TOOWOOMBA, Australia, March 17, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Australian public television network has refused to air an advertisement supporting traditional marriage.
The SBS network is under fire for squelching the ad, which was produced by the Australian Marriage Forum's recent television commercial, defending a child's right to have a mother and father.
The 30-second spot has created hours of debate in the Australian media. Its creator spoke exclusively to LifeSiteNews.
The message had been cleared by industry regulators and was booked on four networks. SBS alone pulled out, at the last minute.
In a rare moment of agreement, people on both sides of the same-sex “marriage” debate agreed that the SBS television network should not have censored free speech by canceling its agreement to broadcast the advertisement during their coverage of the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras held in Sydney.
The subsequent media coverage of the censored ad propelled it to over 500,000 views on YouTube in the first four days and leading the chart for trending videos in Australia.
The campaign by Australian Marriage Forum seeks to re-frame the existing debate.
“At present the debate is framed almost entirely in terms of the demands of adults to so-called 'marriage equality,'” President David van Gend said. “Our very first television ad in our new campaign…says that so-called 'marriage equality' means a child is forced to miss out on a mother or a father. That's not equality for the kids who miss out.”
“What about equality for kids?” van Gend suggested that people ask.
The Sydney Mardi Gras has always had an element of political protest, he said. Past parades have contained negative caricatures of prominent pro-family statesmen, such as Christian Democrat Party leader Fred Nile and Catholic Cardinal George Pell. The so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who call themselves “a leading edge order of queer nuns,” have also been a regular presence at the event.
This year's event included a float dedicated to the cause of “marriage equality.”
“The side of the debate that has all the media power silences, censors, and intimidates to some extent those of us who simply want to say the truth that has existed forever that [the] mother-child, father-child bond is not to be violated by government laws,” said van Gend.
He went on to emphasize that AMF is not attacking single parents for any perceived shortcomings but, acknowledging that the deprivation of a mother or father in the life of a child is always a tragedy. Governments should not be intentionally creating an institution that does just that.
Despite commentators agreeing that the AMF ad should not have been censored, others have pilloried van Gend and AMF for their stance. Mr. van Gend's personal Facebook page was also deleted without warning after he posted their ad.
AMF has told LifeSiteNews that it will continue to press SBS to provide reasons for its last minute decision to pull their ad.
Our full interview with Australian Marriage Forum's David van Gend.