Hilton Accused of Pushing “LGBTQ Agenda”
One Million Moms claims a Hilton ad featuring people in pink promotes "multiple homosexual...characters" in "gender-confused roles."
One Million Moms is accusing the Hilton hotel chain of attempting to “glamorize sin” for portraying people wearing gender-nonconforming attire and including a shot of a same-sex couple in one of its advertisements.
The commercial features hotel heiress Paris Hilton walking through a Hilton hotel lobby wearing a pink dress and carrying her dog.
Throughout the lobby, everyone — men and women, including several celebrities and influencers — are dressed in pink and have blond hair or wigs, repeating some of Paris’s trademark catchphrases as they snap selfies, scroll social media, and preen in mirrors — actions that are “on brand” with the heiress’s public persona.
Hilton looks at the lobby, says, “That’s hot,” and continues on her way, with hotel staff carrying bags behind her.
“When you want the celebrity treatment no matter who you are, it matters where you stay,” a narrator says, promoting the chain’s “Hilton Honors” program for frequent guests.
According to the group One Million Moms, the 5-month-old commercial is “attempting to normalize the LGBTQ lifestyle with its liberal advertising choices,” arguing that the actors in the commercial are wearing “flamboyant” pink clothing and accessories.
“The hotel chain is obviously pushing the LGBTQ agenda with this commercial, which depicts individuals, couples, and families, all in obviously gender-confused roles,” One Million Moms writes in a missive asking people to sign a petition demanding the commercial’s removal from the airwaves.
One Million Moms also objects to the portrayal of “multiple homosexual and transgender characters,” arguing that the ad “blatantly throws the LGBTQ lifestyle in the viewer’s face while also promoting the inclusivity of Hilton Honors.”
The right-wing advocacy group’s assertions are dubious at best.
While there does appear to be one same-sex couple in the ad — dressed in matching pink polo shirts covered up by sweatshirts — they both appear to be wearing traditionally male garb, just in a bright pink color.
Some of the male-presenting actors in the commercial are wearing blond wigs — an homage to Paris Hilton, it seems — but are dressed in pink, male-bodied suits. One character even appears to be a father — presumably a cisgender, heterosexual man — who is looking at himself, along with his wife and two children, all clad in pink, in the hotel lobby mirror.
Such nuances are lost on the rabidly anti-LGBTQ One Million Moms, who claims that the ad is an attempt to “desensitize viewers” into accepting homosexuality and gender nonconformity as normal.
The group accuses the Hilton hotel chain of seeking to cater to the LGBTQ community while offending conservative customers, saying that the commercial constitutes a refusal to “remain neutral in the culture war,” and fretting that the ad might air while children are watching television.
“One Million Moms continues to stand up for biblical truth, including passages such as Romans 1:26-27, which prohibits sexual perversion of this type,” the group writes. “Scripture repeatedly states that homosexuality is wrong, and God will not tolerate this sinful behavior.”
An offshoot of the anti-LGBTQ American Family Association, One Million Moms frequently laments LGBTQ visibility in media, railing against what it claims are depictions of “immorality, violence, vulgarity, and profanity.”
Some of the organization’s past petitions and campaigns have targeted major corporations that don’t show “family-friendly” commercials. They slammed the dating site eHarmony for commercials depicting same-sex couples, called for a boycott of Oreo for selling rainbow-colored cookies during Pride season, condemned Whole Foods for sponsoring a Drag Queen Story Hour event, demanded that the Hallmark Channel pull an ad depicting a lesbian wedding, and lost their cool over a plug for TurboTax.
The petition demanding the Hilton ad’s cancellation has amassed 12,186 signatures so far.
“I am not buying into your social agenda that pushes the gay lifestyle,” the petition reads. “Your commercial featuring a homosexual couple and men in drag offends me, and it also offends many other conservative consumers.
“I disagree with the LGBTQ agenda you are forcing on families and children. Airing these advertisements during primetime, when children are likely to be watching television, crosses a line that Hilton should have never crossed. I will not support or use Hilton while your company airs commercials featuring same-sex couples or ads pushing the LBGTQ agenda. I urge Hilton to pull your LGBTQ-inclusive ads immediately. Please stick to promoting your services without making political or social statements.”
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