From: MediAction@aol.com Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 22:17:43 -0400 (EDT) Subject: MEDIAlert! - [A] 8-29-97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX: "MEDIAlert!" - 08.29.97 [Part "A" ONLY] -ITEM 1: "Risky Reporting" [Reuters; New England Journal of Medicine; Young Gays, Fear Recedes-Risks Rise; Baltimore Sun; Public Media Center; The Impact of Homophobia and Other Social Biases on AIDS]. -ITEM 2: "For Love or For Hate" [For Better or For Worse; Universal Press Syndicate; Topeka Capital-Journal; Augusta Chronicle; Christian Family Network; American Family Association]. Part "B" ["Media/Briefs" and "Web Watch"] posted SEPARATELY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M E D I A l e r t ! __________________________ August 29, 1997 Al Kielwasser [1] R I S K Y R E P O R T I N G A recent article from Reuter's news service points to chronic problems in covering the health of lesbians and gays. Citing a research note from the "New England Journal of Medicine," Reuter (August 13) reports that: "People who risk contracting HIV may be resuming risky practices because they think new treatments have made AIDS less of a health threat." The article proceeds to summarize findings of a small-scale survey of gay men in San Francisco, who were polled to "gauge the effect of optimistic publicity" surrounding drug combinations known as protease inhibitors or "AIDS cocktails." Reuter's immediate emphasis on "people who risk contracting HIV" sets an unfortunate tone, common throughout the health and welfare beat. However subtle, a distinction between "people who risk" and "people who are AT risk" is hardly insignificant; it represents the difference between seeking genuine solutions and simply blaming the victim. This "blame-the-victim" bias has been especially blatant in coverage of gay youth. An article by Jonathan Bor, staff writer for the "Baltimore Sun" (August 15), is regrettably typical. Headlined "Young Gays: Fear Recedes - Risks Rise," the article's subhead further announces: "A survey in major cities finds alarmingly high rates of unsafe sex practices and the virus that causes AIDS, especially among blacks." In lieu of definitive statistics, Bor begins his article by describing the social scene at "at bars that cater to African-American gays along the East Coast." After several paragraphs of this, he reports that "something else has become part of the social fabric among the clientele here and elsewhere: a surprisingly casual attitude toward risky sex." That attitude, Bor reports, has been linked to high rates of HIV infection, "according to a federally sponsored study of young gay men being conducted around the nation." Finding his own evidence to support the study's tentative findings, Bor quotes such bar patrons as 19-year-old Davon Evans, who says: "There's people who have the virus and know they have the virus and give it to other people." Davon, the article reports, has "chosen abstinence." According to Bor, the nationwide study currently underway relies upon "street-level epidemiology -- that branch of medicine that deals with the spread and, ultimately, the control of disease." He cites a local (but not atypical) example of such efforts, in which a research team sets up shop outside a gay bar and: "Using a large van as its mobile headquarters, the team interviews men ages 15 to 22 about their attitudes and sexual practices and takes blood samples." "The findings are worrisome," Bor reports. "With little variation from city to city, 7 percent of the volunteers tested positive for HIV.... Perhaps more alarming is that 39 percent said they had engaged in unprotected intercourse with a man during the previous six months -- a practice that would almost certainly lead to increasing rates of infection as the men age." The "Sun" quotes Linda Valleroy, a CDC epidemiologist supervising the survey, who explains that sex -- as opposed to IV drug use -- is the primary source of transmission . According to Valleroy, "the hot spot of the epidemic among youth is among men who have sex with men," particularly African-American gays (11 percent of African-American subjects tested HIV positive, compared to 4 percent of whites). As Bor reports, Valleroy and "others involved in the study are confident that the carefree attitudes of youth partly explain the high-risk approach to sex." "Perhaps, too," Bor goes on to suggest, "the news about promising therapies has given a false impression that AIDS has been cured." Finally, Bor quotes another local bar patron -- 20-year-old Steven Tuttle -- who says of his fellow gay youth: "They know the consequences. They know what to do to have safer sex. But people don't want to listen." The reporter concludes: "At the bars, some say it's time somebody documented what they know but are loathe to say -- lessons learned by an older generation