`ELLEN' TO AIR DESPITE OBJECTIONS OF MINISTER; WSIL WILL CARRY COMING-OUT EPISODE

The region's ABC television affiliate plans to air the coming-out-of-the-closet episode of the "Ellen" sitcom Wednesday night despite opposition from some viewers who object to the lesbian story line.

A Baptist minister in Cape Girardeau says homosexuality is a sin and primetime television shouldn't promote it.

The minister, the Rev. Mark Anderson of Lynwood Baptist Church, has asked officials at WSIL-TV in Harrisburg, Ill., not to run the episode.

He also has urged his congregation to write to the station's general manager and voice their opposition.

The station has received a couple hundred telephone calls and some letters in the past two weeks from viewers who don't want the episode shown.

But Steve Wheeler, the station's general manager, said he expects to air the show. "If it is controversial, you err on the side of running it and let people make their own choices," said Wheeler. "Obviously, if we run it, the minister can still decline to watch it," he said.

If the episode airs next week on WSIL, Channel 3, Anderson won't be watching. He said other Christians shouldn't watch it either.

ABC's affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., won't run the episode. But Wheeler said he expects the episode will air on most or all of the other 222 ABC affiliates.

The show airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday. In the upcoming episode, Ellen DeGeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, reveals she is a lesbian.

The 39-year-old actress recently disclosed that she is a lesbian.

Anderson said the episode shouldn't run, regardless of DeGeneres' sexual preferences.

"It is absolutely clear in the Scriptures that homosexuality is a sin," said Anderson.

The Rev. Liz Leech disagrees. Leech, a lesbian, is pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in Cape Girardeau. The church has about 40 members, including some whom are gay.

Leech said the Bible is misinterpreted and misunderstood. "There obviously were gay people in the Bible," she said.

Leech welcomes the "Ellen" episode and the actress' willingness to come out of the closet about her personal life.

"We are going to tape it and use it as an educational program for our people," she said.

One of the members of the church also plans to tape the ABC's "20/20" program, which will air an interview with DeGeneres. The show airs this Friday at 9 p.m.

Leech said the publicity surrounding DeGeneres and the "Ellen" episode could foster a greater public understanding of the homosexual lifestyle.

"We are just getting such good TV realism right now that it is making life a lot easier for us," she said.

Members of a Southeast Missouri State University student organization plan to hold a party at the University Center next Wednesday night and watch "Ellen." The organization is the Lambda Student Union, formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Association. The group has some 45 members.

The party will be limited just to the group's members and their friends.

"Society tells gay people constantly that they are bad, bad, bad," said Duane Westhoff, the group's president.

He said the TV show and DeGeneres herself offer a positive role model for gay people.

Westhoff said the episode also could have an impact among heterosexuals.

"This will hopefully educate some people who are open-minded to it and want to learn something," Westhoff said.

Anderson said he isn't bashing gays.

Anderson said Christians should love sinners. But he said that doesn't mean they should tolerate the gay lifestyle.