Nickelodeon to air program on same sex parenting despite massive protests

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020618/ap_wo_en_po/us_tv_gay_par ents_2

NEW YORK - A children's TV channel is going ahead with a program about same-sex parents, despite receiving so many e-mails that the network had to create a separate address to avoid a computer crash.


The Nickelodeon network received 100,000 e-mails and phone calls to protest the program, set to air Tuesday night in the United States.

The Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition ( news - web sites) has spearheaded the campaign against the show "Nick News Special Edition: My Family is Different."

"It is a cover for promoting homosexuality for kids," said Andrea Lafferty, the coalition's executive director.

Nickelodeon said that's not so. Linda Ellerbee, in the show's introduction, says, "The following program is about tolerance ... It is not about sex. It does not tell you what to think."

Ellerbee said she conceived of this show upon reading that the word "fag" had become the most common schoolyard epithet.

The public acknowledgment by Rosie O'Donnell, who is also featured in the half-hour show, that she is a lesbian put the subject in the news, Ellerbee said. The former talk-show host has adopted three children.

The program is largely a discussion. Although it also features a gay school principal and a gay New York City firefighter who is a father of three, children are the focus.

Some children with gay parents talk about feeling uncomfortable about what other kids say in school. Other children discuss their objection to homosexuality.

Parents are upset because many thought they never had to worry about Nickelodeon's content, Lafferty said.

"They have been led to believe that Nick is a safe harbor," she said. "Now they've been exposed. The skirt has been lifted and Nick has been exposed."

Herb Scannell, Nickelodeon's chief executive, said he had no hesitation about airing the special, calling it another way of "looking at the world from a kid's point of view."

"The whole philosophy of Nick is that it's tough to be a kid in an adult world," he said.

[This message has been edited by ****** (edited 06-18-2002).]

why wouldn't you agree wtih it? All it does is get the message out that there exists families different from a daddy and a mommy so hopefully it won't seem unusual to a child when he encounters it in school. Maybe they'll be less likely to tease if they learn about it at a young age. it's not explicit - it's just laying out facts.

ahhh changed your mind already, eh?

My good buddy Jerry Falwell was on Wolf Blitzer's show a minute ago talking about it and doing his best to not seem like the fucking bigot he is.

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Originally posted by Random Female:
ahhh changed your mind already, eh?

Yeah, I just looked at it and thought 'Wow, that looks stupid. I'm not stupid.' So I deleted it.

Here's a snippet from another article I read:

The half-hour report, produced by Ellerbee and featuring O'Donnell, includes comments from the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who later joined conservative activists in urging Nickelodeon not to air it.

This will probably shoot steam out of my ears. Words cannot describe how much I hate this man. Billy Graham, too.

Good for Nickelodeon. Seriously.

Originally posted by Mayfuck:
Good for Nickelodeon. Seriously.

yes. Linda Ellerbee is hosting the special and she's gay, no?

that really makes my skin crawl. im all for same sex parenting, but i dont like the idea of a children's tv network trying to dumb down the issues to try to promote forced tolerance. the idea of a children's network trying to promote *any* side of any charged debate like this just seems wrong

Originally posted by Delta:
that really makes my skin crawl. im all for same sex parenting, but i dont like the idea of a children's tv network trying to dumb down the issues to try to promote forced tolerance. the idea of a children's network trying to promote *any* side of any charged debate like this just seems wrong

Forced tolerance? Explain how it's forceful.

Originally posted by Delta:
the idea of a children's network trying to promote *any* side of any charged debate like this just seems wrong

Well, you do have a point, and Falwell did also make one that the pro-homosexuals would benefit more from the discussion than his group would, despite how fair the network tried to make it.

I suppose the point behind the thing is to try to instill some open-minded views in the kids before they grow up with a dislike for people different than themselves. Not every kid has the opportunity to grow up in a diverse environment, and the television may be the only exposure they have to people of different races, beliefs, and sexual orientations.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

Originally posted by Ghetto_Squirrel:
Well, you do have a point, and Falwell did also make one that the pro-homosexuals would benefit more from the discussion than his group would, despite how fair the network tried to make it.

If the program benefits pro-homosexuals despite how fair the network tried to make it, shouldn't that tell you a bit about the opinion that anti-homosexuals hold?

Just a thought.

At the same time, that's a far cry from the "Hey, kids, go grope someone of the same gender" message that the opponents seem to claim it is.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

Originally posted by ******:
If the program benefits pro-homosexuals despite how fair the network tried to make it, shouldn't that tell you a bit about the opinion that anti-homosexuals hold?

Heh. I guess it's the same with everything. If there's a pretty objective segment about marijuana on the news, there are probably a hell of a lot more kids thinking that looks like fun than there are thinking they should stop smoking it.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

"Pro-homosexual" and "anti-homosexual" look silly.

Other children discuss their objection to homosexuality.

Eleven-year olds quoting biblical passages...now this sounds interesting to me.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

Originally posted by Delta:
that really makes my skin crawl. im all for same sex parenting, but i dont like the idea of a children's tv network trying to dumb down the issues to try to promote forced tolerance. the idea of a children's network trying to promote *any* side of any charged debate like this just seems wrong

Yeah, 'cause you know... being tolerant is like, bad 'n stuff.

Originally posted by ******:
Forced tolerance? Explain how it's forceful.

maybe forced is a bad word. i dunno, induced tolerance maybe?

all i mean is that the program will obviously have a pro-homosexual bias, and that if the show does in fact have an impact on the impressionable young viewers it will likely induce them to be more tolerant towards homosexuals. and while i do completely think it would be a very cool thing if everyone were more tolerant, i really disagree with the method. it sets a precedent that im not comfortable with. sure, this time the network is advocating the position i agree with, but what happens next time, or the time after?

i dunno, i agree with the ends, but not the means.

