The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano Read Free Book Online Page B

about this. It’s a case of violent child molestation.” Their conversation is interrupted by Dr. Welby and Marion’s entrance. Buchanan then proceeds to characterize the assailant as a “a pedophile, a child molester.”
    The network believed the changes had remedied the problem. According to Gitter, ABC was standing by their decision to broadcast the episode because it “does not deal with homosexuality nor is any aspect of the program offensive in either content or viewpoint.” 48 Yet, there are still gay overtones, particularly in that locker room scene where Swanson threatens Ted with public exposure.
    In a letter to William Page of the Gay Human Rights League of Queens County, New York, Gitter, on behalf of ABC, explains the episode’s social value:
    The program explores the impact upon the family and a young boy who is the victim of a forcible sexual assault, and the physical and emotional problems which result from the attack...The presentation responsibly and unsensationally relates the problem of child molestation from both a physical and emotional point of view. It is made abundantly clear that this is not a matter of homosexuality, but rather, the result of the criminal actions of a child molester, sometimes known as a paedophile; such assailants are frequently married men, and that the importance of the script is to present to the public the problems of coping with such a tragic situation by the young assaulted victim. Not only is the physical damage to be repaired, but the mental damage involved in facing the assailant after the attack, reporting the incident to his family and authorities, pursuing prosecution through the judicial system and the return to emotional stability in facing his peers and his friends. 49
    Gay activists did not agree with the network’s position. In a letter to legislators and a second addressed to all ABC affiliates, Dr. Bruce Voeller, Executive Director of the National Gay Task Force, explained how “The Outrage” reinforces the “greatest myth behind the fear and hatred of homosexuality...despite the fact that such a manifestation is statistically almost non-existent.” 50 Legislators were encouraged to contact Elton Rule at ABC, while affiliate station managers were urged not to run the program:
    In urging you not to run this particular program we are not attempting in any way to censor you. As an oppressed minority in our society we would be the last to take such a position. What we are doing is trying to point out to you the incalculable damage that this program will do to the self-image and civil rights of millions of Americans.“ 51
    Activists indeed had reason to be concerned. “The Outrage” was scheduled to air around the time several gay rights bills were being considered by legislators around the county. The episode also foreshadowed the battle soon to be waged in California over the Briggs Initiative, which aimed to prohibit gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools. California voters defeated it in 1978 by a larger margin than had been expected.
    Fortunately, the campaign gay activists launched against ABC was supported by the American Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO, and the American Psychiatric Association. Several major advertising sponsors — including Colgate-Palmolive, Shell Oil, Lipton, American Home Products, Breck, Sterling Drug, and Gillette — refused to buy time on the program. 52 A total of seventeen ABC affiliates, including two in major markets where gay civil rights legislation was pending in the city council (WCVB-TV in Boston and WPVI-TV of Philadelphia), refused to air the show.
    A statement released by the management of WPVI argued the episode was “unsuitable for airing” because it presented a “false stereotype of homosexuals as persons who pursue and sexually molest young boys.” 53 Although concerned about censorship, the station management expressed an equal concern “about the additional burdens of prejudice the