Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 22:57:11 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert June 3, 1999 GLAADAlert - June 3, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAADAlert Index: 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming 2) 13's An Unlucky Number for the Center for Reclaiming America 3) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times 4) It's An Odd World After All=8A 5) Serving in Silence: the Arizona Republic Recounts Plans for a Veterans Memorial 6) The Washington Post Spreads Love For Those We Love 7) The Chicago Tribune Raises the Bar on Lesbian Health Care Coverage 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming Throughout the month, public television stations across the country will be airing the acclaimed It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues In School, a film by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff. Winner of the 1997 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, It's Elementary explores ways in which educators can address lesbian and gay issues with their students in age-appropriate manners. Recognizing that such factors as prejudice, discrimination, and in the extreme, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people could be avoided by raising children with a better understanding of the importance of diversity and acceptance, Chasnoff and producer Helen S. Cohen filmed effective and positive examples of such lessons taking place in first through eighth grade classrooms across the country. The airing of It's Elementary has not come without controversy. Religious political organizations including the American Family Association (AFA) and the Family Research Council have launched campaigns against broadcasts of the documentary, and many local stations have been hesitant to air it. Many stations are still in the process of making a decision, and while many others have announced plans to air the program, a comparable number have explicitly announced that they will not air the film. Still others are scheduled also to air Suffer the Children, a virulently homophobic piece produced by the AFA, in an effort to "balance" the issues raised in It's Elementary. PBS has been targeted by religious political extremists as well, in spite of the fact that it is not explicitly involved in this month's broadcasts of It's Elementary. PBS will, however, be airing After Stonewall, the sequel to the award-winning historical documentary, Before Stonewall, both chronicling the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in America. Endorsed by the nation's leading educational organizations and recently lauded in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Baltimore Sun to the Boston Globe, It's Elementary is indeed a necessary and vital resource for educators, parents, and fairminded people everywhere. The Nation's Doug Ireland simply said "This film must be seen." But as yet, only 90 public television stations and networks have announced plans to air it, while an almost equal number have explicitly stated that they will not. To find out whether your local public television station plans to air It's Elementary, visit the website of Women's Educational Media, located online at: http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html . You'll find means for contacting them linked to the site. Please do contact your local station. Encourage management to air It's Elementary if they are not already planning to do so, and be sure to thank them if they are. Highlight for them the significance of this film, and challenge them to recognize its importance rather than buckling under pressure. Contact PBS as well - thank them for broadcasting After Stonewall, and let them know that you support It's Elementary. Finally, contact Georgia Public Television (GPTV), a statewide public television network, which recently announced that it will be airing After Stonewall after initially having said that it would not. Thank GPTV for that decision and encourage the network to air It's Elementary. Contact: =85 http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html for a listing of stations scheduled to air It's Elementary and a link to local station information =85 Ervin Duggan, President, Public Broadcasting Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, e-mail: www@pbs.org =85 Marcia Killingsworth, Public Relations Manager, Georgia Public Television, 260 14th St. NW, Atlanta, GA, e-mail: viewerservices@gpb.org 2) 13's An Unlucky Number for the Center for Reclaiming America =46lorida's Time Warner Communications (TWC) accepted a buy from the Center for Reclaiming America last week, agreeing to air another in the series of "ex-gay" ads which were launched first in major-market newspapers last summer, and subsequently on television in the Washington, DC area last month [see Special Online GLAADAlert 05.13.99]. The broadcasts were slated to coincide with the annual Gay Days celebration in Orlando, which takes place this weekend at Disney World. Upon learning of the decision, GLAAD contacted a senior TWC executive, who maintained that the regional cable network would not be changing its decision, and claimed that it was a religious advocacy ad not unlike other outreach ads. But when the story broke in the Associated Press on Saturday, May 29, announcing that TWC would be airing the ads on local broadcasts of CNN Headline News and on its 24-hour local news channel, Central Florida News 13, News 13 management stepped in, refusing