Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 16:06:41 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines - October 25, 1999 GLAADLINES - October 25, 1999 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Wonbo Woo GLAAD Communications Manager (212) 807-1700 x24 woo@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community 1) FALWELL AND WHITE MEET IN LYNCHBURG 2) BOEING FOLLOWS AIRLINES BY EXTENDING DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS 3) GLAAD FAIRNESS AWARDS IN NEW YORK HONOR MTV AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY 1) FALWELL AND WHITE MEET IN LYNCHBURG: On Saturday, Oct. 23, openly gay Rev. Mel White brought 200 members of his group, Soulforce, to Lynchburg, Va., for a meeting with Rev. Jerry Falwell and 200 evangelical Christians invited by Falwell. The two announced their plans to meet over the Summer, stating a desire to lessen hurtful and spiritually violent rhetoric leveled upon lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons as well as Evangelical Christians. While the vast majority of attendees represented Evangelical Christianity, Soulforce is intentionally an interfaith organization promoting the non-violent teachings of Gandhi and King, and White's "Lynchburg 200" included non-Christian people of faith. Among the remarks made at a press conference held Saturday, Rev. Falwell told audience members he is often asked how he would respond if his daughter were to tell him she had had an abortion, or if his son were to come out to him. Falwell said: "As firm as my beliefs and convictions are on these two subjects, these are easy questions to answer. I have said publicly for years that, if I learned my daughter was having an abortion or that my son was homosexual, it would be at that time, more than ever, that my children would need to know and feel my unconditional love for them. Yet sadly, many parents, even pastors, have rejected their children, even putting them out of their home, at just such difficult times." Rev. Mel White said today by phone, "There was an amazing door opened this weekend, and at the same time, we really felt the spiritual violence," adding that his group, Soulforce, would be continuing to work to dismantle such violence, including by trying to non-violently block the upcoming trial of the Rev. Jimmy Creech, a Methodist minister who was defrocked for performing same-sex unions. "We have to teach people why calling us sinners is hate language," concluded White. For more information, contact White at (949) 455-0999 or by e-mail at soulforce1@aol.com; or Jane Ralph, GLAAD Media Liaison to Soulforce, at (816) 756-5991. 2) BOEING FOLLOWS AIRLINES BY EXTENDING DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS: On Friday, Oct. 22, The Boeing Co. announced it will extend health-care benefits to the same-sex partners of many of its employees beginning next year. The Everett (Wash.) Herald reported that an e-mail from Jim Dagnon, Boeing senior vice president of human resources cited the following as the company's motivation: "First to attract and retain talented employees, and second, to walk the talk on diversity. Diversity, with a capital D, means acknowledging employees have different backgrounds, preferences and interests." Boeing's benefits will apply only to salaried, non-union employees. The aircraft manufacturer's decision comes on the heels of similar announcements by a trio of major airlines this summer. In August, after long debates within the company, United Airlines became the first major U.S. carrier to offer full benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees. Within two weeks, American Airlines and US Airways had followed suit. Nearly 3,000 employers, currently provide benefits to the same-sex partners of their employees. Boeing is ranked ninth on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies, with more than 200,000 employees worldwide. For more information, contact Kim Mills of the Human Rights Campaign at (202) 216-1534 or by e-mail at kim.mills@hrc.org . 3) GLAAD FAIRNESS AWARDS IN NEW YORK HONOR MTV AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: At a luncheon ceremony to be held Wednesday, Oct. 27, at New York City's W Hotel, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) will present its Fourth Annual GLAAD Fairness Awards to MTV and Entertainment Weekly. Created in 1996, the awards honor institutions and individuals who have taken active, front-line positions in the battle for fair and accurate representation of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people. Special guests at this year's New York function will include MTV President Judy McGrath, accepting the award from director Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin, The Client, 8 mm) and Mark McGrath, lead singer for the hit band Sugar Ray; and Entertainment Weekly's managing editor James W. Seymore and president John Squires. MTV is being honored for its inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes in all aspects of its programming: from its award-winning news coverage to its recent anti-violence education campaign Fight For Your Rights to its groundbreaking original programming, which includes the long-running docudrama Real World and the newer Undressed. Entertainment Weekly is being honored for its consistent and prominent inclusion of fair and accurate coverage and its standing commitment to addressing employee concerns through extensive and innovative workplace programs and policies. For more information, or for press credentials for the event, contact GLAAD Communications Manager Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 x24. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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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