Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 18:29:32 -0800 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines - March 22, 1999 GLAADLINES Contact: Jerry Weinstein (212) 807-1700 x18 weinstein@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 1999 News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community MARYLAND MOVES TO PASS GAY RIGHTS BILL: On March 20, a non-discrimination bill which would investigate housing, employment and public discrimination based on sexual orientation, was voted out of committee and sent to the Maryland General Assembly. A week earlier, Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendering gave an impassioned speech before the House Committee, speaking of his brother Bruce's lifelong fear of being outed during his nineteen-year career as an Air Force pilot and subsequent battle with AIDS. The governor's decision to speak out against discrimination was a catalyst for the success of Bill 315's passage. "Anti-gay discrimination is a very real problem," noted Liz Seaton, Executive Director of the Free State Justice Campaign. "With this vote, the Committee recognized that reality and demonstrated its commitment to fairness and justice. This is a serious step towards creating a more level playing field for all people living in Maryland." A vote before the House of Delegates is expected March 22 or 23. For up-to-date information, please contact Nancy Meyer of the Free State Justice Campaign at (301) 864-7574. N.O.W. TO HOST LESBIAN RIGHTS SUMMIT: On April 23-25, NOW and a coalition of more than seventy other organizations representing a cross-section of the feminist, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and progressive movements, will gather in Washington, D.C. for the Lesbian Rights Summit. Said NOW President, Patricia Ireland, "We are facing serious right-wing attacks on lesbian and gay civil rights--now is the time to close ranks and fight our enemies. The Lesbian Rights Summit will give us the opportunity to start the new century with unprecedented strength and a unified Lesbian Rights agenda." Billed as a feminist strategy session, speakers will include U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Lt. Col. Grethe Cammermeyer; Urvashi Vaid, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute; Patricia Ireland, president of NOW; and Willa Taylor, director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum. Registration is accepted online at http://www.now.org/lrsummit.html For more information call NOW at (202) 331-0066 x771. NATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY MEDIA ADVOCATES LAUNCH CYBER-INITIATIVE: On Thursday, March 25, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will present "Stepping into the 21st Century: Learn How to Become a Better Technoactivist." GLAAD's new media efforts came to national prominence in 1997, with the release of the groundbreaking Access Denied, a comprehensive report on the impact of Internet content regulation and filtering software on the lesbian and gay community. GLAAD continues to provide leadership and advocacy for privacy and free speech on the Internet, asking for the Pentium III chip to be withdrawn from the marketplace, and tracking glitches in Hotmail and Windows 98 which threaten to compromise identities of online users, a special cause for concern to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. This marks the first meeting of the Digital Queers Initiative, since it became a program of GLAAD's. The gathering will take place at Club-I Internet Caf=E9, 850 Folsom Street, between 4th and 5th , San Francisco, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. For more information contact Interactive Media Director Loren Javier at (415) 861-2244 or by e-mail at javier@glaad.org . ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY TO AIR ON PBS THIS SPRING: The groundbreaking documentary, It's Elementary, will air on PBS for the first time this June. Deborah Chasnoff, academy award-winning documentarian (for Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, 1991), and producer Helen S. Cohen address the need to incorporate discussions about discrimination based on sexual orientation in early education. While the American Family Association and Coral Ridge Ministries have exerted pressure on public television stations not to air the piece, over sixty PBS affiliates across the nation have chosen to present the film. "When my kids' teachers saw this film, it opened their eyes about ways to engage students in a conversation about prejudice," recalled Joan Garry, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "How could that possibly be a bad thing?" First released in 1996, the film has been shown nationally at nearly 500 teacher-training programs, as well as to hundreds of educators and parents at schools and houses of worship. "Schools cannot be neutral when we're dealing with human dignity and human rights," said Bob Chase, President of the National Education Association. "It's Elementary is a great resource for parents, teachers, and community leaders working to teach respect and responsibility to America's children." For more information on It's Elementary visit the web site at www.womedia.org. Journalists should contact Tony Newman at Fenton Communications, (212) 584-5007. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe contact Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 or at woo@glaad.org. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered 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 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. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. 