WASHINGTON – The CBS and NBC television networks have rejected an advertisement for the United Church of Christ that shows two beefy bouncers turning away a gay couple, a Latino woman and a disabled man outside a church.
Officials of the Cleveland-based denomination, which has nearly 6,000 congregations and 1.3 million members, said the 30-second ad is intended to emphasize its inclusiveness. “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we,” the ad says.
In a written explanation to the church’s ad agency, CBS linked the ad to the issue of same-sex marriage and said it does not accept advertising “on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance.”
“Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups … and the fact that 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 networks,” it said.
NBC’s rejection notice simply called the ad “too controversial,” without elaboration.
The Rev. John Thomas, president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, said the ad has nothing to do with same-sex marriage and generated no complaints or controversy when it was test-marketed in six regional markets in the spring.
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