Action Alert: Tivo Teams with Focus on the Family for Father’s Day?

[Updated with new information: 4:05 p.m.]

Love your Tivo? Then tell them to stop working with with ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family (FOF). Yes, that’s right: FOF has partnered with Tivo to bring FOF members special offers. FOF is also holding a Father’s Day “SuperDad” essay contest (http://www.family.org/fathersday/) with Tivo boxes and service as the prizes. Entries are being accepted through the FOF Web site. You think they’ll let essays about gay dads through, or be fairly considered for a prize? Hah.

Good As You broke the story earlier, and has posted a pair of “compare and contrast” radio ads, one for the contest and one raising the specter of transgender predators in public bathrooms.

Update: Joe of Joe. My. God. has contacted Tivo’s PR department, and it seems that the FOF contest was not done with Tivo’s direct involvement. Tivo calls it “an affiliate program of their [FOF’s] own design.” Tivo does, however, have a relationship with FOF to promote Tivo’s KidZone content-screening feature and offer a special deal to FOF members.

If the contest was done with Tivo’s permission, however, they could fall afoul of California law, as Autumn Sandeen has noted:

TIVO is based out of San Jose, California, so California’s Public Accommodation law (the Unruh Civil Rights Act) would apply to all their business practices. . . . I’m not an attorney, but I believe it would be unlawful per AB 1400’s changes to the Unruh Civil Rights Act to run a contest that discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation and/or marital status.

Even if FOF is running the contest without Tivo’s involvement, Tivo should condemn the public promotion of their product by an organization that runs counter to their company values. (See below.) At the very least, they should forbid FOF from using the Tivo logo as part of their promotion, which makes it seem as if Tivo has endorsed the contest. (See http://www.family.org/fathersday/) Tell Tivo to break off ties with this organization that doesn’t value all families, or you’ll reconsider using their service, even if it means losing all your saved copies of last season’s L Word. Contact them via their public relations page.

The Family Equality Council is also organizing around this, and asking people to submit names of gay dads to the contest (and to submit partnered dads as a combined entry), then to e-mail Family Equality with the text of your nomination so they can feature it on their site. (They have taken a stronger view of the formality of the TiVo/FOF partnership; I’m not convinced FOF wasn’t taking the bit and running with it without TiVo’s knowledge.)

After the jump: Tivo’s LGBT-inclusive Code of Conduct policy and FOF’s views on things LGBT. (Thanks to Autumn Sandeen for the below.)

From Tivo’s Code of Conduct (emphasis added):

Equal Opportunity

We believe that richness in diversity is a huge asset for TiVo. We value both the similarities and differences in everyone who’s a part of the TiVo team. We believe that this diversity builds a stronger organization and is in keeping with the core values of our company. Our policy, therefore, is to provide equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or veteran’s status. This means that we comply with all applicable human rights and employment legislation, and we do not discriminate in any aspect of employment, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotions, reductions in force, or terminations.

Treating others with dignity and respect

We strive to create a working environment that inspires employees and nurtures our creative instincts and we work to balance that TiVo casual atmosphere with a commitment towards professionalism and integrity. We strive to interact with our colleagues, customers and vendors, in a respectful manner and will not tolerate conduct that is intimidating, negative or offensive.

Obviously, there are the overt examples of such behavior: threats and/or physical fighting; racist, sexist or ethnic comments; inappropriate physical contact; sexually oriented gestures. There are also the more subtle, less obvious actions as well; comments or things that could offend others such as pictures or posters, jokes or statements; or questionable material on your desk or computer that could be distributed over our network. We ask all employees to be sensitive to these subtleties.

Of course, because we’re in the television business, there are circumstances when individuals will need to work with programming which may be considered by some as inappropriate content to be seen on a TV here at TiVo. In an effort to maintain a respectful and positive workplace, TiVo proactively implemented and maintains an Adult Content Viewing/Testing Policy. To protect employees who may be offended by such content or programming, all employees are expected to adhere to the Policy and sign an acknowledgment.

From FOF’s Web site, in answer to the question “Why can’t Focus be more inclusive of gay people?”

Whereas we have never attempted to hurt or ridicule the individual homosexual or lesbian, I do find myself in sharp disagreement with the more radical elements of the movement. The effort to redefine the family, qualify for adoption, promote the homosexual lifestyle in the schools, etc., are objectives with which I disagree. And I will oppose them when the issues are raised. Does that make me a hatemonger? I think not.

From their section “Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ and Civil Unions”:

Children and Marriage

The optimal environment for raising a child is one in which the child’s mother and father are married to each other. Deliberately depriving a child of a mother or a father is not in the child’s best interest and is never compassionate. But this is what every same-sex family does for the sole purpose of fulfilling adult desire. On average, when compared with children raised by both parents, children deprived of mothers or fathers fare worse in virtually every measure of well-being. The sparse research regarding children raised in same-sex couple households reveals that such children are comparable in well-being to those in single-parent households. In addition, children raised by homosexuals are significantly more likely to develop a homosexual orientation themselves.

Men and women are distinctly different. Each gender brings vitally important – and unique – elements to a child’s development. Thousands of academic studies reveal that the presence of a father in the home increases children’s cognitive and verbal skills, academic performance, involvement in or avoidance of high-risk behaviors and crime, and emotional and psychological health. Our hearts and a wealth of research tell us of the power and importance of the mother-child bond.