1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough

GLAAD Mad At Today For Saying “I Don’t” To Same-Sex Couples

» 17 comments

The Today show’s “Modern Love” casting call for couples to compete for a Today-sponsored wedding isn’t quite modern enough for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation since the morning show is refusing to consider same-sex couples.

GLAAD has issued an action alert complaining that Today is excluding same-sex couples and not buying the show’s argument that the couple needs to get married in New York , which does not permit same-sex marriage.

The Today Show is awarding a wedding celebration, not a marriage license. If a same-sex couple won the contest, producers and the winning couple could easily work together to ensure that the couple properly obtained and complied with the requirements of a marriage license in one of the license-conferring jurisdictions.

Today has defended the exclusion by saying that the wedding will take place at Rockefeller Center and therefore they are bound by New York law. While GLAAD argued that New York will recognize marriages from other states and therefore there wasn’t a problem, that doesn’t get around the main issue that a same-sex couple can’t legally get married in New York.

So should legal technicalities overwhelm the significance of including same-sex couples in their “Modern Love” celebration?  I mean is there anything more “modern” than same-sex couples?

This is one of those situations where Today is in a bind.  No one, not even GLAAD, would likely argue that Today is a bastion of gay intolerance. If Today was produced in Washington, D.C. or Des Moines, Iowa, or New Haven, Conn., it’s likely they would include same-sex couples.  But the law hasn’t caught up with either GLAAD or Today‘s good intentions, so they are stuck with showcasing a not-so-modern version of love.

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite's daily newsletter.

Email Twitter Facebook Digg Reddit Stumble Upon Yahoo Buzz LinkedIn Tumblr Delicious
  • me1ranger

    Ahh..the true colors of the fair weather friends on the left. The gays are getting the Alvin Greene treatment.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kam-Fet/572005492 Kam Fet

    Does it make one hateful, if you don’t conform to a particular way of life? Am I to be condemned!

  • notsofast

    Today Show=gay bashers.

  • tcmassie

    I would have to disagree with the assertion that “No one, not even GLAAD, would likely argue that Today is a bastion of gay intolerance.” There have been many instances over the years where the hosts have made snide and not-so-veiled anti-gay comments, often as failed attempts at humor. In this case, there is a convenient excuse for Today not to include a gay or lesbian couple for consideration in this event. The New York Times has numerous wedding announcements where same-sex couples are married in other jurisdictions then have an additional commitment ceremony in New York for family and friends. Rather than trying to work out a solution, it’s much too easy for Today to say, “No! And that’s final.”

  • NORBIT Jr.

    How long will it be before calls for an advertising boycott begin?

    Reminds me of the same Double-Standard the Left-Wing Media uses in dealing with the General Petraeus appointment – remember General BETRAY US?…and Hillary’s snide remarks?!

    Don’t think that people don’t notice the Rank Hypocrisy of progressives!

    OH! – IT’S GOING TO BE A MARVELOUS NOVEMBER!!! LOL – LOL

  • timzank

    As much as I hate NBC, it’s their flippin contest and they can award the prize to anyone they damn well please. Sorry to say, but if GLAAD and the assless chaps militants weren’t so freaking obnoxious they would have made a lot more progress for their cause by now.

  • stoogedudes

    I generally support gay rights, but the Today show is in the right here. New York just needs to change it’s law regarding marriage, and then it’ll be all good.

  • dewsaq

    Have fun with your single sex offspring libs! Time and time again, those raised outside of a married male/female househould are shown to be less successful. Less employment, less wages. Libs tell you its because of racism (despite homesexuals not being a race), but just look at the stats! Children of gays are 4x more likely to commit violent crimes than parents of traditional nuclear parents. Suck on those facts.

  • marigrace

    I wonder if polygamists are mad as well, since I highly doubt if “Today” would accept some man marrying two wives on their show.

  • maxine

    dewsaq said:
    Have fun with your single sex offspring libs! Time and time again, those raised outside of a married male/female househould are shown to be less successful. Less employment, less wages. Libs tell you its because of racism (despite homesexuals not being a race), but just look at the stats! Children of gays are 4x more likely to commit violent crimes than parents of traditional nuclear parents. Suck on those facts.

    Can you point me the way to the data that supports that statement?

  • TonyTony

    This story is just flat out wrong and just regurgitates the Today Show’s bad logic. Same-sex weddings ARE legal in New York, and as GLAAD points out many same-sex couples DO have their weddings in the state. New York State DOES recognize same-sex marriage licenses conferred by other states. The Today Show producers are being way too cute here, pointing to legal restrictions that simply do not exist. They set up the contest in a way that was discriminatory against gay couples when there was no need to do so. The Today Show could simply have restricted entrants to those whose marriages would be recognized by the State of New York.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Hooper/1184513111 Jeremy Hooper

    Just some background, since it’s gotten a little lost in this conversation: This whole thing began on my Good As You site when I noticed that the application only allowed for “bride” and “groom.” I then gave it to GLAAD.

    I’ve heard some ask why Today didn’t just pretend to allow same-sex couples and then just not ultimately award the prize to one. Well, this is the reason: Because they had to acknowledge the hetero-specificity of their application. Before they did, I (and I think GLAAD) assumed that gay couples were allowed and that the forms were just not up to speed. Their response to the form itself is what put them on record as disallowing same-sex couples from this process.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Hooper/1184513111 Jeremy Hooper

    Not sure if links are allowed here. If so, here’s the initial post that started the whole thing:

    http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2010/06/todays-wedding-yesterdays-labels.html

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dusty-Fohs/1264596635 Dusty Fohs

    This reminds me of when my partner and I had to stay with a family friend when we were attending his nephew’s baptism in Florida. We had been together for years just like any other married couple. At bedtime she showed us to our respective separate bedrooms. We thought she was joking. She informed us that only married couples are allowed to share a bed in her house. Her words were, “Unless you’ve got a ring on the finger, you’re in separate beds.” We would gladly have rings on our fingers if the state allowed it, but due to discrimination we can’t get married. I was more upset with her for being a coward and hiding behind the law rather than saying what she really thought, which is exactly what the Today Show is doing.

    Years later, she has repeatedly apologized, is embarrassed for herself and says we are welcome to stay at her home at any time.

    I have a strong feeling that we as a society are going to see a lot more embarrassment and apologies in the years to come.

  • ChrisVogel

    It’s not as bad as it seems; progress is being made. A generation or two ago, Today would have excluded black and interracial couples, previously divorced, and who knows what else. Next time!

  • am_underground

    HEY GLADD and the rest of you who happen to have gayness in your life, talk to your own network and have them put on a contest of your own. Cause like most, except for the had religious types, we don’t care what you do behind closed doors we just don’t want to see it in public.

  • murphy0071

    dewsaq said:
    Have fun with your single sex offspring libs! Time and time again, those raised outside of a married male/female househould are shown to be less successful. Less employment, less wages. Libs tell you its because of racism (despite homesexuals not being a race), but just look at the stats! Children of gays are 4x more likely to commit violent crimes than parents of traditional nuclear parents. Suck on those facts.

    Strange, I am an authority on sexual orientation and have read numerous psychological and sociological literature on the effects of Gay Marriange not one of the researchers says this. You must have picked this up in the same gutter your mind is in. You nor anyone else has ever seen any credible research on the children of sane-sexed couples that would even remotely suggest these data are correct. Give it a rest you lying piece of shit.

© 2012 Mediaite, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Self-Serve Advertising | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram