A Tennessee television station has declined to air an ad that shares the story of a gay Republican U.S. soldier who wants the right to marry his partner.
Though Chattanooga-based WRCB had no previous policy on airing same-sex marriage commercials, the station has decided not to air the Freedom to Marry ad due to the topic’s controversial nature, Buzzfeed reports.
“It’s just a very controversial and personal issue, and we just choose to not air a commercial on either side of that debate,” Tom Tolar, president and general manager of WRCB told Buzzfeed. He added that “people probably have really strong opinions on one side or other of the debate. It’s just an emotional debate for many people.”
The star of the ad (see above), Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, was disappointed in the station’s decision not to air the commercial, adding that “it seems they just created this policy out of thin air when presented with this ad.”
In the 30-second spot, Ehrenfeld notes that while he cares for other’s loved ones as a military physician, back home in Tennessee he’s “fighting a different fight” to finally marry his partner Judd.
This is the first Freedom to Marry advertisement to see a rejection, though other local Tennessee stations plan to air the commercial over the next week. Freedom to Marry has not yet responded to Mashable‘s request for comment on whether or not WRCB is the only local station to refuse the 30-second spot.
Tennessee is one of four states — alongside Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio — involved in a Supreme Court case that will determine whether or not prohibitions on same-sex marriage violate the 14th Amendment’s promise of equal protection under the law.
“Even though the Supreme Court justices will decide the issue, it’s the people in my community who I interact with and take care of as patients, who I see in the grocery store or going for a jog with my partner — they need to see both sides of the story,” Ehrenfeld told Buzzfeed. “They need to understand the perspective of people who are being denied this basic right.”
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