A C T I O N A L E R T

From: Metropolitan Community Churches
An Important Message from the Rev. Dr. Troy D. Perry
Office of the MCC Moderator
December 2004

Dear Friends:

I'm asking you to take a stand by making two brief but important phone calls today. This week, both CBS and NBC refused to air a United Church of Christ ad that emphasizes the church's openness and welcome to a diverse membership, including same-sex couples. According to our friends at the United Church of Christ, the ad informs people that UCC churches welcome all people, regardless of ability, age, race, economic circumstance or sexual orientation.

Corporate decisions like this are not made in a vacuum -- they are made in a context. This chilling decision has been made in the aftermath of the U.S. elections -- where the talk about "values" for millions of Americans has regrettably meant denial of equal rights for LGBT people, a proposed rollback of rights for women, and the imposition of religious views for governmental policy.

In lights of those events, perhaps an ad describing a welcoming, loving, accepting God may seem extravagant or extreme -- but the reality is that this is the God MCC believes in -- as do our friends in the UCC, along with millions of people of many faiths. In the U.S., broadcast networks are licensed by the federal government and required to address the concerns and issues of all people. That's the law. For CBS and NBC to refuse to air ads that describe a loving, accepting, affirming God is an affront to millions of people of faith.You can do something. Make two phone calls today. Call CBS and NBC. Tell them you are offended by their decision. Ask them to reconsider their decision -- and to air the ads of the United Church of Christ. You may also note the irony that they have no problem airing news and interview programs with "talking heads" that spew anti-LGBT and anti-marriage messages.

By the way, you may be interested to know that the ad has been accepted on other networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land.
To contact CBS, call: (212) 975-4321
To contact NBC, call: (212) 664-4444
Please forward this to your friends and e-mail lists.

/signed/
The Rev. Dr. Troy D. PerryOffice of the MCC Moderator

P.S. You can view the ad on the UCC website at www.stillspeaking.com/default.htm
For churches with the equipment to do so, you may wish to download the ad and show it during public services this week as an act of solidarity with our UCC friends, and to better inform your congregation.