Unless the gay community is extremely lucky, at some point over the next few days the credibility of our lives and our causes will suffer a stunning setback that may haunt us and profoundly hurt us for months and even years to come.
And it is all about The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the famously gay-inclusive United Church of Christ, virtually every major gay blogger including Mike Rogers, Andrew Sullivan, Andy Towle and Pam Spaulding--all rushing to defend Mancrunch.com from the horrible homophobia of CBS and Super Bowl.
The best possible outcome is not that CBS changes its mind and runs the ad, the best case scenario will be that GLAAD officially becomes a running joke.
I'm going to venture (a hopeful) guess that not one of the gay players in this looming tragedy has even bothered to visit the mancrunch.com site. Mancrunch says it is a "gay dating service", CBS has rejected their ad, homophobia is at play!
In case you've had your head up your ass these past few days, you are unaware of the fact that CBS has rejected a 30-second $2.6 million Super Bowl ad from a gay dating service. CBS says the ad is inappropriate and not in line with its broadcast standards.
Deafening cries of homophobia have stormed across this great land of ours like some Biblical plague of locusts. Andrew Sullivan is gearing up for visits to FOX, CNN and MSNBC to condemn the homophobia of CBS and defend....and that is the issuse...what will he be defending?
The problem, dear readers, is that Mancrunch.com is not a gay dating service. Mancrunch.com is a gay sex service targeting closet cases and married men.
Apparently, GLAAD and the mindless hordes of gay bloggers and gay journalists have not bothered to visit the site.
Sure, almost everyone has appreciated the nature of this publicity stunt and what a very clever stunt it is. Submit an ad with two seemingly straight men in a clownish-way-over-the-top way-too-"gay" make out session knowing that it will be rejected so that you can issue a press release accusing CBS of homophobia and then let media games begin. And boy did they ever, with GLAAD leading this Custer's Last Stand of a charge.
Unfortunately, the media and the gay world overlooked one very crucial point: a sex site targeting "straight" married men and closet cases should be targeting the Super Bowl.
Some bloggers and journalists have questioned why a gay dating site would want to advertise on the Super Bowl, allegedly the most heterosexual of all televised events. This is a question asked by idiots who did not look at the site. What better place to find black men on the down low and closeted married Evangelicals?
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Ted Haggard, Tony Perkins, Alan Chambers, Peter LaBarbera and James Dobson are all members of Mancrunch.com--and we know they will be watching the Super Bowl. It is the most manly thing of manly things to do.
On it's website GLAAD proudly explains that the organization "is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation."
How exactly does demanding Super Bowl airtime for a sex site for men on the down low serve that mission? Since when did promotion of extra-marital sex and closet life become a means to eliminate homophobia and discrimination?
Mancrunch.com's logo tagline: "Man Crunch is the premier service connecting men with other men and allowing them to open up about the down low."
For those of you unfamiliar with the term "on the down-low" (or "DL"), it refers to any activity or relationship kept discreet. Specifically, it may refer to: Keeping an act, action or some other piece of information a secret. Sexually it refers to men who identify as straight, but have sex with men on the side without disclosing this to their female sexual partner(s).
The first line under the Man Crunch Inc. "terms of service"? "Man Crunch Inc. ("we," "us" or "Man Crunch") owns and operates the Man Crunch.com web site (our "Site"), on which we provide an interactive way for like minded users to explore whether they wish to meet each other, chat with each other and/or explore extra-marital relationships."
Shame on CBS for rejecting this "service". Can you imagine all the African American Super Bowl viewers who would have benefited from learning of this service customized just for them and their wives and kids?
Last week, the states of Indiana and Utah made great strides against gay rights. Oprah and The Today Show provided a soap box for the Haggard family furthering the the cause of leaving homosexuality through Jesus. And GLAAD and the gay blogosphere focused on defending the rights of a sex service for closet cases to advertise on the Super Bowl.
What more can I say?
The amazing thing to me is that an ad suggesting we are all a bunch of skanks just waiting for the chance to jump anyone's bones wasn't accepted immediately. Isn't this the image the enemy has always promoted? Don't some members of our club believe the same thing? How could this be inappropriate for CBS?
Posted by: Rex | Monday, 01 February 2010 at 08:08 AM
Je souhaite que j'ai vecu en l'hexagone.
Posted by: Sterling | Monday, 01 February 2010 at 02:29 PM
2.6 million to air a $15 commercial. Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Free publicity from being turned down - priceless.
Posted by: Alan down in Florida | Monday, 01 February 2010 at 03:33 PM