Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 19:50:16 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert - April 22, 1999 GLAADAlert April 22, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Index to Articles: 20/20 Exposes The "Blue Wall of Silence" Minnesota's Human Rights Act Empowers Transgender Educators Michael Moore Drives A Sodomobile Please Don't Kill Homicide Public Sex: Complex Issues Demand Responsible Journalism Salon Attends Mass Gay Marriage 20/20 Exposes The "Blue Wall of Silence" On Friday, April 20, television newsmagazine 20/20 presented a segment entitled, "True, Blue, Unwanted." ABC News correspondent Lynn Sherr investigated the harassment of gay officers. Sherr interviewed two gay men, Officers Barrato and Quinn, who have experienced extreme prejudice in the line of duty. After their peers suspected that they were gay, these officers, from Queens and Long Island, New York, were subject to verbal and physical assault by colleagues. Police Officer Jim Quinn experienced twelve years of harassment, including death threats, and ultimately had a nervous breakdown. When Sherr respectfully questions why in the face of ongoing mistreatment these officers remained on the job, they submitted that they had every right to pursue a career as policemen. The piece ends on an optimistic note. While the New York Police Department and Nassau County precinct seem entrenched in anti-gay bias, Sherr points out that a number of police departments, including the Boston Police Department, are not only accepting of difference, but they actively recruit gay and lesbian officers. Once again 20/20 has produced a fine segment revealing the harassment that the lesbian and gay community continues to face. Please thank the producers for their ongoing commitment to issues of sexual orientation in the workplace, in this case law enforcement. Contact: oVictor Neufeld, Executive Producer, 20/20, 147 Columbus Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10023-5900, fax: 212.456.2969, e-mail: 2020@abcnews.com Minnesota's Human Rights Act Empowers Transgender Educators The 1993 Human Rights Act of Minnesota protects citizens from discrimination due to race, religion, and sexual orientation, and additionally prohibits employers from firing staff for presenting an "identity not associated with (their) biological maleness or femaleness." While a few cities, including Seattle, Iowa City, Santa Cruz, and San =46rancisco protect transgender residents, Minnesota is the only state to do so. In "Transgender Becomes Human Rights Issue In a Middle School" (Los Angeles Times, Friday, April 9) reporter Stephanie Simon writes of two transgender educators who came out because of these legal protections. While Gov. Jesse Ventura has publicly affirmed his support for this clause, organizations such as the Minnesota Family Council have begun a campaign to rollback this protection and have succeeded in forcing the resignation of at least one transgender educator, music teacher Alyssa Williams. This article informs readers why transgender people need statewide protections and details how librarian David Nielsen, after twenty-eight years in the Minnesota public school system, came out as Debra Davis with the support of staff and students. Simon's article treats the civil rights of transgender people with respect, and reminds us that while protections may be written into law, they are vulnerable to repeal. Please thank the Los Angeles Times for publishing this supportive piece and illuminating how legislation can assist people to live honestly, both personally and professionally. It is a fine example of the paper's ongoing mission for inclusive and informed coverage. Contact: oMichael Parks, Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, fax: 213.237-7679, e-mail: letters@latimes.com Michael Moore Drives A Sodomobile =46ilmmaker Michael Moore has returned to television. Thanks to collaboratio= n between the U.K.'s Channel 4 and Bravo, the auteur of Roger & Me, The Big One, and Fox's TV Nation premiered a weekly television series, The Awful Truth, on Sunday, April 11. The first two episodes have not only been scathingly funny, but have been politically savvy as well. The first show, on April 11, had Moore stage a sexual witchhunt on Capitol Hill, replete with extras cast in period Puritan garb. In this piece Moore confronted House members and Senators, including Reps. Bob Barr and Asa Hutchinson, denouncing their hypocrisy. Moore introduced his second show, on April 18, by saying that "Gay rights are the last frontier for human rights"--noting that sodomy laws remain on the books in twenty states. Moore proceeded to screen a segment in which he was shown driving across the country in the Sodomobile, a pink Winnebago, complete with a dozen lesbians and gay men, stopping in those states where sodomy is criminal. These freedom riders roadtripped across America, and in the process confronted the Rev. Fred Phelps and his flock on his home turf, Topeka, Kansas, and then later ambushed them again in Kansas City. When Moore discovered that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had been a cheerleader in college, the Sodomobile made its way to his family estate in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where, outfitted in varsity uniforms with the letter "G" and pom-poms, they cheered until they were ejected from his property. This was the first in an ongoing series of pieces to be produced on the adventures of the Sodomobile. If you don't already have it, get basic cable so that you can enjoy The Awful Truth. Please thank Bravo and Michael Moore for making the struggle for gay civil rights an issue that everyone can support, and for injecting humor in the enterprise. Contact: oFrancis Burwick, Senior Vice President for Programming, Bravo Network, 1111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NY, 11714. 