Researcher: 'Outing' of Simpsons Character Consistent with Hollywood Bias
by Mary Rettig
February 22, 2005
(AgapePress) - A researcher for the American Family Association says the homosexual outing of a character on The Simpsons is just another show of Hollywood's blatant pro-homosexual bias.
The February 20 episode of the popular animated series was titled "There's Something About Marrying." It was preceded by a "parental discretion" advisory because the show contained discussion of same-sex "marriage." It also touted that one of the show's characters was going to come "out of the closet."
Indeed, on Sunday's night's installment, the chain-smoking Patty Bouvier -- Marge Simpson's older sister -- announced she is a lesbian and wants to marry her lover, Veronica. The Simpsons' fictional town of Springfield also decides to allow homosexual marriages as a way to bring in tourism.
Ed Vitagliano, a researcher for the Mississippi-based American Family Association, says anyone who does not believe that Hollywood has a pro-homosexual agenda learned from Sunday's episode of The Simpsons that that is not the case.
"Even though The Simpsons is generally kind of a wacky animated program, it was still very one-sided in its presentation on the issue of same-sex marriage," Vitagliano says.
The AFA researcher notes how the pastor in the program, Rev. Lovejoy, was portrayed in the episode.
"Reverend Lovejoy was shown to be rather hypocritical," Vitagliano says. "He believes that the Bible does not allow same-sex marriage. And yet when Marge tried to show him and explain to him that, as she put it, scriptural scholars disagree on this issue, he simply began ringing the church bell to drown out her supposedly more reasonable approach to the issue."
Vitagliano points out that although The Simpsons really is not a kid-friendly show, many young people do watch it. And Hollywood, he says, will "pull out all the stops" to promote same-sex marriage -- and children will be influenced by it.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
