Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 20:23:37 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert - June 17, 1999 GLAADAlert - June 17, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAADAlert Index: 1) Time: Learning from the Past 2) KIA Shifts Gears 3) Sandler's Big Daddy is Gay-Friendly 4) Transgender Activist Affirmed In The New York Times, Dismissed in National Review 5) Boston Globe Magazine Graffs the Course of Marriage Through the Ages 6) From Fairy to Predator: "America's Favorite Goblin" 7) A&E Investigates "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes" 8) GLAADAlert Roundup: Looking for Substance Over SPAM 1) Time: Learning from the Past Last year, Time magazine released two special retrospective issues which were the subject of substantial GLAADAlerts, one commemorating its 75th Anniversary, the other, a year-end review [see GLAADAlerts 03.06.98, 03.13.98 and 01.07.99]. In spite of the growth of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement in the last fifty years, and the impact of the AIDS pandemic throughout the last 15 years, the 75th Anniversary issue ignored the community. Similarly, such noteworthy 1998 events as the highly-covered October murder of Matthew Shepard; developments in the struggle for equal marriage rights; and pertinent legislative actions across the country failed to receive appropriate attention in the year-end review. Following the publication of the latter issue, GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry and other GLAAD staff representatives called for a meeting with members of the magazine's senior editorial staff including Time Managing Editor Walter Isaacson. At that time, Garry shared GLAAD's concerns with Time and expressed its disappointment with the omissions, especially since GLAAD had long recognized the news magazine's outstanding and regular coverage. Time has obviously paid closer attention in its more recent issues. In April, 1998, it began its five-issue series of the "100 Persons of the Century." In the series' penultimate issue, on "Scientists & Thinkers," mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing was featured in a piece which made mention of the influential thinker's homosexuality. But more importantly, in its June 14 issue, on "Heroes & Icons," Time answered the call for inclusiveness, featuring as one of its 20 heroes the late San Francisco City Supervisor, Harvey Milk, assassinated by a fellow city official in 1978. Written compellingly by Time's John Cloud, the two-page piece examines Milk's life and struggle to achieve his position, noting that "[w]hile assassination offered Milk something then rare for openly gay men - mainstream empathy - it would have been thrilling to see how far he could have gone as a leaderInstead, he remains frozen in time, a symbol of what gays can accomplish and the dangers they face in doing so." Time follows the piece with a full-page timeline of highlights in the history of the lesbian and gay community. Milk's inclusion is not the only notable one in the "Heroes & Icons" issue, the last in the "100 People" series. In a piece by syndicated columnist Liz Smith, subtitled "The five romances that, for better or worse, captured our imagination this century," Smith singles out authors Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas as one of the century's most fascinating couples. And now openly lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King - best known for her victory in a "Battle of the Sexes" match against Bobby Riggs - is named as one of "The 10 Most Influential Athletes of the Century," while Martina Navratilova is included as one of "Three Women Who Rocked the World of Sports," specifically because of her courage in being open about her sexual orientation. Furthermore, in a section on contributor profiles entitled "When the Writer is the Hero," Time highlights its selection of openly gay playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick as its choice for writing about Marilyn Monroe. Please thank Time's staff for a truly remarkable turnaround. Let them know you valued their attention to detail and the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community issues in what indeed proved to be a special issue. Contact: Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor, Time Magazine, Time-Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, fax: 212/522-8949, e-mail: letters@time.com (include phone and address) 2) KIA Shifts Gears A recent television commercial airing nationwide features a man driving his KIA across country. Along the way, he is shown driving through inclement weather, with text indicating that he has encountered "57 Acts of Nature." In what was apparently an ill-chosen play on words, the commercial notes that he further encountered "One Freak of Nature," which KIA illustrates by showing another car pull up next to his, driven by a cross-dressing man. Upon learning of the ad's problematic content, GLAAD reached out to the