Gay rights groups the Courage Campaign
and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) say
they are appalled by a Texas radio station's segment asking listeners
if acceptance of gay people will be “the fall of America.”
KTBB radio host Garth Maier asked
listeners on Thursday: “Will the acceptance of homosexuality be the
fall of America?”
Portions of the radio segment also
aired on Tyler-based NBC affiliate KETK. (The video is embedded in
the right panel of this page.)
“The gay issue definitely will be the
downfall of America,” said one caller. “Obama has got to go.”
In making his case, Maier noted that
the Obama administration has appointed a record number of openly gay
officials, that
the president recorded a video message to troubled gay teens
considering suicide as part of the It Gets Better campaign, and
claims by a recent survey that 10 percent of teenagers are openly
gay.
“GLAAD is appalled that any reputable
news organization would even think to invite debate on such a
preposterous question, the language of which exhibits the rhetoric
used regularly by anti-gay extremists,” GLAAD said in a blog post.
The California-based gay rights group
Courage Campaign is demanding NBC executives Jeff Zucker and Steve
Burke immediately end their affiliation with KETK.
“We are shocked by the segment aired
on KETV-NBC in Texas, in which the anchors asked viewers if the
acceptance of gays would lead to the 'downfall of America.' As
president of NBC Universal, we demand that you take action now to end
your affiliate relationship with KETV immediately,” a
protest petition sponsored by the group says.