From Tammy Bruce, a gay TV and radio person:
I realize that there’s all kinds of different people in the world. Lord knows I live a marginal life myself and I like my life. But what this [i.e., pride commercials and marketing campaigns] does is it sends a message it’s really kind of an extremist framework.
[Pride is] really about being left alone but being treated equally and fairly . . . it’s as though there has to be another step forward, another kind of push for something, for everyone to be a victim or for some kind of new dynamic.
Those kinds of ads really do damage to the gay and lesbian community. Because it’s pandering, it’s extreme… It does not respect the audience in a sense.
[Companies are] not used to how Americans are usually quiet and that while we might not be having riots and marches, that we’re gonna speak with the dollar, especially when the economy is tight. That we’re going to be very careful about where we spend money.
And it’s not about homophobia, it’s about everything being politicized. Having messages, political messages of any type, being pushed onto us. None of us want that, no matter what your sexual orientation or your race or your background.