car company. Initially, KIA's response was simply to note that the commercial was intended to be humorous, saying further that while they regretted having offended any viewers, they would not be pulling the ad. GLAAD followed up with a letter pointing out, among other things, the fact that "labeling people 'freaks' because of their gender identity not only alienates them; it gives license to millions of Americans just waiting to laugh at, tease and harass them. And worse." Following his receipt of that letter, KIA's National Advertising Manager gave verbal confirmation that the company would, in fact, be re-editing the commercial to exclude the problematic content, and that the current version would be pulled from all markets by July 1. Please thank KIA for their change of heart, and encourage them to take action quickly. Contact: Rick Weisehan, National Advertising Manager, KIA Motors America, PO Box 52410, Irvine, CA 92619, fax: 949.470.2809 3) Sandler's Big Daddy is Gay-Friendly Adam Sandler's latest opus, Big Daddy, opening June 25, includes positive portrayals of gay men. In the film, two law school pals of Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) passionately kiss goodbye, revealing themselves as a gay male couple. While their sexual orientation occasionally lends itself to sight gags, Sonny's response to a friend's unease is disarming in its honesty: "That's what gay guys do, they kiss." Later in the film, Sonny's love interest Layla (Joey Lauren Adams of Chasing Amy) asks him if it was strange having his pals come out and reveal their love for each other. Sonny explains that it wasn't, and notes that the only difference now is that "they watch different porn." Since Adam Sandler's core audience consists of teenage boys, Big Daddy's impact reaches an audience that rarely sees positive portrayals of lesbians or gay men on screen at all. Please contact Columbia TriStar and the producers of Big Daddy and thank them for teaching audiences of all ages an important lesson about acceptance and friendship in such a frank and refreshing manner. Contact: Mr. Adam Sandler, Executive Producer, Big Daddy, 100 Universal Plaza, Building 507A, Penthouse 1, Universal City, CA 91608 Mr. Sid Ganis, Producer, Big Daddy, Out of the Blue Entertainment, Sony Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Hepburn East, 2nd Floor, Culver City, CA 90232-3195 Mr. Jack Giarraputo, Producer, Big Daddy, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232-3195 Ms. Amy Pascal, President, Columbia Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232-3195 4) Transgender Activist Affirmed In The New York Times, Dismissed in National Review It has been said that transgender rights are the final frontier in civil rights. One of the key figures in the movement for gender rights is Riki Ann Wilchins, who is profiled in the the June 11 edition of the New York Times by reporter Carey Goldberg. In the last few months, GenderPAC, of which she is executive director, has lobbied Congress on pending legislation such as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. While it has succeeded in being enumerated in the former, GenderPAC continues to lobby for its community's inclusion in the latter. Goldberg's piece is exemplary because it treats Wilchins with due respect and explains the everyday issues that confront this community: hate crimes, lack of sensitivity in the workplace, and occupying "outsider" status in society. In the span of the article, Goldberg makes clear her comprehension of the absurdity of gender roles. To fathom just how progressive the New York Times piece is you don't have to look far. Jonah Goldberg in his June 11 column in the online version of National Review does his darndest to disparage the New York Times piece as absurd and "politically correct." While Goldberg professes to be tolerant of lesbians and gay men ("Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and all that") he makes no such attempt with regard to Riki Wilchins or the transgender community: "[M]y heart goes out to these people who feel uncomfortable as either men or women. These transgender people are simply confused. They will tell you the difference between gender and sex but beyond a certain limited point, that becomes, well, bunk. Expectations and notions of gender may evolve, but gender itself is permanent. Sorry." Please thank the New York Times for its informative and sympathetic profile of Riki Anne Wilchins. Let the National Review know that Jonah Goldberg's piece was offensive and insensitive. If he felt so compelled as to cover Riki Anne Wilchins after reading the New York Times piece, perhaps he should have done what journalists do - interview her himself. Perhaps then he might have formed an opinion that wasn't based in a vacuum and on false assumptions. Contact: Bill Keller, Managing Editor, New York Times, 229 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036-3959, fax: 212.556.3690, e-mail: letters@nytimes.com (inlcude phone number