational story of love, acceptance and family," CBS Daytime Sr. Vice President Barbara Bloom said in a news release distributed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
But according to an alert sent by the TVC, based in Orange County, Calif., to its supporters urging them to ask CBS affiliate stations not to air the ad, "GLAAD’s message in its PSA will be to stigmatize any person who thinks that homosexual conduct is immoral or abnormal."
TVC officials did not respond to interview requests.
In a May 4 news release, TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty accused GLAAD of "using free advertising to push a message about homosexuality that is not true."
"The homosexual condition is not inborn or unchangeable," Lafferty said.
THE PUBLIC SERVICE ad, a collaboration between GLAAD and CBS, features Van Hansis, the actor who portrays Luke, and Martha Byrne, the actress who plays Lily, Luke’s mother. They speak on behalf of GLAAD’s "Be an Ally & a Friend" media campaign, which asks straight people to support their gay friends, family members and associates who are struggling with acceptance issues.
"The message of being an ally and a friend is simple and resonates with many people," said Damon Romine, GLAAD entertainment media director.
Romine said GLAAD was not concerned about criticism from the Traditional Values Coalition.
THE TRADITIONAL VALUES COALITION’S efforts appear to have had little impact. At press time, CBS had no knowledge of any affiliates that did not air the episode or the PSA, although the TVC claimed in a subsequent press release that e-mails sent to CBS on the issue overwhelmed the network’s email server.
"CBS Daytime is proud to support ‘As the World Turns’ in the telling of this powerfully relevant and engaging story, and we are equally pleased to have GLAAD’s support to do so," Bloom of CBS said in GLAAD’s news release.
Hansis, who is straight, says that he stands behind the ad completely.
"Of course I’m happy I did it. I think it’s a message that should be out there," he said during a telephone interview.
Unlike his character on the show, who will face some rocky terrain ahead in his relationship with his mother, Hansis said he has encountered little criticism for portraying a gay character. He described the response from "As the World Turns" fans as "overwhelmingly positive."
"I get letters every day from kids who are going through the same thing," he said.
Hansis said he wonders why the ad caused controversy at all.
"How can accepting anybody for who they are be a bad thing?" he asked.
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