Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 23:52:19 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert - May 6, 1999 GLAADAlert May 6, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Index to Articles: 1. Articles of Faith 2. The Man Behind The "Ex-Gay" Ads 3. Black Lesbian Publisher Profiled by Washington Post 4. What's Love Got to Do With It? 5. Domestic Partnership Benefits: It's the Law! 6. ESPN: Monday Morning Quarterbacking on School Violence 7. Survey Says: Public Schools Can Support Gay & Lesbian Youth 8. TV Guide Finds (My So-Called) Life Before Dawson's Creek Articles of Faith More and more members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are looking to a spiritual reawakening. The religions of their adolescence, which once countenanced against homosexuality, are now more accepting of gay members and have begun to consider relaxing proscriptions against ordaining openly gay clergy. These three articles describe a thaw among Conservative Rabbis, conflicting attitudes within the Lutheran Church, as well as a couple, who, in the throes of religious fervor, have litigated against AIDS awareness programs. E.J. Kessler, staff writer for The Forward, writes in the April 16 issue ["Conservative Rabbis Seek to Welcome Gay Clergy"], that while Judaism's Conservative branch continues to ban openly gay rabbis, that members of the Rabbinical Assembly are working behind the scenes to overturn the 1992 ban. This article explains the issues at hand for a secular audience and offers a balanced overview of the various camps involved in this conundrum. [Note: The Rabbinical Assembly met in late April. A formal resolution to prohibit job discrimination against openly gay members was withdrawn at that time.] Just as Judaism is contemplating a position on inclusiveness, the Lutheran Church is itself embroiled in an ongoing debate. Minnesota Monthly's Russell Scott Smith in "A Church Divided" gives us a scorecard to the prominent figures who represent either side of the issue for the 5.2 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Scott Smith's exhaustive piece patiently explains the issues, positing that the ordination of lesbian pastoral minister Anita Hill might be a flashpoint to a Conservative revolt and a split within the Church. While all sides have their say, Herbert Chilstrom, former Bishop of the Minnesota Synod of the Lutheran Church, seems to speak for the future of the Church, one that sees Biblical injunctions against homosexuality as "relics of a distant culture." Jodi and Paul Hoffman believe that they are on a mission from God. The founder of Little Miss USA and an attorney who is a self-described recovering sex-addict, the couple have become religious zealots. Robert George in "Couple Crusades Against Sex 'Sins'" (Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, May 2) lays bare their epiphany, but offers an uncritical look at their crusade. The Hoffmans believe that the law is the instrument of their fundamentalist calling. They have sued the Broward Country School Board, and have, in the process, compromised access to educational materials on reproduction and AIDS awareness. Apart from a comment by a presenter of safe sex materials, which disgusted the Hoffmans, George does not take responsibility to research the consequences of the Hoffman's pursuit of this holy -and anti-gay--grail. The article is presented from their point of view, making for compelling reading, but leaving their vitriol unchecked by reason. It is insufficient to showcase their madness, without analyzing their methodology. Contact: oSeth Lipsky, Editor, The Forward, 45 E. 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016-5336, fax: 212.447.6406 e-mail: editor@forward.com oDave Mahoney, Managing Editor, Minnesota Monthly, 10 S. 5th Street, #1000, Minneapolis, MN 55402, fax: 612.371.5801, e-mail: www.minnesotamonthly.com oEllen Soeteber, Managing Editor, Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301, fax: 954.356.4624, e-mail: www.sun-sentinel.com The Man Behind The "Ex-Gay" Ads Last Summer the Center for Reclaiming America blanketed national newspapers with "gay conversion" ads. Behind this campaign was Florida's Reverend D. James Kennedy, founder of the Coral Ridge Ministries, an empire with an annual operating budget of $60 million, 10,000 members, and an outreach office in Washington, D.C. In the May 10 issue of The New Republic Michelle Cottle profiled Kennedy, in "The Next Jerry Falwell," charting the mission and growth of his fiefdom over the last 40 years. Cottle's research lays bar Kennedy's values--positing him as a Reconstructionalist--an