when sending e-mails) Linda Bridges, Managing Editor, National Review, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, letters@nationalreview.com 5) Boston Globe Magazine Graffs the Course of Marriage Through the Ages The June 13 issue of the Boston Globe Magazine featured a lengthy piece on marriage, entitled "Marriage a la Mode." Penned by journalist E.J. Graff, author of the newly-released What is Marriage For? (Beacon Press, 1999), the article opens: "Marriage is sleeping in a room that's too hot next to someone who's sleeping in a room that's too cold." Graff notes that "[a] few years ago, I sent Readers Digest that one-liner about marriage and found out that they had published it when they sent me a check. But my real joke was on Readers Digest: I'm a woman whose lifetime thermostatic debate is with another woman. So am I married? Yes, according to my climate-control definition, but no, according to the law." Thus begins Graff's whirlwind tour through the birth and development of institutionalized marriage, which she uses to look at the current struggle for equal marriage rights, most evident in the high-profile Supreme Court cases ongoing in Hawaii and Vermont. Beginning with the Catholic Church's 1215 A.D. definition of marriage as an "unbreakable sacrament" initiated by "any private promise (no witnesses needed)," Graff carefully analyzes the consequences of each subsequent step in the public recognition of marriages. The Catholic definition, for example, led to legal ramifications when annulments or engagements were challenged, leading to court disputes chock-full of "'he said/she said' arguments." She then acknowledges a movement led by certain Protestants, which would change "the very definition of marriage - from announced to pronounced, from privately made to publicly bestowed," and proceeds to describe further backlashes, which led to the institutionalization of common law marriages in the United States. Graff eloquently ties these factors back to the struggle for same-sex marriage rights by putting into an historical context the rhetoric of modern-day "family values people" who so vigorously oppose equal marriage rights for lesbians and gay men. Please thank the Boston Globe Magazine for this insightful and informative piece on a most pertinent issue. And if you're interested in further information on the history of marriage and how it relates to the current struggle for the freedom to marry, check out Graff's book, What is Marriage For? Contact: Nick King, Editor, Boston Globe Magazine, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02125-3338, fax: 617.929.3256, magazine@globe.com 6) From Fairy to Predator: "America's Favorite Goblin" With increasing frequency, attorneys and then media outlets have used the trope of the "gay predator" as a means to literally justify murder. While the "homosexual panic" defense has been shown to be bankrupt, little has been written about the emergence of the "gay predator" as an implicitly defamatory construct. In "Gays and Monsters," New York Times Magazine contributor Jesse Green provides readers with an historically informed analysis of contemporary events that have turned on the presumed sexual orientation of the victim. With a deft hand, Green looks at the cases of Littleton, CO, the Jenny Jones civil suit and Matthew Shepard's murder. In his examinations of each tragedy, he concludes that opportunists have "create[d] around gayness a nimbus of culpability." As evidence, he cites the following: a headline from the National Enquirer, "Gay Secret That Made Them Kill"; the double-standard around the Jenny Jones trial, in which Schmitz's lawyer implied that murder is a reasonable expectation of heterosexual humiliation; the Abner Louima case--where the defendant's attorney, Marvyn Kornberg, decided that by intimating that Louima's injuries resulted from sex with a man, a jury would see "violence as normal in a homosexual act--at least in preference to seeing sadism as normal in a heterosexual assault." Green's conclusion, that "the delicate fairy has largely been eclipsed by the predatory queer," might well be a fait accompli, were it not for his article, which goes a long way to lay bare the prejudices behind these legal strategies and the consequent media-driven spin. Please commend the New York Times Magazine for this adroit piece that illustrates the extent to which discrimination based on perceived sexual orientation is an obstacle to justice. Contact: Adam Moss, Editor, New York Times Magazine, 229 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036-3959, magazine@nytimes.com 7) A&E Investigates "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes" The same network that brought audiences the Media Award-nominated "Transgender Revolution" last year [see GLAADAlert 09.24.98] has produced another groundbreaking documentary, focusing this time on the prevalence of hate crimes motivated by perceived sexual orientation. On July 6 at 9 p.m. EST/10 p.m. PST, A&E's Investigative