Previously banned gay family show will air in Utah after all
An NBC show which features a gay couple, their surrogate and her family, which was removed from the schedule of a Utah TV network for being “inappropriate”, has been picked up by another station in the state.
KUCW-TV has been confirmed as having picked up the show, which will air on saturday evenings at 10pm.
The Salt Lake City station has connections to CW, ABC and NBC, and also broadcasts the US comedy show, ‘Saturday Night Live.’
KSL met with LGBT rights advocates this weekend to further explain their reasons for choosing to take the show out of their schedule. A statement said:
“It was helpful to talk together, to better understand issues, and to be able to discuss the reasons behind our decision to not air The New Normal,
“This was not a decision we made lightly and it was not made because of any single issue including gay characters or LGBT families.
“As a communications company we make decisions every day regarding our programming and we made a decision to not broadcast this program because we feel it had a number of issues including sexually explicit content, demeaning dialogue and inciting stereotypes,”
“We care about and value all members of our community, including LGBT people and their families, and are grateful when there can be the type of cordial and respectful dialogue.”
GLAAD President Herndon Graddick also commented:
“From the outset, it appeared clear that the presence of gay characters factored into KSL’s decision,
“With gay families having long been part of some of television’s most well-known and popular series, KSL’s decision is out of touch with a vast majority of television viewers, advertisers and critics. Refusing to air this series about gay families sends the wrong message to LGBT families and young people in Utah.”
The new show had come under fire from advocacy group, One Million Moms, who published an article which stated:
“NBC is using public airwaves to continue to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage in attempting to redefine marriage. These things are harmful to our society, and this program is damaging to our culture.”
