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Monday
night August 25, 1997 will be marked as a turning point in TV
history for on that date Pat Robertson advocated accepting gays
into the church and loving them as people.
Among
the entries which were introduced on the new Fall programming
of the United Paramount television network was one called "Good
News," a program about a predominantly black church congregation.
This particular program was produced by Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises which Robertson bought from her several years ago. It is now a division of International Family Entertain--ment (IFE), parent company of the Family Channel which in turn recently became a
$ 1.9
billion partnership between Pat Robertson and multimedia mogul
Rupert Murdoch.
The program
was in development at MTM long before Robertson and Murdoch sealed
their deal.
"Good
News" is not a particularly outstanding program. It has a
time worn plot about a single handsome young preacher, a husband-hunting
church secretary and a cantankerous congregation.
What is
remarkable about this first program was the story line of a male
choir member asking the pastor to be present when he told his
mother, a formidable woman and leading member of the church, that
he was gay and wanted to bring his new boyfriend to church.
The pastor
assured him his friend would be welcome.
The session
of telling the mother went well as she shocked her son by telling
him she had known he was gay from the time he was nine years old
and it made no difference to her. However, she got upset when
she learned he was dating a white man and threatened to walk out
of church if his friend was made welcome.
The upshot
of the story was the new friend was made welcome and the mother
accepted her son and his friend in a warm and loving motherly
embrace. I wouldn't doubt that she will show up at a PFLAG meeting
in a future episode.
"Good
News" is another prime example of Robertson dissing gays
on the 700 Club and elsewhere but promoting acceptance of them
through his other entertainment enterprises in his pursuit of
the Almighty Dollar.
While
Robertson may try to deny he is responsible for story lines as
he did in the case of a former MTM production, "Evening Shade",
he is the captain of the ship and is ultimately responsible for
all programs produced by MTM.
He constantly
accuses the TV and film industry of using story lines in such
programs as "Spin," and "Ellen" to promote
the "gay agenda" and cause Americans to "accept
the gay life style" but he apparently has no qualms about
using such stories when it enriches his pockets.
Most are
unaware that Robertson through IFE owns the Ice Capades, recording
studios, country/Western and regular stage theaters through Calvin
Gilmore Productions, and through another partnership at least
two PGA golf tournaments including the Buick Open.
Our L/G/B/T
political organizations and media, along with the mainstream media,
have failed to monitor Robertson's business activities thereby
missing a good opportunity to reveal him for the inconsistent
person he really is.
If we
can challenge Robertson about his non-religious programing we
could put a dent in his political aspirations and possibly cause
a rift among his supporters.
If the
Theocratic Right organizations can get together to issue joint
statements against Disney and American Airlines, HRC, NGLTF, PFLAG
and GLAAD should be able to do a similar thing by issuing joint
statements to the media during the quarterly 700 Club fund-raiser
gay bashing telethons about how it is difficult for an entity
such as the Christian Broadcasting Network to be on the verge
of disappearing from the airwaves when it has just received hundreds
of millions of dollars as its share of the Rupert Murdoch buy
out.
We as
a community must be more aggressive in point out the faults, inconsistencies
and heresies of the Theocratic Right.
Elizabeth
Birch and the HRC were on the right track last year when they
took the took the fight to the Washington Hilton and the Christian
Coalition national meeting by renting a room and holding their
own press conference. We need to see more such peaceful actions
around the country.
G/L/B/T
groups in Georgia are planning a similar warm welcome for the
Christian Coalition when it meets in Atlanta later this year.
Another
reason we should be putting Robertson on the defensive is that
many are speculating since he is now flush with cash and his ego
is ever growing he is going to make another run to capture the
Republican nomination for President.
That speculation
may not be far fetched.
After
all he has a political machine in place and a lot more political
savvy which he didn't have in 1988, plus he has all of that left
over electronic equipment from the 1996 Republican Convention
with which to manage his pious hordes on the floor of the 2000
convention.
He has
forged an alliance with James Dobson and Focus on the Family by
placing former Reagan Interior Secretary Don Hodel, who had been
serving as Executive VP of FOF, at the helm of the Christian Coalition.
Last but
not least, he now has "Baby Face" Reed on the loose
as a private campaign consultant to help him build an even stronger
organization to reach his goal of capturing the Republican Party
and America for Christ by 2000.
We as L/G/B/T people along with other minorities in this country, whether they be racial or religious, cannot afford to let that happen IF we value our lives.
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