Hollywood's Propaganda Awards

by L. Brent Bozell III May 16, 2003

How would Hollywood respond if a group were formed a group called Christians United for Repentance and Education (CURE), with a mission to hand out awards for those TV programs doing the best job of promoting a religious or socially conservative viewpoint on homosexuality? Yes, yes: we know that finding programs to honor would be nearly impossible. We also know that virtually no one in the industry would rush to accept these awards.

With that idea in mind, now consider the opposite. Consider the libertine lobby that suggests that traditional religion and social conservatism are poisonous to enlightened thinking, ideologies of "defamation" and hate, spurs to hurtful slurs and violent beatings. One of their media-educating projects is called the "Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" (GLAAD). When spring rolls around, the GLAAD Media Awards are held in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Hollywood moguls and stars not only flock to the events, they pay for them.

The GLAAD Web site hands out smooches for its 2003 corporate sponsors, which include nearly every TV and movie company in Hollywood. HBO is closest to the top in contributions, listed as an "underwriter." Just below that, AOL Time Warner and Showtime are "Gold Patrons." Regular "Patrons" include ABC, MTV, NBC, Paramount, and Warner Brothers Records. "Sponsors" round out the list: CBS, Fox, Lifetime, Miramax, NBC Studios, Sony Pictures, Time Inc., Time Magazine, People Magazine, even Teen People Magazine.

Barbara O'Dair of Time Inc. came to accept an award for Teen People for "Outstanding Magazine, Overall Coverage," which shows how important the gay lobby thinks it is to promote homosexuality to teenagers.

GLAAD claims its awards are for honoring "fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives." But its award winners show that's clearly not true. They honor propaganda TV shows, propaganda films, and propaganda news programs.

In honoring their other winners, the more obvious purpose is listed. Gay filmmaker Todd Haynes wins for "outstanding contributions in combating homophobia." Eric McCormack, the straight actor playing the gay title character in NBC's sitcom "Will and Grace," is honored for "his public commitment to the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community." Combat, commitment, cause, advocacy: these are awards for lobbying for the gay agenda.

For example, the upcoming May 31 dinner in San Francisco will honor actress Stockard Channing with a "Golden Gate Award" for portraying Matthew Shepard's mother in the NBC TV-movie "The Matthew Shepard Story." When "Entertaintment Tonight" asked last year why the movie didn't include any background into the thugs who killed Shepard, Channing explained, "The only encounter they had with Matthew Shepard was to kill him. So it wasn't as if they had a relationship."

Channing can't even delve into the fact that Shepard was trying to create a fast sexual relationship, which is why he got into a car with two killers. Everything outside the gay-left comfort zone is left out of the conversation. Films like this and HBO's Shepard film "The Laramie Project" pound into people's heads that "prejudice" (goaded by the religious right) killed Shepard, not the actual killers.

ABC's Diane Sawyer earned the "Excellence in Journalism Award." GLAAD defines "excellence" as a synonym for "lobbying." In March of 2002, Sawyer hosted two hours of "Primetime Thursday" devoted to a dramatically lopsided presentation of lesbian comedienne Rosie O'Donnell's crusade to make adoption by homosexuals legal in the state of Florida. It was titled "Rosie's Story: For the Sake of the Children." Sawyer used ABC's airwaves to lobby against Florida law.

Accepting her GLAAD award in New York, Sawyer proclaimed "It means the world to me...Because I really do believe that every time you care about someone and respect someone and love someone for what they entirely are, in every way, it's like inventing fire for the second time. Anything can happen. And we're not done yet." Notice the "we" united in promoting homosexuality. Could Sawyer ever proclaim her love an respect for social conservatives, for "what they entirely are"?

In the end, the libertine lobby's logic collapses upon itself: diversity cannot be fully diverse, inclusiveness cannot be fully inclusive, fairness cannot be fully fair...and the God of the Holy Bible really isn't God. But logic isn't necessary to win this battle when so many people with traditional values don't have the courage to speak out for fear of being labeled intolerant, a hater, a cheerleader for slurs and violence - in short, fear of gay and lesbian defamation.