Call on The New York Times to Check Accuracy of Anti-Gay Advertisement

In the December 5, 2008 edition of The New York Times, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty published a full page advertisement that makes inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about supposed “violence and intimidation” against religious groups by “mobs” since the passage of Proposition 8.  

When GLAAD learned about the ad earlier this week, we contacted The New York Times, and after repeated back and forth, they said that while they recognized our strong concerns about publishing misleading assertions, “we do not require opinion advertisers to document them unless we believe they are potentially libelous or otherwise legally actionable.”

Click to see a larger version of the ad.

Neil G. Giuliano, President of GLAAD, made the following statement:

The factual inaccuracies made by the Becket Fund in this grossly misleading ad have no place in The New York Times or any credible media outlet.  

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and allies across the country have worked to make our voices heard in the face of laws that strip away vital protections for members of our community.  The peaceful marches and rallies that have occurred since the passage of Prop 8 have given us an opportunity to become more visible and make our voices heard, and it is unacceptable for media platforms, particularly ones as respected as The New York Times, to provide space for groups to make misleading and false attacks that would only seek to silence us.

It is unacceptable to publish these kinds of dishonest claims.

The New York Times needs to hear from you.  Contact them TODAY and demand that they discontinue allowing inaccurate claims in their advertising: letters@nytimes.com.

For tips on writing letters to the editor, see GLAAD’s Media Essentials Training Manual.

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