From: MediAction@aol.com Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 11:33:53 -0400 Subject: MediAlert! -- June 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- INDEX: "MediAlert! for 7 June 1996" -Item 1: "Further Education" [Merrimack School Board; Policy 6540; New Hampshire Department of Education; Union Leader; Telegraph]. -Item 2: "Recommended Daily" [Daily Iowan; Colorado for Family Values; Christian Coalition; Rutherford Institute; Promise Keepers; Summit Ministries; Eagle Forum; Republican Party]. Item 3: "Fall From Race" [Center for Media and Public Affairs; Time; NBC; ABC; CBS; Fox]. -Item 4: "MediAlert/BRIEFS" [Columbia Records; Sony Music Online; Stonewall; Stereo Type; Atlantic Records; Artists' Television Access; People; Canadian Gay, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Media-Watch Foundation]. -General Information [about MediAlerts; author notes]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- M e d i A l e r t ! ____________________________ June 7, 1996 Al Kielwasser [1] " F U R T H E R " E D U C A T I O N The Merrimack (New Hampshire) School Board has handed down a quixotic victory for educational equity. On June 3, the board lifted a blatantly homophobic ban -- which prohibited schools from "portraying homosexuality in a positive light" -- and replaced it with a new prohibition that "forbids schools from supporting activities that further sexual activity or orientation" (Associated Press, June 4). The previous ban -- "Policy 6540" -- was adopted last August, and declared that: "The Merrimack School District shall neither implement nor carry out any program or activity that has either the purpose or effect of encouraging or supporting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative. A program or activity, for the purpose of this item, includes the distribution of instructional materials, instruction, counseling, or other services on school grounds, or referral of a pupil to an organization that affirms a homosexual lifestyle." The ban's language was taken directly from failed Federal legislation authored by U.S. Senators -- and arch-homophobes -- Jesse Helms (NC) and Robert C. Smith (NH). According to "Time" magazine's Jill Smolowe, while it was in effect Policy 6540 led to various acts of censorship, including "the dropping of a video on Walt Whitman from 11th-grade English classes because the tape mentions the poet's homosexuality. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night [was] also dropped from a class (the play has a character who cross-dresses)." One high school principal even censored letters to the student newspaper that were critical of Policy 6540, because the letters themselves were deemed to violate the policy! The motion to rescind Policy 6540 passed narrowly, by a 3-2 vote. The new, ostensibly-broader ban was approved by the same margin. In each case, the board's conservative members -- Shelly Uscinski and Virginia Twardosky -- opposed changing the previous policy, which exclusively targeted homosexuality. According to the Associated Press (AP), the June 3 school board debate was "acrimonious," and it elicited the usual paranoia. The AP reports, for instance, that: "Uscinski questioned whether the [new] policy would permit lesbian or homosexual teachers... to have pictures of them together with their mates on their desk, which she read had occurred in another district. Superintendent James O'Neil said pictures of loved ones on a desk have always been allowed." School Board Chair Kenneth Coleman also opposed the anti-homosexuality policy as "divisive and unfair." "We did not have a problem in the Merrimack School District before [Policy 6540],'' Coleman said. While Vice-Chair, Coleman had previously argued that -- under the mandate of Policy 6540 -- "Our children will suffer." "Whether heterosexual or homosexual, they will be taught to hate those unlike them," he said, "and the quality of their education will flounder as the community debates religious ideology instead of academics." Whether or not the new sex-negative policy ultimately represents progress is debatable, of course. So too, whether it promotes fairness remains to be seen. The proof is in the practice. Too often, such policies -- while purporting, in their letter, to foster equity -- are actually applied with systematic heterosexism. In particular, the notion of what constitutes a "furtherance" of sexual orientation is open to wide, and widely bigoted, interpretation. It seems unlikely that any school would ban a production of "Romeo and Juliet" on the grounds that it "furthers [HETERO]sexual activity or orientation." However, any play, poem, book or video that features fair and factual references to HOMOsexuality is a likely target. The sentiments expressed by Coleman and O'Neil are certainly encouraging. But acute public vigilance is necessary. Unless the Merrimack School Board intends to excise ALL educational activities that "further" sexual orientation, then it should ban NONE. **** ACTION/OPTIONS: Send watchful remarks to Kenneth Coleman, Chair, and All Members, Merrimack School Board, 36 McElwain Street, Merrimack, NH 03054; James O'Neil, Superintendent, Merrimack School Department, 36 McElwain Street, Merrimack, NH 03054, tel. 603-424-6200, fax 603-424-6229; Elizabeth Twomey, Commissioner of Education, New Hampshire