to air the ads, and contacted both TWC's president and GLAAD. In a joint statement released the same day, TWC and News 13 said that in the spirit of their commitment to "promoting an atmosphere of acceptance for all," they had decided not to run the ads, noting that the messages behind the campaign hold the potential for "subjecting the gay and lesbian community to discrimination." While three local Christian television stations will run the ads, News 13, TWC and all of Orlando's network affiliates have rejected them. "GLAAD applauds News 13 and Time Warner Communications," said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry, "for seeing this campaign for what it is, and for upholding the principles of fairness and accuracy which are so fundamental to journalistic integrity." Please contact News 13 and Time Warner Communications and thank them for seeing through the myth that these ads reflect principles of "truth" and "love," and for their powerful statement on the rejection of the spots. Contact: =85 Craig Hume, General Manager, Central Florida News 13, 64 East Concord Street, Orlando, FL, 32801, fax: 407.513.1310 =85 Brian Craven, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Time Warner Communications, 2251 Lucien Way, Suite 320, Maitland, FL 32751, e-mail: brian.craven@twcable.com 3) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times In a May 31 article distributed by Knight-Ridder, Wilkes-Barre (Penn.) Times Leader staff writer Bob Nocek profiled a self-identified "gay jock teen" in Pennsylvania. The piece begins: "His parents had finally gone to sleep, and now it was time for Greg Congdon to die=8AFor the second time in barely more than a month, Greg Congdon, 17 years old, wanted to end his life." But rather than focusing exclusively on Congdon's suicide attempts, Nocek uses them as a springboard for discussing Congdon's difficult path to fulfillment, raising awareness along the way of the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. For example, Nocek writes that despite confusion and depression surrounding the early realization of his sexual orientation, "[o]nline, Greg found countless teens in the same situation: small-town kids who knew they were gay and isolated by it." In fact, it was one of his online friends who called an ambulance upon learning that Congdon had first attempted suicide. After that attempt, Greg admitted to the emergency room doctor that he was gay, and subsequently told his parents, who were supportive, but things at school were more difficult. Nocek tells us that the night he returned from the hospital, a friend called Greg, asking if he had attempted suicide and if he was gay. "Greg was stunned. His secret was out. His worst fear had been realized. The friend told Greg that a football teammate had said these things. The teammate had learned them from his mother, a nurse at Troy Community Hospital, where Greg had been taken after his suicide attempt. Where he had told the truth." As the harassment at his school escalated, Greg again tried to kill himself. After this second attempt, Nocek tells us that "doctors brought him papers like Philadelphia Gay News and magazines like XY, a monthly for gay teens that frequently deals with coming-out issues. Reading these helped him feel less isolated." Greg and his family decided he should be taken out of school when he continued to face harassment, but he has since earned his GED and is on his way to college. The Congdons are now suing the hospital and his teammate's mother for invasion of privacy. Nocek further reports that Congdon has been featured in XY in recent months, as well as on an ESPN special on lesbian and gay athletes [see GLAADAlert 12.17.98]. Nocek closes the piece with a quote from an online posting from Greg, noting that, "he is upbeat [now]. He talks not of hiding and denial. His words are reassuring. 'To all jock gay teens you are not alone=8AI am writing this because I always felt that I didn't belong on the team because of me being gay=8ATO ALL TEENS, you must find someone you can talk to. Help is everywhere nowadays=8A" Nocek raises such contemporary and compelling issues as school safety, rural isolation, youth suicide, the the online community, the institution of homophobia in sports, the importance of privacy and self-disclosure, and the resource provided by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media to members of the community. Throughout the piece, he is sensitive, compassionate and professional in his writing, painting a clear portrait of a young man who has come into his own and who has become an exemplary role model for his peers. Please thank Bob Nocek and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader for this poignant, timely and informative look at a remarkable gay teen. Contact: Bob Nocek, The Times Leader, 15 North Main Street, Wilke-Barre, PA 18711, e-mail: bobn@leader.net 4) It's An Odd World After All=8A A "Perspective" piece by freelance writer Bob Wieder appeared in the May 30 San Jose Mercury News, analyzing the reasons behind Operation Rescue's protesting of the annual Gay Days celebration at Disney World. According to Wieder, the anti-abortion group will be on hand in Orlando to "protest, chant, condemn and otherwise make things less pleasant for the homosexual celebrators." He writes, "On the surface, there seems to be a conspicuous logical disconnect here. If there is any demographic group that does not contribute in any significant way to abortion in America, it would appear to be the