Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 20:29:53 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert December 10, 1998 GLAADALERT December 10, 1998 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 1. The Family Research Charade 2. Taking a Hard Look at Gay Adoption 3. Bergen Record on The Family 4. East High After The Homophobes 5. Denver Post on The Hide & Seek The Family Research Charade In the December 5 New York Times, columnist Frank Rich writes about the Family Research Council's continuous attack on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, deflating their rhetoric through good old-fashioned reporting "facts, and more facts. His column, entitled "The Family Research Charade," opens with a quote from one of Matthew Shepard's assailants, who allegedly taunted him by saying "It's Gay Awareness Week!" Recounting the facts that prosecutors have presented at the arraignments of the two men charged with Shepard's murder, Rich goes on to examine how political religious extremists are backpedaling away from their rhetoric, by claiming that their campaigns to "stigmatize gay people …have nothing to do with anti-gay crimes." Included in his examples are Trent Lott's egregious comments comparing lesbians and gay men to kleptomaniacs, making Rich one of the few journalists continuing to call Lott on his homophobia. Making the point that most people who "abhor homophobia are themselves Christian , as are most gay Americans," Rich then brings on the Family Research Council, which has now begun to tout the statistic that "homosexuals are at much greater risk from one another than from bias-related attacks." FRC alleges the same of lesbians, quoting a University of Houston-Downtown study, which seemed to state that 47.5 percent of lesbian relationships involved domestic abuse, while only 0.22 percent of married women were victims. Frank Rich called the woman whose study was used to produce this "fact", who told him that this recent study was based on a non-random sample of gay people she knew, and people who had been referred to her by them. Rich concludes by stating the obvious: Using this study as a comparison for any other study would be unsound; any figures derived would be flawed because the methodologies were different, and therefore the numbers were meaningless. Please thank Frank Rich for his usual sharp, incisive and trenchant work, and for helping reader see through the numbers to the truth. Contact: Howell Raines, Editorial/Opinion Page Editor, New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036-3959, fax: 212.556.3690, e-mail: letters@nytimes.com (include phone number when sending e-mail.) Taking a Hard Look at Gay Adoption Throughout the past year, the newsmagazine Hard Copy has aired a number of stories about homophobia, anti-gay violence and, most recently an extensive story on same-sex couples adopting children. On December 3, Hard Copy spotlighted Michael and Jon Galluccio, a New Jersey couple of 16 years who recently won their battle to adopt their foster child, Adam, who they had seen through drug-withdrawal and illness. The story described gay couples raising children as "part of the American patch work," and interviewed two teenagers whose parents are gay. The segment focused on the daily lives of parents line Michael and Jon, who share a common bond with many other parents"the love for their children. Michael said, "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle." Only fourteen months ago, GLAAD met with Hard Copy to discuss the show's problematic portrayal of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. But recent stories on the tragic death of Matthew Shepard and the rhetoric of Pat Robertson have demonstrated a new commitment on the show's part to being accurate and inclusive in their reporting. Please thank Hard Copy for highlighting the Galluccios and for exploring a controversial issue without re-hashing hateful rhetoric and dangerous mythology. Contact: Mr. Brian O'Keefe, Managing Editor, Hard Copy, 5555 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038 e-mail: comments@hardcopytv.com Bergen Record on The Family The Bergen Record's December 6 edition contained a lengthy article on lesbian and gay families with children, written by Ruth Pawader. The article profiles Ann McQuinn and Terry McKeon, a lesbian and a gay man, who have had 3 children together, share a home and raise their 9-year-old and 7-year-old twins with the woman's partner, Joyce Weeg. The writer explores how this family illustrates options for gay men and lesbians, wish to have children, but don't want to raise them as single parents. Pawader speaks at length to Ray Drew as well, who is the executive director of Family Pride Coalition, the national organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents (formerly Gay & Lesbian Parents Coalition International.) Drew estimates there are approximately 2 million lesbian or gay parents in America, who are raising 3 to 5 million children. The portrait of this family is one of depth and warmth, both exploring the way in which Terry and Ann decided to come together, both wanting children; and the legal and financial complexities in raising three children in a three adult household. In addition, the children's experiences are covered sensitively and