It’s bad enough when the RRRW has to stick their noses in everything that goes on here, but it goes beyond the pale when they push their homophobia into the lives of our neighbors across the pond. Heinz corporation had this wonderful ad depicting family life where the parents just happened to be two men.
Apparently the folks at American Family Association have decided that even in foreign nations they get to define what a family is, and what goes into commercials. After receiving 200 complaints Heinz pulled the commercial from the air. Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out appeared on CNN to defend the ad.
The Headline News segment included Randy Sharp of the AFA, who claimed that the ad promoted a homosexual lifestyle: “What does mayonnaise have to do with homosexuals and their lifestyle?” Sharp claimed that 70,000 AFA supporters in the United States disagreed with the ad.
How is it that 70,000 American AFA supporters in the US even saw the ad to determine that they disagreed with it? I smell BS.
Business marketing analyst Dan Hill said Heinz was right to pull the ad. Hill said:
“In business you can never afford to forget that the bottom line is that ‘family values’ means ‘my family, not your family,’ and I think in the UK most households have traditional family structures.”
Well, perhaps Heinz could rely on “traditional families” to buy their products then since they’re obviously not opposed to throwing us aside to cater to them (which is par for the course really). There are plenty of other brands out there.
Here is the latest press release from Truth Wins Out, and they have a new video!
In Exclusive New TWO Video, A Survivor Tells Of His Escape From ‘Ex-Gay’ Ministries
ORLANDO - A coalition of gay and lesbian community leaders held a media conference today to counter Focus on the Family’s ex-gay Love Won Out symposium, which will take place on Saturday. The ex-gay road show was specifically planned to coincide with Gay Days at Disney and to push Focus on the Family’s election year political agenda, says TruthWinsOut.org(TWO).
“Love Won Out distorts gay life and confuses stereotypes with science, while selling false hope to vulnerable people,” said TruthWinsOut.org’s Executive Director Wayne Besen, at the media conference. “The symposium promotes outdated ideas that are rejected by every reputable mental health association in America. Unfortunately, the real goal of this conference is to pass anti-gay laws and stigmatize gay men and women.”
The conference is strategically timed in a presidential year that will include a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriage and domestic partnership benefits. The event also coincides with Gay Days at Disney and takes place in the shadow of the monumental California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Focus on the Family has exploited these opportunities and promoted this conference by placing offensive billboards in Orlando.
“This is a hurtful symposium that sends the toxic message that some people are inferior and need to change,” said Besen. “Love Won Out divides communities and pits people against each other for political gain.”
To highlight the trauma ex-gay ministries often cause families, TWO released an exclusive video today documenting the story of “ex-gay” survivor Robert Elster, who participated in ex-gay programs for 20 years. Convinced by these groups that he was cured, he married his wife Judy for 15 years and they had two children. Unfortunately, the marriage ended because Robert had not become straight. He had been sold false hope and bought into what he now calls his “inauthentic self.” Today, he lives as an out, proud openly gay man in California.
Additionally, TWO will participate in a Saturday PFLAG-sponsored prayer vigil in front of the Love Won Out conference at 7AM. (First Presbyterian Church of Orlando, 106 East Church Street).
Today’s media conference was held at The Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center of Central Florida. Speakers included: Dr. Kathryn Norsworthy, licensed psychologist; Garrett Granger, Survivor of ex-gay ministries; Rev. John Middleton, Joy Metropolitan Community Church; Pastor Brei Taylor, Oasis Ministries; Linn Possell; Hope Unites United Church of Christ; Wayne Besen, Executive Director, TruthWinsOut.org.
Love Won Out is a quarterly ex-gay symposium that preys on vulnerable and desperate parents. John Paulk, an ex-gay leader who was on the cover of Newsweek, founded the program. Love Won Out suffered a major setback after Paulk was photographed inside a Washington, DC gay bar by Besen in 2000.
TruthWinsOut.org is a non-profit organization that counters right wing propaganda, exposes the “ex-gay” myth and educates America about gay life.
I met Mr. Elster at the vigil and panel discussion here in California. He struck me as a wonderful man, and I’m thrilled he was able to escape the clutches of the “ex-gay” industry and get his life on track. I am also glad he was able to create this video for TWO so more people can learn the insidious truth about the “ex-gay” ministries.