exclusively homosexual. So this protest makes about as much sense as Mothers Against Drunk Driving physically disrupting the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. Right?" Not according to Wieder. A "look at the overall agenda of the arch-moral right," he contends, "reveals a single guiding principle: Sex - all sex - is sin. And sin should be punished." Wieder points to a fascination with issues ranging from pornography to homosexuality and from birth control to welfare provisions for families, as evidence that groups like Operation Rescue do not follow their supposed missions; that in fact, their message is broader and more destructive. He further notes the problems posed by groups that oppose abortion because of a supposed desire to protect lives but support capital punishment nonetheless. In Wieder's words, their "concern for unborn children rarely extends to the actual born. This fringe has taken it upon itself to make sure that no one who commits the sin of the loins will avoid or escape punishment." Wieder cites legislative measures (such as discriminatory sodomy laws) as evidence of the support for punishment, but really brings his point home by saying, "This is why so many of them are blas=E9, if not in fact openly smug, over the spread of AIDS and the elusiveness of a cure. It is why, if homosexuality should not prove fatal and cannot be made punishable by law, it must be punished by harassment (admonitory pamphleteers at Disney World, chanting protesters at gay churches), by vigilantism (gay-bashing) or by discrimination=8A" In the end, Wieder answers his own central question: "Why such a glaringly counterproductive stand? Because God's naturally ordained punishment for copulation is children. Apparently, viewing children as the lifelong wages of original sin is 'pro-family.'" Using a wry wit and discerning (if somewhat inflammatory) arguments, Wieder's piece sheds light on what makes groups like Operation Rescue tick. Please thank Wieder for his inciteful insight and the San Jose Mercury News for running his piece. Contact: =85 Bob Wieder, e-mail: oboglo@aol.com =85 Minal Hajratwala, Perspective Editor, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190-0001, fax: 408.271.3792, e-mail: letters@sjmercury.com 5) Serving in Silence: the Arizona Republic Recounts Plans for a Veterans Memorial An article entitled "Gay veterans plan memorial," from the May 30 edition of the Arizona Republic tells of ongoing efforts being made by the Arizona Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America (GLBVA) to donate a memorial to Arizona's National Memorial Cemetery. According to staff reporter Pat Kossan, this would be the first memorial donated to any of the 115 National Memorial Cemeteries in the 39-state system by a lesbian or gay organization. The planned granite memorial would bear the inscription: "In Memory Of All Veterans Who Served with Courage and Pride, donated by the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America." Kossan interviews representatives from the Veterans group as well as from the Washington, DC-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and cites a recent SLDN study which showed that a record number of military discharges last year (1,163) based upon sexual orientation. The GLBVA's Nick Shinstine, an Air Force veteran, said of the project: "It's for those who serve in silence," referencing the difficulty which lesbian and gay servicemembers face in being forced to stay in the closet while in service - a policy maintained by the now-infamous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy passed by President Clinton in 1993. GLBVA member and 5-yearAir Force veteran Franc Gaxiola, who was discharged for disclosing his sexual orientation, says that for him, the memorial would honor sailor Allen Schindler, whose Navy shipmates beat him to death in 1992 upon learning of his sexual orientation; and also the many who have surely lost their lives in service. Little controversy seems to have ensued, by Kossan's account: the manager of the cemetery, Arizona's state commander of the America Legion, and the statewide chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, each told her that they approved of the donation. Plans for the memorial are currently being reviewed by the National Cemetery Administration, and Kossan reports that a decision should be made within the month. While Kossan's piece could easily have been a simple report on a local community project, she managed to incorporate problems with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy, and identified many of the most common problems encountered by lesbian and gay servicemembers. It's an unusual story not only for its facts, but also thanks to the sensitive and wider-reaching manner in which it was reported. Please thank the Arizona Republic for providing its readers with such an informative piece. Contact: Julia Wallace, Managing Editor, The Arizona Republic, 200 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, fax: 602.271.8933, e-mail: opinions@pni.com 6) The Washington Post Spreads Love For Those We Love The May 28 edition of the Washington Post featured an examination of the particular problems that Black parents can face in coming to terms with the sexual orientations of their lesbian and gay children. Staff writer Steven Gray quotes William Beale as saying: "Because of our culture, and the way we're grounded, some of us don't want to share our feelings with (nonblack) people. Just like there are children