Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 16:47:54 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 6/22/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. GLAAD reports on "It's Elementary" and Greg Congdon article 2. CA: AB 222 fails by one vote in assembly ==================================================================== Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 22:57:11 -0700 Subject: GLAADAlert June 3, 1999 From: "Channel Q News" GLAADAlert - June 3, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation [unrelated items omitted] 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming 2) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming Throughout the month, public television stations across the country will be airing the acclaimed It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues In School, a film by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff. Winner of the 1997 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, It's Elementary explores ways in which educators can address lesbian and gay issues with their students in age-appropriate manners. Recognizing that such factors as prejudice, discrimination, and in the extreme, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people could be avoided by raising children with a better understanding of the importance of diversity and acceptance, Chasnoff and producer Helen S. Cohen filmed effective and positive examples of such lessons taking place in first through eighth grade classrooms across the country. The airing of It's Elementary has not come without controversy. Religious political organizations including the American Family Association (AFA) and the Family Research Council have launched campaigns against broadcasts of the documentary, and many local stations have been hesitant to air it. Many stations are still in the process of making a decision, and while many others have announced plans to air the program, a comparable number have explicitly announced that they will not air the film. Still others are scheduled also to air Suffer the Children, a virulently homophobic piece produced by the AFA, in an effort to "balance" the issues raised in It's Elementary. PBS has been targeted by religious political extremists as well, in spite of the fact that it is not explicitly involved in this month's broadcasts of It's Elementary. PBS will, however, be airing After Stonewall, the sequel to the award-winning historical documentary, Before Stonewall, both chronicling the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in America. Endorsed by the nation's leading educational organizations and recently lauded in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Baltimore Sun to the Boston Globe, It's Elementary is indeed a necessary and vital resource for educators, parents, and fairminded people everywhere. The Nation's Doug Ireland simply said "This film must be seen." But as yet, only 90 public television stations and networks have announced plans to air it, while an almost equal number have explicitly stated that they will not. To find out whether your local public television station plans to air It's Elementary, visit the website of Women's Educational Media, located online at: http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html . You'll find means for contacting them linked to the site. Please do contact your local station. Encourage management to air It's Elementary if they are not already planning to do so, and be sure to thank them if they are. Highlight for them the significance of this film, and challenge them to recognize its importance rather than buckling under pressure. Contact PBS as well - thank them for broadcasting After Stonewall, and let them know that you support It's Elementary. Finally, contact Georgia Public Television (GPTV), a statewide public television network, which recently announced that it will be airing After Stonewall after initially having said that it would not. Thank GPTV for that decision and encourage the network to air It's Elementary. Contact: * http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html for a listing of stations scheduled to air It's Elementary and a link to local station information * Ervin Duggan, President, Public Broadcasting Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, e-mail: www@pbs.org * Marcia Killingsworth, Public Relations Manager, Georgia Public Television, 260 14th St. NW, Atlanta, GA, e-mail: viewerservices@gpb.org 2) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times In a May 31 article distributed by Knight-Ridder, Wilkes-Barre (Penn.) Times Leader staff writer Bob Nocek profiled a self-identified "gay jock teen" in Pennsylvania. The piece begins: "His parents had finally gone to sleep, and now it was time for Greg Congdon to die...For the second time in barely more than a month, Greg Congdon, 17 years old, wanted to end his life." But rather than focusing exclusively on Congdon's suicide attempts, Nocek uses them as a springboard for discussing Congdon's difficult path to fulfillment, raising awareness along the way of the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. For example, Nocek writes that despite confusion and depression surrounding the early realization of his sexual orientation, "[o]nline, Greg found countless teens in the same situation: small-town kids who knew they were gay and isolated by it." In fact, it was one of his online friends who called an ambulance upon learning that Congdon had first attempted suicide. After that attempt, Greg admitted to the emergency room doctor that he was gay, and subsequently told his parents, who were supportive, but things at school were more difficult. Nocek tells us that the night he returned from the hospital, a friend called Greg, asking if he had attempted suicide and if he was gay. "Greg was stunned. His secret was out. His worst fear had been realized. The friend told Greg that a football teammate had said these things. The teammate had learned them from his mother, a nurse at Troy Community Hospital, where Greg had been taken after his suicide attempt. Where he had told the truth." As the harassment at his school escalated, Greg again tried to kill himself. After this second attempt, Nocek tells us that "doctors brought him papers like Philadelphia Gay News and magazines like XY, a monthly for gay teens that frequently deals with coming-out issues. Reading these helped him feel less isolated." Greg and his family decided he should be taken out of school when he continued to face harassment, but he has since earned his GED and is on his way to college. The Congdons are now suing the hospital and his teammate's mother for invasion of privacy. Nocek further reports that Congdon has been featured in XY in recent months, as well as on an ESPN special on lesbian and gay athletes [see GLAADAlert 12.17.98]. Nocek closes the piece with a quote from an online posting from Greg, noting that, "he is upbeat [now]. He talks not of hiding and denial. His words are reassuring. 