TV networks ban church’s ‘welcome gays’ commercial

TWO leading US television networks angered gay rights groups yesterday by refusing to carry an ad by a church welcoming gays to their congregations, a message the networks found too controversial.

The United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination which has about 1.3 million members, said the 30-second commercial was aimed at making gays feel included and they were disappointed by CBS and NBC’s decision to reject it.

Cable networks have accepted the ad.

In the ad, heavy-set bouncers stand behind a red velvet rope line outside a church and hand-holding gay couples are turned away.

“Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we,” is the message of the ad.

The church’s director of communications, Robert Chase, said the ad grew out of a two-year effort to welcome gays.

“There are countless persons who feel alienated, rejected or excluded from the church. What we are trying to say is, you are welcome here,” he told ABC’s Good Morning America.

Mr Chase said he was surprised the networks had turned down the ads, which ran in six test markets last spring in predominantly Republican states and drew no complaints.

CBS said the fact that the Bush administration had proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman made the advertisement “unacceptable for broadcast”.

NBC said the ad violated a long-standing policy not to allow ads that dealt with issues of public controversy.