Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 09:20:03 -0700
From: glaad@glaad.org (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)
Subject: GLAADAlert 09.13.96

GLAADALERT

September 13, 1996
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation

T.J. Maxx Is Offensive to the Max
In a commercial for T.J. Maxx that ran nationally this week, an effeminate
fashion designer in a caftan was hysterically enflamed over the company's
low prices, perpetuating a worn-out and denigrating stereotype about gay
men. Whining that "this T.J. Maxx thing" is ruining business for his
"gorgeous creations," the designer throws a fit while his less effeminate
assistant tries to calm him. The assistant condescends to him in a weary
voice because, like a pouting child, the designer is incapable of caring
for himself. After the assistant tries to reassure him that he's "still the
golden boy," the designer throws a hand to his head, pronouncing, "It's
official-I have a migraine." Hundreds of people nationwide called GLAAD's
AlertLine (1-800-GAY-MEDIA) and e-mailed AlertLine Online to complain about
this patently offensive commercial.

In a telephone conversation with GLAAD, Sherry Lang, T.J. Maxx's public
relations director, expressed regret for the spot, acknowledging that it
contained "misleading representations." She assured GLAAD that the
commercial had been pulled from all markets and claimed that the spot was
only set to run through September 11. Ms. Lang then praised her company's
"positive attitude towards diversity" and said that the commercial "never
intended to dishonor any group or individual."

Please write to T.J. Maxx and encourage them to make good on their word by
issuing a formal public apology to the nation's lesbian and gay community.
Additionally, write to Ingalls, Quinn and Johnson, the ad agency
responsible for this reprehensible commercial.
Contact: Bernard Cammarata, CEO, TJX Companies, Inc., 770 Cochituatie Road,
=46armingham, MA 01701, fax: 508.390.2199; Bink Garrisson, CEO and Chairman
of the Board, Ingalls, Quinn and Johnson, One Design Center Place, Boston,
MA 02210, fax: 617.295.7514.

Bulletproof's Anti-Gay Cheap Shot
Bulletproof, last weekend's top box-office film, is also at the top of
GLAAD's hit list for its overblown use of hackneyed anti-gay stereotypes
and nasty homophobic jokes. The Brillstein-Grey/Robert Simonds production
stars Damon Wayans as Rock Keat, an undercover cop assigned to protect
Archie Moses, a small-time drug smuggler played by Adam Sandler. The buddy
film's homoerotic subtext between the two leads provides the set-up for the
film's one-note homophobic punchline, inspiring reviewers in Newsday, the
New York Daily News and the San Francisco Chronicle to remark on the
glaring anti-gay sentiment of the movie. Bulletproof's gay-baiting turns
fatal in the film's climactic scene, after drug dealer Frank Colton (James
Caan) tries to make good on Archie's promise to perform oral sex on him. As
Colton lies dying from a bullet wound Archie tells him he's getting what he
deserves for the earlier statement. The message is that Colton pays with
his life for his out-of-the-closet remark.

Let MCA/Universal Pictures know that they've shot themselves in the foot by
promoting homophobic stereotypes and anti-gay violence in Bulletproof. Hate
is never funny.
Contact: Casey Silver, president, MCA/Universal Pictures, 100 Universal
City Plaza, Universal, CA 91608,  fax: 818.733.0152.

Comedy Central: It Just Ain't Funny
On September 12, the normally gay-positive Comedy Central let down the gay
community by choosing to rebroadcast the homophobic 1982 movie Partners.
The film, which stars Ryan O'Neal as a straight cop who plays gay while
investigating a gay murder, is filled with the most heinous stereotypes and
crude anti-gay jokes. According to GLAAD's Communications Director Alan
Klein, "It's probably one of the worst examples of homophobic movie-making
in the last two decades. We need to let Comedy Central know that airing
Partners is an affront to gay and lesbian Americans. It's a slap in the
face to a market they've gone to great lengths to court." While GLAAD has
been in communication with the network over Partners for the last month, a
spokesperson for Comedy Central claimed that the dialogue came too late to
stop the broadcast. In a conversation today with a representative from
Comedy Central, she claimed that Partners will no longer be broadcast due
to complaints from GLAAD.

Suggest to Comedy Central that while all of their gay-positive programming,
such as the all-gay "Out There" specials, is appreciated, airing an
offensive B-movie movie could make a person lose one's sense of humor.
Contact: Doug Herzog, president, Comedy Central, 1775 Broadway, New York
City, NY 10019, fax: 212.767.8582, e-mail: clucas@comcentral.com.