in the closet, there are black parents in the closet=8Awho would like to come out." Beale is himself the parent of an openly gay son, who died from AIDS-related causes in 1994. After his son's death, Beale sought out people to talk to, but his Baptist church was unreceptive, as were members of his family. Gray writes that he then turned to Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG), but had difficulty in identifying with PFLAG's largely non-Black membership. So Beale joined a group called For Those We Love (FTWL), "a part of PFLAG=8A[that] is the first of its kind in the nation to target African Americans. It's modeled largely after a group started five years ago in San =46rancisco by Asian Americans who thought their relatives would be more comfortable talking about homosexuality in a culturally specific group." Raising an uncommon perspective, Gray quotes Keith Boykin, a former Clinton aide and past executive director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum, who notes that "[i]n some cases, we [in the African-American community] may be more accepting. We create a nurturing space for people, even though they're different, because we've been discriminated against ourselves." Furthermore, Gray refers to Pamela Birchett of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), who says "many black parents of gay children have hesitated to seek support," noting that "she has found that socioeconomic status - perhaps more than race - signals whether a family will seek help from a support group." Gray's piece shines the spotlight on infrequently-raised questions about the implications of race and class not just upon lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people themselves, but also upon their families and friends. That such issues are discussed as seldom as they are is testament to the significance and value of this particular piece, and Gray's reporting brings forth a very personal character which is sure to provoke further discussion and to reach many people in need of just such groups as For Those We Love. Please thank the Washington Post for addressing such crucial questions and for doing so in such a compelling manner. Contact: Robert G. Kaiser, Managing Editor, Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20071-0002, e-mail via WWW: http://www.washingtonpost.com 7) The Chicago Tribune Raises the Bar on Lesbian Health Care Coverage Vincent J. Schodolski's May 30 Chicago Tribune piece entitled "Doctor who refuses to treat lesbian is sued," follows the story of lesbian Michelle DuPont, who is suing a former doctor for declining to treat her. "When she filled out the routine information form prior to the examination," Schodolski writes, "DuPont came upon the line marked: Spuse's name. She wrote: Lisa Voisard." After the examination, DuPont's doctor gave her a prescription, but "said he would not treat DuPont, offering her the name of two physicans who might take her on. He explained that he did not want her as a patient because he did not agree with her 'lifestyle.'" It was this remark which prompted DuPont to contact the local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and together, they decided to take Axtell and DuPont's insurance provider to court, stating that they had violated a Californian non-discrimination law which protects people on the basis of sexual orientation. Schodolski expands the conversation, saying "While there have been only a few studies done, the data available support the notion that many gays and lesbians avoid going to doctors because they are reluctant to be honest about their sexuality." He cites as two examples a 1995 Stanford University survey which showed that 84 percent of lesbians were reluctant to return to doctors for just such reason, and an Institute of Medicine report released earlier this year which "concluded lesbians were at greater risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease because they avoid regular medical examinations," [see GLAADLines 02.22.99] presumably for the same reasons noted earlier. Referring to a representative of the Lambda Medical Group, Schodolski says "Problems also occur when people lie about their sexual orientation, or mislead doctors, Lambda's Knox said, because physicians can't properly treat patients unless they have accurate information." Furthermore, he writes that "Privacy is a key issue to many. Even if a person feels comfortable being open with a doctor, they worry that information might be placed in their medical records that they would not want to see shared with others. That is what happened in DuPont's case," and notes that Axtell made reference to DuPont's sexual orientation in her medical records. At the end of the piece, Schodolski writes that "DuPont said she decided to take her case to court to raise awareness of the issue." Please thank The Chicago Tribune for running Schodolski's piece, which addresses the all-too-real problems of health care for members of the lesbian and gay community. Contact: Ann Marie Lipinski, Managing Editor, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4003, fax: 312.222.2598, email: tribletter@aol.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! 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. GLAADAlert may be freely distributed and reprinted in all forms of media under the condition that any text used carry the full attribution of "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~= ~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. 