The gay media watchdogs over at GLAAD have been watching an upcoming episode of FX's 30 Days - and they don't like what they see.
A forthcoming episode of the series, which transplants people into new lives for a month, features an anti-gay woman who trade places with a child-rearing gay. Cue dramatic music…
In an effort to highlight opposing views, 30 Days' producers include an interview with right wing activist Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, who asserts "Homosexuality is associated with higher rates of sexual promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and child sexual abuse, and those are all reasons for us to be concerned about placing children into that kind of setting." Not a rousing endorsement of gays, to say the least, and one that GLAAD believes the show should have clarified.
Says Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson:
This is an episode of 30 Days that GLAAD would have liked to support for its commendable effort to share the authentic story of everyday lesbian and gay parents and their families and the opposition they face in trying to provide a stable and nurturing home for their children. However, FX Networks' insistence on airing - and refusal to correct the record on - this defamatory misrepresentation makes that impossible. It is unacceptable that FX Networks and its parent company 20th Century Fox would provide a platform for the inaccurate and dangerous claims of anti-gay activists - misinformation that can put gay and lesbian parents and their families in harm's way.
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Let America see how absurd these peoiple are. Shutting out "debate" or another point of view sounds awfully fascist.
That's the problem Ousslander … there is no debate. They are presenting the quote as fact without any follow-up to contradict the statement!
Fascist, my arse.
I agree with GLAAD on this one. That should have been handled differently, making it clear that it was just the opinion of the right-wingers + also showing the opposing views from the pro-gay side.
Admittedly, this is all based on assumptions, since I haven't watched the episode.
Typical FOX scaremongering…
I have actually been dreading this episode since I saw the season line-up. Morgan in the coal mines was interesting. Last week's hunter-turned-animal rights activist was actually like watching Animal Cops. This one hurt just watching the previews. I am going to watch it, but I have bad feelings about it. I don't want to be disappointed in Morgan Spurlock's work.
My fiance and I watched it last night and found it heartbreaking. I think that it was a fairly balanced episode, and I think what made Kati's opinions so stark was that she went in to the Patrick home with an agenda rather than an open mind. They were clearly loving parents providing a safe home for these kids, and she just couldn't wrap her mind around it because it didn't fit into a neatly wrapped little box.
I think Kati, while certainly very articulate and passionate, seemed strident and defensive when asked to explain her beliefs.
My jaw dropped when I realized she'd rather see children stuck in a dangerous group home than with a loving family (whether gay, hetero or anything in between). She wasn't open to exploring the gray area outside of her beliefs.
What a shame…but I thought Spurlock created a well-balanced episode that was heartwrenching for all involved - for the Patricks, who couldn't understand why seeing their happy kids wouldn't change her mind, and for Kati, who seemed to learn nothing from her experience in Michigan.
@Cait
Now try telling that to GLAAD…
I had just as much trouble having an open mind about Kati as she had about gays and lesbians in general, and try as I might, I couldn't let go of the feeling that she's JUST BLOODY WRONG.
At the same time, this is the first episode I can remember (I've watched the first season only cursorily thus far) where the fish out of water's position did not change in the least. Even the hunter last week, though he did not give up hunting, certainly had a shift in his thought proess about the willful mistreatment of other animals. I can't get over the thought that Kati and next week's episode are kind of props to avoid the appearance of complete liberal bias.
This series did an episode in a previous season where they brought a guy from smalltown Michigan to live with gay guys in San Francisco and that went (surprisingly) fine — not sure why this one seems so much more negative, must have new producers or their ratings have made them desperate…