Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 09:26:01 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 11.01.96 GLAADALERT November 1, 1996 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Malicious Millennium The much-hyped October 25 series premiere of Chris Carter's Millennium was a shocker in more ways than one: the season opener relied on out-dated stereotypes about gay men by presenting a violent gay serial killer. The premise of the show revolves around the main character, Frank Black (Lance Henriksen), as an ex-FBI agent who can "see what the killer sees" when tracking serial murderer. The serial killer in the premiere turns out, according to Black, to be a gay man who, being "conflicted about his sexuality," hates women and thus murders a stripper and then kills a gay man in a public cruising area in Seattle because he is so ashamed of his own homosexuality. To add insult to injury, the show ties the murders into allusions about "the great plague," (the AIDS pandemic), burying people alive in boxes so that he can test their blood for HIV and presumably kill them if they are positive. That this overt homophobia went without so much as a whisper in the glowing reviews of critics is disheartening. But what is truly scary is that while we assumed we could expect far better from Chris Carter, who also created the progressive X-Files, Millennium was just mean-spirited and homophobic. Tell Fox and Chris Carter that this is the kind of vicious stereotyping and demonizing contributes to discrimination and violence against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. We hope that Millennium's future features more sensitive and realistic portrayals of our community. Contact: Chase Carey, CEO, Fox Broadcasting Company, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90123, fax: 310.369.1433, e-mail: foxnet@delphi.com. Rocker, Julie and Baby Makes Three The cover story of the November 4 issue of Newsweek featured Melissa Etheridge and her pregnant partner, Julie Cypher, with the words "Can Gay =46amilies Gain Acceptance? What It's Like for the Kids." The three articles= , one about lesbian- and gay-parented families, one about the daughter of lesbian parents and an interview with Etheridge and Cypher, are all well-balanced, predominantly positive and completely honest portrayals of lesbian and gay families. The first article, an excellent survey of the cultural and legal terrain for lesbian and gay adoption rights in the U.S., also notes the hard reality that in many parts of the country, even the natural-born children of lesbian and gay parents can be forcibly removed by the court, as in the highly publicized Bottoms case in Virginia. The daughter of lesbian moms, Megan McGuire, openly discusses the ups and downs of having lesbian moms, but makes it clear that "the hardest thing to deal with is other people's ignorance, not the family part. That's just like any other family." Please commend Newsweek for an informative and well-researched examination of the many facets of gay parenting. Contact: Newsweek, 251 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-1894, fax: 212.445.4120, e-mail: letters@newsweek.com. Hit ABC Show Puts a New Spin on Gay Marriage The new ABC hit sitcom Spin City, which features the only African-American gay character on primetime television, took a no-holds-barred look at same-sex marriage on its October 29 episode. When the mayor comes out against same-sex unions, his liaison to the gay community, Carter, takes his displeasure with the decision to the media. Carter tells Mike, Michael J. Fox's character, "if I was in a monogamous faithful relationship with a man for 10 years I would never be allowed to marry him, but if I met some strange woman in a bar, we could be married in an hour and every state in the union would recognize it." To prove his point, Carter and a female co-worker, Nikki, decide to marry. While Carter ends up calling off the wedding at the altar, the show still makes its point. Carter tells a crew of reporters at the reception that both he and Nikki both deserve to stand at the alter one day with the man they love. Please thank ABC for airing a show that depicts a politically minded African-American gay character like Carter, and for giving this episode such a great spin. Contact: Jamie Tarses, President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067, fax: 310.557.7679, e-mail: abcaudr@ccabc.com. USA Today Prints Ad From Hate Group On page 4D of the October 31 USA Today, a large advertisement by the anti-gay hate group "Americans for Truth About Homosexuality" is headlined, "In 1992, the Homosexual Lobby gave Bill Clinton $3.5 million. Here's what they got for their money." The anti-gay ad then catalogues many of President Clinton's lesbian and gay civil rights and AIDS advocacy accomplishments. The advertisement then states the hate-group's position on lesbians and gay men: "We believe, like most Americans, that homosexuality is WRONG and should NOT be encouraged...by governments, schools, or popular culture...or by the President of the United States. Americans for Truth is dedicated to exposing and countering the powerful homosexual movement in America." Clearly, the