Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
ABC has just released the pilot for a new sitcom based on the early life of notorious gay bully and sex columnist, Dan Savage, which is filled with anti-Catholic bigotry and vulgarity.
According to the Media Research Center (MRC), the new show, The Real O’Neals, is about a young gay boy being raised in an Irish Catholic family.
“The O’Neals are your typical Irish Catholic family,” the trailer voiceover begins. It then shows the daughter pocketing what she collects for church charities, Mom and Dad divorcing, the family priest driving around in a Lexus and the main character, a gay teenage son, struggling to come out of the closet.
“Supposedly based on Savage’s early life, The Real O’Neals is all pretty standard religious-people-are-hypocrites lefty stuff,” writes Matt Philbin, managing editor of MRC Culture. “There are shots at Catholic theology and iconography (‘I can’t come out. Have you ever met my mom? She put a statue of the Virgin Mary over the toilet so we’d remember to put the seat down’) and lots of talk about vaginas and condoms. And it appears the whole plot comes to a very public boil at the parish bingo night.”
Savage has distinguished himself as a hateful anti-Christian bigot. One of his more famous screeds took place during a high school presentation that was supposed to be about bullying when he went off on a tirade about how students need to ignore the bible. When some of the students got up and walked out, he blasted them with expletives as they exited the hall. He recently suggested that the Christian parents of a transgender teen who committed suicide be charged with murder, tweeting “an example needs 2 be made”. He wished cancer on Sarah Palin and marked the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI with a headline so vile it cannot be reproduced here.
The fact that ABC, supposedly part of the mainstream media’s bastian of “tolerance”, would even consider airing a sitcom about the life of such an infamous bigot is beyond comprehension.
“Dan Savage’s hatred for those with whom he disagrees is a matter of public record, as are his many vile taunts and fantasies,” says Father Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life.
“If ABC does give him a platform from which to further spread his venom, then let this be the end of the claim that ‘neutral’ media such as ABC just want to promote tolerance. Anti-Christian bigotry is absolutely alright with ABC, so let’s do away with the pretense that this is just about entertainment.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue agrees. “Unfortunately, Dan Savage’s public persona is completely opposite to wholesome role model for kids. His crass and even vitriolic disparaging of certain faiths and family values, and his aggressive agenda of promoting dangerous, deviant sexual experimentation couldn’t have escaped Disney’s or ABC’s attention. To see the network that brought us Cinderella endorse a man like this should outrage every American who cares about our children and our culture.”
MRC president Brent Bozell and other pro-family groups such as the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, have launched an online petition at Change.org to which thousands have already signed on.
“We will not relent in exposing Dan Savage for the vile hate he spews at conservatives, Catholics, and evangelicals,” says MRC president Brent Bozell.
“Dan Savage’s vulgarity and violent rhetoric is well-documented. . . . His new show, The Real O’Neals is a platform he does not deserve. Even so, Disney ABC continues to remain silent as pro-family and pro-faith organizations call for it to reconsider its decision to promote this bigoted, hate-filled man. Disney ABC continues to . . . ignore the anti-religious bigot in their midst.”
Let your voice be heard and click here to sign the petition today!
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