GLAAD
joined the United Church of Christ today in expressing concern about CBS’s decision to accept a Focus on the Family advertisement for broadcast during the nationally televised Super Bowl on Sunday, February 7, after having refused ads in 2004 from the United Church of Christ focusing on the church’s commitment to inclusion.

“CBS’s decision to run a Focus on the Family ad during this year’s Super Bowl can’t and shouldn’t be considered in a vacuum,” said GLAAD Senior Director of Media Programs Rashad Robinson. “CBS spent years denying a platform to an LGBT-inclusive church that wanted to share a message of inclusion with a national audience.

Now, when it happens to be financially inconvenient for CBS to hold to the standard it had previously imposed, the network’s expediency benefits a virulently anti-gay organization whose advocacy on these issues is the antithesis of that of the United Church of Christ.”


In 2004 CBS rejected
ads submitted by the United Church of Christ as “unacceptable for broadcast” because the ads promoted LGBT equality.

CBS’ explanation to the UCC stated that, “Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and the fact the Executive Branch [Bush Administration] has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks."

CBS responded to complaints over a conservative group's planned Super Bowl ad featuring football star Tim Tebow by saying that it had eased restrictions on advocacy ads and would consider "responsibly produced" ones for open spots in its Feb. 7 broadcast.