ultraconservative movement that seeks to replace secular law with Old Testament laws, including "mandatory stoning of homosexuals, adulterers, blasphemers, juvenile delinquents, and women who go unchaste to their marriage beds." As Reclaiming America prepares for Round Two--tv spots based on last summer's print ads, this concise article becomes required reading, in order to better understand the motives and tactics of the so-called Truth in Love campaign. Please commend TNR for this piece. It is especially timely and needed to successfully combat the messages of the religious political extremists. Contact: oNurith C. Aizenman, Managing Editor, The New Republic, 1220 19th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036, fax: 202.331.0275 Black Lesbian Publisher Profiled by Washington Post Yolanda Woodlee's piece in the April 29 Washington Post, entitled "Toilings of a Trailblazer," celebrates the accomplishments of Sheila Alexander-Reed, publisher of Women in the Life, a monthly devoted to black women. This article charts both the personal journey of Alexander-Reed, her coming out as a lesbian, and the growth of her magazine from a four-page newsletter to a twenty-page glossy. Woodlee details Alexander-Reed's recent honor, the Uncommon Woman award, for her work to enlighten and enhance the lives of black lesbians. This article focuses on the importance of social events in community-building, as well as an important sixteen-page journal, breast cancer memoirs of lesbians of color, which Alexander-Reed undertook. This inspirational article shows that the passion of one individual can affect change. Contact: oRobert Kaiser, Managing Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071 fax: 202.334.6138, e-mail: www.washingtonpost.com What's Love Got to Do With It? While New Hampshire has recently moved to repeal its ban on gay and lesbian adoption, there is recent and pending legislation in Oklahoma and Texas which would limit adoption to heterosexuals. Freelance writer Daria MonDesire's commentary in USA Today, "Majority's Prejudices Thwart Good Parents," explores joint legal adoption and how "heterosexuals have no lock on being loving, limit-setting parents." MonDesire's editorial is punctuated by her plea for an open dialogue. "If this country valued its children, decisions about who is to parent them would be based on what is in their best interest, not prejudice. To deny a child a nurturing home simply because a prospective parent happens to be homosexual is nothing short of abuse." USA Today is to be lauded for the immediacy of this op-ed. Contact: oDavid Mazzarella, Editor, USA Today, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22229-3901, fax: 703.247.3108, e-mail: editor@usatoday.com Domestic Partnership Benefits: It's the Law! On April 11 University of Pittsburgh students went on a hunger strike to protest the University's failure to offer domestic partnership benefits, despite a city ordinance. While they have ended their hunger strike, the issue remains unresolved. In the May 1 issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, guest writer John Michael Curlovitch, in "Pitt, Have a Heart," offers a seven-point rationale for University of Pittsburgh to respect the 1990 ordinance. While the Pitt board continues to vacillate, he notes that under this law that discrimination is patently illegal, and that apart from the board of trustees and a few senior administrators, the faculty senate and graduate association unanimously support benefits for domestic partners. Curlovitch asserts that such policies are crucial in order to attract progressive businesses to the area, as well as the best and brightest faculty. In his closing, his exposes perhaps the greatest hypocrisy of the administration. "It was all very well for Chancellor Nordenberg and his colleagues to make consoling statements about their concern for the health of the hunger strikers. But how very peculiar that the concern doesn't actually extend to giving them health benefits." Please commend the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for its coverage of the U. of Pittsburgh hunger strike, particularly this piece which makes a universal argument in favor of domestic partnership benefits irrefutable. Contact: oMadelyn Ross, Managing Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Box 947, Pittsburgh, PA 15230, fax: 412.263.2014, e-mail: letter@post-gazette.com ESPN: Monday Morning Quarterbacking on School Violence Coverage on the tragedy of Littleton, Colorado has primarily focused on the easy availability of guns, the Trenchcoat Mafia, and even speculation on the sexual orientation of