Is KET the place for gay activism?

Is gay pride month any excuse for the state's publicly funded television network to engage in partisan political programming? 

Kentucky is one of the few places in the United States where the Boy Scouts have received little criticism for their refusal to allow homosexual scoutmasters--until last month, that is.

On June 19, Kentucky Educational Television (KET) ran a documentary written, directed and produced by gay activists.  The film, entitled Scout's Honor, is a highly one-sided portrayal of the issue of whether gays should have homosexuals leading Scout troops.  It was funded by the Public Broadcasting System and was directed by homosexual activist Tom Shepard. The board of advisors includes several other homosexual activists, including Kevin Jennings, president of Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which is engaged in pressuring schools around the country to punish the Boy Scouts.

The primary significance of KET's involvement in this issue is not that it is perhaps the first time a partisan attack has been made on the Scouts in Kentucky--although that is notable in itself.  The most important aspect of KET's airing of this film is that it places the state's public television network, which is taxpayer-funded, in the position of taking sides in an issue.

Can anyone imagine KET running a film produced and directed by high profile conservative activists that attacks the homosexual movement?

I didn't think so.  And yet KET has yet to issue a mea culpa on its airing of the program.

KET has been fairly scrupulous in its observance of objectivity, particularly its Kentucky Tonight public affairs program, which invites guests from both sides to give their opinion on issues important to Kentuckians.  I know: I have been invited to be on the program a number of times.

The homosexual rights movement has a way of getting people to relax their standards of objectivity, whether it's scientific evidence that homosexual is inborn (of which there is very little) or journalistic integrity.  But the fact that June was gay pride month is no reason for KET to suddenly be relaxing it's own standards of objectivity.

The film itself portrays four pro-homosexual protagonists in a variety of attractive and wholesome settings, while the film's one opponent of homosexual scoutmasters--the parent of a child in a troop that resisted the change--appear defensive and unsure.

The Boy Scouts of America refused to give an interview to filmmakers, probably figuring--given the parade of homosexual activists involved--that it wouldn't be given a fair shake.  That was probably a wise move.

But while the Boy Scouts were shunning the biased production, public television stations around the country, including KET, uncritically ran the film.  In fact, when I called the day before the airing of the film to see if it was being run, the voice on the other end told me that they had run it once already!  Apparently, running attacks on wholesome organizations that help boys is not something done surreptitiously and with a modicum of discretion, but is engaged in enthusiastically.

If anyone doubts the biased nature of the film, they should take a look at the film's website--www.scouts-honor.com--which exalts efforts nationally to force the Boy Scouts to renounce their current policy on homosexual scoutmasters and to defund Scout troops nationwide.

If KET is going to participate in Gay Pride Month through its programming then it needs to find a way to do it without using taxpayer money, and it certainly shouldn’t do it at the expense of the Boy Scouts.

KET owes an apology to Boy Scouts in Kentucky.

The Boy Scouts legacy of teaching character to boys in this country is something that should supported, not maligned.  Running attacks on the Boy Scout oath to be ‘morally straight’ is not a public service; it is a public disservice.

###

The Family Foundation of Kentucky is a nonprofit educational organization dealing with issues affecting Kentucky families.