Friday Cat Blogging

I’ve been feeling lousy and battling sinus headaches all week — the cold I caught in NY has not given up and gone away yet. Tommy, however, is gorgeous as ever and very happy to have us home.

Don’t Be Gay, Alabama!

Fresh from the state that recently rejected removing segregation-era racist language from its state constitution, this latest bit of proposed bigotry:

An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries.

A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for “the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.” Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the “homosexual agenda.”

“Our culture, how we know it today, is under attack from every angle,” Allen said in a press conference Tuesday.

Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed.

“I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them,” he said.

I started trying to compile a list of what might get pulled out of an Alabama library if this passes but it’s too depressing. Walt Whitman, Lillian Hellman, and Tennassee Williams all make the hit list, and that’s just the first few I thought up.

TV Craziness Continues

Why is it that the airwaves, even in prime time, can be filled with smirky commercials for male sexual enhancement drugs, but advertising for a church is too controversial? UPN, CBS and NBC are being buttheads.

The commercial in question:

The debut 30-second commercial features two muscle-bound “bouncers” standing guard outside a symbolic, picturesque church and selecting which persons are permitted to attend Sunday services. Written text interrupts the scene, announcing, “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” A narrator then proclaims the United Church of Christ’s commitment to Jesus’ extravagant welcome: “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”

Doesn’t sound that objectionable to me, although I’m not exactly their target market. But no.

“Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations,” reads an explanation from CBS, “and the fact the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks.”

Similarly, a rejection by NBC declared the spot “too controversial.”

“It’s ironic that after a political season awash in commercials based on fear and deception by both parties seen on all the major networks, an ad with a message of welcome and inclusion would be deemed too controversial,” says the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC’s general minister and president. “What’s going on here?”

The ad has been accepted and will air on a number of networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land, among others.