are being ignored." Significantly, the issue of homophobia -- and its role in perpetuating AIDS -- is fully sidestepped by the "Sun." Not once, for example, did Bor consider whether the "lessons learned by an older generation" are being BLOCKED, rather than ignored. Nowhere in Bor's article is any mention made of the dismal state of sex education in our nation's public schools, particularly as it relates (or fails to relate) to gay, lesbian and bisexual youth. Neither is any weight given to the mainstream media's own refusal to affirm or reflect the lives of young homosexuals; most television networks refuse even to air same-sex public service announcements, directly intended to reduce the rate of HIV infection among gay youth. Like Bor, many journalists regularly affirm the notion that "carefree attitudes" of young gays are linked to the spread of AIDS. Yet these reporters utterly ignore the reality of (let alone any research on) HOMOPHOBIC ATTITUDES -- which can hardly be separated from the "risky" behaviors of gay youth. The deadly combination of racism with homophobia is similarly overlooked, even as the media express "surprise" at higher rates of HIV infection among young African-American gays. A special report by the Public Media Center, published in 1995, specifically addressed the impact of homophobia on AIDS. As proven by dozens of failed media campaigns, the report suggested, "it is homophobia that has remained the crucial blind spot that must first be addressed if our efforts to generate humane and responsive answers to AIDS are not to be permanently frustrated." "The specter of homophobia looms so large and threatening that apparently we have thus far been afraid even to speak of it in direct terms," the Center concluded. "It is our contention that just as AIDS-Related Stigma is the driving force behind our nation's lackluster response to HIV/AIDS, so the unaddressed issue of homophobia remains the unseen cause of the spread of AIDS-Related Stigma within U.S. society." Efforts to include fair and accurate information about homosexuality in children's media -- from textbooks to television -- are routinely thwarted by the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), Concerned Women for America (CWA), and other well-financed organizations on the "Religious Right." Yet, news reports about young gays and the "rising risks" of HIV never include investigations of these organizations -- and the homophobic, sex-negative curricula they successfully promote. To teach a child -- as most educational media do -- that homosexuality is a lifestyle not worth living, is ultimately to teach homosexual children that their lives are worthless. That gay youth are dying should be far less "surprising" a fact than that they manage to survive at all. Complex issues of stigma and self-esteem are dismissed by the mainstream media, in favor of more simple (and sensational) stories -- shifting far more blame than is due to the victims. Time and again, the impression is reinforced that gays who have unsafe sex must be purposely ignorant. This image of suicidal hedonists surely provides great comfort to a heterosexist society, in which uncontested bigots would claim their total innocence -- while homosexuals are blamed for the hate crimes of homophobes. * * * * ACTION ALERT! As reports of research on gay youth and AIDS/HIV circulate around the nation, insist that news media finally get the story of homophobia. Send critical feedback to: William Marimow, Managing Editor, and Jonathan Bor, Staff Writer, "Baltimore Sun," 501 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21278, fax 410-752-6049, e-mail letters@baltsun.com, web site http://www.sunspot.net (copy all correspondence to the newspaper's ombudsman, Edd Hewitt, Reader Representative, e-mail edhewitt@sunspot.net); Reuters, 199 Water Street, New York, NY 10038, fax 212-859-1717, e-mail webmaster@reuters.com, web site http://www.reuters.com. Ask the CDC to promote better research and reporting of AIDS, guiding the press to include homophobia as a relevant factor. Contact: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, tel. 404-639-3311, web site http://www.cdc.gov. The CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse specifically "facilitates the sharing of HIV/AIDS and STD resources and information about education and prevention, published materials, and research findings, as well as news about related trends." Contact: CDC NAC, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003, tel. 800-458-5231, e-mail aidsinfo@cdcnac.aspensys.com, web site http://www.cdcnac.org. [ Re/Sources: A 40-page booklet -- "The Impact of Homophobia and Other Social Biases on AIDS" -- is available from the Public Media Center, 466 Green Street, San Francisco, CA 94133, tel. 415-434-1403, fax 415-986-6779. ] [2] F O R L O V E O R F O R H A T E For several