Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 17:53:09 -0500
From: glaad@glaad.org (GLAAD)
Subject: GLAADALERT January 2, 1998

GLAADALERT January 2, 1998
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation

GLAADAlert Media Round-Up:
Groundbreaking Jersey Gay Adoption Ruling
After New Jersey recently became the first state in the country to
explicitly allow lesbian and gay couples to jointly adopt children, a
number of media outlets expressed their thoughts on the history-making
decision. Following are some of the best and worst:

… Oliphant, a cartoonist with the United Press Syndicate, produced an
editorial cartoon featured in the December 31 Lansing (Michigan) State
Journal in which a man from the "New Jersey Department of Unisex Adoption"
tells a young boy, "The good news is, you've been adopted. The bad news is,
your new mother's name is Bruce." A little bird in the corner adds, "And
no, you don't have any say in the matter."
… The December 29 Time features an excellent story on the family behind the
lawsuit, noting that "the Holden-Galluccio household in suburban Maywood is
unremarkable in most respects. [They] are a Ward and June Cleaver for the
'90s, gay partners whose yearning for a traditional family of sorts-Dad,
Dad and their kids-may have just transformed the battle for gay equality."
It ends, "Of [the kids] Holden said, 'he has had two physical parents, two
psychological parents, two emotional parents. The only things we weren't
were his two legal parents.' Now Adam has those as well."
… Predictably, the New York Post provided its own ignorant perspective in a
December 20 editorial, saying the decision "may come at the expense of the
children gays may adopt. The child of an all-male couple will never know a
mother. Ask any expert on child development if this is at all desirable.
You don't have to ask, because you know the answer." Perhaps the Post added
the last part because most reputable child development experts know that in
reality, studies show that a child raised by two parents of the same sex
are no better or worse off than one raised by cogendered parents. But the
editorial's zinger is, "Moreover, such a child may not even have his two
daddies for long, considering how volatile homosexual partnerships can be."
The Post would do well to reflect upon heterosexual divorce statistics
before casting stones at committed, long-term gay couples who parent.
… An op-ed by Steve Adubato, Jr. in the December 21 New Jersey Daily Record
hails the decision as "A victory for everyone, not just gays." He says,
"For me, this is less a victory for gay rights activists than it is for
those of us who believe deeply that the most important thing every child
needs is a loving, supportive home. That could mean a mom and dad. It could
mean a single mom or dad. Also, it could mean two moms, two dads. I know
some say this decision is dangerous and that it sends all the wrong signals
about our society and what we believe is 'normal.' Think of the smile on
3-year-old Adam's face when he wakes up on Christmas morning to his
presents under the tree in his house with his two dads. Think of the joy.
Think about two parents whose lives are so much fuller because of what they
are able to share with this child. In fact, I bet God is smiling down on
them right now."

Contact:
… Doug Loevy, Editor, United Features Syndicate, 200 Madison Avenue, 4th
floor, New York, NY 10017, fax: 212.293.8760; Lansing State Journal, 120 E.
Lenawee St., Lansing, MI 48919, fax: 517.377.1298, e-mail:
lsj.news@internetmci.com; Oliphant, WWW:
http://www.uexpress.com/ups/opinion/cartoon/po/;
… Letters to the Editor, Time, Time-Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New
York, NY 10020, fax: 212.522.0323, e-mail: letters@time.com;
… John Podhoretz, Op-Ed Editor, New York Post, 1211 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10036, fax: 212.930.8540, e-mail: letters@nypost.com;
… Tom Benner, Editorial Page Editor, Daily Record, 800 Jefferson Road,
Parsippay, NJ 07054-3754, fax: 973.428.6666.


Professor Fails to Practice What She Teaches
An appallingly ignorant and mean-spirited December 29 Deseret News (Utah)
column by Marianne M. Jennings sets out to offend nearly everyone, most
notably by blaming Versace for his own murder. "It has been a year of
feminists at their funniest," she begins. "Ellen [DeGeneres] showed us
hicks that homosexuals have an equal opportunity for lame television shows.
As other stories began to creep into the news, DeGeneres charted new
territory with an on-the-air lesbian kiss and then a hissy fit when Disney,
motivated by sponsors dropping like flies, issued a warning before the
show....Designer Gianni Versace's death at the hands of one of the gigolos
brought to him courtesy of his lifestyle was an acceptable media substitute
for Ellen for a few days." She later adds that, "Vice President Al Gore
warmed up the glove with fuel for gay rights by praising DeGeneres, 'When
the character Ellen came out, millions of Americans were forced to look at
sexual orientation in a more open light.' 'Forced' is the operative word."

