Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 15:33:58 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: A GLAAD Special Message Dear GLAAD Supporter, As a regular recipient of GLAADAlert, you are well aware of the work that GLAAD does. Each week the items we feature are culled from hundreds of sources nationwide and represent both our successes and the battles we face as a community. I am writing you today to thank you for participating in our work through the letters and calls that we know many of you make because of this crucial activist tool. The support your voice provides speaks unmistakably to newspapers, networks, studios and corporations about your commitment to fair, accurate and inclusive media representation for lesbian and gay people. It also lets those media outlets know how powerful and effective GLAAD is at mobilizing grassroots support for fairness and equality. I am also writing to ask you for your financial support -- to help us keep GLAADAlert coming and to insure its timeliness and effectiveness. GLAADAlert is distributed each Friday to over 40,000 subscribers. Additionally, many subscribers repost the publication to an estimated additional 30,000-40,000 recipients. GLAADAlert also goes to lesbian and gay newspapers and newsletters nationwide who reprint it. While GLAAD incurs no printing and distribution costs for this e-mail-only publication, the costs of researching, gathering and crafting the information each week is high. Expenses include our national toll-free AlertLine (1-800-GAY-MEDIA) and clipping services from which we capture critical information in cities and towns across the country; weekly Communications Team conference calls to strategize and shape GLAADAlert's message; and staff time spent following leads, writing and editing news items, and managing our subscriber list. Because we carefully select the items we include and use a collective process to determine GLAAD's view of issues, nine of our national staff of 16 play some role in the weekly production of this vital work! We invest so much in GLAADAlert because it is an incredibly effective tool. In just the past few months, GLAADAlert and the actions of those who receive it has stemmed the tide of anti-gay coverage surrounding the Cunanan murders; garnered massive support for ABC/Disney and Ellen sponsors; brought about dialogue with many local newspaper editors; and secured a meeting with powerful Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who heads the company responsible for Con Air and The Rock--both blockbusters with prominent anti-gay stereotypes. "Each week I get calls and letters from media representatives featured in GLAADAlert," said Don Romesburg, GLAAD's publications manager. "It puts media outlets on notice that they must be responsible in representing our community, and that many, many people are paying attention. It's also an important way for GLAAD to begin discussions with media outlets that lead to solid relationships and real change." But while we are very proud of our successes, there is still so much work to do as anti-gay radical religious groups attempt to warp perceptions of our community, spread lies about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and exert undue influence over local and national media and advertisers through fear and intimidation. In an August 1997 fundraising letter from the anti-gay American Family Association, the leader of the group claims that, "Today's dominant philosophy in the entertainment industry is to foist homosexuality and lesbianism onto the American public and, in fact, GO AFTER OUR CHILDREN! I get very angry when I see night after night the television networks 'normalizing' something that destroys lives!" It then targets what it calls the "top sponsors of pro-homosexual TV programs" for a postcard campaign. The American Family Association has 40 employees, 1.8 million members, a $10 million dollar budget AND a weekly half-hour radio program heard on 1,200 stations nationwide. They are master fundraisers who manipulate the power of the media to demonize lesbian and gay people with the worst scare tactics. Compare this with GLAAD's 16 employees and budget of just under $2 million, and you can see the difficult fight we have in getting out the message of who we truly are. I hope you'll consider as generous a gift to GLAAD as you can afford TODAY. If you're not a member, I hope you will join. If you are a member, I hope you'll consider making an additional gift now. A tax-deductible gift of just $1 for each of the 52 issues of GLAADAlert you receive each year will go a long way in our fight. A reply form follows this message. You may e-mail it back with your credit card pledge to GLAAD, or you may print a hard copy and mail it with a check or credit card information. Thank you for reading this important message and for your continued support of GLAAD. Whatever financial contribution you can make at this time will help further GLAAD's important work. Sincerely, Joan M. Garry GLAAD Executive Director --------------------------------------------------------------- Yes! I want to make sure that our community remains visible and vocal! I would like to make the following donation to GLAAD. (All gifts at $35 and above receive GLAAD's publications -- Images and Dispatch) ____ $52 (GLAADAlert subscription at $1 a week) ____ $55 Family Membership ____ $35 Basic Membership ____ $75 (A gift at this level or above will dramatically affect our outreach) ____ $120 ____ $250 ____ $500 ____ $1,200 (Gifts at this level entitle you to Major Donor benefits. E-mail us for more information.) ____ Other $______________ ----------------------- Name: Street: City: State: Zip Code: Country: Home Phone: Work Phone: E-Mail: Fax: --------------------------- There are many ways to contribute to GLAAD: ____ 1) I am sending a hard copy of this form with a check made payable to GLAAD. (Mail check to GLAAD, 8455 Beverly Boulevard, suite 305, Los Angeles, CA 90048) ____ 2) I am filling out this form online. Please charge my: VISA ____ Mastercard _____ AMEX _____ Discover ____ Card #: Expiration Date: Name as it appears on card: Signature*: ____ 3) I will be joining GLAAD at the GLAAD Web site at http://www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html * if replying by e-mail, your e-mail address will act as your signature ____ I would like to hold a house party for GLAAD em1-897 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 DISPATCH AND 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" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of 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.