516.803.4512. oMichael Moore, Executive Producer and Director,The Awful Truth, via his website at www.michaelmoore.com or e-mail: awfultv@aol.com Please Don't Kill Homicide The Hollywood trades are reporting this week that NBC is considering cancelling their long running crime drama Homicide: Life on the Streets. The critically acclaimed show is currently the only network program with a bisexual character, Detective Tim Bayliss. The show's groundbreaking portrayal of Bayliss's orientation, and his fellow officers reactions, recently garnered Homicide a 1999 GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Please write NBC and ask them to renew this quality, bi-inclusive program. Contact: oMr. Scott Sassa, President, NBC Entertainment, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91523, e-mail: homicide@nbc.com Public Sex: Complex Issues Demand Responsible Journalism Two recent news reports discussed how Higbee Beach in Cape May County of New Jersey has become a site for public sex. Debate aside from the rights and wrongs of sexual conduct, GLAADALERT is concerned primarily with the manner in which the reporters have framed these stories, through the selective use of quotes which perpetuate the stereotypes of gay men as pedophiles and scapegoats bisexuals. In the first story to appear on April 8, "Officials Say Lewd Behavior Plagues Cape May County Wildlife Area," (Associated Press) many issues were compressed, from the use of the Internet to publicize Higbee as a cruising area, to the linking of beach detritus to the gay community--this tabloid coverage can lead to sex panic. The unnamed AP staff reporter sets up Conservation Officer Mark Stullenburger as a human sexuality expert bolstering his observation that pornographic photos of young children are somehow, "one hundred percent=8A male-oriented." The Press of Atlantic City, the following day, April 9, covered this contretemps in sensationalist fashion in the article "Higbee Area Residents Go Public With Outrage." We are presented with a 13 year-old who must avoid the Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area for reasons of safety. "These people aren't just stripping their clothes," she pronounces, "they're stripping our rights to go there." Again, evidence of child pornography is emphasized so that extreme opinions seem moderate, such as "You need either a big fence or shotguns." What Higbee Beach needs is balanced reporting by this newswire and its local newspaper. Please contact the Associated Press and The Press of Atlantic City and remind them to re-frame articles that link homosexuality with pedophilia or risk journalistic credibility. Contact: o Maryjane Briant, Managing Editor, The Press of Atlantic City,11 Devins Lane, Pleasantville, NJ 08232, 609.272.7000 oAmy Westfeldt, Correspondent, Associated Press, Hemisphere Ctr., Route 1 & 9 South, Newark, NJ, 07114., fax: 973.643.2526. e-mail: amy-westfeldt@ap.org Salon Attends Mass Gay Marriage Salon, the literary online magazine, has covered the gay community inconsistently, as a function of having a staff of columnists who represent a wide ideological spectrum. Salon was the first news outlet to exhume Henry Hyde's indiscretions and covered the Lewinsky scandal with tongue firmly in cheek. Susie Bright's columns have always been gay-positive, while provocative Camille Paglia likes to play devil's advocate to just about any issue. That said, ex-progressive David Horowitz's November 3 column, "The Boys in the Bathhouse" was sensationalistic. In the April 17 issue of Salon, contributor Hank Hyena covers the recent mass marriage of 191 same-sex couples presided by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. The article, entitled, "Gay Nuptials Under Christian Fire," documents the wedding protest that occurred in front of City Hall. Protesting was none other the Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers, again disrupting major life events of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Contributor Hyena seeks to provide his readers with Phelps' backstory, exposing the hateful rhetoric of Phelps who shouted, "All you have now is a worthless piece of paper that will burn with you on Judgment Day. You'll never have a holy matrimony. Never." In closing reporter Hyena points out that a state-wide anti-gay ballot measure, the Knight Initiative, will appear in Spring 2000 and that it will be an uphill battle to defeat the measure. Please thank Salon magazine for covering San Francisco's mass gay marriage, for exposing Fred Phelps, and for putting the Knight Initiative on the radar of its readers. Contact: o Laura Miller, New York Editorial Director, Salon, at Lauram@salonmagazine.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) =46eel free to pass GLAADAlert on to friends, family and associates! 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