Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 15:12:51 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: SPECIAL ONLINE GLAADALERT - KD LANG AND MELISSA ETHERIDGE TO GUEST STAR ON ELLEN SPECIAL ONLINE GLAADALERT KD LANG AND MELISSA ETHERIDGE TO GUEST STAR ON ELLEN According to sources at Disney, lesbian superstars kd lang and Melissa Etheridge will join the growing list of big-name celebrities who will guest star on the April 30 "coming out episode" of ABC's popular sitcom Ellen. New mom/rocker Etheridge will perform the show's theme song during opening credits. Lang will play the role of a crooning waitress at "a coffeehouse frequented by lesbians," according to Disney. The episode will be taped tomorrow, March 7. This star-studded cast, which also includes Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern, is expected to draw a larger-than-usual audience, which will, in turn, increase its ratings. "GLAAD is thrilled that these well-known and well-respected stars will help bring Ellen Morgan's coming out as a lesbian into America's living rooms," said Chastity Bono, GLAAD entertainment media director. "Now, this history-making episode will bring a lead lesbian character into the increasingly inclusive American television family." Please write to both kd lang and Melissa Etheridge and commend them for their support of this ground-breaking episode of television programming. Contact: kd lang, c/o Warner Brothers Records, P.O. Box 6868, Burbank, California 91510; Melissa Etheridge, c/o Island Records, 8920 Sunset Boulevard, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90069 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.