I eat pizza from Pizza Hut because I think they have the best-tasting pizza (of course I have bad experiences with Papa John's and Dominos), but after I read this I'm going to keep supporting their business for even better reasons.
Talk show on Univisión angers gay rights groups
Univisión's 'Casos de Familia' talk show provokes outrage among gay rights groups and Pizza Hut, one of its major advertisers.
BY CHRISTINA HOAG
miami herald
choag@herald.com
TELEVISION1
The controversial topic of converting gays to straights through religion has landed Univisión and its new national talk show, Casos de Familia, in hot water with gay rights groups and Pizza Hut.
The debate was sparked by the March 25 program that featured the theme of ''curing'' homosexuality with religion. Univisión said it did not intend to offend anyone with the program.
During the show, hostess Judith Grace suggested that people are homosexual because they were abused or raped as children, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
That implication, plus the show's lack of psychological experts to counter the theory of religious conversion, infuriated the gay community and has ignited criticism on the network's website, univision.com.
''We're absolutely appalled by Univisión's lack of understanding about homosexuality,'' said Mónica Taher, GLAAD's people of color media director.
The show also prompted Pizza Hut to ask Univisión not to air its ads on Casos de Familia in the future, said Patty Sullivan, spokeswoman for the Dallas-based chain.
The ad aired during the March 25 program without the company's approval, she said, which is not unusual.
In this case, however, the commercial was misplaced, as Pizza Hut prefers that its ads be featured during family-oriented programs.
''We would never buy time around that show,'' Sullivan said. ``We would never endorse those kinds of comments. It's not who we are.''
In a statement, Univisión said, ``We broadcast quality programs that present an objective and balanced discussion of such issues as race, culture, gender and sexual preference in a responsible way.
``We strive to promote tolerance and diversity in our programming and in no way ever intend to offend any group.''
GLAAD is contacting other advertisers, including Sears, Universal Studios Hollywood, KFC and Hershey's, and is requesting a meeting with Univisión programming executives to urge them to portray the gay community with more sensitivity.
Taher said she met with executives and producers at Univisión and Telemundo, the No. 2 Spanish-language network, in January in an effort to end what she called the widespread use of stereotypes of gay and lesbian people on Spanish-language television.
''They're not getting it,'' she said. ``People are tired of Spanish-language media treating gay and lesbian people like a joke. They portray gay and lesbian people with sensationalism, mockery and a lot of disrespect.''