Subject: MediAlert! -- June 7
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 1996 11:33:53 -0400

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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].
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  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 [email-masked],
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
[email-masked], 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 [email-masked].

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
[email-masked].

[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 [email-masked].
 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 [email-masked];  CBS
Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, tel. 213-852-2345,
e-mail [email-masked];  FOX Broadcasting, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA
90213, tel. 310-277-2211, e-mail [email-masked] or [email-masked];
 NBC Entertainment, 3000 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91523, tel.
818-840-4444, e-mail [email-masked], 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 [email-masked].

**  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
[email-masked], 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--]

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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
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Contact:  "MediAlert!," 163 Park Street, San Francisco, CA 94110-5835,
voice-mail 415-826-5203,  fax 415-826-5203 (ext. 8),  e-mail
[email-masked].

Next "MediAlert!"  =  Friday, June 14, 1996

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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.
___________________________________________________