From: MediAction@aol.com Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 05:34:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: MEDIAlert! ["B"] - 12/4/97 (gay media briefs/web watch) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEX: "MEDIAlert!" - 12.04.97 [Part "B" ONLY] -ITEM 1: "Crossed Signals" [Drew Carey Show; Employment Non-Discrimination Act]. "MEDIA/BRIEFS" -ITEM 2: "Two In Ten" [Barbara Walters; Most Fascinating People of 1997]. -ITEM 3: "Host of Homophobia?" [Montel Williams]. -ITEM 4: "Bowels of Bigotry" [Ohio Public Libraries]. -ITEM 5: "Fundie Bone" [American Family Association; Ellen]. -ITEM 6: "Purple Haze" [The Color Purple; Jackson County School Board]. -ITEM 7: "Watch Keepers" [CultureWatch; Promise Keepers]. -ITEM 8: "Waste Paper" [Linda Bowles; Creators Syndicate]. -ITEM 9: "First Things" [Freedom Forum]. "WEB WATCH" -ITEM 10: "In Print" [QV Magazine; ELIGHT; Northwest Gay Times; AMbush Mag 2000; Holy Titclamps; Rash; Gay Community News; Best Publishing Group]. Part "A" ["Mixed-Up Messages"] posted SEPARATELY. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- M E D I A l e r t ! ["B"] ______________________________ December 4, 1997 Al Kielwasser [1] C R O S S E D S I G N A L S Viewed in over 12 million U.S. homes, ABC's "Drew Carey Show" (Nov. 19) recently plodded through the subject of transvestism. With some broadminded humor -- and a bit of serious misinformation as well -- the plot twists around a visit from Drew's brother, Steve, as he reveals: "I'm a cross-dresser." At the episode's start, Steve takes a job selling women's cosmetics -- and arrives for work wearing women's clothes. "We can't have this sort of thing on the floor," his boss objects. "We have a very traditional clientele." Other characters are more inquisitive. Series regular Oswald asks "why are you a cross-dresser?," to which Steve (rhetorically) replies: "Why do you go to baseball games... or eat ice cream in the park?." When Oswald answers "because it feels good," Steve confidently responds: "Well, you should try it in women's underwear." Meanwhile, the show's title character runs a gamut of reactions, from transphobic to accepting. "I've been trying to tell you for years," Steve explains to his confused brother. "I left all kinds of signs." Drew -- who is also the personnel director at the store where he and Steve work -- finally realizes: "I'm not so hung up on appearances that I would screw you over." At the episode's conclusion, Drew asks: "Are you gay? Because if you are, there are federal laws that will protect you from being fired." When Steve answers "no," Drew replies: "That's too bad... If you were a pregnant, gay senior citizen with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I could make you CEO of the place!" In reality, of course, gay and lesbian employees are NOT protected by federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination (something even a fictional "personnel director" should know). The effort to enact such legislation -- most recently, through the Employment Non-Discrimination Act -- continues to be a major civil rights struggle. Workplace discrimination is the most common complaint received by the American Civil Liberties Union from gays and lesbians, but writers for "The Drew Carey Show" appear too lazy or indifferent to take notice. The assumption that lesbian and gay citizens ALREADY enjoy equal protection under law is a widespread misconception, which ultimately fuels the homophobic rhetoric of "special rights." Such bigotry is reinforced through comedic jabs at minority hiring "preferences" -- suggesting that the careers of straight, white men are somehow blunted by affirmative action. Whatever positive contributions the show might have made, "Drew Carey's" final joke is humorless at best. This "last laugh" is anything but. **** ACTION ALERT! While encouraging greater efforts to promote transgender awareness, remind television executives to get their queer facts straight. Contact: Bruce Helford, Executive Producer, "The Drew Carey Show," c/o Warner-Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd., Bldg. 19, First Floor, Burbank, CA 91522, web-site http://www.wb.com; copy your correspondence to Jamie Tarses, Entertainment President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90037, fax 310-557-7679, e-mail abcaudr@abc.com, web-site http://www.abc.com. Internet users can also post comments to the "Drew Carey" newsgroup, at: alt.fan.drew-carey. [ Re/Sources: For more information on "ENDA" -- the Employment Non-Discrimination Act -- contact the Human Rights Campaign, 1101 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20005, tel. 202-628-4160, fax 202-347-5323, e-mail hrc@hrc.org; HRC's web-site (http://www.hrcusa.org) includes an ENDA fact sheet and suggestions for taking action against workplace discrimination ]. M E D I A / B R I E F S _____________________________ [2] *** TWO IN TEN . . . . Barbara Walters recently took an hour-long look at "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 1997" (ABC, Dec. 2). Included on this year's list were two openly gay persons -- Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres. Other honorees ranged from Arnold Schwarzenegger to (gulp!) Kathie Lee Gifford. The rules for getting on the exclusive list are subjective, but simple, Walters explained: "No bad guys allowed." In her segment on DeGeneres, Walters observed: This year, Ellen DeGeneres made coming out seem in." Walters (dumbly) asked DeGeneres why every episode of her sitcom now seemed gay -- adding "it's just that to a lot of people, it's too much." DeGeneres (smartly) reminded Walters of the obvious: "It's always 'too much' when it's NEVER been done before." Did she fear the show's new focus would make straight audiences "uncomfortable," Walters also asked. Pointing to the historic and continuing heterosexism of television, DeGeneres replied: "I grew up uncomfortable." C o n t a c t : ABC Entertainment, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90037, tel. 310-557-7777 (Audience Information/Comment Line), fax 310-557-7679, e-mail abcaudr@ccabc.com, web-site http://www.abc.com. [3] *** HOST OF HOMOPHOBIA? . . . . A former executive assistant to Montel Williams is suing the talk-show host for homophobic sexual harassment. The Associated Press (Nov. 15) reports that Ernesto Medina, a gay man, claims that Williams ridiculed him "over his sexual orientation, gave him embarrassing 'sex toys' and grabbed his buttocks." According to a spokesperson for Williams, the syndicated TV celebrity "vehemently denies'' the charges. Medina, who worked for Williams during seven months in 1994 and 1995, is represented by attorney W. Randolph Kraft. Last year, Kraft filed a lawsuit in New Jersey on behalf of several heterosexual female employees, who also charged that they were "groped by Williams and subjected to his lascivious comments." Those claims were later dismissed. C o n t a c t : Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10020-1666, tel. 212-621-1600, fax 212-621-7520, e-mail rgersh@ap.org; UPN, 1180 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. [4] *** FROM THE BOWELS OF BIGOTRY . . . . An Ohio man has been defecating on lesbian and gay books at public libraries, leaving behind anonymous notes in which he claims to be "the righteous guardian of public decency.'' According to the "Akron Beacon Journal" (Nov. 21), the vandal has "hit library branches in Dayton, Kettering and Huber Heights more than a dozen times," focusing on books "about homosexual education guides and the United Nations." The damaged books are "sometimes found in the men's room toilet or in the book return area," and have included such titles as "Zack's Story," a book about "growing up with same sex parents." Notes attached by the "guardian" have condemned such books as "an affront to public decency," and asked: "How dare you corrupt young children?'' Though a suspect has not yet been identified in this case, the "Journal" reports that police and library officials "have saved some of the soiled books and feces for possible DNA analysis." C o n t a c t : "Akron Beacon Journal," 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44328, fax 330-996-3520, e-mail ohio@akron.infi.net. [5] *** FUNDIE BONE TO PICK . . . . The American Family Association, a fundamentalist media watchdog group, has issued a special Action Alert to condemn the November 19 episode of "Ellen." According to the AFA, this episode was "a hate-filled attack on Baptist Christians." In particular, the AFA objected to a single line, in which a recently-out lesbian actress (played by guest star Emma Thompson) jokes to Ellen: "Let's go out and terrify some Baptists." The AFA is encouraging its members nationwide to contact companies that advertised during the episode and "register your concerns about their hate-filled attack on Baptist Christians." Sponsors for the November 19 broadcast included Bayer, Intel, Unilever, and Warner Brothers -- distributor of the new gay-themed film, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." According to AFA spokesperson Tim Wildmon, the ABC series has "turned into a campaign to promote homosexuality, to make it more acceptable." "If 'Ellen' continues to make this a major theme and cause instead of a comedy show," Wildmon insists, "it will begin to lose viewers as well as advertisers." "Ellen" currently attracts an average of 14.3 million viewers each week. At this time last season, the series had averaged 16.8 million weekly viewers, though it remains one of ABC's more popular shows. C o n t a c t : Helge H. Wehneier, President, Bayer Corporation, 500 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 55219, tel. 412-394-5500, fax 412-394-5586; Gordon E. Moore, Chair, Intel Corporation, P.O. Box 58119, Santa Clara, CA 95052, tel. 408-765-8080 (or 