Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

August 1999 – The issue of whether society should tolerate, accept or even celebrate homosexuality has become one of the most volatile cultural issues of the 1990s. But nothing seems to generate more passion – on both sides of the ideological divide – than the question of whether schools, even as early as kindergarten, should be teaching children that “gay is O.K.”

That subject’s flashpoint seems to be developing around two videos that represent two mutually exclusive worldviews. It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, advocates that children be taught to accept homosexuality. A counter video, produced by AFA and titled Suffer the Children: Answering the Homosexual Agenda in Public Schools, takes a critical look at the message of It’s Elementary and the manner in which children are manipulated into arriving at politically correct conclusions about the issue.

AFA has covered the subject of It’s Elementary in detail since it first surfaced in 1996. But it wasn’t until that video’s producers, lesbian Debra Chasnoff and homosexual advocate Helen Cohen, had successfully pushed to have It’s Elementary aired on some PBS stations that AFA decided to produce a rebuttal piece.

In April AFA vice president Tim Wildmon sent a letter to every PBS station in the country, expressing the ministry’s concerns about It’s Elementary’s message. In the letter Wildmon asked station managers, “If you do choose to air It’s Elementary, would you consider giving equal time to the other side of this issue with a program under essentially the same terms?” In order to facilitate Wildmon’s concept of equal time, AFA offered to provide a free preview and broadcast quality copy of Suffer the Children to every station.

Nearly 90 PBS stations decided to air It’s Elementary, representing less than a third of the total number in the U.S. Nevertheless, only a handful even responded to Wildmon’s letter, and virtually every one of those refused AFA’s offer.

Most PBS station officials flatly dismissed the notion that equal time was necessary, arguing that It’s Elementary was not biased in favor of the homosexual viewpoint. For example, William T. Reed, President and CEO of KCPT in Kansas City, Missouri, said the video “does not promote” homosexuality nor does it present a “point of view” about the issue. Instead, Reed insisted, It’s Elementary is “an attempt to show how tolerance for other people is being taught in some schools.”

Wildmon said there was some hypocrisy in PBS stations describing It’s Elementary as a film promoting tolerance. “The video may call for tolerance and respect for all when it comes to homosexuals, but not when it comes to Christians,” said Wildmon. He noted that It’s Elementary shows supposedly Christian people making statements like “God hates fags” and “The Bible I read says homosexuals should be put to death.”

Joanne Whitehead, Program Schedule Manager for CPTV in Hartford, Connecticut, also argued that the video “does not endorse or promote one belief or lifestyle over another.”

Wildmon disagreed. “That demonstrates to us that they’ve already made up their minds on this issue, in favor of the homosexual movement,” he said. “A video that shows kids calling adults prejudiced, narrow-minded, and homophobic because the adults believe homosexuality is wrong is most certainly promoting one belief over another.”

In fact, only three PBS stations agreed to air Suffer the Children in an effort to balance the presentation on this subject: KIXE in Redding, California; KEET in Eureka, California; and KCTS in Seattle, Washington.

Two others – WBGU in Bowling Green, Ohio, and WCET in Cincinnati – held an on-air panel discussion to which an AFA representative was invited. KCTS also extended the invitation in addition to airing Suffer the Children.

AFA accepted those invitations and sent a representative, who debated the issue with members of the homosexual community and advocates of the homosexual rights movement. Helen Cohen participated in the discussion on WBGU.

One of the most frequently mentioned excuses for not airing Suffer the Children was the claim that the AFA video, because it used some clips from It’s Elementary to make its case, had violated copyright law.

But in another letter sent to all PBS stations, AFA Chief Counsel Stephen M. Crampton assured program directors: “The American Family Association Center for Law & Policy has reviewed [both videos]. We have also carefully researched the law governing the fair use of a copyrighted work such as It’s Elementary, and conclude that Suffer the Children in no way violates the copyright protection of It’s Elementary.”

Moreover, Crampton said in his letter, AFA attorneys stood “ready to defend the production of Suffer the Children in a court of law against any spurious claim of copyright infringement.”

PBS stations ignored the letter. “We wonder whether there is someone behind what appears to be a campaign to frighten off PBS stations with implied legal action,” said Wildmon. “Someone does not want the other side of this issue broadcast, and I’m afraid most PBS stations are just looking for an opportunity to turn us down. So much for the free expression of ideas on PBS, the supposed champion of free speech."