A Chattanooga, Tenn. television station is refusing to run a pro-gay marriage advertisement.
Jesse Ehrenfeld, a Nashville resident and Republican, is a doctor and navy reservist who recently returned home after serving in Afghanistan. In the ad, which was produced by Freedom to Marry, Ehrenfeld explains that even though he risked his life for America, he still cannot, by law, get married to his partner in Tennessee.
"I was able to stand up and put my life on the line for the freedoms that we all enjoy, and yet I don't have the freedom to marry my partner Judd." Ehrenfeld says. "Support the freedom to marry, because freedom means freedom for everyone."
The Supreme Court is currently investigating same-sex marriage bans in certain states, and according to the Associated Press, Tennessee is one of them.
NBC-affiliate WRCB-TV rejected the ad because it is "too controversial," Marc Solomon, Freedom to Marry's national campaign director, told the AP.
"Here we have the story of a man from Tennessee who is a naval officer, who's putting his life on the line for our country and he comes back to his home state and he can't marry his partner, the man that he loves," Solomon said.
WRCB-TV president and general manager Tom Tolar said that the station "decided to not accept ads for gay marriage or against gay marriage."
Former state Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, quickly defended the station. According to local newspaper the Times Free Press, he said the station has the right to reject any ad, and that the one featuring Ehrenfeld made him want to vomit.
"It made me want to stick my finger down my throat," Floyd said. "Everybody knows what that is. Let's face it, those people have money to spend."
Floyd, an opponent of gay marriage, said he's deeply worried that the Supreme Court will overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
"They're fixing to destroy monogamous families and traditional families," he said. "It's the final pillar standing. ... This country will never recover." He added that "statistics show children do best in marriages between a man and a woman."
Despite WRCB-TV's refusal to air the 30-second commercial, it is being played on different stations in Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis and 22 other cities in America.
Watch the full ad below.