800-628-8686), fax 408-765-5590, web-site http://www.intel.com/feedback.html; Richard A. Goldstein, Chair, Unilever United States Inc., 390 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022, tel. 800-598-1223, fax 212-906-4411, e-mail corporate.relations@unilever.com; Gerald Levin, CEO, Time Warner Inc./Warner Brothers, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019, tel. 212-484-8000, fax 212-275-3970. [6] *** PURPLE HAZE . . . . Despite vigorous protests from students and teachers, a West Virginia school board is standing by its decision to ban 17 books -- ranging from "The Color Purple" to "100 Questions & Answers About AIDS" -- because they contain "profanity, sexually explicit language and descriptions of rape, molestation and homosexual behavior." On November 20, the Jackson County School Board voted 3-2 to keep the books off high school library shelves, pending further review. "I do what's best for the kids, not the parents, not the teachers,'' said board member Happy Joe Parsons, who supported the ban. The school board did agree to review each of the banned books, with the exception of "The Color Purple" -- which was banned outright. Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a story of African-American family life, and includes references to lesbianism. Though voting to ban "The Color Purple," Parsons admitted that he had never actually read the book. "What it said on the first page was all I needed to hear," he explained. Fellow board member Bernard King agreed, adding: "It could lead to different sex games and violence and other things we have seen in past.'' C o n t a c t : Jackson County Board of Education, Charleston Road, Ripley, WV 25271, tel. 304-372-7300 (Happy J. Parsons, tel. 304-372-6931). [7] *** WATCH KEEPERS . . . . The latest issue of "CultureWatch" newsletter (November, 1997) features a cover story on the Promise Keepers -- a fundamentalist men's group dedicated to promoting sexism and homophobia. Assaying coverage of the Keeper's recent rally in Washington DC, "CultureWatch" editor Bill Berkowitz concludes: "The nation had focused, for a media moment at least, on Promise Keepers myth-making and reportage about these righteous men who claim to want to repent, reconcile and rejoin their families. With very few exceptions the mainstream media were decidedly uncritical...." According to Berkowitz, legitimate opposition to the Keepers has been "significantly marginalized" by the press. "CultureWatch" is a monthly, annotated bibliography "on culture, art and political affairs," published by The DataCenter -- a progressive research and information resource. The center's archives include numerous articles and alerts that "trace the growth and analyze the strength of the Promise Keepers movement." C o n t a c t : Bill Berkowitz, Editor, "CultureWatch," The DataCenter, 464 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2297, tel. 510-835-4692, fax 510-835-3017, e-mail culturewatch@datacenter.org, web-site http://www.igc.org/culturewatch/. [For related media criticism, see: "Promise-Skewity," MEDIAlert! (Oct. 6, 1997), http://www.qrd.org/qrd/media/medialert/10.06.97-A]. [8] *** WASTE PAPER . . . . It seems as if almost every media pundit has had something to say about Bill Clinton's historic meeting with a lesbian and gay civil rights group. Given the volume of commentary, it's no surprise that the quality has varied widely as well. Perhaps the most phlegmatic item newspaper spit out by syndicated columnist Linda Bowles. In a column distributed nationally by Creators Syndicate (Nov. 20), Bowles describes Clinton's appearance before the Human Rights Campaign as a meeting with "rich and influential homosexuals who had gathered to celebrate themselves and to raise money with which to buy politicians." According to Bowles, Clinton "received whistles, cheers and standing ovations as he confirmed his approval of homosexual behavior and pledged his support of legislation to advance the homosexual agenda." Expressing her opposition to "affirming the civil rights of a group of people based on the way they perform sex," Bowles expounds the stale myth of "special rights." "American homosexuals are not impotent," she argues. "They have influence all out of proportion to their numbers - with a sitting president, a major political party, Hollywood, the National Education Association and the television networks. Homosexual 'rights' legislation is based on propaganda and political pandering, not facts. A case could be made that more people are denied jobs because of acne and tattoos than because of their sexual preferences." "Establishing homosexuals as a legally protected minority will undermine the efforts of the Boy Scouts to protect children from predators, legitimize an increased use of government schools for the homosexual indoctrination of children, frighten employers into establishing quotas for homosexual hires to avoid lawsuits and