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" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. 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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 combating 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. --============_-1283646332==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable GLAADAlert - June 3, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAADAlert Index: 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming 2) 13's An Unlucky Number for the Center for Reclaiming America 3) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times 4) It's An Odd World After All=8A 5) Serving in Silence: the Arizona Republic Recounts Plans for a Veterans Memorial 6) The Washington Post Spreads Love For Those We Love 7) The Chicago Tribune Raises the Bar on Lesbian Health Care Coverage 1) It's Elementary - Public TV Stations Should Be Airing Affirmative Programming Throughout the month, public television stations across the country will be airing the acclaimed It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues In School, a film by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff. Winner of the 1997 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, It's Elementary explores ways in which educators can address lesbian and gay issues with their students in age-appropriate manners. Recognizing that such factors as prejudice, discrimination, and in the extreme, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people could be avoided by raising children with a better understanding of the importance of diversity and acceptance, Chasnoff and producer Helen S. Cohen filmed effective and positive examples of such lessons taking place in first through eighth grade classrooms across the country. The airing of It's Elementary has not come without controversy. Religious political organizations including the American Family Association (AFA) and the Family Research Council have launched campaigns against broadcasts of the documentary, and many local stations have been hesitant to air it. Many stations are still in the process of making a decision, and while many others have announced plans to air the program, a comparable number have explicitly announced that they will not air the film. Still others are scheduled also to air Suffer the Children, a virulently homophobic piece produced by the AFA, in an effort to "balance" the issues raised in It's Elementary. PBS has been targeted by religious political extremists as well, in spite of the fact that it is not explicitly involved in this month's broadcasts of It's Elementary. PBS will, however, be airing After Stonewall, the sequel to the award-winning historical documentary, Before Stonewall, both chronicling the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in America. Endorsed by the nation's leading educational organizations and recently lauded in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Baltimore Sun to the Boston Globe, It's Elementary is indeed a necessary and vital resource for educators, parents, and fairminded people everywhere. The Nation's Doug Ireland simply said "This film must be seen." But as yet, only 90 public television stations and networks have announced plans to air it, while an almost equal number have explicitly stated that they will not. To find out whether your local public television station plans to air It's Elementary, visit the website of Women's Educational Media, located online at: http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html . You'll find means for contacting them linked to the site. Please do contact your local station. Encourage management to air It's Elementary if they are not already planning to do so, and be sure to thank them if they are. Highlight for them the significance of this film, and challenge them to recognize its importance rather than buckling under pressure. Contact PBS as well - thank them for broadcasting After Stonewall, and let them know that you support It's Elementary. =46inally, contact Georgia Public Television (GPTV), a statewide public television network, which recently announced that it will be airing After Stonewall after initially having said that it would not. Thank GPTV for that decision and encourage the network to air It's Elementary. Contact: =85 http://www.womedia.org/new/airdates.html for a listing of stations scheduled to air It's Elementary and a link to local station information =85 Ervin Duggan, President, Public Broadcasting Service, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314, e-mail: www@pbs.org =85 Marcia Killingsworth, Public Relations Manager, Georgia Public Television, 260 14th St. NW, Atlanta, GA, e-mail: viewerservices@gpb.org 2) 13's An Unlucky Number for the Center for Reclaiming America =46lorida's Time Warner Communications (TWC) accepted a buy from the Center for Reclaiming America last week, agreeing to air another in the series of "ex-gay" ads which were launched first in major-market newspapers last summer, and subsequently on television in the Washington, DC area last month [see Special Online GLAADAlert 05.13.99]. The broadcasts were slated to coincide with the annual Gay Days celebration in Orlando, which takes place this weekend at Disney World. Upon learning of the decision, GLAAD contacted a senior TWC executive, who maintained that the regional cable network would not be changing its decision, and claimed that it was a religious advocacy ad not unlike other outreach ads. But when the story broke