Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 18:36:55 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert - September 16, 1999 GLAADAlert September 16, 1999 The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 1. Harper's Magazine: Matthew Shepard and Compulsory Heterosexuality 2. 20/20 Gives a Voice to Homeless Gay Youth 3. Los Angeles Times: Two "Doubly Devoted" Families 4. New York Times' Triple Play Harper's Magazine: Matthew Shepard and Compulsory Heterosexuality In its September 1999 issue, Harper's Magazine re-examines the Matthew Shepard murder from a provocative new angle: rather than focusing on the sexual orientation of the victim, frequent Harper's contributor JoAnn Wypijewski looks closely at the sexual orientations of the killers and the environment which may have helped shape them. Wypijewski's excellent in-depth look at the culture of "compulsory heterosexuality" defies easy categorization - it neither demonizes Shepard's killers nor venerates their victim, choosing instead to look at the history, character and culture of Wyoming and the social forces that simultaneously buckle under the weight of and reinforce institutionalized homophobia. In language showing some disdain for the tepid concept of "tolerance," Wypijewski examines the pressure to conform to masculine heterosexual norms - a pressure she believes not only causes homophobia, but also damages heterosexual men. "Among the tolerance peddlers, it's always the 'lifestyle' of the gay guy," she writes, "never the 'lifestyle' of the straight guy or the culture of compulsory heterosexuality." She proceeds to quote a University of Wyoming student in a discussion with a woman opposed to violence, but who was convinced that homosexuality is immoral. "The issue isn't tolerance," he said. "We don't need to learn tolerance; we need to learn love." For Wypijewski, love is not just an abstract concept - it is "life's defining line," one held firm by "all the little things of a culture, mostly unnoticed and unremarked, like the way in which the simplest show of affection is a decision about safety, like the way in which a man entwined with a woman is the stuff of everyday commerce, but a man expressing vulnerability is equivalent to a quaint notion of virginity - you save it for marriage." Ever fearful of the stigma of homosexuality, the article suggests that heterosexual men escalate their isolating culture of masculinity until homophobia consumes them. In this outstanding, complex piece of journalism, Wypijewski has constructed a story that works on multiple thematic levels, one which compellingly suggests that the way to eradicate homophobia is to reconceive a heterosexuality now broken by fear of same-sex male emotional intimacy. Please thank Harper's for publishing this vital, remarkable feature. Contact: Mr. Lewis H. Lapham, Editor, Harper's Magazine, 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, e-mail: letters@harpers.org . 20/20 Gives a Voice to Homeless Gay Youth ABC News' 20/20 opened its 1999-2000 season with an extensive segment called "Throwaway Teens," which examined the plights of three homeless lesbian and gay youth who have been thrown out of their homes on account of their sexual orientations. The segment opens with a young man walking: "He spends his days going nowhere," explains 20/20's Connie Chung. "Barely visible to the people he passes, he matters to no one. [H]e is homeless, fending for himself, far from anything he ever knew." Later, Chung explains that the youth, Daniel, "is certain that he was thrown out [of his family's house] because he is gay =8A sent on his way without tears, without even a goodbye." Forced to find livelihood, Daniel admits that he has turned to prostitution during rough times. In the end, he says, "I miss my home. I'd like to tell my mom and my family that I love them and that I wish that they would accept me for who I am and just love me again." At times, the segment seemed needlessly sensationalistic - with examples including gritty and blurred street footage and one teaser which broke to commercial with a description of these youth as "so young and struggling to survive - the price of being gay=8A" Furthermore, in spite of some passing references to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and a brief camera tour of the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), the general tone of the piece seemed almost hopeless: comments selected from interviews with HMI Executive Director Verna Eggleston were insightful and apropos, but focused on the plight and not the solution. With this as the first substantial foray into the topic by any major television program, it is understandable that 20/20 would emphasize the undercovered dilemmas of this community. But noticeably lacking were the voices of those lesbian, gay (and especially) bisexual and transgender adults who survived homelessness and were quite literally saved by the efforts of groups such as HMI and the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center. In spite of such concerns, however, the piece's overall intention was certainly laudable, and producers were most successful in bringing understanding of the