It’s no secret that ABC pushes the gay agenda. But if you doubt it, wait until its newest miniseries comes out (pun intended).
Authored by openly gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, When We Rise will detail the history of the gay rights movement from the 1969 Stonewall Riots to the present day. It follows the stories of three people who are also members of the women’s rights movement, the peace movement and the black rights movement. “It's When We Rise, not When Gay People Rise,” Black told Adweek. “It's about how everyone benefits when we lift up any one group in this country.” If you think it will be a neutral examination of one of the biggest rights movement of our time, think again.
According to The Advocate, “with marriage equality established across the nation, Oscar-winning activist Dustin Lance Black is, once again, taking to the screen to affect change.” In his own words, Black told Adweek: “I’m drawn to making films that in some way move the social conversation.” In other words, films that are biased toward the gay agenda.
As the co-founder of the American Foundation of Equal Rights, Black is not new to activism through media. Raised in a strict Mormon home, he rejected the church’s teachings on sexuality and became a gay rights activist in 2008. In 2010, he narrated a documentary criticizing the Church of Latter Day Saints for its involvement in Proposition 8 and authored a play about the overturning of the same law the following year. In 2014, Black won an Oscar for his screenplay of Milk, a biopic about one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States. His new 8-hour miniseries is likely to be similarly acclaimed by the major media.
In an article entitled “This is the LGBT Rights Miniseries We’ll All Be Watching,” Refinery29 wrote, “we don't doubt that we'll be glued to the TV screen for the premiere. Kudos to ABC for including more LGBT characters in its increasingly diverse lineup.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, “For ABC, When We Rise comes as the network has earned critical praise (and ratings success) with its push for inclusion and diversity in its programming and casting.”
In spring of 2016, ABC will also debut The Real O’Neals—a semi-autobiographical comedy series with a young gay protagonist. Based on the early life of gay rights activist Dan Savage, the series purports to highlight “your typical Irish Catholic family.” Yet, like most everything connected with Savage, the content is sure to be crude and offensive. In March 2015, the MRC along with Catholic and family-oriented institutions sent a petition to the president and board members of the Disney/ABC Television Group to pull the plug on the show. However, over nine months later, there’s been no response. According to MRC President Brent Bozell, “We will not relent in exposing Dan Savage for the vile hate he spews at conservatives, Catholics, and evangelicals. Disney ABC’s silence is shameful.”
The ABC network has also promoted its bias more subtly through support of LGBT events, such as the 2015 DC Pride Parade. WJLA channel 7, ABC’s local news station, was listed under the Capital Pride Alliance’s Rainbow sponsorship level.
It’s clear that ABC has an agenda, and as the saying goes, it’s “Anything But Conservative.”