Department of Education, State Office Park South, 101 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301. To get extra media mileage, copy your correspondence to the "letters editors" at these New Hampshire newspapers: "The Union Leader," Box 9555, Manchester, NH 03108, fax 603-668-0382; "The Telegraph," Box 1008, Nashua, NH 03061, fax 603-882-5138. Re/Sources: For more information about the on-going fight for fair and accurate information in educational media, consult these projects and publications: The P.E.R.S.O.N Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally), e-mail jessea@uclink4.berkeley.edu, http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/. Gay, Lesbian and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN), 122 W. 26th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY 10001, tel. 212-727-0135, fax 212-727-0254, e-mail glstn@glstn.org, http://www.glstn.org/freedom/. "School's Out: The Impact of Gay and Lesbian Issues on America's Schools," by Dan Woog (Boston: Alyson Publications). "The High School Journal" [Vol. 77, Nos. 1 & 2], Special Issue: Educational Practice and Theory for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adolescents , edited by Gerald Unks (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press). [2] R E C O M M E N D E D D A I L Y A collegiate columnist for "The Daily Iowan," Michael Totten," offers a unique perspective BEHIND Amendment 2. In his June 3 column ("Supreme Court Victory in Colorado"), Totten attempts what remarkably few commentators have -- scraping away the "respectable" facade of organizations responsible for promoting hate legislation. Totten begins by noting: "The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Colorado's Amendment 2 last week, an ordinance that stripped gays and lesbians of equal-rights protection. Predictably, conservatives are angry. But it is important to keep in mind the nationwide political and ideological forces behind the amendment before getting too riled up at the Supreme Court." He then goes on to list several of the key players, briefly annotating the bigotry behind each. Totten includes: * Colorado for Family Values (CFV) -- "CFV's organizers, fund-raisers, speakers and advisers are part of a national right-wing extremist campaign against civil rights in general and gay rights in particular." * Bill McCartney -- "He equates homosexuality with the forces of Satan. He is also the founder of the Christian men's group Promise Keepers and a part of the Word of God (WOG) community, which enforces total submission by women to their husbands. Women who resist are subjected to beatings and 'exorcisms,' according to... Front Lines Research." * Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition -- "In addition to supporting Amendment 2, Robertson endorsed [a failed initiative that] required concentration camps for gays.... Robertson [has] framed the gay-rights argument as an apocalyptic battle between good and evil. 'No victory ever comes without a battle,' he said. 'Violence is inevitable.'" * David Noebel -- "He serves on the advisory board for CFV, and is the president of Summit Ministries.... They believe the civil-rights movement and the United Nations are controlled and manipulated by Communists and Satan worshipers. Noebel also wrote several books that claim rock and soul music are communist plots to destroy the United States." * Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum -- "Best known for successfully resisting passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.... They label their female opponents as lesbians in an attempt to publicly smear them." * The Rutherford Institute -- "The Institute embraces Christian Reconstructionism, which states biblical law is the only law that should provide basis for civic law. They wish to impose a theocracy on the U.S. government and implement the death penalty for gays, adulterers, juvenile delinquents, non-Christians and women who have sex before marriage. Acceptable methods of execution include burning, stoning, hanging...." * The Republican Party -- "Every Republican presidential candidate, including Bob Dole, has joined the anti-gay bandwagon and exploited it for political gain." Regarding the perceived respectability of such homophobes, Totten points out: "Of course, they don't advertise their theocratic ideas to voters who would find them repulsive. They campaign on the secular and more acceptable platforms of 'No Special Rights' and 'Family Values.' In order to see through their ruse, we need to understand what civil-rights protection is. It provides protection for any minority group that is routinely singled out for discrimination. It guarantees legal redress is available in case of job termination, refused housing and hate crimes." "Civil rights protection for gays is needed now more than ever," Totten argues. "There is no homosexual 'agenda' beyond wanting equal treatment under the law and freedom from harassment and violence. Political scapegoating and the eradication of equal rights are the first stages of fascism." "Some of the anti-gay groups are willing to take it all the way," Totten finally warns his readers. "The Supreme Court was right to trash Amendment 2. It was garbage." Michael Totten's column is slated to appear weekly, on the "Viewpoints" page of "The Daily