Subject: MEDIAlert! ["B"] - 04.4.97
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 23:30:58 -0400 (EDT)

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INDEX:  "MEDIAlert!" for 04.4.97 [PART "B"]

-ITEM 3:  "Families Valued"  [Ricki Lake; Love Makes A Family, Inc.; GLPCI;
Society for Research on Child Development; COLAGE; Charlotte Patterson].

-ITEM 4:  "A Few Words From The Sponsors"  [Ellen; Chrysler; General Motors;
Johnson & Johnson; Jerry Falwell; Home Access Health Corp.; San Francisco
Examiner; UPI; Philadelphia Daily News; Corporate Watch; Ellen Media Watch;
Christian Family Network].

(Please Note:  Parts "A" [Items 1-2] and "C" [Items 5-12] are posted
separately)
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M   E   D   I   A   l   e   r   t  !
__________________________

April 4 - 17    Al Kielwasser

[3]

F A M I L I E S  V A L U E D

A recent episode of "Ricki Lake" (April 4) explored -- with relative good
sense -- the subject of lesbian, gay and bisexual parenting.  Specifically,
the day's topic for debate was:  "You Shouldn't Be A parent Because You're
Gay!"

For most of the hour-long show, various queer parents ably dispatched the
phobic objections of their straight friends and family.  However, the
unusually diverse panel also featured a gay African-American couple who
disagreed, amongst themselves, on the issue of raising children.  Other
guests included two lesbian mothers and a gay single father.  The panelists
also ran the gamut "cultural types," from bull dyke to snap queen -- without
apology.

Those opposed to queer parenting objected on various grounds, including the
standard appeal to "God's will."  Most, however, argued that the children of
homosexual parents are "gonna be teased in school" -- and therefore, for the
sake of children, homosexuals should not be parents.

At the show's conclusion an expert -- and lesbian mother -- was introduced as
someone who could "clear up...  the teasing issues."  "Let's not accommodate
to homophobia," advised Bonnie Tinker of Love Makes A Family, Inc.  Tinker
deftly encouraged those panelists concerned with teasing to combat in a
genuine way -- by going out and fighting homophobia; as long as there is
homophobia, racism or sexism in the world, Tinker pointed out, children
cannot be protected from it.

Throughout the broadcast, host Ricki Lake did an admirable job as well.  When
a guest objected that her gay brother's daughter needed a "female role
model," Lake challenged the woman to be just that.  After another panelist
spewed objections to non-conventional family life, Lake asked:  "Who made you
God?!"

In concluding her show, Lake addressed the audience at large.  "What matters
is not the sexual orientation of the parent," she pointed out.  "But whether
you are responsible, dedicated and available to the child."

Appropriately enough, this "Ricki Lake" broadcast coincided with an
(independent) press announcement of new research on queer parenting --
indicating that the children of lesbian mothers develop no differently than
others.  Presented at a national meeting of the Society for Research on Child
Development, three new studies (conducted in the U.S., Britain, and the
Netherlands) essentially came to this conclusion.

Charlotte Patterson, a research psychologist at the University of Virginia
and author of one of the new studies, summarized the results in an interview
for the Associated Press (April 4).  "When you look at kids with standard
psychological assessments, you can't tell who has a lesbian parent and who
has a heterosexual parent," said Patterson.  "That's really the main finding
from these studies."

Acknowledging that the existing research remains "relatively sparse and open
to criticism," Patterson and her colleagues also reported that -- where
differences DO exist -- lesbians seem to be BETTER parents than their
heterosexual counterparts (a suggestion sure to rankle the Traditional Values
Coalition, et al.).  In her study, Fiona Tasker of Birkbeck College in the
Netherlands, "Found that the non-biological lesbian parent was usually more
involved with the children than are the fathers of heterosexual couples."

* * * *  ACTION ALERT!   If homophobia is ignorance, information can cure.
Encourage the "enlightened conversation" of:  Ricki Lake, Host, and Garth
Ancier and Gale Steinberg, Executive Producers, "The Ricki Lake Show," 401
5th Avenue, New York, NY 10016; on-line comments can be left at "feedback"
web site for Columbia Tristar TV Distribution,
http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/feedback.html.  Also, urge other local and
national media to report widely on the current research on lesbian parenting,
in particular, and homosexuality generally -- and to cover not ONLY the
bio-medical, but also socio-cultural evidence (the media's preoccupation with
"brain" and "gene" research can become a limiting effect on queer humanity).