'To all jock gay teens you are not alone...I am writing this because I always felt that I didn't belong on the team because of me being gay...TO ALL TEENS, you must find someone you can talk to. Help is everywhere nowadays..." Nocek raises such contemporary and compelling issues as school safety, rural isolation, youth suicide, the the online community, the institution of homophobia in sports, the importance of privacy and self-disclosure, and the resource provided by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media to members of the community. Throughout the piece, he is sensitive, compassionate and professional in his writing, painting a clear portrait of a young man who has come into his own and who has become an exemplary role model for his peers. Please thank Bob Nocek and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader for this poignant, timely and informative look at a remarkable gay teen. Contact: Bob Nocek, The Times Leader, 15 North Main Street, Wilke-Barre, PA 18711, e-mail: bobn@leader.net The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation in the media as a means of challenging homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (LA), 212.807.1700 (NY), 415.861.2244 (SF), 202.986.1360 (DC), 404.876.1398 (Atlanta) and 816.756.5991 (Kansas City) Feel free to pass GLAADAlert on to friends, family and associates! Report defamation in the media and breaking news of interest to the LGBT community by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD Online at http://www.glaad.org "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. GLAADAlert may be freely distributed and reprinted in all forms of media under the condition that any text used carry the full attribution of "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ================================================================================== Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 02:24:30 -0700 From: "McBride, Laurie" To: lesbigayCApolitics Mailing-List: list lesbigayCApolitics@onelist.com; contact lesbigayCApolitics-owner@onelist.com List-Unsubscribe: Reply-to: lesbigayCApolitics-owner@onelist.com Subject: [lesbigayCApolitics] Capitol Briefing: 6/4/99: Latest news from the Senate & Assembly Floor From: "McBride, Laurie" Capitol Briefs & other musings of the culture wars >From Sacramento // Friday, June 04, 1999 EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER First out of the gate was Senator Kevin Murray's Domestic Partners bill, SB 75, which passed the State Senate by a vote of 23-14, on Tuesday, May 25th. Our key bills started coming up for votes on the Assembly Floor beginning last Thursday. First was Carole Migden's Domestic Partners bill, AB 26: passed 41-38, Thursday, 5/27. Then, Wally Knox's Domestic Partners bill, AB 107: passed 42-38, Thursday, 5/27. Then, Wally Knox's Hate Crimes bill, AB 208: passed by a whopping 56-19, Tuesday, 6/2. Then, Antonio Villaraigosa's bill, AB 1001: passed 42-36, Wednesday, 6/3. Then, Sheila Kuehl's bill, AB 222: tonight, Thursday, 6/4. Each time, in each house, the debate has been impassioned. None more so, however, than tonight's debate on AB 222. Over two hours long, the debate took place in unusual silence and attentiveness from other members, staffers and visitors. It's hard to encapsulate the tension in the room, the intensity of each speaker, the eloquence and heartfelt points made. Herb Wesson confessed his own act of homophobia, how he tolerated gay bashing over 30 years ago as a student, how he confronted that within himself and helped turn the table on bullies. Tom Torlakson spoke on behalf of his brother. Gloria Romero said opponents challenged her to fight on behalf of her family; she said she does, and her family very much includes her lesbian sister. So many stories, sometimes whispered, sometimes voices rising to emphasize their strength of conviction. Perhaps most striking were the words from the normally unflappable Carole Migden. Her voice cracked with emotion, with pain. She castigated opponents who had compared homosexuality to bestiality. Carole asked her colleagues how they could trust her with a $76 billion dollar budget and yet consider her so depraved. She spoke from the heart; it was awesome. Kevin Shelley cried himself when recalling the strength of Migden's comments. He spoke of their 20 year friendship; the impact of the hurt for his friend, the hurt for all gays and lesbians. Antonio Villaraigosa urged members to close the door on the dark days of discrimination in our society, against any group. Sheila Kuehl made a grand closing statement, speaking to the importance and majesty of the law. In the end, just now, after opening the roll for agonizing minutes, AB 222 failed passage, 40-38. It's 2am. It's been a long, long emotional day. We got so much work done thus far. But this one failure will rankle for days, nights, weeks, months... until we can set it right. If you have a moment during the next few days, please drop a word of support to Sheila Kuehl and to Jennifer Richard on her staff. Jennifer did an incredible job on this bill - and it is ever so hard to lose one this close to the heart. Her email: Jennifer.Richard@asm.ca.gov. News Digest & Comments by Laurie McBride Lesbian and Gay Community Liaison for Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa Speaker of the California State Assembly State Capitol, Room 219 Sacramento, CA 95814 916 319 2470 laurie.mcbride@asm.ca.gov # # # ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking for a new hobby? Want to make a new friend? http://www.onelist.com Come join one of nearly 160,000 e-mail communities at ONElist! Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 02:25:42 -0700 From: "Richard, Jennifer" Subject: AB 222 Failed Passage on the Assembly Floor by a vote of 40-38 AB 222 failed passage this morning shortly after 2 a.m. by a vote of 40-38. Reconsideration was granted and the bill can be voted on again sometime in January of 2000. You should be able to pull the votes on the bill off the web at www.leginfo.ca.gov sometime today or tomorrow. Thank you for all of your hard work in support of this bill. I know that you have been pouring your hearts and souls into its passage and we have put forth a valiant effort. I think we are winning peoples hearts and minds and we will eventually triumph on this issue. Keep up the good fight! Jennifer Jennifer Richard, Senior Consultant, Office of Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814. e-mail: Jennifer.Richard@asm.ca.gov , direct line: (916)319-2346, fax:(916)319-2141. For Legislative Info: www.leginfo.ca.gov . ============================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/