Remember when Michael Sam, the first openly gay athlete to be drafted by the NFL, shoved his sexuality in our faces by kissing his boyfriend on a live television broadcast celebrating his historic first?
Well, the nerve of that guy pushing his values onto us inspired a handful of wholesome folk (20, to be exact) to file complaints with the FCC. ‘What has this country come to?’, they cried. ‘My children are watching this!’ How is one supposed to raise a decent family when “shocking” displays of homosexuality are being aired during a masculine sports program? Ugh!
Well, the fine people at Deadspin filed a FOIA request to see each complaint that was sent to the FCC regarding the kiss, and they range from issues with “images of two homosexual men on television kissing, played over and over for the viewing audience” to a woman who is “EXTREMELY disturbed and concerned” with the “bedroom activity” being aired on a “SPORTS NETWORK.”
One angry man claims he was “trying to teach [his] son right from wrong” when ESPN aired footage of “some kid who got drafted kissing another man and then licking cake off of each other.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Aside from being “harmful to children,” this is “obscene and disgusting, and should not be shown on daytime television,” cried another, who would probably like to see more of this kind of appropriate behavior on television.
All 20 complaints are posted in full at Deadspin. Make sure you’re sitting first.
Billy Budd
My only objection is to the cake in the face.
DerekR
@Billy Budd: I have a feeling that’s first cake you’ve objected to….
DerekR
that’s the
manxxxx
@Billy Budd:
Was it because it wasn’t a gay cake?
Billy Budd
@DerekR:
Dear Derek,
I CAN’T eat any refined sugar, because I underwent gastric bypass surgery 6 months ago. If I eat sugar, I get nauseated. I am not fat anymore, if that is what you are implying. I will be in perfect shape very soon now.
Cheers,
Billy.
TheNewEnergyDude
Don’t tell me…all from the South, right?
What do I win?
hotshot70
some people need to get a life. Leave them alone. Let them have their happy moment.
Lvng1tor
I loved the one that said the “FCC chastised Janet Jackson’s breast” LOL Bad Breast very very very bad breast!
indianaguys
@TheNewEnergyDude: Actually a disproportionate nuber came from Illinois. There were also a fair amount from California and New York.
james_in_cambridge
20? Tens of millions saw it in a country of 315 million and only 20 complained? Boy, thing really are changing…
Geoff B
@indianaguys: Not a surprise. People think Illinois is a deep blue state, but cut the Chicagoland area out of the picture, it’d be redder than Texas.
blondeboyz
Ahhhh, making straight people clutch their pearls = PRICELESS!
Cam
And again, Right wingers show their true colors.
Gays shouldn’t exit, and if they do, they should hide and not let anybody know they exist.
But I’m sure that the typical right wing bigot defenders on here will have some excuse or defense for why it’s ok to keep gays off TV, or they will try to attack Michael Sam because he dared to be on TV, or if that fails they will go after him for wasting food.
gaym50ish
ESPN is a cable channel. The FCC does not regulate programming on cable. They will investigate complaints about ratss or service from your cable or satellite service, but they don’t punish cable broadcasters for program content.
The Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” was different because it was shown on over-the-air TV stations. and the FCC DOES regulate their programming. If you are watching a cable channel, it’s something you CHOSE to bring into your home.
I had to laugh about the “bedroom activity” comment. A kiss never became “bedroom activity” until two guys did it.
tham
They kept the camera on him too long in the hopes of getting the “gay” on camera.
HOWEVER, I have to admit, kissing? Why can’t you be more like rugby players
tricky ricky
given this is a cable station and not broadcast television, the fcc doesn’t give a rats ass about what these people think.