Petrelis Files

CA Papers: Gays Missing From Prop 8 Ads

Two Northern California newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee, published pieces referencing a key component excluded from the No on 8 campaign's TV ads.

The Sac Bee column by Marcos Breton, which appeared on Sunday, is all about the missing gays, not just from our side's ads, but also from the Yes on 8 forces:

In the public relations battle over legalizing same-sex marriage, it appears gay people have been relegated to the background.

They are invisible in television ads arguing for and against Proposition 8 – the initiative that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry ...

As in anti-Prop. 8 ads, gay people are silent and in the background of the Newsom commercial. The desire of gays to legally marry is merely implied ...

Both campaigns seem to want to make their cases without upsetting people who might vote for them.

It's as if they don't want their campaigns about gay people to be sidetracked by gay people.

The Chronicle article was penned by John Wildermuth, also focused on the TV commercials and who wasn't included in them. From Saturday's Chronicle:

Opponents of the marriage ban have taken a different track with their ads, putting out a low-key trio of spots with gays and lesbians virtually invisible.

The campaign's opening ad featured a traditional couple married 46 years, urging viewers not to take away their gay daughter's right to marry. An ad featuring two women at a table mentions an unseen niece and her same-sex partner, but makes made it clear the women talking aren't a lesbian couple.

Even the ad challenging the charges of the pro-Prop. 8 campaign manages to do it without ever using the words gay, lesbian or same-sex.

Like practically every gay person on the planet, I too want this hateful ballot initiative to fail, but I know I'm in a minority that would like to see out gay citizens in the TV spots and outreach materials.

In 2008, an electoral effort about gay marriage should be able to mount an advertising campaign that doesn't shy away from featuring the very people for whom the marriage means the most.