BY CINDY JAQUITH
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Some 2,500 people here protested the local ABC-TV affiliate's refusal to broadcast the April 30 segment of the popular sitcom Ellen. In the episode, lead character "Ellen Morgan," played by Ellen DeGeneres, comes out as a lesbian. In the weeks leading up to the airing of the program, DeGeneres had publicly announced she is gay.

When the ABC channel here decided to ban the program, gay activists from Birmingham Pride Alabama searched for a public facility where the show could be broadcast as a protest. Rebuffed by one theater, they finally secured downtown Birmingham's Boutwell Auditorium.

The night of the showing, 2,500 people poured into the auditorium, exceeding the expectations of most activists. Many national media also showed up, including CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Reuters, USA Today, "Entertainment Tonight," and the Philadelphia Daily News.

Birmingham's ABC affiliate was the only one in the country to black out the sitcom. According to the Birmingham News, station president Jerry Heilman "called it inappropriate for family viewing."

But many people clearly rejected both ABC's censorship and its antigay stance. Among those attending the special showing of Ellen were not only gays but a significant number of others who support gay rights. Before the broadcast began, Cathy Renna, from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, spoke briefly about the importance of the large turnout here. When she reported that Chrysler, General Motors, Wendy's, and Johnson & Johnson had pulled their TV ads from the evening's show, the crowd booed.

Kevin Snow, vice president of Birmingham Pride Alabama, declared the strong turnout was a statement that gays "will no more be cropped out of the picture."

The one-hour TV program followed, interrupted constantly by cheers and laughter as Ellen took well-aimed jabs at many myths and prejudices about homosexuals.

Two days before the showing, more than 100 people held an outdoor rally to condemn ABC's censorship and defend gay rights.

Meanwhile, on April 29, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court decision that an Alabama law denying state funds to gay organizations is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The law was originally challenged in court by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Alliance at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. That group had been denied student activity funding for a regional gay rights conference.  
 
 
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