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. --============_-1289964625==_ma========== Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable TimesGLAADLINES Contact: Jerry Weinstein (212) 807-1700 x18 weinstein@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 1999 News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community MARYLAND MOVES TO PASS GAY RIGHTS BILL: On March 20, a non-discrimination bill which would investigate housing, employment and public discrimination based on sexual orientation, was voted out of committee and sent to the Maryland General Assembly. A week earlier, Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendering gave an impassioned speech before the House Committee, speaking of his brother Bruce's lifelong fear of being outed during his nineteen-year career as an Air Force pilot and subsequent battle with AIDS. The governor's decision to speak out against discrimination was a catalyst for the success of Bill 315's passage. "Anti-gay discrimination is a very real problem," noted Liz Seaton, Executive Director of the Free State Justice Campaign. "With this vote, the Committee recognized that reality and demonstrated its commitment to fairness and justice. This is a serious step towards creating a more level playing field for all people living in Maryland." A vote before the House of Delegates is expected March 22 or 23. For up-to-date information, please contact Nancy Meyer of the Free State Justice Campaign at (301) 864-7574. N.O.W. TO HOST LESBIAN RIGHTS SUMMIT: On April 23-25, NOW and a coalition of more than seventy other organizations representing a cross-section of the feminist, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and progressive movements, will gather in Washington, D.C. for the Lesbian Rights Summit. Said NOW President, Patricia Ireland, "We are facing serious right-wing attacks on lesbian and gay civil rights--now is the time to close ranks and fight our enemies. The Lesbian Rights Summit will give us the opportunity to start the new century with unprecedented strength and a unified Lesbian Rights agenda." Billed as a feminist strategy session, speakers will include U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Lt. Col. Grethe Cammermeyer; Urvashi Vaid, director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute; Patricia Ireland, president of NOW; and Willa Taylor, director of the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum. Registration is accepted online at 0000,0000,00FFhttp://www.now.org/lrsummit.html For more information call NOW at (202) 331-0066 x771. NATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY MEDIA ADVOCATES LAUNCH CYBER-INITIATIVE: On Thursday, March 25, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will present "Stepping into the 21st Century: Learn How to Become a Better Technoactivist." GLAAD's new media efforts came to national prominence in 1997, with the release of the groundbreaking Access Denied, a comprehensive report on the impact of Internet content regulation and filtering software on the lesbian and gay community. GLAAD continues to provide leadership and advocacy for privacy and free speech on the Internet, asking for the Pentium III chip to be withdrawn from the marketplace, and tracking glitches in Hotmail and Windows 98 which threaten to compromise identities of online users, a special cause for concern to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. This marks the first meeting of the Digital Queers Initiative, since it became a program of GLAAD's. The gathering will take place at Club-I Internet Caf=E9, 850 Folsom Street, between 4th and 5th, San Francisco, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. For more information contact Interactive Media Director Loren Javier at (415) 861-2244 or by e-mail at javier@glaad.org . ACCLAIMED DOCUMENTARY TO AIR ON PBS THIS SPRING: The groundbreaking documentary, It's Elementary, will air on PBS for the first time this June. Deborah Chasnoff, academy award-winning documentarian (for Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment, 1991), and producer Helen S. Cohen address the need to incorporate discussions about discrimination based on sexual orientation in early education. While the American Family Association and Coral Ridge Ministries have exerted pressure on public television stations not to air the piece, over sixty PBS affiliates across the nation have chosen to present the film. "When my kids' teachers saw this film, it opened their eyes about ways to engage students in a conversation about prejudice," recalled Joan Garry, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "How could that possibly be a bad thing?" First released in 1996, the film has been shown nationally at nearly 500 teacher-training programs, as well as to hundreds of educators and parents at schools and houses of worship. "Schools cannot be neutral when we're dealing with human dignity and human rights," said Bob Chase, President of the National Education Association. "It's Elementary is a great resource for parents, teachers, and community leaders working to teach respect and responsibility to America's children." For more information on It's Elementary visit the web site at 0000,0000,00FFwww.womedia.org. Journalists should contact Tony Newman at Fenton Communications, (212) 584-5007. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe contact Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 or at woo@glaad.org. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered 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 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. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. 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.