The Christian conservative group
American Family Association (AFA) is calling on members to boycott
NBC's Today Show over its decision to open its annual Modern
Wedding Contest to gay and lesbian couples.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) began protesting the exclusion of gay couples from
the contest about two weeks ago. NBC executives reversed course
Thursday after meeting with representatives from GLAAD. In addition
to including gay couples, producers also agreed to extend the
deadline for the contest until Monday, July 12 to allow for gay
couples to submit their applications.
On Friday, the AFA began urging members
to protest the network's decision.
“Let NBC know their recognition of
same-sex marriage is an attack on traditional moral and
Judeo-Christian values, and to recognize it as such is cause for you
to stop watching the 'Today' program altogether,” the group said on
its website.
The campaign
against NBC asks members to contact Today Show Producer Jim
Bell.
A sample protest letter provided by the
group chides the network's recognition of gay marriage, calling it an
“affront to the very sanctity of marriage.”
“Please count me as one who will no
longer consider watching NBC's 'Today' show and I reject your attempt
to engineer the social acceptance of political correctness,” the
letter says.
The popular contest asks viewers to
plan the wedding – from soup to nuts – of one lucky couple, who
then marry live on the air sometime in the fall on NBC's dime.
The decision
also spurred a heated debate at the show's Facebook page.
The AFA has a long history of launching
boycotts against gay-friendly corporations, including PepsiCo,
McDonald's and Ford Motor Company.
Seventy-two-year-old AFA founder Donald
Wildmon stepped down as chairman of the group in March. His son Tim
Wildmon took over the reins of the group and has kept up his father's
heated anti-gay rhetoric.