Utah NBC affiliate won't air show about gay couple

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Mormon church-owned NBC affiliate in Utah won't air an upcoming sitcom about a gay couple that invites a surrogate mother into their home as they try to have a baby because the station deems the content inappropriate for its audience.

"The New Normal" is set to debut Sept. 11 on NBC.

"For our brand, this program simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time," Jeff Simpson, CEO of KSL's parent company, Bonneville International, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a statement.

"The dialogue is excessively rude and crude; the scenes are too explicit and the stereotypes are offensive on all sides," Simpson added.

NBC defended the program, noting it makes "a statement about the changing definition of the nuclear family."

"The show is against bigotry and hatred in every form and will make that point whenever characters say outrageous or unacceptable things about race, religion, sexual identity, disability, or tolerance of people outside the definitions of 'normal,'" the network said in a statement Monday.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation sharply criticized KSL's decision.

"Same-sex families are a beloved part of American television thanks to shows like Modern Family, Glee and Grey's Anatomy," GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said. "While audiences, critics and advertisers have all supported LGBT stories, KSL is demonstrating how deeply out of touch it is with the rest of the country."

KSL immediately took issue with the criticism on Monday, noting its decision to pull the show is wrongly "being reduced to a single issue."

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