The fallout from NBC's and CBS's rejections of an United Church of Christ ( UCC ) television commercial continues.
Various groups have called on network executives to clarify their positions. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD ) and the Human Rights Campaign have talked with senior executives in CBS's corporate communications and standards and practices departments to explain their statements, according to a GLAAD release. To date, they have not done so.
The CBS and NBC television networks rejected an advertisement for the UCC that shows two beefy bouncers turning away a gay couple, a Latino woman and a disabled man outside a church. A lesbian couple is also featured in the ad. 'Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we,' the ad says. Then, a narrator affirms the UCC's commitment to Jesus's welcome: 'No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.' In a written explanation to the church's ad agency, CBS linked the ad to the issue of same-sex marriage and said it does not accept advertising 'on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance'; NBC simply called the ad 'too controversial.'
However, the church has struck back by filing a petition to deny the licenses of two Miami area television stations, WFOR-TV ( a CBS station ) and WTVJ-TV ( an NBC station ) , according to a UCC news release. The stations, whose operating licenses are currently up for review by the Federal Communications Commission, are being challenged because 'there is substantial and material question' as to whether the stations' parent companies, Viacom Inc. and the General Electric Company, have operated the stations in the public interest, the petitions state. ( Licenses come up for renewal once every eight years. In the current cycle, only stations in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are under review. )
In addition to Fox—the only major broadcast network so far to say it will air the UCC's ad—the 30-second spot has been accepted by a number of cable networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, CNN, Comedy Central, the History Channel, Nick at Nite, and TBS, according to GLAAD's statement. The ad can be viewed at www.stillspeaking.com .