LAST EDITED ON 09-13-03 AT 06:11 PM (EST)The article from the Advocate- Montana group targets Queer Eye
'Montana group targets Queer Eye
The conservative Montana Family Coalition plans to launch a campaign against the new television show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, calling it trash that should not be on TV. The coalition's executive director, Julie Millam, said the group's campaign will target advertisers who air commercials during the one-hour reality show, which features five gay designers who give aesthetically inept straight men head-to-toe makeovers. "To me, that's not a reality show about gay people," Millam said. "A really good reality show for gay people would be five gay men dying of AIDS."
Gay rights advocates in Montana say the Montana Family Coalition's reaction to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is really a reaction against growing mainstream acceptance of gay content on television and in American life. "The Montana Family Coalition and other groups are in some ways losing the culture war," said Karl Olson, director of the gay rights group PRIDE. "There is a proliferation of TV shows that have some kind of gay content, celebrities often support gay and lesbian issues, and gay teens are making the most astounding progress in schools."
Millam said she has personally heard many complaints about the program. "There's a groundswell of people who are very upset," she said, adding that the show is another example of the direction in which American television is moving. "We don't want to see (gay content) on every single TV show," she said. "I'm hearing from people left and right that every time they turn on the TV, it's something to do with gay people. It's not reality."'
And then the article from Billings Gazette adds more: Anti-Gay Campaign against TV Show
Anti-gay campaign against TV show **the first part of the article is the same content as the article above, so I didn't quote it again**
By ALLISON FARRELL
Gazette State Bureau
'NBC-affiliate stations across Montana, which ran the program this summer, said they didn't receive many -- if any -- calls from upset viewers. From Butte to Billings, the stations saw no major backlash and the Missoula station fielded a handful of calls.
Millam said she's not opposed so much to the show, but she and the Montana Family Coalition are opposed to the "whole direction" that television is going.
"We don't want to see (gay content) on every single TV show," she said. "I'm hearing from people left and right, that every time they turn on the TV it's something to do with gay people. It's not reality."
Of course "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is not reality, Olson said. It's TV.
"TV is one of the lowest cultural forms in our society," Olson said. "I don't put much stock in it."
Olson pointed out that anti-gay groups have boycotted Disney theme parks for years after the company supported gay rights. However, Olson said, the upset groups haven't done much to affect the company's bottom line.
"My guess is when people turn on a entertainment program or go to the theme park, they're not thinking of politics," Olson said. "I don't think Julie's anti-gay crusade does anything to our political movement and efforts." '
La Métropole
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