NCAA Backs Away From Focus And Their Bigotry
Towleroad has been doing a great job covering NCAA’s decision to accept ads from the rabidly anti-gay group Focus On The Family.
First came reports NCAA was running banner ads for Focus on their website and would run TV spots during the men’s tournament.
After teh gays got wind of this a Facebook group was started and public relations contact info for NCAA was posted.
And voila, now all of a sudden NCAA has pulled the ad. Via Inside Higher Ed:
The national college sports group on Tuesday dropped advertisements from Focus on the Family from its championships Web site (which, unlike the association’s main .org Web site, is a .com site that takes advertising and is managed by CBS College Sports). According to a spokesman for Focus on the Family, the ads had been included on several CBS-managed Web sites (including ncaa.com) as part of the conservative advocacy group’s purchase of the Super Bowl ad.
The decision by the NCAA came in response to vocal protests from a small number of advocates for gay and lesbian athletes, who complained that the group’s views that homosexuality and abortion are immoral are inconsistent with the NCAA’s stated nondiscrimination policy.
“Focus on the Family did have a banner ad on NCAA.com. Today, it was decided to remove the ad from the website as a result of concerns expressed by our membership,” Bob Williams, an NCAA spokesman, said via e-mail late Tuesday.
