Antigay Ad Says a "Storm Is Gathering"

A new homophobic ad will soon be hitting the airwaves on channels like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, though some are calling it laughably bad.

The commercial, produced by the antigay National Organization for Marriage, shows a group of actors discussing how the "storm is gathering" because same-sex marriage has been legalized in four states. The fake doctors and church attendants discuss how new advances in gay rights will take away their "freedom" and make it impossible for them to discriminate against gays and lesbians. The ad will run in places like New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and California -- states on the front lines of the marriage-equality movement.

The widely read media blog Gawker panned the ad and showed tapes of the actors' auditions, which were less than professional. Gawker wrote that the commercial contained "infuriating" lies.

Human Rights Campaign spokesman Brad Luna released a press statement that asked, "What's next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda? This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods -- and they don't even come out of the mouths of real people?"

The HRC has launched a website called EndTheLies that hopes to dispel the falsehoods in the commercial.

Reader Comments

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Name: John
Date posted: 2009-04-08 11:40 PM
Hometown: NYC

Comment:

The truly terrifying thing about this ad isn’t that they use lies, but that their lies have some basis in truth. On HRC’s website, you can see the Hardball argument between Joe Solmonese and a member from the National Organization for Marriage; Solmonese did NOT do a good job arguing against the points brought up by their spokesperson. This isn’t something we can just fudge or write off as “lies.” This is the SAME thing that was done in the No on 8 campaign. People are afraid for their religious institutions, and there sadly have been cases where gay rights have directly attacked religious rights. The doctor in this ad was referring to the case where a clinic was sued for one of its doctors refusing to provide artificial insemination to a lesbian woman (mind you, while being perfectly cordial and providing an alternative doctor to do it). We can’t let them make this a battle where fair-minded religious people feel threatened, and ignoring their arguments allows them to do just that.

Name: Christine
Date posted: 2009-04-08 11:11 PM
Hometown: Chicago

Comment:

YOUR freedom?? YOUR freedom will be taken away?? Oh my. Oh my, my. How? How is this affecting anyone but the people that are fighting to be seen as equal citizens in this country? There are zero specifics in this ad! Give me one solid example of how a hetrosexual's life will be directly affected by two loving gay people getting married, I want ONE right that will be taken away from straight people. Attention hetrosexual Christian conservatives: YOU ARE THE ONES WHO HAVE RIGHTS ALREADY, nothing is being taken away from you, unlike loving couples in California thanks to Prop 8. I especially love the young girl saying "I will have no choice" like she's going to catch The Gay and be forced to get a gay marriage. AND the "rainbow" coalition. Come on, you can't take our rainbows!!! This is ridiculous. I really hope these actors got paid well to do this, and that it was enough to allow them to look at themselves in the mirror after doing this ad.

Name: Barbra
Date posted: 2009-04-08 7:23 PM
Hometown: Houston

Comment:

Narcissists and Conflict One simple but easy-to-forget thing about narcissists is that, unlike normal people, they don't mind conflict. They enjoy it and come alive. Conflict makes normal people uncomfortable. We try to minimize it in our dealings with others. Oddly, we love it in fiction (Conflict is the gunpowder of fiction, and it's near relative - controversy - is the gunpowder of journalism. Maintaining constant conflict is the secret to storytelling success). But note that this is "safe" conflict. In real life we hate what we love to see characters go through in fiction. Narcissists have a whole different attitude toward conflict. They use it strategically to manipulate. They seek conflict. They become impossible people, flying into conflict with you over anything you think, say, do, feel, or wear. As if THEY have the right to determine what you say, survive, live, think, do, feel, or wear.

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