'The New Normal,' Gay Couple Adoption Show, 'Damaging Our Culture,' Says One Million Moms
"The New Normal," a television show about homosexual couple who hires a surrogate mother, has been the subject of protest by family values group One Million Moms. One Million Moms says that the show's creator, openly gay producer Ryan Murphy of "Glee," is "damaging our culture" and "attempting to redefine marriage."
"The New Normal" aims to redefine family with the tagline: "These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms, sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors … It's 2012 and anything goes. Bryan and David are a Los Angeles couple and they have it all. … the one thing missing is a baby."
One Million Moms is making the show- which would premiere Tuesday, Sept. 11- a main issue for their campaign to clean up media because it "[desensitizes] America and our children" to homosexuality, and ignores "millions of Americans [who] strongly believes that marriage should be between one man and one woman."
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They have begun an email effort to convince advertisers to abstain from sponsoring the show, and to get NBC to drop the program. Critics of One Million Moms efforts are very vocal about their opposition to the campaign, however, and support for the redefinition of family.
"From hit shows like 'Glee' to 'Modern Family,' it's clear that Americans today don't care whether their favorite TV characters are straight or gay," Herndon Graddick, president of gay advocacy group GLAAD, said in a statement. "We now live in a culture where gay people are … a common part of our society."
Despite the relatively small numbers of the gay population- nearly 4 percent of Americans identify as LGBT, according to a Williams Institute study- those two shows were highly watched, Graddick claims. However, the main basis for the shows weren't a homosexual couple, like in "The New Normal."
Moreover, advertising for "Glee" and "Modern Family" didn't depict anything particularly offensive; in contrast, "The New Normal" promotional poster shows the surrogate mother (Georgia King) and gay couple (Andrew Rannels and Justin Bartha) pregnant with heavily swollen stomachs.
Homosexuality is "the opposite of how families are designed and created," wrote OMM on their website. "You cannot recreate the biological wheel."
The conservative, family values group also pointed out that some of their efforts have worked in the past. "The Playboy Club," glamorizing pornography, was canceled, as was "Good Christian Belles," which showed Christianity in a negative light. Both shows ratings' dwindled after their initial premiere, and advertisers pulled out as well to avoid the controversy.
"The New Normal" also features Ellen Barkin, Jayson Blair, and "Real Housewives" star NeNe Leakes. NBC has not commented on the show, which is scheduled for its primetime lineup.
