Last January 26th a Toronto Sunday newspaper ran a full-age article within its entertainment section. It was a glowing commentary of a new situation-comedy made in the U.S. called Brothers. This show ran every weeknight from January 27th until February 14th 11 p.m. on City-TV.
Brothers is a show which promotes the acceptance of homosexuality. The three brothers, states the article are “Lou, and affable meathead, Joe, an average Joe, and Clifford, a student with high values who likes football and other men.”
The first episode dealt with Cliff confronting his two brothers with the fact that he is gay. His gay friend and mentor Donald, a swishing woman of a man, beseeches Cliff “be proud you are gay.” Joe, who is separated or divorced, is told by his seventeen-year-old daughter before she goes off to do her school homework, “Dad, there’s nothing wrong with being a homosexual.”
Homosexuality
The debut show, the article points out, “ends with everything sorted out, understood and accepted.” Therefore, in a later episode when Cliff’s boyfriend kisses him on the lips, there’s no need to be shocked. Although not every episode I saw was solely about gays, wherever possible the dialogue contained contrived innuendoes of a gay theme.
This series was originally offered to the U.S. television networks who turned it down. The article states “the programme went to Showtime cable TV (U.S.) instead, where it zoomed to the number one spot. Brothers is a mega-hit and thanks to City-TV, Canada is the first place in the world where it will be shown on regular television.
To accommodate Brothers, City-TV pre-empted SCTV. What it didn’t do was to inform the companies which had purchased commercial time within the show’s 30 minutes duration about the controversial content of Brothers. The following is a list of some of the companies whose advertising dollars were used to support and promote the acceptance and promotion of homosexuality:
McDonalds, Wendy’s, Bowlerama, M&Ms, Remax, Canada Trust, Simpsons, American Airlines, United Optical, Krazy Krazy, Leon’s, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Toyota, Sony McCain’s Foods, Kan Chev-Olds, Pepsi, Pro Hardware, Highliner, Super Fitness. There were others.
In case you were offended by this show and chose to boycott any of these companies, I hasten to point out that not one of them was aware that they were advertising on the show. I was able to contact the majority of companies speaking to the most senior person possible. In all cases I was told that they or their agency purchased blocks of time and were slotted in wherever possible, apparently by the TV station.
I took the following line of questioning in all cases: Are you aware of the content of the show Brothers within which your commercial was run? I explained. I asked if they knew which segment of the population has the highest incidence of AIDS for which there is no known cure and from which death is almost inevitable? (Homosexuals).
I put it to them that by advertising on that show they were supporting (albeit unknowingly) the promotion of homosexuality and as a consequence furthering the spread of AIDS.
Even apart from the point of AIDS, all the companies were horrified to realize they were advertising on such a show.
To take it a couple of steps further, if you purchased a Big Mac last week you helped pay for that ad. You therefore, helped promote homosexuality. That’s bad in itself. But if one male was influenced enough to “be proud he was a homosexual” and contracted AIDS as a result, the chances are he’s going to die. A big price for an individual and society to pay for a Big Mac.
Every company said they would take action to correct the situation, although some of their ads did appear a few times thereafter. I would venture to say that if it were my company, I would have made absolutely sure my ad was withdrawn immediately and take to task the person responsible for placing it.
The federal government caused the cigarette companies to withdraw their advertising from the airwaves because there was almost irrefutable evidence that cigarette smoking caused cancer. People may die from cancer.
Brothers is a comedy promoting homosexuality, the practice of which can cause the spread of AIDS from which people will die – and City-TV producer, Jay Switzer is quoted in the article as saying: “This stuff is wonderful. It’s perfect for City-TV, it’s something funny, brilliant and we’re proud to show it.”
Readers Digest (February 1986 gives the following statistics about AIDS:
- 90 percent of AIDS victims are male homosexuals or drug users or both.
- Since 1979, according to the most recent figures from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), 15,172 people in the United States have been diagnosed as having AIDS, and 7,777 of them have died. These numbers are doubling every 10 to 12 months.
Readers Digest gives these figures for Canada:
- In Canada 404 cases of AIDS have been reported since February 1972, and there have been 202 deaths. These numbers are doubling every eight to ten months.
In one episode of Brothers, Donald, the gay friend and mentor, tells Cliff, who is worried about AIDS, that “there were over 12,000 cases of AIDS. 800 were female heterosexuals, 150 were children under 13.” That leaves 11,050 males, of which more than 90 percent are (or were) homosexuals.
The report
In Chapter 4 of the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Equality Rights, Patrick Boyer (PC Etobicoke-Lakeshore), and his committee recommend support in principle for Bill C-225. This Bill was sponsored by Svend Robinson (NDP Burnaby, B.C.). The Bill in essence would prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The following is taken verbatim from the report:
“Those who favour treating sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination argue that sexual orientation is a personal matter and that, so long as it does not result in harm to others, (my italics), it should not affect one’s access to facilities, services, accommodation or employment. They maintained that access should be based on capacities or abilities, not on one’s sexual preference. To continue to allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, they argued, is directly contrary to the values expressed in anti-discrimination legislation and in the Charter.
“Those who oppose treating sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination base their position on the moral values they believe are held by many Canadians. They also argue that the presence of homosexuals in many settings has a disruptive effect on those around them. Some suggest that homosexuals attempt to foist their views, and sometimes their practices, on others.”
I think I can safely say that City-TV’s Brothers attempts to “foist its views” on others.
I emphasized a phrase beforehand: so long as it does not result in harm to others. The following was reported in the magazine Discover, March 1986.
In the nineteenth century, tuberculosis, a bacterial infection, usually of the lungs, was considered a romantic disease that afflicted a disproportionate number of poets, musicians, and painters. Now the disease is making a comeback, but this time its target seems to be a group that can’t be romanticized – AIDS victims.
The incidence of TB in the U.S. has been declining since the beginning of the twentieth century. Based on past national trends, the number of cases was expected to drop by 2,000 in 1985. It declined by only 500 instead.
This isn’t the first year the expected drop in TB cases hasn’t occurred, says Dixie Snider Jr., director of the division for tuberculosis control at the Centers for Disease Control. For instance, from 1979 to 1980 there was an increase of 0.3 per cent because of an influx of Indochinese refugees. “But this is the first time we can say that it’s the result of indigenous causes,” says Snider.
The latest statistics don’t reflect a nationwide change in the TB rates, but a radical resurgence in a few states – New York, California, Florida, and Massachusetts. It’s no coincidence that these are among the states with the highest number of AIDS cases.
According to Snider, somebody with a strong immune system can “wall TB off” and carry it around without being affected. But in a person whose immune system has been suppressed by AIDS (Discover, December), the bacterium easily spreads through the body. Indeed, in some cases, TB is the tip-off to AIDS.
This, however, is just the beginning of the CDC’s worries. TB is highly communicable. Lungs infected with the bacterium produce droplets that can be passed to others when a TB victim coughs, sneezes, or even laughs. Since there’s no reliable vaccine for tuberculosis, doctors are afraid we may be in for an epidemic.
I decided to take a stand and publicly protest Brothers. I am happy that I did. I received only positive response, especially from the advertisers. If the result is the prevention of one person from accepting homosexuality as an alternate lifestyle, or the abstention of one who is, then it’s a job well done.
It’s time the silent majority stood up and stated in no uncertain terms exactly what it really wants and refuse to let a misguided minority dictate what its moral standards will be.
In the situation regarding the television show Brothers and other promotions of homosexuality, get on the telephone and let the TV station and advertisers know just how you feel. They will listen.
In the situation regarding Bill C-255 call you Member of Parliament. They have to listen.
You have a right and an obligation to your fellow citizen and your children. In order to propagate their lifestyle from where will their partners come?…It might be your children they influence to satisfy their needs.
Michael Vallins runs a small business in Toronto.
