Courage Campaign, the grassroots LGBT equality network based in California, has launched an online petition calling for NBC to ends its affiliate relationship with KETK in Tyler.
The petition comes in response to a report that aired on KETK on Wednesday morning (above), in which the station asked viewers whether the acceptance of homosexuality will be the downfall of America. From the Courage Campaign:
The video is shocking. But the lack of response from NBC Universal — KETK’s parent network — is even more shocking. That’s why we need you to watch the video now and then sign our petition to NBC Universal executives Jeff Zucker and Steve Burke asking them to end NBC’s affiliate relationship with KETK immediately
Sign the petition by going here.
It is now urgently important for the viewership in Tyler, Texas, and particularly the youth viewership there, to hear messages of enlightenment and acceptance. I believe there are critically important parallels between how the Nazis exploited anti-gay hatreds for political ends, and what KETK is witnessed doing in this TV segment. In a propagandistic, anti-gay rights context, the station showed the image of President Obama giving his “It gets better” message of acceptance, inclusion and love for gay people. But, it did not play the audio of Obama’s words. Obama recorded the message in reaction to a series of gay youth suicides. KETK employees responsible for the segment should be asked, on air, 1) Do you acknowledge a connection between anti-gay bigotry and gay youth suicides? 2) Do you acknowledge that Obama filmed that video in an effort to reduce youth suicides? and 3) What are you trying to do to reduce youth suicides?