EWTN Delays Program to Censor Gay Subjects from Canadian Programming

Recent Canadian laws have placed severe restrictions on individuals and the media in discussion of "diversity issues." Religious leaders and churches have already been penalized in court for violations. EWTN acknowledges here that it is an issue for them.

In response to questioning about a show on homosexuality not being aired in Canada, as was scheduled and aired in the United States, Amalia C. Zea, the producer of the popular program Life on the Rock responded, "I apologize that you didn't get the show that you were expecting. Due to the new hate crimes regulations in Europe and Canada, it is against the law for us to air shows whose main topic deal with same sex attraction."

The missing show in question was the March 2nd airing of Life on the Rock which featured Stephen and Irene Bennett, former homosexuals who are now happily married with children. The theme of the program was "Homosexuality to Heterosexuality Happens."
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LifeSiteNews.com contacted EWTN for more information. Scott Hults, Vice President, Communications at EWTN first told LifeSiteNews.com that Zea is a "junior producer" and as such she was mistaken. The network, he said, was just being "cautious".

He said, "We were sensitive to the issues in Canada . . . the market is very important to us." He added, "We worked very hard to be part of the cable television and satellite community in Canada . . . The decision was we'd produce a Canadian feed, and because of that we also have to be sensitive to what you guys want, what you expect, what you are looking for. We do different programming for you, we're sensitive to your needs and we respond when appropriate to what you want us to do. Everybody seems to be very happy with us."

He assured LifeSiteNews.com that the programs in question will air in Canada, and the reason it did not was that the network was concerned that the program was aired live, without the opportunity to bleep out any material that may have been sensitive. The airing of the programs, he said was "delayed" in case participants said something live that "would blow your minds there."

When asked if Canadian government officials had warned EWTN not to broadcast such material in Canada due to our hate crime laws, Hults, after consulting with executives replied in the negative. Asked whether other programming dealing with controversial subjects such as abortion or euthanasia would also be subject to "cautious" delay or censorship, Hults again said no.