problem and sympathy for the plight of youth like Daniel, Ginger and Ron. Furthermore, the youth themselves were the focus of the piece, and were given the opportunity to speak out in their own voices - something that happens all too rarely in the media. Since 1992, 20/20 has won three GLAAD Media Awards since 1992 - more than any other television news program. The show's producers have clearly committed themselves to excelling in their coverage of an extremely diverse set of topics. Please commend them for bringing much-needed attention to an underserved segment of our community and urge them to follow-up with the story - to show a hopeful side that really does exist. Contact: Mr. Victor Neufeld, Executive Producer, 20/20, 147 Columbus Ave., New York, NY 10023, fax: 212.456.0533, e-mail: 2020@abcnews.com . Los Angeles Times: Two "Doubly Devoted" Families In its weekly "Sunday Album" feature, the Los Angeles Times offers an in-depth look at the profile of a family. In the September 12 edition, Times Staff Writer Duane Noriyuki profiled two families: the Barnes-Wallaces and the Alford-Keatings. Each family has two children, and each finds itself dealing with the everyday joys and struggles of parenthood. The only difference is that, as families headed by lesbian couples, they must also educate and protect their children from the homophobia they face because of their mothers. "Doubly Devoted" is significant for several reasons. The depth of the profiles is exceptional, probing the strength and quality of the relationships between mothers and children. Significantly, Noriyuki shows that the love of these mothers has resulted in sensitive, compassionate children who understand and embrace diversity. The article also avoids the common journalistic mistake of seeking out anti-gay voices to "balance" the stories of the moms and their families. In addition to the feature, the Times includes a comprehensive list of resources for lesbian and gay families, with contact information for the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), Parents , Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Family Pride Coalition and the Straight Spouse Network. By creating awareness of these important organizations, the Times provides its readers with crucial resources for dealing with the widespread social resistance and discrimination felt by the profiled families. Including the Barnes-Wallaces and the Alford-Keatings in the Times' standing family feature demonstrates that these families are as typical and as extraordinary as any other. Please thank the Los Angeles Times for this excellent feature and for the valuable service their resource list provides to the members and families of our community. Contact: Ms. Kathryn Downing, Publisher, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, fax: 213-237-4712, fax: 213-237-7679, e-mail: letters@latimes.com . New York Times' Triple Play Historically, the world of professional sports and the lgbt community have not meshed well. In the case of Billy Bean, the conflict between his passion for baseball and his sexual orientation drove him deep into the closet. An outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres before leaving the game in 1995, Bean's sexual orientation put him at odds with the "fiercely competitive and hyper-masculinized arena of major team sports." Bean's story, which broke earlier this year in the Miami Herald, has recently received extensive coverage by the New York Times. In the Sept. 6 front-page story, "A Major League Player's Life of Isolation and Subterfuge," Times Sports columnist Robert Lipsyte does a thorough job of exploring the tension between Bean's love of the game and his sexual identity, tracing both his career path and his coming out with sensitivity and insight. Two other pieces that appeared in the Times' Sports section also provided good coverage of the larger issues surrounding the Bean story. In "Former Teammates Give Their Support to Bean"( Sept. 7), baseball reporter Buster Olney interviewed several of Bean's teammates, most of whom thought highly of Bean, but echoed the notion that most heterosexual players would be uncomfortable with a gay teammate. Lipsyte's Sept. 12 column, "Backtalk: Reflections on a Secret Life in Sports," reported on professional sports' non-acceptance of homosexuality, articulating the intense, often invisible pressure put on lesbian and gay athletes to keep their sexual identity concealed from everyone around them. It is very unusual for any newspaper to tackle so comprehensively a controversial subject like homosexuality in professional sports. The Times' Billy Bean coverage and its column discussing the pressures on lesbian and gay sports professionals are crucial to the effort to open pro sports to more out-and-proud athletes. Please thank the New York Times for tackling this very important issue. Contact: Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Publisher, and Mr. Neil Amdur, Sports Editor, New York Times, 229 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036-3913, e-mail: letters@nytimes.com . 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. 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