Iowan." **** ACTION/OPTIONS: Send encouraging feedback to "The Daily Iowan," 111 Communications Center, Iowa City, IA 52242, fax 319-335-6184 or 319-335-6297, e-mail daily-iowan@uiowa.edu. Re/Sources: The DataCenter -- a progressive, non-profit "social justice research center" -- culls information from "over 500 periodicals reports and many specialized reports." Databank files document "political, social and economic issues.... and the actors behind them -- people, companies, organizations, and government agencies." Right-wing organizers and organizations are regularly referenced in "CultureWatch," the center's "monthly annotated bibliography." Contact: DataCenter, 464 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2297, tel. 510-835-4692, fax 510-835-3017, e-mail culturewatch@datacenter.org. [3] F A L L F R O M R A C E A recently-released "report card" from the Center for Media and Public Affairs (Washington, DC) gives broadcasters a low grade to on the subject of race. According to Greg Braxton of "The Los Angeles Times," the CMPA survey concludes: "The Latino presence during the 1994-95 television season doubled from 1992-93 levels, when Latinos accounted for only 1 percent of all characters depicted in prime-time series. In addition, those characters were more likely to play major roles in 1994-95 than in 1992-93. The study added, however, that the majority of those characters appeared in only two series on Fox... and that 2 percent figure is still below 1955 levels, when Latinos accounted for 3 percent of all characters. Latinos make up an estimated 10 percent of the country's population." In a three-page story for "Time" magazine, Christopher Farley illuminates a similar trend ("TV's Black Flight," June 3). He notes: "The four biggest networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, which finished announcing their prime-time fall lineups last week, appear to be turning away from minority programming." Three years ago, Farley reports, the major networks featured 12 minority-themed shows. Next season, they will offer only six. NBC, "the network that carried the 'Nat King Cole Show' in the 1950s when virtually no advertisers were willing to sponsor a variety show hosted by a black man, will not have a single minority-themed series in its fall lineup." Not unexpectedly, Farley overlooks queers of color -- who have fared even worse in prime-time. "Positive" lesbian and gay portrayals, for the most part, continue to be limited to all-white shows like "Friends." Still, many of Farley's incised points are pertinent to lesbian and gay representation in general. He observes, for example, that: "A significant number of minorities still appear on TV, but they are only intermittently at the center of action.... TV shows that do deal with race are often self-conscious and clumsy. One of the first jokes on the interracial sitcom 'Buddies,' a short-lived ABC show, involved a white mother-in-law mistaking a black man for a prowler; when 'Grace Under Fire' added a black couple to the cast recently, one of the first jokes was -- yes -- a white mother-in-law mistaking one of the new neighbors for a prowler." The critical highlight of "Time's" feature is its refusal to accept network versions of "cause and effect" (e.g., rather than admit to racist bias, "Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC West Coast, says the simple fact is none of the ethnic shows they had in development were good enough to air"). Farley looks for "a more complicated explanation" beyond the standard, evasive answers "that white-run companies employ when they are taken to task." Unfortunately, this resistant orientation is often lacking in mainstream criticism of minority images. Popular television critics are noted less for their ability to investigate, than regurgitate. **** ACTION/OPTIONS: Support (literally) exceptional reporting on critical media issues; encourage "Time" to do additional stories on minority images, including lesbians and gays of color. Contact: Christopher John Farley, Staff Writer, and Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor, "Time," Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020, tel. 212-522-1212, fax 212-522-0323, http://time.com ("features, updates, analysis and special reports") or http://pathfinder.com ("Time Warner's Internet service on the World Wide Web"); correspondence intended for publication ("Letters to the Editor") should be sent to TIME Magazine Letters, at the same address, fax 212-522-0601, e-mail Letters@time.com. Advise the "Big Four" networks to seek a more-creative diversity in their new Fall lineups. Contact: ABC Entertainment, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067-4785, tel. 310-557-7777, e-mail abcaudr@ccabc.com; CBS Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, tel. 213-852-2345, e-mail marketing@cbs.com; FOX Broadcasting, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, tel. 310-277-2211, e-mail jpr@foxnetwork.com or foxnet@delphi.com; NBC Entertainment, 3000 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91523, tel. 818-840-4444, e-mail nbcshows@msn.com, http://www.nbc.com/mail.html. [4] M E D I A L E R T / B R I E F S ** ON THE RECORD . . . "Entertainment Wire" (June 4) reports that Columbia Records (Sony Music) has released the soundtrack to "Stonewall," a new film that dramatizes "the