Subject: NCOD PRESS RELEASE
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 14:32:00 -0400 Eastern

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY                      
                              
                         PRESS RELEASE                           

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   CONTACT: Gregory King
                                          (202) 628-4160 work
                                          (202) 547-4310 home

     NEWSWEEK POLL PRESENTS AN ARGUMENT TO GAYS AND LESBIANS
                    TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET
        
     Washington, DC (February 9, 1994) Newsweek Magazine gave
strong evidence this week to support what leaders at National
Coming Out Day have long argued:  That knowing someone gay
changes attitudes.   The results of a new Newsweek poll about
American attitudes towards gays were applauded today by Wes
Combs, Project Director for National Coming Out Day.

     The poll, dated February 14th, finds that:

     - 71% of those polled who knew someone gay believe
     homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the armed
     forces.  Only 61% of all Americans think so.  
     
     - 71% of those polled who knew someone gay favored
     inheritance rights for gay spouses -- ten percent more
     than the 61% total who agree.
     
     - 61% of those who know someone gay said homosexuals
     should be hired as elementary school teachers.  Only 47%
     of all Americans agree.  
     
     Combs stated that "these results confirm the importance of
gays and lesbians to reveal our sexual orientation to non-gays. 
This poll clearly shows that people who know gays are
significantly more likely to be supportive of gay rights."

     "We need to remember that most American people are ignorant
and confused about who gays and lesbians are,"  Combs added.  "By
coming out, gays and lesbians are able to show Americans just how
mainstream we are.  Then, more non-gays will agree -- that
discrimination against gays and lesbians is wrong."

     "We are everywhere is true," Combs continued.  "The gay and
lesbian population crosses all racial, ethnic, geographic and
economic lines.  It is time for gays and lesbians to stand up and
be counted. "

     Coming out means being honest about your sexual orientation
to yourself, friends, co-workers and family members.  Coming out
can take many forms and is a very personal decision.  "No way is
right, but by being honest, we can begin to turn the ignorance
into acceptance," said Combs.

     National Coming Out Day, a non-profit educational project of
the HRCF Foundation, is celebrated every year on October 11.  It
is a campaign about truth and liberation, where lesbians, gay men
and bisexuals are encouraged to take their next step in the
coming out process.

     Copies of the Newsweek poll are available from the
Communications Department of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
(202)628-4160.

  National Coming Out Day is a project of the HRCF Foundation.

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