"Nightline" Asks and Tells About Hawaii Military Witch Hunt
The September 11 edition of ABC's "Nightline" investigated the aggressive
violations of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at Honolulu's Hickam Air Force Base
and brought to light an admission of guilt from one of the military's
current anti-gay policy's chief architects. On the program, Charlie Moskos,
a sociologist who helped formulate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue"
and has generally been unsympathetic to the issues of lesbians and gay men
in the military, stated that the events in Hawaii are in complete violation
of the policy. In addition, "Nightline" gave an extensive background of
persecution against lesbians and gay men in the military since 1992 and
interviewed both Dixon Osburn and Kirk Childress of Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network (SLDN), an organization advocating for the protection of
gay people in the military. The only criticism is ABC's low estimate of the
number of servicemembers discharged last year. "Nightline" reported nearly
200 less than the Department of Defense figure of 722 gay discharges for
fiscal year 1995.

Please commend "Nightline" on their inclusive and extensive coverage of
gays in the military, particularly the witchhunt at Hickam Air Force Base.
Contact: Tom Bettag, executive producer, "Nightline," ABC News,  1717
DeFalef St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, fax: 202.222.7977, e-mail:
ntline@aol.com.

The New York Times Breaks Gender Barriers With Transgender Rights
In what is being considered an historic media event by transgender
activists, The New York Times ran a story on the front page of the Nation
section entitled, "Shunning 'He' and 'She', They Fight For Respect." The
story, by Times reporter Carey Goldberg, details the basic political and
cultural struggles transgender people face, stating that "when they give up
the old dream of simply 'passing' as their desired sex, they face painful
battles both in everyday life and in the political arena, where they are
roundly condemned as deviants by religious conservatives and often spark
controversy among more mainstream gay and lesbian groups." Goldberg quotes
trans-activist Riki Anne Wilchins as saying, "'When you have people in
isolation who are oppressed and victimized and abused, they think it's
their fault, but when you hit that critical mass that they see it happening
to other people, they realize it's not about just them. It's about a
system, and the only way to contest a system is with an organized
response.'" In addition, Goldberg consults with author/activist Susan
Stryker, Kerry Lobel of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and members
of the transgender advocacy group GenderPAC. Unfortunately, Robert H.
Knight of the transphobic Family Research Council was also quoted.

Please tell The Times that their well-rounded, in-depth and sophisticated
coverage breaks new ground for mainstream media.
Contact: Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Publisher, The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd
Street, New York, NY 10036, fax: 212.556.3622, e-mail: letters@nytimes.com.

=46lorida Newspaper Bias Claims "Cure" for Homosexuality
A September 3 article from the St. Petersburg Times headlined, "Can One
Choose to Be Homosexual?" blatantly stacks the story with Religious Right
zealots, giving the false impression that one can be "reformed" from
homosexuality. Beating what has been a dead horse in the legitimate
psychological community for years, writer Nicole Piscopo quotes a number of
leaders of so-called "ex-gay ministries" such as Exodus. While the article
reports that Exodus has had 150,000 people contact them over the past 20
years, it fails to mention their incredibly high rate of attrition. It
seems many gays and lesbian walk away once they realize the organization
sells desperate people religious snake oil. Instead, the article states
"the group does not keep numbers on how many of those people no longer
struggle with same-sex attraction, but [the leader] said a significant
number of the movement's leaders, including himself, have 'come out of
homosexuality.'"

The only quote in the entire article from a gay person, is that of Rev.
Judy Davenport of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC),  who comments,
"I feel frustrated that there are people out there who don't seem to get it
that we are what we are because that's how we were created." Piscopo
follows the statement with her own: "Reparative therapy supporters say they
are aware of the controversy, but as Christians they believe homosexuality
is a sinful behavior," as if to imply that the MCC is not a Christian
Church.

Educate the St. Petersburg Times about the gross anti-gay journalistic bias
of this hateful story and demand that they counter the piece with one that
genuinely represents all sides of the story.
Contact: Paul Tash, executive editor, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121,
St. Petersburg, FL 33731, fax: 813.893.8675, e-mail:
73174.3344@compuserve.com.

Innovative AIDS PSAs for Gay Men Premiere in San Francisco
A powerful series of eight public service announcements targeted at
HIV-negative gay men began airing September 12 on KRON-TV, San Francisco's
NBC station. The new campaign of 30-second spots by filmmaker David
Weissman will be carried by the station for three months and aired during a
variety of time slots. These frank and emotional PSAs feature
self-identified gay men, their families and friends offering positive and
matter-of-fact perspectives on gay identity, specifically addressing the
underlying emotional and psychological issues that have resulted from the
AIDS epidemic for HIV-negative men. Each spot concludes with the telephone
number of service providers, including the San Francisco AIDS Foundation,
Stop AIDS Project, the Lavender Youth Information & Recreation Center
(LYRIC), The Brothers Network, AIDS Health Project, Parents, Families and
=46riends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the San Francisco Department of
Public Health.

