Readers
encouraged to contact CTV and join facebook group (see bottom)
By John Jalsevac
SUDBURY, ON, March 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
Canadian Television (CTV) has pulled an ad that claims it is possible to leave
the homosexual lifestyle, sponsored by a Christian advocacy group, Life
Productions, after the station received numerous complaints from pro-homosexual
activists.
The 30-second spot is narrated by John
Westcott, the founder of Exchange ministries, an organization that seeks to
help practicing homosexuals who wish to leave the lifestyle. Westcott is
himself a former homosexual, as is his wife Dena.
"You hear a lot about gay rights, gay marriage
and the gay lifestyle being taught in our public schools for children,"
says Westcott in the ad, "but what many people don't realize, and seldom
hear, is that many homosexuals don't want to be homosexual. What many who are
struggling with homosexuality don't realize, and seldom hear, is that they can
change. I should know - for 13 years, I used to be one." Wescott then
walks off the camera and an announcer says, "This message has been brought
to you by Life Productions." (To see the ad, called "Exchanged
Life", go to: http://www.lifeproductions.ca)
The ad ran for three days on a local CTV station in
Sudbury Ontario, before it was pulled on March 3. Life Productions had intended
to run the ad locally for an entire year.
Pro-Homosexual advocates, however, were enraged by the
ad, calling it "hate" material, and deluged the television station
and Life Productions with letters of complaint. A Facebook group against the ad
was set up, entitled "Appalled with CTV Commercial - Homosexuality
Cure??" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10517688297) Dr.
Joel Dickinson, a faculty member at Laurentian University, led the charge,
setting up and acting as an officer of the Facebook group, and corresponding
with CTV personnel. LifeSiteNews.com attempted to interview Dr. Dickinson, but
she responded that she was unable to fit the interview into her schedule.
At the time of the writing of this article, the
facebook group had 1,172 members.
On March 6, Dickenson received a letter from CTV's
Vice-President of Public Affairs, Sarah Crawford. Crawford apologized to
Dickenson on behalf of CTV, saying that the fact that the ad was ever aired was
a result of "human error."
"I assure you," said Crawford, "that
had CTV known the content of the ad, it would not have gone to air." Crawford
told Dickenson that the ad had been screened by Telecaster Services, the
voluntary, self-governing, commercial, infomercial and public service
announcement (PSA) clearance committee that is required to review all ads in
Canada prior to airing. Telecaster had approved the ad, although it had
"flagged" it and given it a "mature" rating, thereby
ensuring that it could not be aired prior to 9:00pm.
Crawford said that CTV failed to notice the
"flag" on the ad, and did not review its content. "As a result,
CTV Sudbury scheduled the ad without knowing that it contained problematic
material that is inappropriate and unacceptable for our stations. The ad went
to air, and consequently we received some complaints. Station personnel then
reviewed the ad, deemed it inappropriate for telecast and immediately pulled it
off the air."
Other than a general statement that CTV does not promote
discrimination and is in favor of diversity, Crawford did not explicitly state
what the "problematic" or "discriminatory" part of the
ad was, nor what required that it be rated "mature."
"It is our corporate policy not to air advocacy
ads of this nature," concluded Crawford. "Moreover, CTV television
stations do not condone, promote or engage in discrimination against anyone
based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual
orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability. We have a proud
history of promoting diversity and building bridges of understanding between
cultures both within our company and the communities in which we operate."
Scott Henderson, CTV's vice-president of
communications, also responded to complaints about the ad, saying, "We did
try to act as quickly as possible on this. It was something that was taken very
seriously at the highest levels of CTV. It's completely against all of our own
codes."
LifeSiteNews.com spoke to the director of Life Productions,
Jason Johns, about the ad. He expressed his disappointment that the ad
was pulled, especially on charges of "discrimination" or
"hate".
"The commercial doesn't promote hate. It doesn't
promote discrimination. It promotes knowledge, and information," Johns
told LifeSiteNews. "And in no way did we attack the pro-gay advocates. What
we were doing was reaching out to, and educating people that there is a
community of people who practice homosexuality that are not interested in
practicing homosexuality, in that they want help."
The idea that homosexuality is an inborn condition is
one of the central doctrines of the pro-homosexual movement. However,
there has been no scientific evidence to support this theory, and, Johns
pointed out, the fact that there are hosts of men and women, such as John
Westcott and his wife, claiming to be former homosexuals offers concrete
evidence that homosexuality can, indeed, be treated.
Johns argued that it is ironic that CTV cited "discrimination"
as the reason that the ad was pulled, since in pulling the ad CTV in fact
discriminated both against Life Productions, and against those homosexuals who
wish to leave the lifestyle, by revoking their freedom of speech.
"What about these people who want help, who the
commercial was actually for?" he said. "I'm concerned about our
freedom of speech as well. But we're not necessarily in the same position that
these people who want help, and who are really hurting, and who are struggling
with this, and who are reaching out for help. If our freedom of speech is
jeopardized, if it's taken away, then who can advocate for these people? According
to the pro-gay activists, no one is allowed to advocate for them. And I think
that that's where the real dictatorship and discrimination comes in."
Johns also said that it is ironic that his group is
being convinced of hatred. "They accuse us of hating, they accuse us of
being haters, and discrimination. That's just not true. We retain the e-mails
that they do send us, because that's evidence of where the real hatred and
where the real discrimination exists," he said. Johns said that Life
Productions has received so much hate mail of such a violent nature from
homosexual activists that he is unwilling to disclose the physical location of
the organization, since he and others involved in the group are concerned for
the safety of their families.
Johns expressed his belief that the violent antipathy
towards the idea that homosexuality may be an alterable condition on the part
of homosexuals generates a hostile environment for those in the homosexual
community who may desire to leave the lifestyle. "There's a lot of fear
and a lot of intimidation imposed by the pro-gay community, that I would think
that anyone who claims to be homosexual and wants to get help, I think that in
that sort of environment they would not feel comfortable voicing their opinion
or their concern because of the response that they would get."
Life Productions' ad, said Johns, was intended simply
to encourage those who are dissatisfied with the homosexual lifestyle to seek
the help that they desire. Life Productions itself does not perform counseling
for homosexuality, but refers homosexuals who desire to be treated to other
organizations that perform such counseling.
An opposing Facebook group, demanding that CTV agree
to put the ads back on the air, has been setup here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9523734598