question of whether newspapers or magazines should accept or reject advertisments based on political content is a complicated one. However, USA Today not only accepted an ad with an unpopular political message, it accepted it from a group devoted to spreading a message of hate, thus awarding their bigotry implicit credence. USA Today, like any newspaper devoted to high journalistic standards, should not accept advertising from hate groups of any stripe. The Americans for Truth organization was founded by the same bigotted people that publish the virulantly anti-gay Lambda Report on Homosexuality, which uses malicious lies and heinous stereotypes about lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people to forward their hateful agenda. One must wonder ifUSA Today would have accepted a similar ad from an anti-Semitic or racist hate group. Write USA Today and encourage them not to allow themselves to become a forum for hate. Contact: USA Today, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22229, fax: 703.247.3108, e-mail: Editor@usatoday.com. D's "Pink Mafia" Headline is Criminal In its November issue, D, a Dallas-based glossy magazine for the wealthy, published a cover story entitled, "The Pink Mafia: How Gays Gained Power and Status in the Nation's Most Conservative City." The story itself, while a reasonably well-researched article on the roles that wealthy gay men have played in moving Dallas towards a greater inclusion of the gay community, glosses over the contributions of any number of people, most glaringly lesbians and grassroots activists. Only one woman, activist and executive Louise Young, is mentioned. Most unsettling and inappropriate, however, is the constant use of the term "gay mafia" to refer to wealthy and powerful lesbians and gay men who work for social change. The labeling of rich and powerful gay people as a "mafia" plays into the paranoid delusions of homophobes who see gay men and lesbians (just as anti-Semites perceive Jewish people) as an underground conspiracy, a demimonde that holds great power through secret manipulations of society. By calling the movement in Dallas a "mafia," the headline dismisses the struggle lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people have faced just to get a footholds in our society, and how it has been fought by our government and cultural institutions. It denies us our legitimate struggle to free ourselves from oppression and makes our fight for civil rights sound like a criminal, even immoral, activity. Please let D know that while it is good that the magazine has finally published a cover story on the sizable and diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Dallas, it falls dismissively short in content and sinks dismally low in its entirely inappropriate use of "mafia" to describe influential wealthy gays. Contact: Wick Allison, Editor-in-Chief, D magazine, 1700 Commerce, 18th =46loor, Dallas , TX 75201, fax: 214.748.4153. Ink Stains Lesbian Worker On October 28, CBS's new sitcom Ink, starring Cheers veteran Ted Danson and his real life wife Mary Steenburgen, took a pot shot at the ongoing struggle for employment non-discrimination protections of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Steenburgen's character, faced with the need to downsize, reluctantly lays off Lana, a new employee. She later conveys that Lana took the news very well. In the show's concluding scene, Danson and Steenburgen are shocked to learn that Lana is now suing the paper for discrimination on the grounds that she was fired for being a lesbian. Another character claims that she was the wrong person to fire because she was not a "white guy." Discrimination on the job is a major problem for many minority groups, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. By having Lana arbitrarily sue the paper in this manner, the show dismisses the legitimate concerns of minorities to protect themselves from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. With the failure of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), our community's livelihoods can be jeopardized when we live our lives openly and honestly. Ink perpetuates the myth that discrimination suits are only an unethical tool used by disgruntled employees upset with downsizing. In reality, the lawsuits, which are difficult to prove, serve as a legitimate last step to protect ourselves from being singled out for special discrimination by homophobic employers. Contact Ink and let them know that dismissing a serious issue like homophobia in the workplace is a blot on their character. Contact: Lesli Moonves, President, CBS Television Network, 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, fax: 213.651.0285, e-mail: marketing@cbs.com. Bigoted Columnist Seeks Special Rights Refusing to believe herself a bigot, New York Post columnist Maggie Gallagher on October 28 refers to homosexuality as a "temptation" and defines extending the civil rights to lesbians and gays as "rhetoric." She opposes extending anti-discrimination laws to lesbians and gays because of her "sense of injustice that a small affluent group should be pressing for new economic protections." Gallagher also states that she doesn't want