Keep It Gay!

At first, I just thought I was (mis)hearing things. But I checked with others, and they said they heard the same thing.

Here in Virginia, Democratic candidate for governor Tim Kaine is running a TV commercial touting his support for government schools -- higher teacher pay, pre-K education for all, etc.

The last line in the ad, delivered by a female narrator, is "Keep Gangs Out of Our Schools." This is accompanied by a graphic with those exact words.

Yet each time I heard the ad on television, the last line sounded to me like "Keep Gays Out of Our Schools." By the time I decided to ask for other people's opinion about the commercial, I had heard the Kaine ad at least three times, and each time I did a double-take to look at the screen to confirm what I thought I had heard.

Thinking I just needed to see a doctor about my hearing, I asked some other people (in other parts of Virginia and in the D.C. media market) if they heard the same thing. They agreed -- it appears that the narrator is swallowing the "ng" sound on her line, so it sounds like "keep gays out of our schools."

Whether the Kaine campaign did this on purpose is a question I am not able to answer. But it certainly is suspicious. In a state like Virginia, it doesn't pay to be perceived as too pro-gay, but Northern Virginia voters, soccer moms, and -- yes, Virginia, we do exist -- gay citizens might not respond too positively to out-and-out anti-gay rhetoric. Hence, an attempt at subliminal seduction. (And not the first attempt, either.)

Listen to the ad for yourself. It's on the Kaine campaign web site. I recommend listening with your eyes closed, first, then listening again and watching at the same time.

Let me add that I delayed posting this reflection for more than a week and a half, until I had time to ask more than a few people if they heard the same thing I did. When I got feedback that indicated I was not alone, I thought it was appropriate to go public with my musings.