days in late August, cartoonist Lynn Johnston put young gay love at the center of her widely-syndicated comic strip "For Better or For Worse." Reaction to the series, which ran from August 20-23, has ranged from benign to bigoted. Several heterosexual supremacist groups launched nationwide attacks on the "pro-homosexual" plot, while a spattering of newspaper editors opted to censor the "controversial" storyline. Specifically, the four-day series revolved around "Lawrence," a gay character, as he attempted to cope with the upsetting news that his boyfriend ("Ben") might be moving away. In the August 22 strip for example, Lawrence and his best (straight) friend, "Michael," ruminate on the pains of love. "Ben isn't leaving forever," Michael tries to reassure his forlorn chum. "Besides, you have to be prepared to feel pain if you're gonna fall in love.... You both let down all of your defenses, you allow someone to enter your heart -- and you take the risk of losing each other." Without regard for sexual orientation, Michael takes a universal perspective on first love. "But it's the joy of having had that time together that makes it all worthwhile!," he exclaims. "It's the laughs, the memories -- and all the good stuff you've shared -- that make falling in love.... worth that risk!!" The August 23 strip further rejects the temptations of homophobia, with humor. As they eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Lawrence says to Michael: "My being gay has never changed our friendship. You've never treated me like I was evil...." And Michael replies: "But I have to tell you Lawrence, there is one thing about your lifestyle that has bothered all of us for a long time.... You don't eat your crusts." In covering the story surrounding the strip, a number of mainstream journalists made the same mistake as Christopher Clark of the Associated Press (August 13). Clark reported that the gay cartoon character had "angered editors and conservative readers," though the adjective "homophobic" would have been more accurate than "conservative" in this case. Moreover, Clark ONLY reported such "angered" responses. He did not seek opinions from the majority of newspapers, whose editors WOULD run the strips, let alone responses from gay or lesbian groups PLEASED by the portrayal. In general, more column inches were given to groups like the Christian Family Network (CFN) -- which complained that the comic strip was "being used to push the homosexual agenda." "The comic page, read by all family members including the very young, is one place in the newspaper that should be safe from unhealthy agendas," said CFN president Don Jackson. "This page should not be used as an indoctrination tool for the homosexual lifestyle... this is another example of media power gone wrong." Presumably, sexist or militaristic comic strips like "Blondie" or "Beetle Bailey" (indoctrination tools for the heterosexual lifestyle?) are evidence of media gone right. Homophobic critics are themselves responsible the least-healthy agenda, which the media push most. Hypocritical to the core, the CFN insists that children should be safe from indoctrination -- except its own. The American Family Association, the nation's leading anti-gay media watchdog group, readily joined in CFN's protest. Via the Internet, the organization issued a special "AFA Action Alert" (August 18), urging readers to condemn any newspaper that printed "FBOFW." In seeming disregard for copyright restrictions, the AFA's web page also reprinted each of the four comic strips -- in their entirety, and without apparent credit to the Universal Press Syndicate [http://www.afa.net/fbofw.htm]. In a special advisory to the 1,700 newspapers that legitimately carry "FBOFW," Universal Press Syndicate -- the strip's distributor -- alerted editors to the storyline more than a week before publication. Evidently, the company felt professionally obligated to offer such an "early warning." Universal Press has not yet explained the rationale behind this advisory policy, however, which apparently (unfairly) singles out lesbian and gay content. Approximately 20 daily newspapers informed Universal Press that they would not run "FBOFW's" gay storyline, but would print reruns of the comic strip instead. Topeka's "Capital-Journal," for example, claimed that the gay theme did not reflect "the standards of the community." "It is a decision that took a lot of thought on our part," said publisher John Goossen. "We feel that the comics page is different from what we cover in our news pages, where we cover the newsworthy activities of the gay and lesbian community as news." In fact, Goossen's decision is entirely THOUGHTLESS. Intent on keeping positive images off the comics page, he treats lesbians and gays as less-than-human -- permitted to exist only when "newsworthy" (and abnormal or bizarre... like men