Reports will feature a full-hour piece entitled "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes." [Editor's note: GLAAD reviewed an advance copy of the piece. It did not feature commentary from Investigative Reports host Bill Kurtis, which will be included in the broadcast, and the content is subject to change by the time of its airing.] The program deals with a wide variety of issues. Most obviously related to the show's title are hate crimes committed against lesbians and gay men such as the murders of Matthew Shepard and lesser-known Arkansas resident Alan Walker. But Investigative Reports also explores the impact of in-school harassment, crimes committed against heterosexuals who are perceived to be gay, is inclusive of people of color, and looks at the impact of campaigning by religious political extremists upon the perpetuation of prejudice and bias-motivated violence. "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes" is one of the most in-depth pieces aired to date on hate crimes committed against lesbians and gay men, and is overall a positive and informative piece. Unfortunately, it's marred by the inclusion of brief but sensationalistic footage from the Family Research Council (FRC), in which men are shown engaging in sexual conduct. The FRC's description of its covert footage suffices in making clear its views on lesbians and gay men, and its inclusion does little more than give FRC a platform for its exploitative practices. Furthermore, the images shown will likely stay in viewers' minds far longer than most of the other visuals in the piece, and ultimately, they detract sharply from the positive impact the piece would otherwise have. Check your local listings to confirm the air time, and tune in to "Anti-Gay Hate Crimes." Contact A&E and let them know how you felt about the show. Contact: Terry Bennett, Viewer Services, A&E, 235 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017-3305, fax: 212.983.4370 8) GLAADAlert Roundup: Looking for Substance Over SPAM On June 4, 1999, James C. Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador to serve his country when President Clinton exercised his prerogative to offer Hormel a recess appointment to the post of Ambassador to Luxembourg. Much ado has since been made over the appointment. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) has threatened to block all future appointments; Senate Majority Leader Lott has decided to back him; and the Southern Baptist Convention (in part due to Clinton's proclamation recognizing June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month) has rebuked Clinton for Hormel's appointment. Here are some highlights of the media coverage, which has been largely positive. oIn the June 21 issue of Newsweek, Jonathan Alter looks at the Hormel appointment with a broad brush--as a litmus test for the Republican Party, particularly for the candidacy of favorite son George W. Bush. He begins his piece through the eyes of his 10 year-old daughter who knows intuitively that "that's prejudice" when she hears the Republican opposition to Hormel's appointment. While Alter downplays the significance of the ambassadorship itself, he throws down the gauntlet, asserting that "Bush must get the party of Lincoln to stop embracing bigotry and prejudice in any form." oThe Daily Oklahoman takes the opposing side. In its June 10 issue it makes a paper tiger out of Hormel's support of a group called the "Sisters for Perpetual Indulgence," trotting out the untrue justification that Luxembourg is a Roman Catholic country and would be offended by Hormel's selection. It isn't. Throughout the piece, the Oklahoman implicitly tries to justify the bigotry of the Grand Old Party by constructing liberals (and Hormel) as being anti-religion. Ultimately, the newspaper makes a reckless endorsement--for Inhofe to block important appointments such as Treasury secretary and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. [The AP recently reported that Clinton has agreed to notify lawmakers before making future recess appointments. With this action, Sen. Inhofe has said that he will stop blocking pending nominations, and that he will allow the Hormel appointment to stand.] Please commend Newsweek for its reasoned piece that points out the obvious: that prejudice in any form is unjustifiable. Please let the Daily Oklahoman know that its rhetoric is without foundation, and that homosexuality and spirituality aren't mutually exclusive. Contact: Mark Whitaker, Managing Editor, Newsweek, 251 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019, fax: 212.445.4120, e-mail: letters@newsweek.com (be sure to include name, address, and phone number with all letters) Mike Shannon, Managing Editor, The Daily Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73114-3799 The GLAADAlert is the bi-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 323.658.6775 (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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