NCAA Use of FOTF Ads Still Under Consideration

I do not want to be writing about this. I was hoping it was done. I hoped that the NCAA got the message that their association with FOTF is inappropriate for a national sport governing organization that professes a commitment to non-discrimination, equity, diversity and inclusion. I crossed my fingers that an organization that represents hundreds of colleges and universities from all over the USA would understand the damage it does to its reputation and the turmoil it causes its membership by associating itself with a Christian right wing organization that has an exclusionary and divisive political agenda. I believed that the NCAA would read their own constitution and standards for accepting advertising, smack their foreheads and say, “what were we thinking, of course the FOTF ad violates our own policies.” But apparently no.

I understand that, though the NCAA.com ads have been taken down, there are still internal discussions going on at the NCAA about the pros and cons of using the FOTF ads in the future, like maybe for the men’s basketball tournament beginning next month. Some people take the position that the message in the FOTF ads is benign – “Celebrate Families, Celebrate Life” - and that it is possible to separate this simple message from the messenger – FOTF.

I believe this is a seriously naïve or seriously disingenuous perspective. Anyone who has any familiarity with FOTF knows that the families they celebrate are of only one kind – heterosexual married ones and that when they talk about celebrating life, this is code language for their opposition to a woman’s right to choose whether or not to bear a child. FOTF is a political organization that devotes significant resources to oppose civil rights for LGBT people, pray people out of their gay and oppose abortion rights.

Let’s look at another example to explore the connections between an advertising message and the organization that crafts the message. What if you saw an advertisement that said, “Celebrate Your Family, Celebrate Your Heritage. “ Let’s say the ad was for Ancestry.com, a genealogical search web site. You might say, “Cool, this is inviting people to explore their family tree.” But what if the same ad, “Celebrate Your Family, Celebrate Your Heritage“ was for KukluxKlan.org. Wouldn’t you have a completely different reaction to the meaning of the ad? I sure would.

Look, if FOTF wants to buy advertising time on CBS and the ad meets CBS standards, they have a right to buy the time. I would only hope that CBS would fairly apply their standards to other advocacy ads from a different part of the political spectrum as well. But the NCAA is more than a commercial venture and their standards are and should be different. The NCAA has a responsibility to all its member schools and every student-athlete who competes in NCAA-sponsored events to avoid association with political organizations whose agendas contradict the NCAA’s stated commitment to non-discrimination, diversity and inclusion.

If this makes sense to you, please let the NCAA know. They apparently need a reminder. If this doesn’t make sense to you, please do not write me to consign me to hell or pray for my soul or call me names. You have a right to your beliefs; you just don’t have a right to associate them with the NCAA.