UK ad board bans gay police group’s Christian-bashing spot
posted at 2:10 pm on October 18, 2006 by Allahpundit
The ad condemns “homophobic incidents” and notes that many of them appear to be motivated by “religious belief.”
Which, naturally, means a pool of blood and a Bible:
The ASA upheld complaints that the ad suggested Christians were responsible for the rise in attacks because it only showed Christian symbols, as well as the complaint that it implied all homophobic incidents were violent, under ‘decency and truthfulness’ guidelines.
The GPA also did not provide the watchdog with evidence to support the 74 per cent increase claim and the ASA ruled the ad breached ‘substantiation’ guidelines.
They said: “The leading implication of the ad was that Christians were the perpetrators of the reported incidents. because of that implication, we considered it likely the ad would cause offence to those readers who were Christian.
“The GPA had intended to use shocking imagery to highlight their point about the rise in homophobic incidents [but] by featuring spilled blood prominently, the ad suggested that all the reported incidents involved physical injury.”
A spokesman from the Gay Police Association said the ad was meant to be “thought-provoking and challenging.” I can think of one way they might have made it even more thought-provoking and challenging.
Are we looking at another bait and switch in the New York Times mold here?
Update: John of Verum Serum comments below:
I tracked this whole thing down a couple weeks ago. The 74% figure was derived from a helpline run by the GPA. They received 14 calls in 2005. 14! This was a 75% increase over the 8 they received in 2004.
But it gets better (or worse). These calls were all calls from gay policemen about “workplace discrimination.” So far as anyone can tell there was not a single violent incident in the bunch. It was stuff like, “So and so refused a gay cop as a partner.” Furthermore, the Christian policmen’s group verified that not all the (14) incidents involved Christians. The GPA never released any detailed info so no one really knows how many did exactly.
Blowback
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Yeah, I mean, they (the ad board; Eurocensors in general) surely believe–basically–that they’re keeping down hate and promoting harmony and so forth, not just shutting down their political enemies on the Right. So there’s going to be some of this, even as they also note how useful this will be to point to when they censor a critique of Islam. You Tube would be in a better argumentative position of they censored pro-Jihad videos too…
But they main thing–apart from how it’s simply wrong to censor political speech like this–is that even if they were perfectly balanced in their censorship, which they won’t be, perfect balance still favors the other side. Because, as legitimate as it is to oppose right-wing Christian gay-bashing, that force simply doesn’t compare to the overall rise of Islam. So censoring opposition to both sides obviously favors the more powerful side.
I hear this in this country too…Christians and similar evil hegemonic groups using leftist victim rhetoric to oppose leftist attacks on them. But then we’ve conceded the legitimacy of the tactic.
Any Christian or conservative comforted by the censorship of leftwing meanness is aiding every cause they oppose, because Christians and conservatives can and should be able to withstand some out of line speech, but we’re screwed if no one can criticize the left or the current state of Islam.
Alex K on October 18, 2006 at 2:25 PM
It’s an industry board, though. It’s not governmental.
Allahpundit on October 18, 2006 at 2:26 PM
What is the possibility that the gays here created this specifically so that it could spiked by the ad people to give all of them cover for later on when they want to really crack down on speech they don’t like?
urbancenturion on October 18, 2006 at 2:39 PM
What are the odds, you mean?
Vanishingly small, I should think.
Allahpundit on October 18, 2006 at 2:44 PM
Hrmm…a rise in european islamic fascism and an apparent rise in violence against gays. Who’d of thunk it? Also, who would have bet they’d target christians for it instead of the real culprits?
Benaiah on October 18, 2006 at 2:44 PM
This is a little surprising. Usually it’s the other way around.It seems the attitude in the media is usually not to “bash” anybody….except Christians (I know Michelle has vented about this).Because ya know we Christians are all freakin nuts anyway. And according to an earlier post on Hot Air we’re freakin horny too.
vcferlita on October 18, 2006 at 2:44 PM
?????
This is a joke, right?
I’m gonna wake up any minute now and forget all about being pulled over by the cop in the Village People.
infidel4life on October 18, 2006 at 3:00 PM
Nope and the gay mafia is real, too!
SouthernGent on October 18, 2006 at 3:56 PM
You know..now that I think about some of those lines from The Godfather…
Don Corleone: “What’s the matter with you. Is this how you turned out? A Hollywood finocchio that cries like a woman.”
Don Corleone: “You can act like a man!”
Don Corleone: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Don Corleone: “Never let anyone outside the family know what you’re thinking.”
It sounds like Corleone had issues with some gay mafia to me.
My apologies it had to be done and thanks to IMDB.com for the quick quotes.
Benaiah on October 18, 2006 at 5:34 PM
AP,
I tracked this whole thing down a couple weeks ago. The 74% figure was derived from a helpline run by the GPA. They received 14 calls in 2005. 14! This was a 75% increase over the 8 they received in 2004.
But it gets better (or worse). These calls were all calls from gay policemen about “workplace discrimination.” So far as anyone can tell there was not a single violent incident in the bunch. It was stuff like, “So and so refused a gay cop as a partner.” Furthermore, the Christian policmen’s group verified that not all the (14) incidents involved Christians. The GPA never released any detailed info so no one really knows how many did exactly.
14 cases of alleged workplace discrimination (out of 140,000 UK policemen). That’s what is behind the ad with the Bible and the pool of blood and the scary statistics. I’ll send you the link by e-mail so you can review it.
John on October 18, 2006 at 6:45 PM
Once you start measuring and censoring it never ends. There is always one more insult to sniff out.
That is the biggest problem with affirmative action too. Once you start you can’t stop, like potato chips. Around here anything is liable to be sized up for grievance. The size of the pile of mashed potatos on your plate at the restaurant, the degree of smile on a sales clerk, the speed with which someone answers your question.
All subjective.
A friend wants journalists to be fair. What is fair? There aren’t enough committees.
Look how well the censor has improved Europe – not! This doesn’t reconcile people, it divides them.
They are going to keep plugging away until everyone says exactly what is approved.
I met an old guy who lived under the Stalinists. He said they wouldn’t be happy until they stood on a mountaintop and everyone was gone, and only then would they laugh. The old fellow was really crackers but he saw the result of control-speak.
In the name of survival, I would rather know what such gay groups are thinking about me then have it suppressed by the control-speak crowd.
entagor on October 18, 2006 at 8:07 PM