Related (Re)Sources:  Family Diversity Projects, Inc. is a non-profit
organization "devoted to educating students, parents, teachers, spiritual
communities, and the general public about family diversity, bias, sexism,
racism, and homophobia.  Contact:  FDP, P.O. Box 1209, Amherst, MA
01004-1209, e-mail [email-masked] or [email-masked].

Excellent educational, support and advocacy resources are also available from
the Gay & Lesbian Parents Coalition International (GLPCI) and its affiliate
association, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE).  Contact:
 GLPCI, P.O. Box 50360, Washington, DC 20091, e-mail [email-masked];
COLAGE, 2300 Market Street #165, San Francisco, CA 94114, tel. 415-861-KIDS,
e-mail [email-masked].

Charlotte Patterson's pioneering research first captured the attention of
mainstream journalists nearly a decade ago; her seminal 1992 report on
"Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents" was published in the journal "Child
Development" (vol. 14, pp. 177-196).  Contact:  Charlotte Patterson, Dept. of
Psychology, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

[4]

A  F E W  W O R D S  F R O M  T H E  S P O N O R S

As the April 30 "coming out" episode of "Ellen" approaches, advertisers
appear to have taken their stand -- either for or against the much-touted
storyline.  Except for assurances that the episode is "fully sponsored," ABC
has refused any comment (spokesperson Janice Gretemeyer said the network
"doesn't discuss its advertisers").  However, other sources indicate that
several major companies have already backed away from the show.

Carol Ness, staff writer at the "San Francisco Examiner" (April 2), reports
that even:  "Though the hour-long special, featuring celebrities Oprah
Winfrey, Laura Dern and Melissa Etheridge, is expected to attract a huge
audience, Chrysler decided to take a pass.  And, Chrysler told its employees,
so did General Motors and Johnson & Johnson."

Not coincidentally, those companies had been specifically targeted by the
homophobic lobbying efforts of "Rev." Jerry Falwell, who admonished
advertisers to "stop spending your dollars to underwrite a program that
Disney and ABC have decided to use to corrupt the views and values of our
children."  "I want to congratulate the chairmen of these three companies,"
said Falwell.  "They have done the responsible and right thing."

Attempting to excuse her company's decision, Chrysler spokesperson Megan
Giles explained:  "It's the hype -- not the show itself."  "Basically when
there's a big media and public controversy about something, we don't think
it's the best environment to try to sell our products," said Giles.  "We
offend one group or the other."

Chrysler had been a regular advertiser on "Ellen."  However, Carol Ness
reports, "The company said its sponsorship of future episodes would depend on
whether the hype recedes."

Chrysler does not offer domestic partner benefits and, Ness adds, the company
"also figured in a recent controversy over 'Esquire' magazine's decision not
to publish a new story by writer David Leavitt that contained explicit
homoerotic scenes.  Leavitt's agent reportedly said the story had been killed
because Chrysler, a major advertiser, threatened to pull its ads."

Other sponsors have also made shallow excuses for keeping their distance from
"Ellen."  Johnson & Johnson spokesperson Jeff Leebaw would only say "we were
not scheduled.  I'm told we're not a major advertiser." 

Dean Rotondo, a spokesperson for General Motors, said his company's ad
schedule had "nothing to do with the content" of "Ellen's" April 30 show.
 However, the American Family Association (March 27) reports that Rotondo
also promised, "GM will evaluate future episodes for their 'fairness and
family values.'" 

Of course, the news is not all bad.  According to UPI Entertainment Editor
Valerie Kuklenski (March 31), "At least one advertiser is being drawn to that
show by its message and the audience it is expected to attract."  Kuklenski
reports that:  "Home Access Health Corp. has announced it will run a
commercial for its home testing kit to detect HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS, on ABC affiliates in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York."

"We think it's better to face reality and take control than to hide from it,"
Home Access president Richard Quattrocchi said.  "We applaud Ellen's coming
out of the closet and wish her a happy and productive life."

