Los Angeles Times Publishes Full-Page Ad Promoting Homophobic Myths
On July 23, the Los Angeles Times published a full-page ad by an anti-gay industry group called Exodus International that peddles a series of homophobic myths about gay people. The ad, featuring a man named Randy Thomas (whose role as Exodus’ communications director is not disclosed in the ad), fraudulently suggests that homosexuality is caused by absentee fathers and sexual abuse, that being gay or lesbian is synonymous with emotional problems, and that being gay is something that can and should be cured.
The ad campaign — which, like Exodus itself, has ties to the largest anti-gay group in the country, Focus on the Family — was deemed acceptable by the Department of Advertising Standards at the Los Angeles Times, and, according to a representative from that department, by the advertising department’s upper management. However, the advertising department has declined to release its advertising standards so that the Times’ readers can consider the company policy that led to the decision to run the ad.
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