Date: Thu, 26 Jun 97 10:46:11 EDT From: "Phil Attey" Subject: HRC LAUNCHES PRO-DISNEY CAMPAIGN TO HELP FAMILIES WITH SICK ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: hrc@hrc.org WWW: http://www.hrc.org ________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 26, 1997 HRC LAUNCHES PRO-DISNEY CAMPAIGN TO HELP FAMILIES WITH SICK CHILDREN Countering Southern Baptist Convention's Anti-Gay Boycott, Largest National Gay Organization Calls for Donations of Disney Gift Certificates Go To The HRC Online Action Center To Get Your Online Organizing Kit! http://www.hrc.org WASHINGTON -- With stuffed animals in hand, staff members of the Human Rights Campaign kicked off a nationwide effort today encouraging HRC members and other fair-minded Americans to counter the Southern Baptist Convention's anti-gay boycott of the Walt Disney Company by purchasing Disney gift certificates and donating them to children in hospitals throughout the country. "This is an effort to turn something negative into something positive by countering the Disney boycott with the spirit of family, caring, compassion and community," said David M. Smith, HRC's senior strategist. "Our members wanted to be truly family-friendly by helping children in need while supporting Disney's commitment to fairness." HRC staffers launched the campaign by donating $5,000 worth of Disney stuffed animals to children in Washington-area hospitals. HRC has called on its more than 200,000 members, and other Americans who don't want to see Disney punished for its equitable policies, to buy gift certificates for Disney retail stores, theme parks and movies and donate them to children in hospitals nationwide. HRC is making organizing suggestions available to anyone who wants to participate in the project. These materials can be obtained by calling the Human Rights Campaign at (202) 628-4160 or visiting its online action center at http://www.hrc.org. At the request of HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch, HRC supporter and financial writer Andrew Tobias made a $5,000 contribution to kick off the effort. "The Southern Baptists have a right to their opinion," said Tobias, "but somehow I find it hard to believe that if Jesus were alive today, he would condemn Disney for providing health care to sick people, or condemn Ellen DeGeneres for being her loving, funny, honest self." On June 18 at its annual meeting in Dallas, the Southern Baptist Convention called for a nationwide anti-gay boycott of Disney and all its subsidiaries. Among the factors contributing to that decision were Disney's willingness to allow gay people to visit its theme parks, its policy of extending equal benefits to the domestic partners of its gay and lesbian employees, and its decision to allow the star of its ABC sitcom Ellen to become the first lead character on network television to honestly acknowledge being gay. "We hope HRC's effort will do some good while demonstrating that -- unlike the Southern Baptist Convention -- most Americans recognize that faith, family and fairness go together," said Donna Red Wing, HRC's National Field Director. A current Newsweek poll suggests that most Americans disagree with the Southern Baptists' decision, with fewer than one in five people saying that their families would go along with the boycott. The telephone poll of 753 adults was conducted June 19-20 by Princeton Research Associates and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. Smith also pointed to other recent polls showing that 70 percent of Christians believe gay and lesbian people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, compared to 23 percent who don't. Sixty percent of evangelicals share this belief, while 34 percent do not. Those polling results come from a national survey of 1,007 voters conducted Nov. 5-8, 1996, for the Human Rights Campaign by Greenberg Research Inc. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. - 30 -