Another L.A. Station Refuses Gay Ad

NBC's Los Angeles affiliate refused to air a commercial advocating marriage equality -- featuring a gay couple raising five children -- during the Super Bowl on Sunday. The spot, produced by GetToKnowUsFirst.org and POWER UP, was rejected after KNBC's legal department previewed the ads to the National Football League. The NFL said they opposed airing advocacy ads during games, although several spots during the event addressed topics such as steroids and smoking.

"We bought ads before, during, and after the Super Bowl in 10 markets across California," said GetToKnowUsFirst project coordinator John Ireland in a statement. "We planned this buy weeks in advance and heard late Friday that the NFL rejected our ads because they violate the NFL's 'no advocacy' policy. I was truly stunned while watching the programming, to see that they had selectively blocked our ads, while allowing other advocacy ads to air."

Awareness of the need for marriage-equality outreach has become more crucial in Los Angeles since Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to overturn same-sex marriage, won in the county by less than half of a percentage point.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation demanded that the local network meet with GetToKnowUsFirst to further discuss the reason the ad was rejected.

The organization ran into similar roadblocks when it tried to air a similar advertisement during the presidential inauguration in January on KABC, another Los Angeles affiliate. Days later KABC general manager Arnie Kleiner met with Ireland and Damon Romaine of GLAAD to apologize for the ad being rejected.

"I have seen the [PSAs] and will gladly air the spots on any day part on our schedule," Kleiner said, according to a January 24 statement by GetToKnowUsFirst. "Gay and lesbian families are part of our KABC family, and issues of equality are certainly not a controversial subject for us." (Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com)