with commonsense. Please thank the Bergen Record for this intelligent, insightful look at the changing nature of families, and the importance of each one, in its own way. Contact: Vivian Waixel, Editor, The Record, 150 River Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601-7156, fax: 201.646.4310 East High After The Homophobes On December 5, 1998, Associated Press reporter Kristen Moulton visited East High School, which was the site almost three years ago of a fight over a gay/straight alliance that led to a ban on all extracurricular clubs at the Salt Lake City school. Moulton recounts the history, which began with a simple request from a student for a gay/straight alliance, which quickly upset the School Board and the Legislature. Rather than be forced to accept the club (under Federal guidelines, they cannot discriminate against "unpopular ideas"), they disbanded all extracurricular clubs, including the Young Republicans and Democrats, Students Against Drunk Driving and one for those with interests in UFOs. Moulton writes "Since then, school spirit has evaporated, students don't socialize as much, and class and racial rifts are deeper than ever, say students and teachers at East High." However, through the support of GLSEN, the Gay/Straight Alliance survived, meeting in a $6 an hour rented classroom at East High for one afternoon a week. One other club rents space as well. Young people attending the school have lost the clubs, that were founded around diverse racial, ethnic, creative and athletic interests. In the article, they speak to these losses, which seem to send a message from the school "that it's OK to discriminate." Another student says "You see a lot of students roaming through the halls alone. They have nobody to sit with at lunch." While the school is currently in litigation over the club ban, there seems to be no resolution in sight., leading Moulton to observe that soon the only students who will remember the clubs will be seniors who have graduated. The article closes by quoting a teacher: "The students in general don't know what they're missing anymore." Please thank the Associated Press for demonstrating clearly and movingly how a small group of adults, working from intolerance and ignorance, managed to deeply rend the fabric of East High by enacting the school club ban, and giving truth to the adage that "prejudice hurts everyone." Contact: Mr. Bill Beecham, Bureau Chief, Associated Press, 30 East 100 South, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, fax: 801.322.0051 Denver Post on The Hide & Seek The December 6 edition of the Denver Post ran an article on the oldest gay bar in Colorado, called the Hide & Seek. The 27-year-old bar is located in Colorado Springs, which has recently been a battleground for lesbian and gay rights, and is home to religious political extremist groups, including Focus on the Family. Erin Emery writes of the two local men who opened the bar, Joe Brady and Tom Gehling. The Hide & Seek quickly became an ad hoc community center, where Metropolitan Community Church first held its services for the community, where the gay rodeo association still meets and where the gay Alcoholics Anonymous group met for a time. The bar, once with 75 seats, now takes up an entire block and encompasses 5 different themes, serving 500 people every weekend night. Emery also looks at the bar in the context of the town and the times, with the impact of HIV/AIDS on the community, where the two bar owners conducted AIDS prevention education one on one because no one else was doing so. Tom and Joe opened Lambda House as an outgrowth of their work, a hospice and "safe house" for people with HIV/AIDS, which served 30 people for the five years it was open. In addition, 10 cents of every drink is donated to charity, and in 27 years, the owners estimate that $2 million dollars has been raised by the Hide & Seek for charitable causes. Emery includes another side of the story, the homophobia the bar owners and patrons have suffered: from the surveillance cameras and security guards protecting the bar, to the church picketers outside. However, violence is unusual, and that which occurs is usually destruction of property. Brady maintains that Colorado Springs, despite its reputation, isn't much different than anyplace else. In fact, the article observes in closing, that when they petitioned to expand their liquor license, they were completely unopposed. According to Brady, the liquor board had never had a situation like this before " all previous applications had objections lodged against them. Please thank the Denver Post for this slice of local Colorado history, and of a bar which has found itself acting in times of need as the unofficial community center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Colorado Springs. Contact: Jeanette Chavez, Managing Editor, Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202-5177, fax: 303-820.1369, e-mail: letters@denverpost.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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TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's 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" The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combatting homophobia and 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.