in the Associated Press on Saturday, May 29, announcing that TWC would be airing the ads on local broadcasts of CNN Headline News and on its 24-hour local news channel, Central Florida News 13, News 13 management stepped in, refusing to air the ads, and contacted both TWC's president and GLAAD. In a joint statement released the same day, TWC and News 13 said that in the spirit of their commitment to "promoting an atmosphere of acceptance for all," they had decided not to run the ads, noting that the messages behind the campaign hold the potential for "subjecting the gay and lesbian community to discrimination." While three local Christian television stations will run the ads, News 13, TWC and all of Orlando's network affiliates have rejected them. "GLAAD applauds News 13 and Time Warner Communications," said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry, "for seeing this campaign for what it is, and for upholding the principles of fairness and accuracy which are so fundamental to journalistic integrity." Please contact News 13 and Time Warner Communications and thank them for seeing through the myth that these ads reflect principles of "truth" and "love," and for their powerful statement on the rejection of the spots. Contact: =85 Craig Hume, General Manager, Central Florida News 13, 64 East Concord Street, Orlando, FL, 32801, fax: 407.513.1310 =85 Brian Craven, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Time Warner Communications, 2251 Lucien Way, Suite 320, Maitland, FL 32751, e-mail: brian.craven@twcable.com 3) Greg Congdon: a Leader for our Times In a May 31 article distributed by Knight-Ridder, Wilkes-Barre (Penn.) Times Leader staff writer Bob Nocek profiled a self-identified "gay jock teen" in Pennsylvania. The piece begins: "His parents had finally gone to sleep, and now it was time for Greg Congdon to die=8AFor the second time in barely more than a month, Greg Congdon, 17 years old, wanted to end his life." But rather than focusing exclusively on Congdon's suicide attempts, Nocek uses them as a springboard for discussing Congdon's difficult path to fulfillment, raising awareness along the way of the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. For example, Nocek writes that despite confusion and depression surrounding the early realization of his sexual orientation, "[o]nline, Greg found countless teens in the same situation: small-town kids who knew they were gay and isolated by it." In fact, it was one of his online friends who called an ambulance upon learning that Congdon had first attempted suicide. After that attempt, Greg admitted to the emergency room doctor that he was gay, and subsequently told his parents, who were supportive, but things at school were more difficult. Nocek tells us that the night he returned from the hospital, a friend called Greg, asking if he had attempted suicide and if he was gay. "Greg was stunned. His secret was out. His worst fear had been realized. The friend told Greg that a football teammate had said these things. The teammate had learned them from his mother, a nurse at Troy Community Hospital, where Greg had been taken after his suicide attempt. Where he had told the truth." As the harassment at his school escalated, Greg again tried to kill himself. After this second attempt, Nocek tells us that "doctors brought him papers like Philadelphia Gay News and magazines like XY, a monthly for gay teens that frequently deals with coming-out issues. Reading these helped him feel less isolated." Greg and his family decided he should be taken out of school when he continued to face harassment, but he has since earned his GED and is on his way to college. The Congdons are now suing the hospital and his teammate's mother for invasion of privacy. Nocek further reports that Congdon has been featured in XY in recent months, as well as on an ESPN special on lesbian and gay athletes [see GLAADAlert 12.17.98]. Nocek closes the piece with a quote from an online posting from Greg, noting that, "he is upbeat [now]. He talks not of hiding and denial. His words are reassuring. 'To all jock gay teens you are not alone=8AI am writing this because I always felt that I didn't belong on the team because of me being gay=8ATO ALL TEENS, you must find someone you can talk to. Help is everywhere nowadays=8A" Nocek raises such contemporary and compelling issues as school safety, rural isolation, youth suicide, the the online community, the institution of homophobia in sports, the importance of privacy and self-disclosure, and the resource provided by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media to members of the community. Throughout the piece, he is sensitive, compassionate and professional in his writing, painting a clear portrait of a young man who has come into his own and who has become an exemplary role model for his peers. Please thank Bob Nocek and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader for this poignant, timely and informative look at a remarkable gay teen. Contact: Bob Nocek, The Times Leader, 15 North Main Street, Wilke-Barre, PA 18711, e-mail: bobn@leader.net 4) It's An Odd World After All=8A A "Perspective" piece by freelance writer Bob Wieder appeared in the May 30 San Jose Mercury News, analyzing the reasons behind Operation Rescue's protesting of the annual Gay Days celebration at Disney World. According to Wieder, the anti-abortion group will be on hand in Orlando to "protest, chant, condemn and otherwise make things less pleasant for the homosexual celebrators." He