Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 20:43:50 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: SPECIAL ONLINE GLAADALERT -- TV GRANDMOTHER COMES OUT! SPECIAL ONLINE GLAADALERT -- TV GRANDMOTHER COMES OUT! Tonight, American television has been enriched by one more lesbian character. Roseanne's mother Beverly Harris, played by Estelle Parsons on the popular sitcom, came out to her family during Thanksgiving dinner. The show pointed out the frustrations and pain Beverly felt living life in the closet and the challenge of coming out to one's family regardless of age. For years, Roseanne has been a leader in presenting lesbian and gay issues. From Nancy (Sandra Bernhard) coming out as bisexual to the introduction of Roseanne's gay business partner Leon (Martin Mull) and his recent wedding to Scott (Fred Willard), Roseanne's track record on gay issues is unmatched. Roseanne's fair and accurate representation of lesbians and gay men garnered GLAAD Media Awards in 1992, 1993 and 1995. There is no doubt that both Roseanne and the ABC television network will receive their share of bigotted attacks from religious extremists that, according to GLAAD's National Communications Director Alan Klein, "want to deny the realistic rendering of the true American landscape." Please let Roseanne and ABC know how much we appreciate the inclusion of a major lesbian character on the show and encourage them to the develop the storyline regarding Leon and Scott's wish to adopt a child. Contact: Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner, Roseanne, Daniel Palladino, Executive Producers, Roseanne, c/o Carsey-Werner Productions, 4024 Radford Avenue, Building 3, Studio City, California 91604, fax: 818.760.5882; Ted Harbert, Chairperson, Jamie Tarses, President, Brett White of Broadcast Standards, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, California 90067, phone: 310.557.7777, fax: Jamie Tarses -- 310.557.7679, Ted Harbert --310.557.7160, Brett White -- 310.557.7160, e-mail: abcaudr@ccabc.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD 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.