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June 7,
2011
Larry
Page, CEO, Google
Ken
Warwick, Executive Producer, Freemantle Media (American Idol)
Wayne
Brown, Chairman, Fox Entertainment Group
Robert Iger, President, The Walt Disney
Company
Gentlemen,
As
Chief Executive Officer of Concerned Women for America (CWA) -- the nation’s
largest public policy women’s organization -- I am
writing today calling on your organizations to immediately sever any ties with
the “It Gets Better” organization, the ad campaign which has aired in recent
weeks, and It Gets Better founder Mr. Dan Savage.
Recent
actions by Mr. Savage require that reputable companies immediately cease any
connections with Mr. Savage, his organization and the “It Gets Better” ad
campaign.
Here
is what has transpired:
1.
On May 11, like millions of American families, I
was enjoying one of the final weeks of American Idol with my family when we
were confronted with a 90-second homosexual “tolerance” ad sponsored by Google
with an open endorsement from Disney/Pixar. The ad blatantly targeted young
people and was designed to show that the homosexual lifestyle “gets better”
with age. Even more disturbing, one of those featured called to children saying
“Okay little ones, here’s the first thing you need to
know.”
2.
The next day on my blog[i] I wrote
that I “felt tricked” by Fox and American Idol because the ad was at the very
least in the wrong time slot and thus targeted “my 4th grader.” I made the point that bullying for
any reason is wrong and that a general anti-bullying campaign would have been a
more appropriate focus for such an ad in that time slot. I added that FOX “blew
it last night” and “broke trust” with their audience.
3.
Dan Savage, It Gets Better founder, then posted a
blog responding to my blog.[ii]
Savage’s blog amounted to a hate-filled diatribe that unfortunately has become
typical of attacks against me, Concerned Women for America, and anyone who opposes
his radical homosexual agenda. It is ironic that, in defending his
anti-bullying campaign, Savage used classic bullying tactics:
•Savage
started out by calling CWA an “officially-designated hate group.”
•Savage
then accused me of raising my child in a “skinner box” in my “basement” because
I said my fourth-grader does not yet know about sex. (The quote: “First: a fourth grader who
"doesn't know" about heterosexual sex? Is she raising that kid in a
skinner box in her basement and only letting him out to watch American Idol?”)
•Savage
mischaracterized my position and continued his ad hominem
attack:” This is a
popular argument among haters like Nance.”
•Savage
then called me a “hateful s____.”
Quite
frankly, I am accustomed to these types of attacks against myself, CWA, and
conservative women in general. But then Savage got deeply personal and exposed
his real agenda.
4. On his blog, Savage launched into a 250-word rant
specifically about my child in which he questioned my 10-year-old’s sexuality
and stated that my child “was always our target demo.”
“Nance's
[child] was always our target demo. Again, we don't know if [Nance’s child is]
gay. But [the child] might be and, if [the child] is, [the child] needs to hear
from us. And the Google Chrome/"It Gets Better" campaign has helped
us reach [Nance’s child] and millions more like him.”
Savage
also admitted that the problem of gay bullying happens not primarily in
schools, but in families, and his goal of the ad campaign (placed during the
number-one family show) was to bypass parents and get his message into our
homes.
Please
note that these statements are not taken out of context. This is a personal
blog of the founder of an organization that your company has partnered with to
the tune of millions of dollars of advertising as well as your company’s
credibility.
Dan
Savage is a bully who openly uses profanity and bullying tactics that are
unacceptable in our civil society. He has openly used your corporate dollars
and your company’s reputation to promote his radical agenda that has
ten-year-old children as his “target demo.” By extension, Google, FOX and
Disney/Pixar endorse Savage’s agenda and techniques by funding, supporting and
airing Savage’s campaign.
Despite
whatever good intensions your company may have had in participating in this
campaign at its outset, now that Dan Savage has exposed his true intent and
blatant animosity for American moms, it is time to formally sever any ties to
“It Gets Better” and Dan Savage.
I
also want to remind you that it is precisely the moms and grandmothers whom Dan
Savage is attacking who make your websites, TV shows and movies so popular and profitable.
If you continue to support direct attacks on the cornerstone of your economic
house, logic dictates that there will be ramifications. I
eagerly await your reply.
Sincerely,
Penny
Nance
Chief
Executive Officer
Concerned
Women for America