Presumably, Jennings is given this soapbox because "she is a professor of
legal and ethical studies at Arizona State University." While a
professorship might imply a desire for both accuracy and intelligence in
her writing, Jenning's article displays neither. It has been well
established that ABC has always been able to fulfill sponsorship needs for
Ellen since the title character's coming out. Sponsors, rather than
"dropping like flies," continue to value the show both for its significant
audience share and commitment to inclusiveness. In addition, the concept
that Versace's "lifestyle," brought on his death is baseless is a number of
ways. There is no single gay "lifestyle," just as there is no one straight
one. Cunanan killed a number of people, both gay and straight. One wonders
if Jennings feels that William Reese, the heterosexual, married New Jersey
cemetery groundskeeper Cunanan killed prior to Versace brought death upon
himself through his "lifestyle," which included owning a truck Cunanan used
to escape. By both manipulating half-truths and peddling complete
falsehoods, Professor Jennings seems to feel it is ethical to make things
up in order to justify her own anti-gay bias. In doing so, she discredits
herself, the Deseret News and Arizona State University.

Let Jennings know that if she wants to attack gay people, she should at
least get her facts straight first. Otherwise she looks both dishonest and
ignorant. Also, encourage the Deseret News to feature columnists who have
at least enough journalistic integrity to not tell lies to push their
agendas.
Contact:
… Marianne M. Jennings, e-mail: marianne.jennings@asu.edu;
… Don C. Woodward, Managing Editor, Deseret News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake
City, UT 84110, fax:  801.237.2121, e-mail:  letters@desnews.com.


Esquire Satire Skewers Anti-Gay Baptist Boycott
In the January 1998 Esquire (the annual "Dubious Achievement Awards"
issue), the magazine pokes fun at the leaders of the Southern Baptist
Convention's failed call for a boycott of Disney because of its
anti-discriminatory employment policies regarding sexual orientation and a
commitment to diversity in programming. "When we first heard about [the
boycott], we chuckled softly at the quaintness of it all. Who's next, the
Camp Fire Girls?" it begins. "It's not as though the Magic Kingdom is some
kind of wholesome, star-spangled cover for an insidious plot to undermine
the values of the vast and trusting majority of right-thinking Americans.
Or is it?" It then cites numerous absurd and humorous examples of things
Disney and its subsidiaries have done that paranoid radical religious folk
could see as the "promotion of homosexuality," including: "The 'music' of
Queen, the rock band headed by the late Freddy Mercury, is distributed by
Hollywood Records, a Disney subsidiary. When he was alive Mercury usually
wore leather pants;" and "Sinead O'Connor, who has recorded songs for
Disney movie soundtracks, and who once tore up a picture of the pope on
national TV, portrays the Virgin Mary in The Butcher Boy. Though [the film
is not a Miramax [i.e., Disney] film, you know, it sounds like something
that could be;" and "Paramount's In & Out featured an onscreen kiss between
Tom Selleck and Kevin Kline. And though the film is in no way related to
Disney, it made us wonder. Paramount? Paramount too?"

Esquire should have included itself in its list of Dubious Achievements of
1997 for pulling a gay-themed story from its April issue, allegedly because
the magazine feared that Chrysler, a major advertiser for the magazine,
might be offended by the work by critically acclaimed author David Leavitt.
When the magazine tried to explain the allegation away, its excuse was that
the fairly tame sexual content of the story would "offend many, many
people." The decision was either corporate pandering in editorial content
or anti-gay bias, or both. Still, Esquire does a good turn with the
Disney/Baptist satire and should be recognized for what might be a sign of
good things to come in the new year.

Please commend Esquire for the new Disney satire, but also remind them that
while their dubious achievements during 1997 are gone, they will not soon
be forgotten.
Contact: David Granger, Editor-in-Chief, Esquire, 250 W. 55th Street, 7th
Floor, New York, NY 10019, fax: 212.977.3158, e-mail: esquire@hearst.com.

ERRATA: Last week's GLAADAlert identified makeup artist Kevin Aucoin as
being from Kentucky, he is in fact from Louisiana.  Also, the Washington
Post's e-mail address was misprinted.  It is webnews@washpost.com.


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