facilitate homosexual access to religious pulpits," Bowles concludes. "The average life span of male homosexuals is 43 years, 30 years less than for other males. This is a diseased community which wreaks havoc upon itself, blames others, seeks company for its misery and demands approval for its dead-end behavior." C o n t a c t : Creators Syndicate, 5777 Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045, e-mail Cre8ors@aol.com, web-site http://www.creators.com. [9] *** FIRST THINGS . . . . A series of presentations on free-speech issues will highlight a national conference on the First Amendment -- hosted by The Freedom Forum -- on December 16, 1997 in Arlington, Virginia. Scheduled topics include "Speech on the Fringe" (violence in the media, hate speech, pornography, flag burning), "Institutions Under Fire" (the press, religion, art) and "The Medium is the Target" (television, Internet, videos). At this event, the Freedom Forum will also release a major new report on the "State of the First Amendment," which examines current trends and attitudes towards free-speech rights and values. There is no charge for the conference; to sign up, call Virginia Lee at 703-284-3512, or e-mail her at vlee@freedomforum.org, with your name, address, affiliation and telephone number. C o n t a c t : Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment Ombudsman, The Freedom Forum, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209, tel. 703-284-3511, fax 703-284-3519, e-mail pmcmasters@freedomforum.org. W E B W A T C H ________________________ [10] I N P R I N T , O N L I N E & O U T O F T H E W O R L D The World Wide Web continues to expand access to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender publications -- from general interest mags to highly specialized 'zines, spanning national newspapers as well as local newsletters. Among the many sites to see: *** LATINO LOOK -- "QV Magazine" takes a Latino perspective on all things gay; sections of the magazine's web-site include: "Current Issue," "What's New?," "Cool Links," and "QV Membership" information [http://www.qvmagazine.com]. *** (D)ELIGHTFUL -- Now "working on new improvements for 1998!," future issues of the teen zine "ELIGHT" will include coming out biographies ("real life stories from youth coming out to themselves, parents, family, friends, and society") -- along with a collection of poetry, personals, and other writings ("all sorts of stories, articles, and features sent in by youth from all over the world"); "ELIGHT's" mission is to "provide a literary freelance publishing forum for gay teens" and "a webspace for gay teens to express thoughts, emotions, and feelings" [http://www.youth.org/elight/]. *** PACIFIC PAGES -- Distributed in newsletter form for four years, the "Northwest Gay Times" moved to the Internet in January 1997; "NWGT" serves the Pacific Northwest "with local, regional, and up to date news; according to web master Gary Minerich "local writers also provide us with book reviews, spirituality, AIDS information, editorials, bisexual and transgendered information" [http://home1.gte.net/minerich/index.html]. *** IN THE BUSH -- "AMbush Mag 2000" is self-described as "The Premiere, Campy Trashy Tabloid for Lesbian & Gay Louisiana & The Gulf South!;" among other features, the latest issue covers "what's hot" and "in the news" [http://www.ambushmag.com]. *** NOTE WORTHY -- Mostly an archival source for (way) back issues of the queer zine "Holy Titclamps," this web-site includes versions of the first seven issues (1989-1991); musical media watchers might be interested in several (newer) features, such as: "Gay Hiphop Links," "Queer Music Venues," and "Queer Bands on Tour" [http://www.io.com/~larrybob/]. *** SCRATCH TO SNIFF -- "Rash" is a lesbian/gay e-zine "from deep in the heart of Dallas;" currently a work-in-progress, publisher Mary Tyler Magdelene calls this new venture "the almost-maybe-could be coolest thing outta Dallas since the Zapruder film..." [http://fohnix.metronet.com/~rash/]. *** NOT JUST U.S. -- Outside the United States, the "Gay Community News" offers Ireland-based coverage [http://homepage.tinet.ie/~nlgf/]. Also of international note: Details about the Netherlands-based "Best Publishing Group" can be accessed, in English, on the web; Best publications include a sex glossy "MaGAYzine" and the annual "Regenbooggids" (Rainbow Guide) -- a sort of "Gay Yellow Pages" in which "you can find all gay-friendly businesses in The Netherlands and Belgium" [http://www.gayworld.nl]. [end] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 always 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 popular and academic publications; he was twice elected Chair of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area. ________________________________________ "Shape the forces that shape our society . . . Challenge homophobia in and through the media." ________________________________________