events surrounding the traumatic and exhilarating birth of Gay Pride." According to a promotional statement: "Columbia Records is proud to release an album of the music of the era -- a revelatory collection of songs demonstrating the interplay between a gay sensibility and 60's pop consciousness." "Stonewall" was directed by Nigel Finch who, writes Christine Vachon in the album's liner notes, "was seeing the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Vachon, the film's producer, adds: "Nigel wanted to give the lesbian and gay community a sense of courage and history - and most importantly, of heroes. In 'Stonewall,' the characters fight back. Nigel said, `It's a reminder that you have to fight for your rights -- they are not given voluntarily!'" Carolyn Rothkin, of Columbia Records, noted: "Stonewall, the album and the film, is a celebration of the fight for individual liberty and dignity...." Contact: Masaaki Morita, Chair, Sony Corporation of America, One Sony Drive, Park Ridge, NJ 07656, tel. 201-930-1000, fax 201-358-4060; Carolyn Rothkin, Media/Promotions, Columbia Records, tel. 212-833-4146; Sony Music Online, http://www.music.sony.com/music/homepage/index.html. ** ACCESS ABILITIES . . . Artists' Television Access (ATA) will host several events-of-interest during Pride Month in Dan Francisco. Two presentations (June 20 - 21) have been scheduled to coincide with "Dirty Bird 96: A Queercore Festival," and will feature video, music, film and talk. A (June 28) round-table discussion -- "Sites of Resistance: Access Phreaks and On-Line Instigators" -- will focus on "folks who are using new technologies and the Internet to form sites of resistance, organize for human rights in nontraditional ways, and bring the often inexpensive information superhighway to those considered outsiders." Contact: ATA, 992 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, tel. 415-824-3890, e-mail ata@sirius.com. ** NEWS & NOTES . . . As part of its new promotional pitch to the queer music market, Atlantic Records publishes "Stereo Type" -- a free, four-page circular subtitled "The Atlantic Group's Gay & Lesbian Newsletter." The March/April issue (the newsletter's second) includes breezy tidbits on a range of products and personalities -- from Melissa Etheridge's favorite albums to "the winner of our Bette Midler Valentine's Day Contest." Also mentioned: Francis Dunnery, "I Shot Andy Warhol," Michael Feinstein, 7 Year Bitch, Bel Canto, Randy Crawford, Fred Hersch. Contact: Stereo Type, Atlantic Records. 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019; encourage your local, closeted music store to distribute the newsletter. ** PEOPLE TOO . . . Lesbian and gay parenting is the subject of an 8-page article -- and 12 color photographs -- in "People" magazine ("Happy Families Are Not Alike," June 10). This feature story covers an intentional variety of family types and issues, in a effort to demonstrate that: "Growing up with gay parents can be a source of anxiety, and of loving pride, for their kids." The popular periodical reaches over 4 million readers each a week -- precisely the sort of media visibility that provokes nasty letters from homophobes. Contact: Landon Y. Jones Jr., Managing Editor, "People," Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020, fax 212-522-0794, e-mail 74774.1513@compuserve.com, http://www.pathfinder.com/people/. ** WATCH OUT . . . The Gay, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Media-Watch Foundation is a newly-founded organization, dedicated to media advocacy throughout Canada. Contact: G. F. Dean, Canadian Gay, Lesbian and Bi-Sexual Media-Watch Foundation, Suite 222, 207 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2N2, tel. 613-722-9438, fax 613-233-1056. [--end--] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- ABOUT MEDIALERTS "MediAlert!" [TM] is an activist-oriented column of media criticism, focused on lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender issues, and distributed weekly on request. Recipients may print, publish or post this material, in whole or part, under this or any title, without prior permission. When appropriate, attribution can be made to "Al Kielwasser" and/or "MediAlert." File copies of publications using "MediAlert!" are appreciated. Contact: "MediAlert!," 163 Park Street, San Francisco, CA 94110-5835, voice-mail 415-826-5203, fax 415-826-5203 (ext. 8), e-mail MediAction@aol.com. Next "MediAlert!" = Friday, June 14, 1996 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- AUTHOR NOTES Al Kielwasser is the editor of "Gay People, Sex and the Media" (Haworth Press) and he has taught a wide range of courses and workshops in media theory and practice, seeking to integrate activism and academia at the intersection of queer and popular cultures. His research appears in the "Journal of American Culture," "Journal of Homosexuality," "Journal of Popular Culture," "Feedback: Journal of the Broadcast Education Association," "Critical Studies in Mass Communication," and other publications; recently, he completed a two-year term as Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area (GLAAD/SFBA). __________________________________________________ Shape the forces that shape our society . . . challenge homophobia in and through the media. ___________________________________________________