Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 17:02:26 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert November 5, 1998 1. Whose Hate is More Hateful? 2. Maine Paper Does the Write Thing 3. Schoolhouse Rock 4. More on Transgender Teen 5. An Officer And A Gentleman Gets a New Spin 6. Brandon Teena In Cyberspace GLAAD ALERT November 5, 1998 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Whose Hate Is More Hateful? In a Monday November 2 guest opinion column in the Boston Globe, writer Jeff Jacoby writes: "What real hate speech sounds like." In the wake of the murders of Matthew Shepard and Dr. Barnett Slepian, a doctor in New York (who was targeted because his practice included performing abortions,) Jacoby writes that the linking of "hate speech" and rhetoric from the anti-choice movement and radical religious extremists amounts to "intellectual blackmail." "Keep your opinions to yourselves," he continues, "the Left threatens its critics, or we will condemn you and your 'hate speech' for encouraging homicide." Jacoby then goes on to note that November 9 marks the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht as well as Martin Luther's birthday. He quotes at length from Luther's On Jews and Their Lies, which lays out a heinous and evil hatred of the Jewish people, as well as a plan for their destruction. After this lengthy venomous quote, Jacoby then writes: "That is hate speech." He closes by admitting that "words can kill. There is such a thing as deadly rhetoric…" but then states that TV anchors and Planned Parenthood should not determine what qualifies as such. This flippant ending belies Jacoby's unfortunate bias towards giving hatred a hierarchy. If he had done a simple search of available literature from the Southern Poverty Law Center or Hatewatch.org, he would have found the likes of Rev. Fred Phelps' godhatesfags.com, or the Rev. Pete Peters' Scriptures for America, which publishes The Death Penalty for Homosexuals, as Prescribed by the Bible. These are only two examples of the numerous hateful groups targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Please write to the Boston Globe and let them know that Jacoby's column, in playing one of history's worst cases of hate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (in addition to the pro-choice movement), is a sorry simplification of the state of intolerance in American life. Contact: Ms. Marjorie Pritchard, Op Ed Page, Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02125-3338, fax: 617-929-2098, e-mail: letters@globe.com Maine Paper Does The Write Thing South Portland, Maine was the location of one of the six state and local referenda concerned with non-discrimination legislation protecting lesbians and gay men. When making their editorial viewpoint known, the Portland Press Herald was in favor of passing their local initiative. However, residents of South Portland and Falmouth were surprised to find an insert in their Wednesday, October 29 newspapers entitled "The Gay Agenda." In the Press Herald's own words, in an editorial which appeared one day after the incident, the insert was "hate literature" that "seeks to achieve through fear and misinformation what they cannot hope to achieve otherwise. Every slur, stereotype and untruth they could think of concerning gay men and lesbians has been cited as though it were legitimate information." The editorial went on to say that "It was wrong to lend the Portland Press Herald's good offices to the distribution of the publication under any circumstances. It was doubly wrong because the tabloid [advertisement] carried no clear, prominent identification as being a political advertisement. We apologize -- and urge South Portland voters to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote overwhelmingly for the human rights ordinance." In fact, South Portland, Maine was the only place where the anti-discrimination ordinance passed. Oftentimes, newspapers accept advertisements from groups with whom they don't agree, and state that they are free to accept and reject advertising at will -- and they are. But it is obvious that the readers of the Portland Press Herald made their voices heard loudly and clearly, and that the newspaper responded. This is not a run of the mill event: it shows a sensitivity on the part of the newspaper and its ownership to both its readership, and its being used as a tool to distribute what it itself called "hate literature." Please thank the Portland Press Herald for apologizing to their readership, and for displaying integrity in their decision. Contact: Ms. Jeannine Guttman, Managing Editor, Portland Press-Herald, 390 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101-1103, fax: 207.791.6924, e-mail: letters@portland.com Schoolhouse Rock An October 29 Associated Press piece covered the story of Alex McLendon, a 15-year-old who, born male, lives as female in western Georgia, and because of this was recently forced to withdraw from her private school. The article, written by Dan Sewell, opens with the story of a classmate, who had heard rumors that there was a transgender person, and when Alex was pointed out to him, is quoted as saying, " 'No way, that's too weird!…Then I thought about it, and I said, 'What's so weird about all that?' " The story goes on to tell how Alex was not as well-received by some others in the community, and was subsequently pressured to withdraw from the school or face expulsion, unless she began to dress as male. A classmate and friend remarks, "Alex wasn't causing any problems. She got along well with everybody." In fact, this same friend's mother says she was apprehensive at first when Alex would spend the night, but after checking in with them a few times, she noticed "They'd be sitting there doing hair, or painting nails, and I said to myself, `This is a girl.' " Because Alex attended a private school, the administration had much more leeway in forcing Alex out. The story closes with Alex observing "School is supposed to be preparing you for life. Parents are trying to protect their kids by covering their eyes. It's going to be a real shock for some of these parents when their kids get out into the real world." The Associated Press reporter uses male pronouns to describe Alex, while she and her friends use female -- obviously, it would be best to ask the subject of the story or interview how they choose to be identified. However, the rest of this story is written intelligently and sensitively, and displays how far portrayals of transgender people have come (and how far others have to go) even