writes, "On the surface, there seems to be a conspicuous logical disconnect here. If there is any demographic group that does not contribute in any significant way to abortion in America, it would appear to be the exclusively homosexual. So this protest makes about as much sense as Mothers Against Drunk Driving physically disrupting the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. Right?" Not according to Wieder. A "look at the overall agenda of the arch-moral right," he contends, "reveals a single guiding principle: Sex - all sex - is sin. And sin should be punished." Wieder points to a fascination with issues ranging from pornography to homosexuality and from birth control to welfare provisions for families, as evidence that groups like Operation Rescue do not follow their supposed missions; that in fact, their message is broader and more destructive. He further notes the problems posed by groups that oppose abortion because of a supposed desire to protect lives but support capital punishment nonetheless. In Wieder's words, their "concern for unborn children rarely extends to the actual born. This fringe has taken it upon itself to make sure that no one who commits the sin of the loins will avoid or escape punishment." Wieder cites legislative measures (such as discriminatory sodomy laws) as evidence of the support for punishment, but really brings his point home by saying, "This is why so many of them are blas=E9, if not in fact openly smug, over the spread of AIDS and the elusiveness of a cure. It is why, if homosexuality should not prove fatal and cannot be made punishable by law, it must be punished by harassment (admonitory pamphleteers at Disney World, chanting protesters at gay churches), by vigilantism (gay-bashing) or by discrimination=8A" In the end, Wieder answers his own central question: "Why such a glaringly counterproductive stand? Because God's naturally ordained punishment for copulation is children. Apparently, viewing children as the lifelong wages of original sin is 'pro-family.'" Using a wry wit and discerning (if somewhat inflammatory) arguments, Wieder's piece sheds light on what makes groups like Operation Rescue tick. Please thank Wieder for his inciteful insight and the San Jose Mercury News for running his piece. Contact: =85 Bob Wieder, e-mail: oboglo@aol.com =85 Minal Hajratwala, Perspective Editor, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190-0001, fax: 408.271.3792, e-mail: letters@sjmercury.com 5) Serving in Silence: the Arizona Republic Recounts Plans for a Veterans Memorial An article entitled "Gay veterans plan memorial," from the May 30 edition of the Arizona Republic tells of ongoing efforts being made by the Arizona Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America (GLBVA) to donate a memorial to Arizona's National Memorial Cemetery. According to staff reporter Pat Kossan, this would be the first memorial donated to any of the 115 National Memorial Cemeteries in the 39-state system by a lesbian or gay organization. The planned granite memorial would bear the inscription: "In Memory Of All Veterans Who Served with Courage and Pride, donated by the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America." Kossan interviews representatives from the Veterans group as well as from the Washington, DC-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and cites a recent SLDN study which showed that a record number of military discharges last year (1,163) based upon sexual orientation. The GLBVA's Nick Shinstine, an Air Force veteran, said of the project: "It's for those who serve in silence," referencing the difficulty which lesbian and gay servicemembers face in being forced to stay in the closet while in service - a policy maintained by the now-infamous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy passed by President Clinton in 1993. GLBVA member and 5-yearAir Force veteran Franc Gaxiola, who was discharged for disclosing his sexual orientation, says that for him, the memorial would honor sailor Allen Schindler, whose Navy shipmates beat him to death in 1992 upon learning of his sexual orientation; and also the many who have surely lost their lives in service. Little controversy seems to have ensued, by Kossan's account: the manager of the cemetery, Arizona's state commander of the America Legion, and the statewide chapter of the Veterans of =46oreign Wars, each told her that they approved of the donation. Plans for the memorial are currently being reviewed by the National Cemetery Administration, and Kossan reports that a decision should be made within the month. While Kossan's piece could easily have been a simple report on a local community project, she managed to incorporate problems with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy, and identified many of the most common problems encountered by lesbian and gay servicemembers. It's an unusual story not only for its facts, but also thanks to the sensitive and wider-reaching manner in which it was reported. Please thank the Arizona Republic for providing its readers with such an informative piece. Contact: Julia Wallace, Managing Editor, The Arizona Republic, 200 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, fax: 602.271.8933, e-mail: opinions@pni.com 6) The Washington Post Spreads Love For Those We Love The May 28 edition of the Washington Post featured an examination of the particular problems that Black parents can face in coming to terms with the sexual orientations of their lesbian and gay children. Staff