the two mass murderers. Tom Farrey, Senior Writer for ESPN, recently wrote an editorial entitled, "Columbine: Use It or Lose It," [April 28] suggesting that the attitudes of high school athletics foster intolerance. Farrey makes a case for coaches altering their "take no prisoners" philosophy to one that teaches respect for independent thought and tolerance. He writes, "Jocks are the unapologetic enforcers of traditional norms in many high schools." The track and field coach at Cheshire, a nearby school, seems ready to take up the charge: "Good sportmanship goes along with life. It's a matter of treating everyone with respect." Please thank ESPN for this incisive look at jock culture and how a little self-policing will go a long way to foster tolerance. Contact: oBob Eaton, Managing Editor, ESPN, 935 Middle Street, Bristol, CT 06010-1000, fax: 860.585.2213 Survey Says: Public Schools Can Support Gay & Lesbian Youth Three articles adroitly depicted the challenges and successes that face gay students, teachers, and sympathic administrators in their attempts at living honestly and safely. A quartet of pieces appeared within the pages of the Glen Falls (NY) Post on April 25 and 26. These articles, two of which shared the byline of Judy Bernstein, ['Toughing It Out" and "Talk Seen as Tool to Stop Abuse,"] did helmsman's work in educating the general public to everyday harassment faced by lesbian and gay students and giving sharp focus to students who have been subject to verbal and physical abuse at the hands of their peers. Not content to merely catalogue this crisis Bernstein describes the work of NY-based Coalition for Safer Schools, offering statistics and resources to better understand the issues facing students. The Tampa Tribune, in its May 1 issue, featured "Teaching a Lesson in Tolerance," by Rick Barry. This piece followed the story of Jane Gallucci, a Pinellas County School Board member, who, after careful consideration of the facts, became the swing vote for extending protections to gay and lesbian staff in the district, despite death threats and a campaign waged by a local Christian radio station. Barry's article sensitively gives voice to the frustrations Ms. Gallucci experienced in throwing her full support behind this measure, and concludes that "she knows she did the right thing." The taffeta begins to rustle as high school prom season commences. Erika Niedowski and Alice Lukens of the Baltimore Sun covered this perennial from a unique perspective. In "Alternative Prom Planned for Same-Sex Couples" (April 23), they reported that Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians & Gays is sponsoring a prom with the theme, "Under the Rainbow." This article is infused with the earnestness of the students themselves who have planned the prom independent of the Howard county school system. Niedowski and Lukens point out, however, that the PTA and school board support the event, which is the first same-sex prom to be held in the county. Contact: oSteve Bennett, Managing Editor, Glens Falls Post Star, Box 2157, Glens Falls, NY 12801, fax: 518.761.1255, e-mail: poststar@global200.net oS. Bruce Witwer, Managing Editor, Tampa Tribune, fax: 813.259.8080, e-mail: tribletters@tampatrib.com oWilliam Marimow, Managing Editor, Baltimore Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore, MD 21278, fax: 410.332.6977, e-mail: letters@baltsun.com TV Guide Finds (My So-Called) Life Before Dawson's Creek It has been well-covered terrain that this is the season of the gay teen. But before UPN was a glint in the eye of Paramount, Frank DeCaro reminds us ["In the the Out Crowd," May 1-7] that there was My So-Called Life, with gay teen RickieVasquez, played by Wilson Cruz. The character of Rickie Vasquez was for many a first glimpse on-screen of a gay teen. Flash forward to the present. Since last fall we've shared Jack McPhee's anguished coming out on Dawson's Creek and found out that Ryan Crane on Felicity was "family." Last night, Party of Five's Julia Salinger (Neve Campbell) gave us something to talk about--the kiss- wrapped up in an episode that was a nuanced look into one young woman's exploration of her identity. Please thank TV Guide for giving readers a humorous history lesson on the visibility of gay teens on broadcast television. Contact: oJack Curry, Managing Editor, TV Guide, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor, New York, NY 10036, fax: 212.852.7470. 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 and breaking news of interest to the LGBT community 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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