Fox Family Channel isn't the only Rupert Murdoch (above) media outlet accused of being homophobic |
Los Angeles, California--Refusing to be intimidated by a rare winter thunderstorm,
twenty-six Christian ministers and Jewish rabbis waded through the flooded
streets of West Los Angeles on their cold, wet march to the international
headquarters of the Fox Family Channel.
"We're seeking justice for God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered
children," said a smiling Frank Wulf, the United Methodist Chaplain at UCLA
who hosted a pre-march luncheon at the University Religious Conference. "A
little rain won't stop us."
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With police and curious spectators looking on, uniformed security guards
blocked all entrances to the high rise glass and marble headquarters of
Rupert Murdoch's Fox Family Channel and its partner, Saban Entertainment at
10960 Wilshire Boulevard.
"For eighteen months we've tried to get an appointment with Fox Family
executives to discuss our serious concerns about Pat Robertson's
anti-homosexual rhetoric on their channel," explained Ed Bacon, the Rector of
All Saints Episcopal in Pasadena, California. "Now they would rather close
down the entire business than meet with us to work out a solution that would
satisfy everyone including Mr. Robertson."
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With guards blocking all entrances to the public lobby there was no way for
the clergy protestors to access the elevators that would carry them to their
uninvited meeting with Richard Cronin, the President and CEO of the Fox
Family Channel, in his offices on the eighth floor.
"If they want to close down their business, then let's help them," said Dr.
Mel White, a Co-Chair of the Clergy Committee to Bring Truth to Fox and the
founder of Soulforce, a network of people of faith seeking justice for sexual
minorities.
Immediately, the clergy formed two groups, locked arms at both entrances to
the building, and began to sing "We shall overcome" led by Rabbi Denise Eger
of Congregation Kol Ami. Security guards, surprised and enraged by the turn
of events, unlocked the doors and began to shove and curse the clergy.
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Related Sites:
Fox Family Channel
The Rev. Mel White's Soulforce
Congregation Kol Ami-West Hollywood
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"We were stunned by their violent response to our nonviolent protest. They
were thugs," said the Rev. Nancy Wilson, an elder in the Universal Fellowship
of Metropolitan Community Churches and pastor of MCCLA. "We are only asking
two things of Fox," she explained.
"We want a meeting with Mr. Robertson (which he refuses) and we want TV
time on Fox Family to respond to Mr. Robertson's misinformation campaign."
Carrying "Beware the Fox" signs and singing songs of the civil rights
movement, the clergy closed down the Fox Family headquarters for more than
one hour. Police were in place to arrest the demonstrators. Police vans
arrived to carry them away.
But Fox Family officials decided to leave the
building closed rather than suffer the negative publicity that would follow
the arrest of two dozen respected pastors, priests, and rabbis protesting Pat
Robertson's anti-family rhetoric on their "family" channel.
| "They're hoping that we'll just go away," Mel White said quietly to a
Canadian reporter. "But Gandhi and King teach us that our 'soul force'
search for justice must be relentless.
"On Friday, March 24, we shall return
and we're inviting our friends and allies to join us. We're going to train
hundreds of nonviolent demonstrators to close down the Fox Family Channel
once a month until they take us seriously.
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The Rev. Mel White |
"Pat Robertson's anti-homosexual
misinformation campaign leads to terrible suffering for families all across
the nation. We must help cut off that suffering at its source."
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