lesbians and gay men using "the power of the federal government to marginalize me or the millions of others who share my beliefs." Admitting her views on homosexuality are a "mere footnote" to her faith and belief that sex is "a God-given union between a man and a woman," she ends her column on the ironic note that "the right to be protected by force of law from the opinions of one's neighbors is a special right-whether they understand it or not." She fears a society where "the liberty of gays becomes my tyranny". She fails to mention that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people come from all walks of life, all occupations, and all economic background, rather than being a "small affluent group." Nor does she observe the reality that protecting lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people from discrimination does nothing to prevent her from holding her beliefs, just from her discriminating against them. Let the Post know that this type of steroetypical rhetoric is bigoted and unacceptable. Contact: Jospeh Lelyveld, Executive Editor, New York Post, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-8790, fax: 212.930.8540, e-mail: nypost@delphi.com. Dr. Ruth Says Emphatically "Yes" To Gay Marriage In her October 28 nationally syndication advice column, Dr. Ruth Westheimer replied to the question, "Should same-sex marriages be legalized?," by saying "I believe that if two people live together and have a relationship, they should be able to have the legal protection that heterosexual couples get...I also believe that there should be a ceremony a gay couple could hold to celebrate their love and commitment to each other." Let Dr. Ruth know her views are right-on and clear-headed. Contact: Dr. Ruth, c/o King Features Syndicate, 235 E. 45th Street, New York, New York 10017. Diverse Teachers Learn A Lesson in Unity A well-rounded October 27 San Francisco Examiner article told the refreshing tale of three Modesto, California educators who, despite bitter ideological differences, put their words aside and attended the "United In Diversity" conference sponsored by BANGLE (Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian Teachers) and GLSTN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network). Writer Jane Ganahl explores the controversy that developed when retired American government teacher and current Modesto school board member Bob Jackson lobbied to allow Modesto educators to attend the conference. Opponents argued that the conference would "promote homosexual activism." In the end, 31 educators from Modesto attended, including last-minute registrants board member Jon Hollis and wrestling coach Tony Ippolito, who were initially anti-attendance. "The issue is going to continue to come up, and we need to decide how to deal with it," said Hollis, who has two teenagers. Ippolito said his opposition came from his religious beliefs, but he decided to attend because he "didn't want to speak out of ignorance," and because "I care about the kids, and I don't want them to be misguided." Despite the mix of opinions and feelings, all three educators ate lunch together-even laughing and chatting. Said Jackson, "It will be interesting to hear what we take back to Modesto." Encourage the San Francisco Examiner to continue their fair and accurate coverage of the hot issue of gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender-enlightened educators. Contact: Phil Bronstein, Editor, San Francisco Examiner, 110 Fifth Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, fax: 415.512.1264, e-mail: sfexaminer@examiner.com. Playing With Fire: A Jenny Jones Anti-Gay Murder Trial Media Round-Up Everyone from The New York Times to Hard Copy is covering the trial of Jonathan Schmitz, who in March 1995 shot and killed openly gay neighbor Scott Amedure following a taping of a "secret crush" episode of the Jenny Jones show. Unfortunately, almost all media outlets are putting the talk show on trial for the slaying, overlooking the reality that it was a anti-gay hate crime, pure and simple. Some of the more glaring examples from the past week include: =85 The October 29 edition of Dateline NBC, which included a segment entitle= d "Talk on Trial" that serves essentially as a platform for the Schmitz defense team who are blaming the Jenny Jones show for Schmitz's actions. Dateline frames the debate on whether or not the producers of the show acted irresponsibly, fueling the defense's absurd "Jenny made me do it" defense. =85 "Playing With Fire," an article in the October 21 People, is subtitled "His parents say Jenny Jones's reckless 'ambush' turned their son into a killer." But a friend of Amedure has a different theory: "Scott was a victim of hatred and intolerance," Gary Brady says. =85 The October 24 Prime Time Justice on Court TV featured anchor Terry Moran repeatedly referring to the "humiliation" that the murderer faced when being identified as the object of "same-sex" desire. Moran then asked, "But was this justification for murder?" 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), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC) or 415.861.2244(San Francisco). 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