Please thank KRON-TV for their full support of this innovative new campaign
and tell them that you look forward to seeing the PSAs in time slots
throughout the day-from the morning talk shows to prime-time Must-See TV.
Contact: KRON-TV Community Relations, 1001 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco,
CA 94109, fax: 415.561.8621.

Trashy Tabloid Transgender Talk
The September 10 National Enquirer includes a story which begins, "Dennis
Rodman's bizarre cross-dressing behavior has baffled America-but The
Enquirer has learned his strange behavior stems from his childhood." The
story goes on to suggest that  Rodman's flair for drag and his challenge to
gender norms has to do with an absent father and a single-parent family
where "he was so poor as a youngster he had to wear his sisters'
underwear!" According to "an insider," "the scars of Dennis' childhood are
still there...He started wearing feminine clothes out of necessity."
Through the use of tired pseudo-Freudian armchair psychology, The
Enquirer's pathetic attempt to explain the source of Rodman's transgender
acts is demeaning not only to the bisexual basketball player, but also to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as a whole.

Inform The Enquirer that sensationalism is one thing, but the perpetuation
of myths about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is
another, much more insidious act that goes to the heart of why queer people
are discriminated against in society today.
Contact: Mike Nevard, editor, The National Enquirer, Lantana, FL 33464.

=46orbes' High Tech Column Is Low Brow
In the September 9 issue of the money magazine Forbes, writer Peter Huber
decries what he sees as a loss of worker productivity. He points a finger
at technology, affirmative action and protections of lesbians and gay men
in the workplace. Claiming that he is speaking a truth "politically
unspeakable," he states that "hiring, firing and promotion revolve around
gender, ethnicity, age, handicap, sexual orientation and liability
lawyers-everything except the ability to read, write and figure." In the
midst of a heated debate on the floor of the Senate about workplace
protections for lesbians and gay men, Huber's flip comments are a low blow
that is unfounded but politically expedient. Perhaps when he wails about
today's "dumb-down society" he is speaking reflexively.

Tell Forbes that Huber is not only out of step with society in opposing
workplace protections, his minority-baiting comments are offensive and
unwarranted. Perhaps if Forbes wants America to "smart up," they should
start with their own writers.
Contact: Malcolm Forbes, Jr., editor in chief, Forbes, 60 Fifth Avenue, New
York, NY 10011-8865, fax: 212.620.2417, e-mail: 5096930@mcimail.com.

DOMA/ENDA MEDIA ROUND-UP:Media Frenzy Over Same-Sex Marriage
During this dizzying week in which the Hawaii case for same-sex marriage
got underway and the Senate overwhelmingly passed the anti-gay Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA) and barely defeated the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act (ENDA), the media finally began discussing same-gender marriage en
masse. In addition to front-page coverage in such major newspapers as The
New York Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, following are some of
the highs of what has been generally positive gay marriage reportage
(though ENDA coverage was practically invisible):
=85 The September 16 Newsweek column "My Turn" features "Marriage As We See
It," by openly gay author Chris Glaser, which is a personal, Christian
defense of same-sex marriage.
=85 Columnist Rob Morse of the San Francisco Examiner articulately attacks
DOMA in a September 11 article, stating "this whole thing would be a joke
if it weren't a slap in the face to honest, loving people."
=85 A September 10 Boston Globe editorial states that DOMA "is a bad law and
does not deserve to pass," and continues, "there is no rational argument
for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the workplace."
=85 On September 5, the Philadelphia Inquirer called DOMA "an election-year
special with an appalling amount of gay-bashing rhetoric behind it."
=85 In Iowa, the September 9 Sioux City Journal ran a Scripps Howard
"Point/Counterpoint" about gay marriage with essays by the anti-DOMA,
pro-gay President of PFLAG Mitzi Henderson and pro-DOMA, anti-gay Gary
Bauer, president of the virulantly homophobic Family Research Council.
=85 The September 10 Trenton (New Jersey) Times included an essay by April
Martin, Ph.D., that explained the critical connection between the legal
protection of same-sex marriage and the best interests of children of
lesbian and gay parents.
=85 A September 6 Orlando Sentinel op-ed entitled "Pedophilia Is Condition
Quite Unlike Being Gay" dismantles an age-old lie about gay men and
explains how the myth is being used as a cheap scare-tactic in the debate
over same-sex marriage.

The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation.

GLAAD is the 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 all forms of
discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.

Copies of articles referred to in the GLAADAlert are available to our
members by contacting GLAAD.

Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (Los
Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York), 413.586.8928 (Northampton), 503.224.5285
(Portland, Oregon), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC) or 415.861.2244(San
=46rancisco).

Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine!
1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334)
Visit GLAAD's Web Site at http://www.glaad.org
"GLAADAlert," "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are
registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~
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.

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.