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During and after the inauguration yesterday, these ads showing gay families acting like any happy family would act aired in 42 of the 58 counties in California on stations and during shows such as Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN and FoxNews.
That number would have been 43, but KABC7 in Los Angeles said it was "it was too controversial to air during the Inauguration, since 'many families will be watching,'" according to Chris Yokogawa, a media buyer who tried to purchase the airtime with the local affiliate for the nonprofit GetToKnowUsFirst.org.
It's no surprise that KABC7 would think this is "controversial." After the September 12th Chatsworth train crash that left 25 dead, including the gay engineer, ABC7 news one night at 11 p.m. reported that engineer's ex boyfriend--who committed suicide years before--was just his "roommate," leaving out the whole point of why the story surfaced. In a profile about Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez, the LA Times found that he led a more solitary and private life after the death.
The refusal to let the ads air is stirring more controversy in the gay community. "Yes. That's true. Many families were watching. And seeing homosexuals on TV can give families AIDS, so really, it's obvious that ABC made the right decision," huffed mattymatt, a SFist contributor and organizer of Stop8.org.