writer Steven Gray quotes William Beale as saying: "Because of our culture, and the way we're grounded, some of us don't want to share our feelings with (nonblack) people. Just like there are children in the closet, there are black parents in the closet=8Awho would like to come out." Beale is himself the parent of an openly gay son, who died from AIDS-related causes in 1994. After his son's death, Beale sought out people to talk to, but his Baptist church was unreceptive, as were members of his family. Gray writes that he then turned to Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians And Gays (PFLAG), but had difficulty in identifying with PFLAG's largely non-Black membership. So Beale joined a group called For Those We Love (FTWL), "a part of PFLAG=8A[that] is the first of its kind in the nation to target African Americans. It's modeled largely after a group started five years ago in San =46rancisco by Asian Americans who thought their relatives would be more comfortable talking about homosexuality in a culturally specific group." Raising an uncommon perspective, Gray quotes Keith Boykin, a former Clinton aide and past executive director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum, who notes that "[i]n some cases, we [in the African-American community] may be more accepting. We create a nurturing space for people, even though they're different, because we've been discriminated against ourselves." Furthermore, Gray refers to Pamela Birchett of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), who says "many black parents of gay children have hesitated to seek support," noting that "she has found that socioeconomic status - perhaps more than race - signals whether a family will seek help from a support group." Gray's piece shines the spotlight on infrequently-raised questions about the implications of race and class not just upon lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people themselves, but also upon their families and friends. That such issues are discussed as seldom as they are is testament to the significance and value of this particular piece, and Gray's reporting brings forth a very personal character which is sure to provoke further discussion and to reach many people in need of just such groups as For Those We Love. Please thank the Washington Post for addressing such crucial questions and for doing so in such a compelling manner. Contact: Robert G. Kaiser, Managing Editor, Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20071-0002, e-mail via WWW: http://www.washingtonpost.com 7) The Chicago Tribune Raises the Bar on Lesbian Health Care Coverage Vincent J. Schodolski's May 30 Chicago Tribune piece entitled "Doctor who refuses to treat lesbian is sued," follows the story of lesbian Michelle DuPont, who is suing a former doctor for declining to treat her. "When she filled out the routine information form prior to the examination," Schodolski writes, "DuPont came upon the line marked: Spuse's name. She wrote: Lisa Voisard." After the examination, DuPont's doctor gave her a prescription, but "said he would not treat DuPont, offering her the name of two physicans who might take her on. He explained that he did not want her as a patient because he did not agree with her 'lifestyle.'" It was this remark which prompted DuPont to contact the local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and together, they decided to take Axtell and DuPont's insurance provider to court, stating that they had violated a Californian non-discrimination law which protects people on the basis of sexual orientation. Schodolski expands the conversation, saying "While there have been only a few studies done, the data available support the notion that many gays and lesbians avoid going to doctors because they are reluctant to be honest about their sexuality." He cites as two examples a 1995 Stanford University survey which showed that 84 percent of lesbians were reluctant to return to doctors for just such reason, and an Institute of Medicine report released earlier this year which "concluded lesbians were at greater risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease because they avoid regular medical examinations," [see GLAADLines 02.22.99] presumably for the same reasons noted earlier. Referring to a representative of the Lambda Medical Group, Schodolski says "Problems also occur when people lie about their sexual orientation, or mislead doctors, Lambda's Knox said, because physicians can't properly treat patients unless they have accurate information." Furthermore, he writes that "Privacy is a key issue to many. Even if a person feels comfortable being open with a doctor, they worry that information might be placed in their medical records that they would not want to see shared with others. That is what happened in DuPont's case," and notes that Axtell made reference to DuPont's sexual orientation in her medical records. At the end of the piece, Schodolski writes that "DuPont said she decided to take her case to court to raise awareness of the issue." Please thank The Chicago Tribune for running Schodolski's piece, which addresses the all-too-real problems of health care for members of the lesbian and gay community. Contact: Ann Marie Lipinski, Managing Editor, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4003, fax: 312.222.2598, email: tribletter@aol.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! 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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