CNN Removes Poll Asking Whether Gay-Inclusive TV Is 'Bad For Society'

BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF 
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

CNN.com has removed a poll that asked viewers whether gay-inclusive

 television is “bad for society.”

The poll, which appeared on the site Friday, was taken down after media watchdog the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) 

complained to the network.

GLAAD also criticized the video report that accompanied the poll.

The story from the network's HLN's Showbiz Tonight tilted Too Gay for

 TV begins with: “Too gay for TV? A brand new controversial battle is

 on today as more gay characters invade prime time television.”

In the report, Dan Gainor from the social conservative group Culture and

 Media Institute, lashed out against the increasing number of gay 

characters on the small screen.

“It's bad for society to promote homosexuals, particularly a 

homosexual lifestyle and gay marriage,” Gainor said. “And that's

 what this is doing.”

GLAAD said the poll and report were troubling because they follow

 “an alarming trend of media outlets creating simplistic, predicable

 'pro-gay/anti-gay' dualisms that do a great disservice to viewers 

who are seeking information on the diversity of opinion and 

experience within our community.”

Before the poll was removed, 56 percent of the 36,406 respondents

 said gay-inclusive TV was not “bad for society,” while 44 percent

 responded that it was detrimental.