Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 07:45:31 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines 12.09.96 GLAADLINES contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 9, 1996 News, Tips, and Breaking Stories about the Gay & Lesbian Community STATES RESPOND TO HAWAII SAME-SEX MARRIAGE RULING: In the days following the December 3 Hawaii Circuit Court ruling to allow same-sex couples the right to marry, a backlash has begun in a number of states' legislatures. In Maine, Henry Joy, a state legislator, hopes to ban same-sex marriage in his state by convincing other legislators to approve a law this spring that will only recognize marriages between a man and a woman. In Massachusetts, Governor William Weld stated that while he opposed allowing same-sex marriage in his state, he felt that Massachusetts should recognizes gay marriages performed elsewhere, such as in Hawaii. In Washington, State Representative Bill Thompson (R-Everett) plans to introduce legislation banning same-sex marriages. Similar bills are being reintroduced in California and Colorado, where previous efforts have failed. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, two opposing bills will compete in the legislature. Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison), the state's only openly lesbian legislator, said she plans to sponsor a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, while state Senator Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) pledged to push for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. "The current Hawaii honeymoon for gay and lesbian couples may not last long," said Robert Bray, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Spokesperson. "Already, arch-conservative state legislators have sworn to introduce local bans on gay marriage." For more information contact Robert Bray (NGLTF) at (415) 552-6448 or pgr. (800) 757-6476. Or contact the Freedom to Marry web site at http://www.ftm.org. GAME OVER FOR GAY PROGRAMMER: For inserting unauthorized images of two men kissing in the new computer game SimCopter, Maxis, Inc. fired programmer Jacques Servin last week. The company has stated that it was not an anti-gay act, but merely a standard response to the "insertion of unauthorized material," in order to maintain Maxis's standard of "creating engaging software the whole family can enjoy." In addition to the men kissing, Servin also inserted scantily clad men in some of the street scenes, noting that, "There was already a 'bimbo' in this game, but she was just a scantily clad woman. That one was authorized." Servin said that he did it in part to bring attention to the larger issue of the total lack of lesbian and gay imagery in computer games. "Overt gratuitous heterosexual content is present in many games," Servin noted, "but I can't think of a single example of gay or lesbian content." For more information contact Jacques Servin at (415) 864-1872. BLACK GAY LEADER COULD BE NEW AIDS CZAR: According to White House officials, Phill Wilson, co-founder of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, is the top contender as the new director of the AIDS Policy Council. Wilson was a director of public policy at AIDS Project Los Angeles. Other possible candidates for the position include Pat Christen, director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Michael Isbell, director of Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York and Jim Graham, executive director of Washington, D.C.'s Whitman-Walker Clinic. Response to the speculation about the candidates has been mixed, while the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has applauded Phill Wilson, other groups, such as ACT UP/DC have expressed the need for someone of higher prominence. For more information contact David Smith (HRC Communications Director) at (202) 628-4160 or (800) 386-5996 and Steve Michael (ACT UP/DC) at (202) 547-6780. GAY MEN'S CHORUS SINGS LIVE WORLD WIDE: The first live worldwide broadcast of a gay men's chorus will occur December 13 via the Internet. Utilizing RealAudio technology, the producers of HanginOUT, a weekly live global gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community forum, will present the Seattle Men's Chorus Winter Holiday Concert from Meany Theatre in Seattle. The event can be reached at http://www.hanginout.com/. Click on the Seattle Men's Chorus link. For more information contact John McMullen (HanginOUT) at (204) 674-2649 or e-mail john@hanginout.com. GLAAD TO HONOR PHIL DONAHUE AT GALA EVENT: On Tuesday, December 10, GLAAD will hold a cocktail reception in the nation's capital to honor legendary television personality Phil Donahue for his long-standing commitment to presenting fair, accurate and inclusive images of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the American public. "GLAAD is thrilled to honor Phil Donahue, the television talk show pioneer who broke the rules to bring gay issues to America," said William Waybourn, GLAAD's managing director. "An award-winning journalist, Mr. Donahue understands the important role media plays in educating the public about our lives." The event will be held at the National Press Club Ballroom from 6:30-8:00 PM. For more information call Alan Klein (GLAAD National Communications Director) at (212) 807-1700, ext. 11. To report events that merit media coverage, or news stories breaking in your area, please contact us. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is the nation's lesbian & gay news bureau and the only national lesbian & gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe contact Don Romesburg at (415) 861-2244 or at romesburg@glaad.org. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 DISPATCH AND 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" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of 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.