The Arrival of Logo
Today is a great day. I checked my email first thing this morning, and sitting in my inbox along with my daily newsletter from CBSsportsline, the Cathedral of Hope devotional, and a newsletter from Pottery Barn announcing a bed and bath sale, there was a letter from MTV Networks, saying Logo was being added to the Directv lineup. Thank God! (Logo debuted nationally last night on several other cable systems, but we have Directv at our house so this company has the biggest impact upon our television viewing happiness.) I let out such a whoop upon reading the news this morning, that Anthony, my co-worker in the Kiss studio, might have thought I had just won some sort of email lottery. Close enough. Many of those emails to our congressional representatives have been in vain lately, but at least the executives at Directv and other worthy companies across the entertainment industry have figured out that the gay population is worth its while. Let's support them.
ABC News did a story about Logo last night. I always get nervous when I hear a tease at the beginning of a newscast that includes the phrases "culture wars" and "conservative Christians," because what follows can usually be likened to a swift kick in the cargo pants in an effort to get us lesbians to straighten up and wear something more business casual. It always stings a bit to hear that a Christian doesn't accept you as you are. But I stayed tuned. The intro to the story went something like this: "The 24-hour cable channel for gays. Some say it's long overdue, and some see it as an assault on children." Statements like that last one almost always invoke an immediate, "What?!" I almost laughed. I will never understand how merely broadcasting a reflection of the reality that surrounds one quite benevolent portion of the population can be construed as an assault of any kind. Reflections are not assaults; they are neutral impressions designed to speak the truth. The fact that a select few refuse to see the beauty does nothing to diminish that power.
The very existence of a television channel like Logo seems to be enough to send conservative Christians into a tailspin. ABC News interviewed one woman from Concerned Women for America for this story, who seemed to be on a personal crusade to rid the world of all things homosexual. She said the existence of Logo was an indoctrination effort, and that homosexuals were "targeting our children to change their point of view; to make them comfortable with a different lifestyle and to make them see it as normal." I see. So really, it's not about her and her fear of someone who has a sexual orientation different from her own; it's about the children. That's who she's protecting and defending. Should we have them watch Desperate Housewives instead?
I think most children are growing up now with a gay friend or family member nearby, and if that is not the case then perhaps they have a friend at school with two daddies or two mommies. These children are often much more receptive than their own parents are, I suppose because they are guided by love and trust, and not by fear. And tuning into a television show that includes same sex relationships will not turn a child gay, if that's what this woman is wondering, because all those years of watching heterosexuals on TV obviously didn't rub off on me or the millions of other homosexuals out there who grew up with Eight is Enough and The Cosby Show. Homosexuality comes from the inside, not the outside. Perhaps these Concerned Women for American are concerned only for that portion America which most closely resembles their own.
ABC News also gathered from conservative Christians that Logo is just one symptom of a larger problem, and that is that popular culture has become overloaded with pro-gay messages, and as a result, there are very few corners of the world left to which one can flee to escape them. Precisely. Gay is pro. Being gay is a positive thing, and society is beginning to realize the truth in that. The secret is out--different does not equal incorrect. There is no need to flee.
At the end of the story one gay activist was quoted as saying, "The real reason conservative Christians should be worried about Logo, is that if Americans tune in and get a fuller, more realistic picture of homosexuals, they may no longer want to deny them their rights." There could not have been a better summarizing thought. The reason that we are continually denied rights is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding that exists over where the root of homosexuality lies. Some think it is a wicked deviation from the norm, and others know it to be an inherent truth that brings with it love, peace, and joy. Hopefully Logo is one medium that will begin to bridge that gap.
I've had my TV on Logo for the last two hours, and I haven't seen one impassioned gay kiss or love scene, and there have been no commercials for condoms, vibrators, or various black leather accoutrements. Perhaps those will come later. (I have heard some mentions of Tylenol PM, and we all know that's so gay.) It would benefit us to take a lesson from Logo, and put the focus on people and their relationships rather than on whatever imagined sexual escapades one might think that they are be involved in. It would be nice if conservative Christians would approach homosexuality from a place of love--or at least neutrality--rather than fear. This would go a long way toward gaining understanding--an understanding that most of the rest of America already has. But perhaps understanding is what conservative Christians are most afraid of, because it might cause them to question things that they have always known to be true, and as a result they might have to re-evaluate their definition of God. That's called growth.
