Free Press Condemns FCC Efforts to Attach New Warning Labels on LGBTQ+ Content

WASHINGTON — On Monday, Free Press again urged the Federal Communications Commission to abandon its efforts to silence the voices of the LGBTQ+ community. 

The FCC issued a notice on April 22 to consider whether industry’s voluntary television-ratings system should apply warning labels to programs that feature transgender and nonbinary characters or discuss gender identity themes. The FCC has no authority to dictate these ratings, and Chairman Brendan Carr is merely trying to help Donald Trump further his anti-trans agenda.

In a filing responding to the agency’s inquiry, Free Press wrote that Carr’s proposal to attach warning labels to LGBTQ+ content makes a mockery of Congress’ mandate. The law stipulates that the FCC must allow the broadcast industry to develop its own ratings system, without federal intervention. “The agency should abandon this contrived and morally repugnant exercise, as it has no authority to suggest any changes to the TV ratings system,” reads Free Press’ filing.

“Such an interventionist role is firmly prohibited under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and Chairman Brendan Carr’s attempts to shoehorn one raises grave First Amendment concerns,” the filing continues. “Carr’s true censorial intentions here are borne out by commenters who support ‘empowering parents’ as a means to silence LGBTQ+ voices. In effect, the FCC Notice is another means of weaponizing federal mechanisms to implement the Trump administration’s discriminatory agenda.”

A coalition of more than 40 LGBTQ+ and civil-rights organizations filed an initial joint comment in May arguing that the labels are unnecessary and discriminatory, and that they equate diverse identities with explicit content like violence or coarse language. Free Press also submitted on Monday the signatures of almost 7,800 people urging the Commission to abandon its attacks on LGBTQ+ communities. 

Shilpa Jindia, Free Press policy counsel and primary author of the filing, said:

“The FCC has zero authority to influence the TV industry’s  parental-ratings guidelines. The law states that the industry itself has the right to develop these ratings free from outside interference.

“Chairman Carr’s transphobic speeches, which call on the industry to modify its ratings, do not give him the authority to make any changes. Carr is abusing his power to coerce capitulation from the private sector on multiple fronts, and this has chilled free speech. But Congress never gave the agency the authority to act as a censor. This notice is not a good-faith inquiry responding to legitimate congressional concerns; instead, it’s a dog whistle to promote the hateful anti-LGBTQ+ views the Trump administration favors.

“Any FCC interference in or coercion of the private-ratings system immediately implicates the First Amendment. The primary intent and impact of the FCC notice is to chill content featuring any LGBTQ+ perspectives and to silence the voices of creators from this community. For years, these communities have sought greater and more equitable representation and inclusion within the media. They shouldn’t have to overcome bad-faith labeling to show that queer identities have always been part of our social fabric. It’s this success in fostering LGBTQ+ acceptance that the Carr FCC is targeting, part of a broader censorial agenda intended to erase diverse voices from the American story.”