The episode, dealing with "one of the most divisive issues in American society" according to "The New York Times", became a subject of controversy after its broadcast. The authors of "The Marriage and Family Experience" called it "one of the more controversial episodes of a frequently controversial cartoon." Several conservative groups and American Christian conservatives thought it was promoting same-sex marriage. Parents Television Council president L. Brent Bozell III criticized "There's Something About Marrying" for bringing up the issue. Even though he had not seen the episode himself, he commented that "at a time when the public mood is overwhelmingly against gay marriage, any show that promotes gay marriage is deliberately bucking the public mood." A researcher for the American Family Association, named Ed Vitagliano, claimed the presentation of same-sex marriage in the episode was "very one-sided". He said that this episode proved "Hollywood's blatant pro-homosexual bias" because despite "The Simpsons" being "generally kind of a wacky animated program" it was not neutral on the issue. Bozell also worried about the influence the episode would have on children, despite the parental discretion advisory at the beginning, commenting: "You've got a show watched by millions of children. Do children need to have gay marriage thrust in their faces as an issue? Why can't we just entertain them?" Similarly, Vitagliano said that many children watch "The Simpsons" and Hollywood "will pull out all the stops to promote same-sex marriage — and children will be influenced by it."