Originally posted by Mayfuck:
"Pro-homosexual" and "anti-homosexual" look silly.

i know, but "pro-gay rights" or "pro-gay equality" is less readable

Originally posted by Delta:
and while i do completely think it would be a very cool thing if everyone were more tolerant, i really disagree with the method.

I totally understand what you're saying, but what is the alternative? Not discussing it at all?

Indifference is probably as detrimental to the pro-gay cause as outright gay-bashing.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

Originally posted by Delta:
maybe forced is a bad word. i dunno, induced tolerance maybe?

all i mean is that the program will obviously have a pro-homosexual bias, and that if the show does in fact have an impact on the impressionable young viewers it will likely induce them to be more tolerant towards homosexuals. and while i do completely think it would be a very cool thing if everyone were more tolerant, i really disagree with the method. it sets a precedent that im not comfortable with. sure, this time the network is advocating the position i agree with, but what happens next time, or the time after?

i dunno, i agree with the ends, but not the means.

Well, it's a pretty bold move on the part of Nickelodeon. They will probably lose a lot of viewers because of this special. I know a lot of families who would do that. While it may not be ethically right for children's network to air this special, I like the fact that they're making the decision to try and influence the next generation to be just a little more tolerant.

Originally posted by Ghetto_Squirrel:

Indifference is probably as detrimental to the pro-gay cause as outright gay-bashing.

Exactly.

"Well, what they do behind closed doors is their business... I just don't want to see it happen in front of me"

Originally posted by Ghetto_Squirrel:
I totally understand what you're saying, but what is the alternative? Not discussing it at all?

Exactly. If you can provide a better alternative for it, I'd like to hear it.

Originally posted by Ghetto_Squirrel:
I totally understand what you're saying, but what is the alternative? Not discussing it at all?

Indifference is probably as detrimental to the pro-gay cause as outright gay-bashing.

but tv precludes discussion. and besides, these are kids we're talking about, they arent capable of this sort of discussion. and what's nickolodeon's target age group? 6-12? theres no way a 12-year old can critically think about this sort of topic. and thats my fear, that the kids wont be thinking about it, that they're just going to absorb whatever they're shown, without being able to realize they're being handed a skewed perspective

Originally posted by Delta:
but tv precludes discussion. and besides, these are kids we're talking about, they arent capable of this sort of discussion. and what's nickolodeon's target age group? 6-12? theres no way a 12-year old can critically think about this sort of topic. and thats my fear, that the kids wont be thinking about it, that they're just going to absorb whatever they're shown, without being able to realize they're being handed a skewed perspective

It's not going to be a skewed perspective, though. It's about tolerance and how one shouldn't hate. It's not about why being gay is right or wrong, it's about how much being the target of hate really sucks.

Originally posted by ******:
Exactly. If you can provide a better alternative for it, I'd like to hear it.

an alternative? let the kids be, and work on the thinking, reasoning adult population instead. let abc do a 20/20 special on gay parenting, give publicity to the sociological studies showing that being raised by two men or two women doesnt cause emotional damage, sign the petitions to ease restrictions on gay parenting, but dont indoctrinate children with your viewpoint

Originally posted by Delta:
but tv precludes discussion. and besides, these are kids we're talking about, they arent capable of this sort of discussion. and what's nickolodeon's target age group? 6-12? theres no way a 12-year old can critically think about this sort of topic.

I assume the kids in attendance are to make sure that the discussion doesn't morph into a high-level debate on ethics and morality, with specific references to the bible. Still, while young children won't understand everything, they'll at least recognize that rather uncommon types of families do exist, hence the title "My Family is Different." Also, it might help those who are being raised by two parents of the same gender feel like they aren't alone just because nobody in their school is in the same position.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
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Originally posted by Delta:
an alternative? let the kids be, and work on the thinking, reasoning adult population instead. let abc do a 20/20 special on gay parenting, give publicity to the sociological studies showing that being raised by two men or two women doesnt cause emotional damage, sign the petitions to ease restrictions on gay parenting, but dont indoctrinate children with your viewpoint

I think it's a well known fact that kids at younger ages are much more highly impressionable than kids who are older. If Nickelodeon exposes a nation of kids to another perspective, it will help, I am sure of it.

Originally posted by Delta:
an alternative? let the kids be, and work on the thinking, reasoning adult population instead.

The children now will be the adults of tomorrow. It's much easier to plant a concept in the head of a child than it is to totally reverse any opinions a 45-year old adult may have held during the half century of his/her life.

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My anti-drug is non-consensual sex with minors.
AIM: Mista Saki

Originally posted by ******:
I think it's a well known fact that kids at younger ages are much more highly impressionable than kids who are older. If Nickelodeon exposes a nation of kids to another perspective, it will help, I am sure of it.

i know they're more impressionable, and thats my issue. im worried about this not because i dont want kids to be tolerant, im worried because of what will happen if they decide to do a half hour special on why we need to nuke iraq, or why martial law is a good thing, or why (insert anything im opposed to) is neccessary

Originally posted by Ghetto_Squirrel:
The children now will be the adults of tomorrow. It's much easier to plant a concept in the head of a child than it is to totally reverse any opinions a 45-year old adult may have held during the half century of his/her life.

like i said, i agree with the ends, not the means. i think trying to intentionally plant ideas in a kids head is far more morally wrong than intolerance