who bite dogs). The Kansas-based "Augusta Chronicle" also rejected the gay-themed strips, explaining its decision in an editorial titled: "Lawrence & Values" (August 20). Lamenting "popular culture's assertion that sexuality has no moral boundaries," the newspaper touted "successful efforts in recent years by primarily Christian therapists and support groups to convert homosexuals back to a healthier lifestyle." "Is our editorial opposition to unhealthy same-gender sexual relations 'an attempt to impose our values on others,' which is the usual liberal line?," the newspaper asked. "Our response is simply this: Someone's values are going to prevail in this ongoing cultural battle. Why not the values of our founding fathers and the Judeo-Christian tradition which made this country great?" The editorial staff provides no evidence for any of the "Chronicle's" claims about mental health and sexual orientation. Neither do the nostalgic editors indicate whether the values they profess continue to include slavery -- certainly practiced by "our founding fathers" -- or such fine "Judeo-Christian traditions" as the colonial witch hunt. Unfortunately, while not defending the editors who censored her gay storyline, cartoonist Lynn Johnston has all but excused their bigotry. "I got wonderful calls from editors who said they couldn't run it even if they wanted to," said Johnston. "I understand that." Johnston further explained that, particularly in small communities, "everybody knows the editors and the editor can't go and have coffee and a doughnut without someone saying, 'Why are you running that junk in the paper?'" However, she added: "It's not frustrating for me but for the people who are harassed, because they have to put up with this every minute of their lives." "FBOFW's" Lawrence first came out in a 1993, when the character was 17, and Johnston based the incident on a real-life experience involving her own gay brother-in-law. The character has appeared regularly since then; his boyfriend Ben has been featured once before, as Lawrence's prom date. "FBOFW" debuted in 1979. The strip is currently published by newspapers in 23 countries and has been collected in over 17 books. * * * * ACTION ALERT! While supporting the syndicate's publication of "FBOFW," encourage UPS to reconsider its (apparently) heterosexist policy of "warning" editors about lesbian or gay content; additionally, advise UPS to investigate and discourage use of its copyrighted material by the AFA and other hate groups. Contact: Elizabeth Anderson, Associate Director, Universal Press Syndicate, 4520 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111-7701, tel 800-255-6734 or 816-932-6600, web site http://www.uexpress.com. Criticism of their bigoted editorial stands should be sent to: John Fish, Managing Editor, "Augusta Chronicle," P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, GA 30903, fax 706-722-7403, e-mail letters@augustachronicle.com, web site http://augustachronicle.com; John Goossen, Publisher, "Topeka Capital-Journal," 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, KS 66607, tel. 785-295-1299, e-mail jgoossen@cjnetworks.com, web site http://www.cjonline.com (copy correspondence, at the same address, to: Mark Nusbaum, Executive Editor, tel. 785-295-1191, fax 785-295-1230, e-mail mnusbaum@cjnetworks.com; "Letters to the Editor," e-mail letters@cjnetworks.com). To monitor media activities of the homophobic Christian Family Network, request free copies of CFN's cable access TV series -- "Pro-Family Perspective" -- or browse the CFN "Media Watch" web page. Contact: Don Jackson, President, CFN, P.O. Box 24171, Dayton, OH 45424-3613, tel. 937-236-4533, fax 937-236-5056, e-mail Info@cfnweb.com (or Webmaster@cfnweb.com), web site http://www.cfnweb.com. For the American Family Association, contact: Donald Wildmon, President, AFA, P.O. Drawer 2440, Tupelo, MS 38803, tel. 601-844-5036, fax 601-844-9176, e-mail alert@afa.net, web site http://www.afa.net. [ Re/Sources: An online "For Better or For Worse Archive" is maintained by the Universal Press Syndicate, http://www.uexpress.com/ups/comics/fb. ] [End - Part "A"] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT MEDIALERTS Distributed continuously since 1992 as a community press service, "MEDIAlert!" [TM] is a biweekly action and advocacy-oriented column of media criticism, 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 appreciated. Contact: MEDIAlert!, 163 Park Street, San Francisco, CA 94110-5835, voice-mail/fax 415-826-5203, e-mail MediAction@aol.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR NOTES The editor of "Gay People, Sex and the Media" (New York: Haworth Press), Al Kielwasser's media criticism and research have appeared widely in both mainstream and academic publications; he was twice elected Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.