Pride and Shame

K-ABC 7 Los Angeles
January 22, 2009

The Los Angeles affiliate of ABC (whose parent company is the heterocentric Disney Corporation) thinks gay families are “too controversial”. The organization GetToKnowUsFirst.com has been running a series of spots depicting gay families. The advertising staff at K-ABC - Mary Carrera, Doug Coss, Fran Viesti, Rich Vedder, and Tom Levee - refused to run the ad during President Obama’s inauguration, and released a statement with the lame excuse quoted above.

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Let ABC and Disney know this kind of demonizing behavior will not be tolerated. Send an email to the K-ABC advertising staff and the Disney ad staff and tell them you’ve had enough.

Email the Advertising Staff of K-ABC & their parent company, Disney: sales@myabc.com, james.smith@disney.com, AdSalesInquiry@news.abctv.com

Suggested Email (copy & paste into email)

Attention Mary Carrera, Doug Coss, Fran Viesti, Rich Vedder, Tom Levee of K-ABC 7:

I am writing to you as part of a protest organized by PrideandShame.com. It was recetnly reported that K-ABC refused to run an ad depicting gay families during the Presidential Inauguration because you deemed it “too controversial”.

For you to call American Families filled with love and care for their children “too controversial”, is at best, offensive, and at worst, another part of the hate machine in California that seeks to put LGBT people back in the closet by demonizing us and our children. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I am copying James Smith, Vice President of Advertising Sales for the West Coast region at Disney to make certain my displeasure reaches as far as possible. Disney & ABC should know that this sort of homophobic censorship is not only Un-American, but it will not be tolerated by the thinking, loving citizens who have up to this point been your loyal viewers and customers.

GetToKnowUs.com deserves an apology, a refund, and a public statement that states your company encourages and supports all families that possess love, not simply those that possess heterosexuals or marriage licenses.

Sincerely,

Another Citizen for Equality