Saturday, May 30, 2015

Tennessee TV Station Refuses To Air Marriage Equality Ad


A Tennessee television station, which previously had no policy on ads regarding same-sex marriage suddenly developed one this week when approached by LGBT advocacy group Freedom To Marry.

The ad featured a gay Republican physician - Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld - who has just returned from deployment in Afghanistan and wants to marry his partner.

From Buzzfeed:

“I’m a Republican, I’m a doctor, and I’m a soldier,” says a voice over by Ehrenfeld as the commercial shows images of him serving in uniform, and back at home with his boyfriend, Judd Taback. “As a military physician, I take care of other people’s loved ones who are wounded in combat. But here at home, I’m fighting a different fight. Because I’m gay, I’m not allowed to marry my partner here in Tennessee where we live.”

The television station refused to air the spot.

“It’s just a very controversial and personal issue, and we just choose to not air a commercial on either side of that debate,” Tom Tolar, the president and general manager of Chatanooga-based WRCB, told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview.

The ad is running on TV stations in Nashville and Memphis.

Freedom To Marry has run over two dozen ads supporting marriage equality across the country. This is the first time a station has refused their business.

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