So the very fact that the The Hallmark Channel changed its mind and will allow ads for a wedding-planning website - one that showed two women getting married and - clutch your pearls- kissing at the altar
Can I get an "Oh, well for Land's sake!"?
The ad was for Zola, a wedding planning website. Their ad reflected the way things are in America. Women are marrying women, and - are you firmly seated? - Men are marrying men!
Straight men and women are still getting married, sure, but the dancing and food are usually not nearly as fabulous.
A conservative advocacy group (which means a group of people who are worried that someone, somewhere, is happy) called One Million Moms ( I doubt it), part of the American Family Association (my God, you should see their website!), complained directly to Bill Abbott, CEO of Hallmark parent Crown Media Family Networks.
Abbott (without Costello) pulled the ads and then pulled himself back over last weekend when the ship hit the fans. A #BoycottHallmarkChannel hashtag started trending on Twitter, and notables such as Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner called out the greeting card giant over their unfairness.
So here comes the backtrack:
“The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we’ve seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused," said a statement issued by Hallmark Cards CEO Mike Perry. “Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision. ... We are truly sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused. Hallmark Channel will be reaching out to Zola to reestablish our partnership and reinstate the commercials… We will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive & celebrate our differences"
For those nonfluent in business talk, "We will be reaching out to reestablish our partnership" means "Their checks were good and we want more of them."
Over at Zola, Mike Chi, chief marketing officer, said that the company was relieved by Hallmark Channel's reversal.
"We are humbled by everyone who showed support – not only for Zola, but for all the LGBTQ couples and families who express their love on their wedding day, and every day," he added, adding that he will be glad to run ads to be seen by young romantics planning weddings.
Advocacy group GLAAD also cheered the reversal and thanked everyone who spoke out: "LGBTQ people deserve to see ourselves represented on all TV networks."
Earlier, GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) said that for Hallmark to cancel Zola's ads was "discriminatory and especially hypocritical coming from a network that claims to present family programming and also recently stated they are 'open' to LGBTQ holiday movies."
I've known gay people, straight people, bi people, asexual people, all sorts of folks over the years, and it really hasn't changed me one whit. It's trite and used a lot, but here's the saying: If you don't want a same-sex marriage, by all means, don't have one. But don't stand in the way of other people and the way they want to live.
Did you ever stop and think that the people you're picking on aren't all that wild about YOU?
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