February 1, 2012
GLSEN to Be Featured at Super Bowl
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Whether the New York Giants or the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 5, the LGBT team will score a big victory during the game.
We're not talking about Madonna performing during the half-time show (although, yes, we can chalk that one up as well). For the first time at such a big game, the giant video screen at a Super Bowl stadium will display gay public service announcements from the "Look Before You Speak" campaign created by the Gay Lesbian & Straight Education Alliance.
The ads were made possible by an in-kind donation from Grazie Media, a Toronto agency.
The ads, which feature Hilary Duff, Wanda Sykes and the pro athlete Grant Hill, target teens who use the word "gay" derogatorily. The Ad Council has done surveys which show a dramatic increase in teen awareness of the harm hate speech does to their peers.
Hilary Duff preaches righteously to two girls in a fitting room:
Wanda Sykes gives it back to three dudes in a pizza parlor:
NFL stars send a message: Using "gay" as a putdown is not cool:
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