Logo's enemies are making the assumption that this new channel is a loveless, godless farce, but it is not. The truth is there. You just have to be willing to see it.
ABC News did a story about Logo last night. I always get nervous when I hear a tease at the beginning of a newscast that includes the phrases "culture wars" and "conservative Christians," because what follows can usually be likened to a swift kick in the cargo pants in an effort to get us lesbians to straighten up and wear something more business casual. It always stings a bit to hear that a Christian doesn't accept you as you are. But I stayed tuned. The intro to the story went something like this: "The 24-hour cable channel for gays. Some say it's long overdue, and some see it as an assault on children." Statements like that last one almost always invoke an immediate, "What?!" I almost laughed. I will never understand how merely broadcasting a reflection of the reality that surrounds one quite benevolent portion of the population can be construed as an assault of any kind. Reflections are not assaults; they are neutral impressions designed to speak the truth. The fact that a select few refuse to see the beauty does nothing to diminish that power.
The very existence of a television channel like Logo seems to be enough to send conservative Christians into a tailspin. ABC News interviewed one woman from Concerned Women for America for this story, who seemed to be on a personal crusade to rid the world of all things homosexual. She said the existence of Logo was an indoctrination effort, and that homosexuals were "targeting our children to change their point of view; to make them comfortable with a different lifestyle and to make them see it as normal." I see. So really, it's not about her and her fear of someone who has a sexual orientation different from her own; it's about the children. That's who she's protecting and defending. Should we have them watch Desperate Housewives instead?
I think most children are growing up now with a gay friend or family member nearby, and if that is not the case then perhaps they have a friend at school with two daddies or two mommies. These children are often much more receptive than their own parents are, I suppose because they are guided by love and trust, and not by fear. And tuning into a television show that includes same sex relationships will not turn a child gay, if that's what this woman is wondering, because all those years of watching heterosexuals on TV obviously didn't rub off on me or the millions of other homosexuals out there who grew up with Eight is Enough and The Cosby Show. Homosexuality comes from the inside, not the outside. Perhaps these Concerned Women for American are concerned only for that portion America which most closely resembles their own.
ABC News also gathered from conservative Christians that Logo is just one symptom of a larger problem, and that is that popular culture has become overloaded with pro-gay messages, and as a result, there are very few corners of the world left to which one can flee to escape them. Precisely. Gay is pro. Being gay is a positive thing, and society is beginning to realize the truth in that. The secret is out--different does not equal incorrect. There is no need to flee.
At the end of the story one gay activist was quoted as saying, "The real reason conservative Christians should be worried about Logo, is that if Americans tune in and get a fuller, more realistic picture of homosexuals, they may no longer want to deny them their rights." There could not have been a better summarizing thought. The reason that we are continually denied rights is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding that exists over where the root of homosexuality lies. Some think it is a wicked deviation from the norm, and others know it to be an inherent truth that brings with it love, peace, and joy. Hopefully Logo is one medium that will begin to bridge that gap.
I've had my TV on Logo for the last two hours, and I haven't seen one impassioned gay kiss or love scene, and there have been no commercials for condoms, vibrators, or various black leather accoutrements. Perhaps those will come later. (I have heard some mentions of Tylenol PM, and we all know that's so gay.) It would benefit us to take a lesson from Logo, and put the focus on people and their relationships rather than on whatever imagined sexual escapades one might think that they are be involved in. It would be nice if conservative Christians would approach homosexuality from a place of love--or at least neutrality--rather than fear. This would go a long way toward gaining understanding--an understanding that most of the rest of America already has. But perhaps understanding is what conservative Christians are most afraid of, because it might cause them to question things that they have always known to be true, and as a result they might have to re-evaluate their definition of God. That's called growth.
Logo's enemies are making the assumption that this new channel is a loveless, godless farce, but it is not. The truth is there. You just have to be willing to see it.
posted by Jen Austin at 1:23 PM
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