| Nickelodeon Show Promotes 'Gay Lifestyle' | |||
|
| |||
| Netlore Archive | |||
| |||
Variant #1
Email text contributed by Aimee, 06/02/02:
|
Dear Friend,
Nickelodeon will be airing a show this summer that will promote homosexual sodomy as a normal lifestyle to our nation's children! I have just signed a petition urging Nickelodeon to cancel production of this pro-homosexual show. I am urging you to sign this petition to protest this effort to normalize homosexuality. Nickelodeon leaders must get the message that they should not be promoting sodomy to children! Please join with more than 43,000 concerned citizens who have already
signed this petition! To sign this petition, go to: Stop Nickelodeon
|
Variant #2
Email text contributed by Mindy L., 05/10/02:
|
Cable channel Nickelodeon plans to air a show promoting homosexuality
to
little children. Your immediate help is needed to stop this
inappropriate propaganda. Please visit ConservativePetitions.com and
read how 'Nick News,' the channel's Sunday evening 'news magazine'
geared to kids age 8-13, will include discussion of homosexual
families,
'anti-discrimination' laws and a discussion with 'homosexual' middle
school children. The address is:
http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petition.html?name=stop_nickelodeon The potential damage to our little children won't be confined to Nickelodeon. Nick News also is shown in classrooms across the country as a part of 'Cable in the Classroom.' Please see if Nick News airs in schools you care about. Traditional Values Coalition believes this show is completely inappropriate and should not air. This show is nothing more than pure propaganda. It is an attempt to further desensitize our nation's children. Please sign the petition to Nickelodeon President Herb Scannell. It's available at: http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petition.html?name=stop_nickelodeon Then email everyone you know to warn them of this pro-homosexual program targeting our children and grandchildren. Act now while there is time to stop this threat. Sincerely, Andrea Lafferty
P.S. Remember the song that cautions: 'Oh be careful little eyes what you see'? Please help us do just that. Won't you take a moment to go to ConservativePetitions.com and sign this important petition? Then email everyone you know so parents and families will be alerted. The address again is: http://www.conservativepetitions.com/petition.html?name=stop_nickelodeon |
Comments: We've tossed this petition into the "pointless" bin because the Nick News show in question, "My Family Is Different," aired on June 18, 2002 in spite of the fact that the cable network was deluged with advance complaints (100,000 messages of protest in all, according to news reports).
Arguably, from the point of view of those circulating the emails, the effort was still successful insofar as it boosted public awareness and rallied sentiment against the program. But let's not mistake this side benefit for a truly effective petition drive. In general, online petitions are a poor substitute for the real thing and doomed to fail for a host of practical reasons (see articles linked below).
And let's be honest about who's propagandizing whom in these messages. Their various authors condemn the show sight unseen, deriding it as "pure pro-homosexual propaganda" and alleging it's intended to "desensitize" viewers and "promote sodomy to children." The show's producers and its host, Linda Ellerbee, flatly deny these claims. It's not about sex, they insist, and the only thing it is intended to promote is tolerance.
If people find such subject matter objectionable they certainly have the right to say so, but using the scare tactics like the above to incite fury over a program no one has even seen is misleading and in some cases downright dishonest. It's propaganda.
Whatever one's views on the issue, the airing of the show is a fait accompli. "Signing" this petition serves no useful purpose.
Last updated: 06/19/02
Sources and further reading:
Despite Protests, Nick to Air Show on Same-Sex Parents
Associated Press, 18 June 2002Nickelodeon Special on Homosexuality Set to Air Tonight
Crosswalk.com, 18 June 2002Don't Ask, Don't Televise
Washington Post, 18 June 2002Conservatives Claim Nick Promoting Homosexual Agenda
Crosswalk.com, 4 June 2002Traditional Values Coalition
Press release, 8 May 2002Does Signing Online Petitions Serve Any Useful Purpose?
From the Urban Legends Reference PagesMore About Online Petitions
From TruthorFiction.com
Petitions, Politics & Protest
Current Netlore
The Urban Legends Top 25