Niche marketing aside, Home Access' applause is a striking break in the
"un-offending" silence of most advertisers.  Even if the decision really "had
nothing to do with content," General Motors could have rejected Falwell's
homophobia directly.  Instead, GM -- like Chrysler, J&J, and most advertisers
-- pled a dubious "neutrality."  Though the company said nothing bad about
lesbianism, neither did it say anything good.

The refusal to reject homophobia -- in order to avoid offending homophobes --
cannot be excused by a congruent refusal to reject homosexuality (even to
avoid offending homosexuals).  There is no virtue in a "neutrality" that
supports neither homophobes NOR homosexuals...  Neither misogynists NOR
women...  Neither racists NOR people of color.  Clearly, such "neutrality"
can only be a boon to homophobia, sexism and racism.

Perhaps, with their tendency to put profit over principle, certain
advertisers might never become a part of the solution.  To claim they are
never part of the problem, however, is no longer a permissible lie.

As Jerry Falwell recently gloated:  "It really doesn't matter why General
Motors, Chrysler and Johnson & Johnson have pulled their ads.  The simple
fact is that, by doing so, these companies have sent a very clear and
powerful message to network executives."

In response to recent advertiser actions, Debbie Woodell, a columnist for the
Philadelphia "Daily News" (April 1), has suggested that it's "Time for gay
consumers to show they mean business."  "Do we pay enough attention to our
corporate allies?," Woodell asks.  "How many of us can rattle off even a
half-dozen mainstream advertisers in any one of our big-time glossy
magazines?  No peeking."

"It's time to start paying closer attention, because the other side does,"
Woodell advises.  "And it's time to let our supporters know we support them."
 She adds:  "The opportunity of a lifetime exists between now and April 30,
the night TV sitcom character Ellen Morgan tells the world what we've
suspected all along -- that she's a lesbian."

* * * *  ACTION ALERT!   Urge advertisers to make a particular point of
rejecting homophobia and supporting fair, accurate and diverse LGBT images on
television.  Contact:   Robert J. Eaton, Chair, Chrysler Corporation, 1000
Chrysler Dr., Auburn Hills, MI 48326, tel. 810-576-5741 or 800-992-1997; John
F. Smith, Chair, General Motors Corporation, 3044 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI
48202, tel. 313-556-5000, fax 313-556-1988; Ralph S. Larsen, Chair, Johnson &
Johnson, One Johnson & Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 09833, tel.
908-524-0400 or 800-635-6789, fax 908-214-0332, web
http://www.jnj.com/feedback.htm; Kevin Johnson, Home Access Health, Hoffman
Estates, IL, tel. 847-781-2504, e-mail [email-masked], web
http://www.homeaccess.com.

Related (Re)Sources:  The "Corporate Watch" web site is a PROGRESSIVE project
for "monitoring the activities of transnational corporations; on-line
resources include current news, analysis, how-to guides, an image gallery,
and links to other sites.  Contact:  http://www.corpwatch.org.

Among the HOMOPHOBIC organizations targeting "Ellen's" advertisers is the
Christian Family Network (CFN), which has launched a national "Ellen Media
Watch."  The campaign is rallying fundies across the nation, "monitoring the
program for local advertisers and taking steps to influence those advertisers
to spend their dollars in a responsible [sic] manner."  Contact:  Don
Jackson, Executive Director, CFN, P. O. Box 24171, Dayton, OH 45424, tel.
937-236-5433, fax 937-236-5056, e-mail [email-masked], web
http://www.cfn.web.com.

[End - Part "B"]

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ABOUT MEDIALERTS

Distributed as a community press service since 1992, "MEDIAlert!" [TM] is a
biweekly, advocacy-oriented column of media criticism, primarily focused on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender issues.

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 all or part of any "MEDIAlert!" are always appreciated.

Next "MEDIAlert!" = April 18, 1997.  Contact:  A. P. Kielwasser, MEDIAction,
163 Park Street, San Francisco, CA 94110-5835, voice-mail/fax 415-826-5203,
e-mail [email-masked].

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AUTHOR NOTES

Al Kielwasser is the editor of "Gay People, Sex and the Media" (New York:
 Haworth Press).  His media criticism and research have appeared widely, in
both mainstream and academic publications (including the "Journal of American
Culture," "Journal of Homosexuality," "Journal of Popular Culture," and
"Critical Studies in Mass Communication"); he was twice elected Chair of the
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.