A conservative
group is criticizing the Toronto Maple Leafs for allowing
the use of its name and logo in a movie about a gay
former hockey player and his partner. The Canadian
Family Action Coalition and other followers are
bashing the Maple Leafs and makers of Breakfast With
Scot for "promoting the homosexualization of small
children."
"This is another
attempt by certain individuals to normalize homosexual
behavior, and they assume that the Maple Leafs will will
help the cause," Brian Rushfeldt, cofounder and
executive director of the group, told the Los
Angeles Times. "I don't think it does much for
the image of the NHL among families who may wan their
children involved in hockey."
The film is based
on a 1999 novel by Michael Downing that originally
portrays a magazine editor and chiropractor, the article
said. For the film version, the lead characters were
recast as an ex-Leaf and the team's attorney who are a
gay couple who become guardians to an 11-year-old boy.
Bernadette Masur,
senior vice president for the team's communications,
told the Times that executives for the Leafs
thought the film would present a good opportunity. "Certain
individuals are truly missing the point here," she said,
"This is a story of a contemporary American family
that exists today and is trying to raise a son in the
best way possible." (The Advocate)