in the past few years. Most exceptionally, because of Alex's youth, the story could have been done in a much more sensational way. That the AP and Dan Sewell chose integrity and dignity is much to their credit. Please let the Associated Press know that their story was a welcome report, as well as evidence of the growing visibility of transgender people on the American landscape. Contact: Mr. Gary Clark, Atlanta Bureau Chief, Associated Press, One CNN Center, South Tower #500, Atlanta, GA 30303-2705, fax: 404.524.4639 More On Transgender Teen In his Monday November 2 syndicated column, William Raspberry used Alex McLendon's story, as well as Matthew Shepard's murder, as illustrations to raise the question "What are gay-bashers afraid of?" Raspberry primarily quotes the Associated Press story mentioned above, then goes on to say that Alex's dress might have presented a problem for a school with a dress code, but instead the administration saw it as a threat. Raspberry writes: "[A]nd I ask again: What could they have been afraid of? What are gay-bashers afraid of? What are the benevolent, let-us-fix-you, born-again homophobes afraid of? What are those of us who consider ourselves enlightened, but who still get a little uneasy in the presence of the obviously gay, afraid of?" Raspberry sees the reactions of students -- both at Alex's high school and at the University of Wyoming, where Matthew Shepard was a student -- as the hope for a better future. "Most members of [the] class -- including some of the boys -- wore bows in their hair as a token of protest, until the principal ordered them removed. "Can it be that we are, in spite of ourselves, raising a generation of young people whose heads are on a little bit straighter than our own?" He ends by quoting the handbook of Alex's school, which tells its students to accept diversity in many areas, and the asks, "You suppose these kids actually take it seriously?" Again, asking someone how they wish to be described is the best way to respect transgender people's rights and wishes. But all in all, this column is a welcome and down-to-earth admonition to try and understand what it is that fosters the intolerance we've seen recently. William Raspberry has written a fine, and hopefully not wildly optimistic, piece about what we fear, and how young people may be ahead of us when it comes to practicing what we preach. Contact: Mr. William Raspberry, Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20071-0002, e-mail via WWW: http://www.washingtonpost.com An Officer and a Gentleman Gets New Spin On the Tuesday, November 3 episode of Spin City, Mike’s (Michael J. Fox) childhood best friend Nate (Lou Diamond Phillips) visits and falls for Carter (Michael Boatman). On the eve of New York City’s "First Annual Tolerance Day," Nate, on leave from the Navy, shocks an unsuspecting Mike who discovers Nate and Carter in an embrace. An upset Mike arranges for Nate to be shipped out of town early. In therapy, Mike admits that he may be a little homophobic. After confrontations with both Carter and Nate, Mike surprises Carter by having Nate enter the Mayor’s office in his officer whites, swoop up Carter and carry him away as onlookers gaze and applaud approvingly—all to the theme from An Officer and a Gentleman. While the idea that a member of the Armed Forces could be so open about their sexual orientation, let alone in such a public, government building is a tad unrealistic, this latest episode of Spin City (see GLAADAlerts 11.1.96, 2.4.97, 11.7.97) deserves kudos. Nate’s coming out makes a gay-friendly Mike confront homophobic attitudes when sexual orientation hits a little closer to home. It’s also encouraging to see Carter, the only regular African-American gay male sitcom character on primetime TV today, in such a positive relationship. Please thank Spin City, 1997 GLAAD Media Award winner, for this great episode about tolerance and friendship, regardless of sexual orientation. And, please thank them again for the amazing Carter. Contact: Mr. Michael J. Fox and Mr. Bill Lawrence, Co-Exec. Producers, Spin City, c/o Ms. Patrick Preblick, ABC, 77 W. 66th St., NY, NY 10023, ABC e-mail: abcaudr@abc.com; Ms. Jamie Tarses, Entertainment President, ABC 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90037, call ABC at: 310.557.7777 and ask to be connected to their audience response line. Brandon Teena In Cyberspace In the November 1998 issue of Wired magazine, Glenn Helfand wrote a piece about artist She Lea Cheang's online art installation, entitled Teena. The "Street Cred" department carries a review/feature of the multimedia presentation which focuses on the story of Brandon Teena. Teena was murdered in Nebraska by two men who had raped him previously after finding out his transgender status. After being questioned by police, themen were released pending an investigation, and subsequently murdered Teena and two others. The Wired column acknowledges how the medium of "multimedia" may well be best suited to deal with issues of gender and identity. The online installation, entitled Teena, works to examine how gender is constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed. "This is no biosite…[artist Shu Lea] Cheang, using 'a multiauthored upload' layers and fragments transcripts from Teena's courtroom legacy with references to [Michel] Foucault, quotes from the drag documentary Paris Is Burning, excerpts…and input from visitors." (However, for those who wish to learn more about Brandon Teena, there is a browser at the site that offers background material.) The exhibit was commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum, and can be found at http://brandon.guggenheim.org/. Please thank the Guggenheim for this complex artistic and cutting edge work, and please thank Wired for giving it the "cred" it deserves. Contact: Ms. Martha Baer, Managing Editor, Wired, 520 3rd Street, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94107-1815, fax: 415-276.5150, e-mail: editpress@wired.com The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation in the media as a means of challenging homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (LA), 212.807.1700 (NY), 415.861.2244 (SF), 202.986.1360 (DC), 404.876.1398 (Atlanta) and 816.756.5991 (Kansas City) Feel free to pass GLAADAlert on to friends, family and associates! Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD’s Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD Online at http://www.glaad.org "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. 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