Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 17:43:52 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert - September 2, 1999 GLAADAlert September 2, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Los Angeles Times Mischaracterizes, La Amistad Exploits Homophobia In the August 17 Los Angeles Times, staff writers Antonio Olivo and Joseph Trevino took a look at La Amistad, a group of mostly Latino Protestant Pentecostals operating from the headquarters of the Traditional Values Coalition and its founder, Rev. Lou Sheldon. La Amistad is working to mobilize Latino voters against lesbian and gay rights legislation, using opposition to gay rights to bring Latinos together with those who opposed them during the contentious California Prop. 187 campaign. The article is problematic on several levels. By repeating Sheldon's claim that this alliance will heal the rift caused by conservative religious political group support of Prop. 187, the authors seem to endorse the notion that unified bigotry and hate can serve a greater good by bringing together former adversaries and giving a voice to Latino Protestants. Voices critical of the Traditional Values Coalition/La Amistad alliance are represented poorly as well. California Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa's observation that La Amistad is fomenting animosity through divisive politics is given only three sentences, and other voices challenging the alliance amount only to brief soundbites. Overall, this issue is far more complex than the Times' coverage relates. By mentioning Los Angeles lgbt Latino organization La Casa only in passing, and in neglecting the numerous other lgbt organizations and voices in the Latino community, the Times implies that Latino culture is inherently at odds with the lgbt community, ignoring the many cultural connections between them. Please write to the Los Angeles Times. A religious political union that seeks to foster an environment of prejudice and hate has no place in our communities, and certainly ought not be legitimized by an important newspaper like the Times. Contact: Ms. Kathryn Downing, Publisher, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, fax: 213-237-7679, e-mail: letters@latimes.com . San Diego Union-Tribune: Better Than Chocolate Trimark Pictures, distributor of the new comedy Better than Chocolate, recently ran into problems placing a paid ad for the film in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Union-Tribune's National Advertising Director, Dexter LaPierre, refused to run the ad, citing the use of the word "lesbian" in a review quoted in the ad ("One of the best lesbian films ever! Sexy! =46unny! A total refreshing delight!" by David Noh of Film Journal). "I didn't like the word lesbian," LaPierre said. "We have guidelines and do not want words of a sexual nature." GLAAD contacted LaPierre, who said that the paper refused to run the ad because of a long-standing "verbal policy" to refuse ads of a "sexual and explicit nature," and that the word "lesbian" was considered both sexual and explicit. GLAAD subsequently contacted Union-Tribune management, asking them to change their discriminatory policy immediately. Four days later, Union-Tribune Editor Karin Winner called GLAAD to say that a new, formal policy was in effect immediately, and that the Better Than Chocolate ad would be run with the word "lesbian" included in it. Please write the San Diego Union-Tribune and thank them for their quick response in overturning this obviously indefensible policy. Contact: Ms. Karin Winner, Editor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 350 Camino de la Reina, San Diego, CA 92108-3003, e-mail: letters@uniontrib.com . PlanetOut, AOL Reach Out to Rid Bay Area of Virus On July 26, the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and Control Services division contacted Internet giant America Online (AOL) with disturbing news. The city had traced a new outbreak of syphilis to members of an AOL chatroom, "SFM4M," and needed to alert chatroom participants to the health risk. Sensitive to the privacy issues involved, AOL declined to reveal the names and aliases of the chatroom participants. On July 29, AOL put the health department in contact with lgbt Internet resource PlanetOut. PlanetOut used e-mail, volunteers and its own web site to alert chatroom visitors and community members to the health crisis while preserving the anonymity of chatroom participants. The SFDPH was then free to focus its activities on partner notification and contact tracing of cases. By opting to refer the matter to PlanetOut, AOL acted responsibly and protected the privacy of its subscribers. PlanetOut's innovative response allowed possibly at-risk community members to be notified as to the health risk without compromising their anonymity. PlanetOut and AOL are to be commended for their exceptional responses to this critical, delicate situation. Please contact: Mr. Tom Rielly, PlanetOut founder, and Ms. Megan Smith, PlanetOut Chief Executive Officer, 965 Mission Street, Suite 730, San =46rancisco, CA 94103, e-mail via WWW: http://www.planetout.com:80/pno/action/ . Please contact: Mr. Steve Case, Chief Executive Officer, America Online (AOL), 22000 AOL Way, Dulles, VA 20166, e-mail stevecase@aol.com "Straight" Talk from Abby In her August 29 syndicated advice column, Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) gives some no-nonsense advice to "Worried in Woodland Hills," a California mother concerned about her 10-year-old son's development. "While most boys pore over baseball cards and speak of little girls, Trevor has taken an interest in cooking and dance," she writes. "He doesn't mix well with other boys, is teased constantly and hates the walk to school. He is effeminate and introspective. I have come to the conclusion that Trevor is a homosexual - or rather, will be when he's more developed. My question to you, Abby, is =92 what can I do to make this 'coming out' process easier on my son?" In a compassionate response, Abby praises "Worried" for her supportive intentions, but tells her that Trevor's apparent lack of interest in girls "does not automatically guarantee that he's a budding homosexual." She suggests, "the most important thing you can do for Trevor is to let him know you love him unconditionally, regardless of his eventual orientation =8A By all means, talk to him about sexuality, in an age-appropriate way." As for the teasing, Abby notes: "If your son is being harassed at school =8A discuss it with the principal. Your son is legally entitled to an education free of harassment." Van Buren traditionally has excelled in issues of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Please thank her for giving such sensible advice and for tending to the well-being of all her readers. Contact: Abigail Van Buren, P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069, e-mail via WWW: http://www.uexpress.com/ups/abby/html/askabby.html Late Late Show Crosses the Line CBS' Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn, who previously hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central, historically has been sensitive to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) community on his television programs. Two months ago, however, Kilborn made a derogatory remark about our community. GLAAD met with Late Late Show Executive Producer Billy Kimble in August to express concerns about Kilborn's on-screen comments. Kimble apologized for the comments, and promised to work with Kilborn to ensure that such comments would not be aired in the future. But on his August 25 program, Kilborn again made derogatory comments, this time directed toward lgbt television representations. "(GLAAD) says that 28 gay or bisexual, transgendered characters on TV is not enough," Kilborn said. "There's not enough gay or lesbians on TV next year. In response, some of the networks have decided ---- some new programs for the fall, including '2 Guys and 2 More Guys,' 'Touched by a Florist,' and 'Suddenly Sodomy.'" Such comments trivialize the need for inclusive lgbt representations on television, and are especially inappropriate in light of the overall lack of diversity on the fall television lineup. Please let the Late Late Show and CBS know that Kilborn's recent comments about our community are offensive. Contact: Mr. Billy Kimble, Executive Producer, The Late Late Show, c/o Worldwide Pants Inc., 7800 Beverly Blvd., Suite 244, Los Angeles, CA 90036, fax: 323.575.5662. Contact: Mr. Christopher S. Ender, Senior Vice President, Communications, CBS Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, fax: 323.575.7401. 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) =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 GLAADNOTES 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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