GLAAD: FX Keeps Antigay Comments on 30 Days

I can't believe so many of you (us) are watching anything on ANY Fox-owned channel! The News Corp/The New York Post/Fox Corp/20th Century Fox/Rupert Murdoch HATE US!!! Why put more money in Rupert's pocket to be used as ammunition aimed at the glbt community. BOYCOTT THE NEWS CORP, et.al.!!!!!

I watched the episode last night, and being a documentary filmmaker myself, I do believe there should have been a counter-opinion to Peter Sprigg's statement, as well as another grown-up that could say GOOD things about having been raised by gay parents. Instead they showed a woman whose parents clearly went over the line of parents by talking about sex at the table; it doesn't matter if they were gay men or not. We all know there are tons of poorly raised kids by heterosexual marriages. Still, I think that Spurlock, who I am a fan of, did the best he could. He may have very well wanted Kati to "open her eyes" a little more, that usually is the point of the show. It happened in the other season when a homophobic guy from Michigan spent 30 days with a gay guy in the Castro. Of course, I had concerns about that one as well. Why Castro? How about have him spend 30 days with someone in his own town 3 or 4 doors down? He probably has best friends who are gay and he doesn't even know it.

I watched the episode last night, and being a documentary filmmaker myself, I do believe there should have been a counter-opinion to Peter Sprigg's statement, as well as another grown-up that could say GOOD things about having been raised by gay parents. Instead they showed a woman whose parents clearly went over the line of parents by talking about sex at the table; it doesn't matter if they were gay men or not. We all know there are tons of poorly raised kids by heterosexual marriages. Still, I think that Spurlock, who I am a fan of, did the best he could. He may have very well wanted Kati to "open her eyes" a little more, that usually is the point of the show. It happened in the other season when a homophobic guy from Michigan spent 30 days with a gay guy in the Castro. Of course, I had concerns about that one as well. Why Castro? How about have him spend 30 days with someone in his own town 3 or 4 doors down? He probably has best friends who are gay and he doesn't even know it.

Sean - my reference was not to suggest that presenting both sides on the program would be so, but that forcing the network to alter content to suit our viewpoint would be. Hope that clarifies. I honestly though the show did a good job at showing the various viewpoints. This was about experience as opposed to scientifically controlled research, and thus anecdotal evidence was perfectly appropriate for both sides, in my opinion.

Also I found it interesting - and touching in a twisted way - that the most hostile pro-gay people Kati met were the straight (and formerly somewhat homophobic) family of one of the adopted children. And she couldn't understand why her working, essentially, to put those children back into foster care, might anger these parents. Why can't we be friends, even tho I'm working to break up your families?! Typical Christian entitlement - we need to respect *their* beliefs while they not only don't respect ours, but they want to actively oppress us and interfere in our personal lives.

While I thought it would have been better to counter that claim directly, I thought the show did a good job of showing that claim to be without a very strong foundation by showing numerous happy gay families (parents and children), and straight advocates who argued that gay parents can be great parents and that loving families are definitely better than foster care. I also thought that the episode could have used someone mentioning the fact that homophobic people wanting to deny gay couples children because of the negative impact of homophobia is just circular. She teared up because their children had to decide whether to tell their friends about their two dads – but she didn’t realize that it was people like her who created that situation. Without homophobia there would be no need to “come out”. And the claims about negative things associated with homosexuality? The element of truth is that some of those things *are* associated with being gay - in a homophobic society.

Come on people, lighten up. I bet there are Christians out there who are all up in arms about how 30 Days made Kati look like a victim for her "suffering" and "mental torture" at the hands of her gay hosts. I felt that FX showed a pretty balanced view of gay adoption and a person who is opposed to it. There is probably nothing that the network could have said or shown that would please everyone. Has any other major network done this type of story and "got it all fair and balanced"? I understand we are a persecuted group, but doesn't it make your shoulders sore if you NEVER let that chip rest on the ground, even for a few minutes of relief?

There is nothing "gestapo" like about countering inaccurate and factually untrue medical information. I would lose my clinical social work license if I were to suggest or make a statement to a patient that was not supported by medical or scientific evidence. Theres no reason why other people, whom have NO medical background or training at all, should not have similar restrictions and regulations. Why is it that someone who puts Rev. in front of their names allowed to make medical diagnoses and recommendations that someone else would lost their board certification for?

Mr. Sullivan - you're more than welcome to your opinion as am I. I'll keep it civil and polite. I saw the show and the quote in question was hardly indicative of the tone of the week's experiment. Somebody from the Family Research Council said something insulting and ill-researched about gay people. Are we surprised? Of course it's crap and it's untrue. Still, it is not the responsibility of FX to give an opposing, GLAAD-approved counterpoint soundbite. We can't gestapo our way to equality and acceptance.

You don't see the smoke here? Honey, take off your rose-colored Elton John glasses!