Subject: #4/HOLLYWOOD: GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE FIRST!
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 21:33:22 -0500

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Nicholas Snow
The Tinseltown Queer

COLUMN #4 - Feb. 5th - Feb. 11th, 1994
Copyright 1995 by Nicholas Snow, All Rights Reserved

Nicholas Snow is...
TINSELTOWN'S QUEER!
"News, Commentary and Gossip, With a Political Cutting Edge."

HOLLYWOOD...GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE FIRST!

 "Come out, come out, whereever you are...or else!"

 Some of the most famous--some of the wealthiest--some of the most
influential people on the planet are lesbian, gay or bisexual.  You know it,
I know it, and they know it, so why shouldn't everyone else know it as well?
After all, Silence = Death, right?  And our invisibility is the greatest
source of our oppression, right?

 Outing--the practice of disclosing the homosexuality of public figures
against their will--has become a hot topic of debate among lesbigay activists
in recent years.  In all walks of life, public men and women who are
privately lesbigay, know they might be invited to an "outing", one that isn't
so friendly, and one that doesn't include a picnic basket, wine, cheese and
pleasant company.  Societal icons now spend sleepless night wondering if
their well-kept secrets will be tomorrow's headlines or the top story on the
evening news.  Maybe their CURRENT AFFAIR will be the HARD COPY on the next
INSIDE EDITION of ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT.  Afterall, enQUEERying minds want to
know.

 Proponents of Outing claim that it's their duty to expose the hypocritical
behavior of closeted lesbigays.  Others believe that all lesbigay public
figures are fair game, not just those who may overtly hamper our movement.
 And there are those who believe in the sanctity of the personal lives that
public figures have managed to preserve for themselves--they believe that all
individuals, regardless of their level of celebrity, have the right to choose
the degree to which they come out.

 There are degress of "outness."  One person may just be acknowledging their
lesbigayness internally; another may be in a relationship, have a circle of
lesbigay friends, contribute to lesbigay causes and so forth;  and there are
those of us who are out in the public eye, such as BARNEY FAG...I mean FRANK
(just a slip of the tongue) or out in the global spotlight--praise the Rock
Divas of them all--MELISSA ETHERIDGE and ELTON JOHN--and of course, TV's
 AMANDA BEARSE from Married with Children.

 In my rising position as a media activist in Hollywood, I have a NO OUTING
policy.  My phone does ring from time to time with information that would
allow me to leave my "day job", were I to sell it to the myriad of tabloid
media available for such an exchange.  However, I prefer to build alliances
and associations with individuals throughout Hollywood, so that we may
collectively fight the fight.  I acknowledge that these people are in their
own coming out processes, and I respect and honor their privacy, as well as
their freedom of choice, while using my growing network of contacts as an
activist tool.

 While I do respect personal choice about self-disclosure (think of it as the
Fifth Ammendment),  I ACCUSE HOLLYWOOD OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER, because
Silence = Death.  People in this town say, "I can't come out."  Give me a
Beverly Hills break!  Is someone forcibly keeping your mouth shut?  If so,
then you might get off with a lesser plea of INVOLUNTARY MAN SLAUGHTER.
 However, in most cases, YOUR silence is YOUR choice.  And if you continue to
think that your series, your next film, or your next album, are more
important than coming out, I invite you to visit a few AIDS wards to see the
CASUALITIES OF YOUR SILENCE.  I invite you to visit the Halls of Congress (I
always that Newt was that precious girl in that Alien movie) to see the
BENEFICIARIES OF YOUR SILENCE.  And I would like you to fire you publicist if
they keep dishing out the same old crap to Entertainment Weekly,
Entertainment Tonight, and Entertainment Television (Planet Hollywood is
fabulous, sweetie, but what about Planet Earth!).

 To the extent that we withhold our enlightenment about given subject from
the people we potentially influence (our friends, our families, our fans), is
to the extent that we are accountable for ongoing ignorance about that
subject, and any of the negative results of said ignorance (AIDS,
Queer-bashing, teen suicide, alcoholism, oppression of all kinds).  THE
RADICAL RIGHT IS WRONG, BUT WE ARE ALLOWING THEM TO TEACH THE MASSES, WHILE
WE HANG OUT IN GHETTOS OF GUCCI AND GLAMOUR.

 We've just marked the horrid, 50th Anniversary of Auschwitz, in which, at
the very least, a million people were sent to their deaths in concentration
camps, incinerated in ovens of hate and ignorance.  To Hollywood, I say
again, WHILE RED RIBBONS MAY CALL ATTENTION TO THE RAGING INFERNO THAT IS
AIDS, OUR CHOSEN SILENCE SERVES ONLY TO FUEL THE CONTINUED BURNING OF OUR
LIVES.  My question to you is, "What are you doing about THIS Halocaust?
 Think about it, and let me know.  Better yet, LET THE WORLD KNOW.

 A special note to the new National GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation):  I STRONGLY URGE YOU DEVELOP A POWERFUL COMING OUT RHETORIC in
your work.  It's great to have Hollywood come to your glamour-packed
dinner...at which I am a table sponsor--if you want to sit with The
Tinseltown Queer, tickets are $175.00--just let me know...but ask them to
CHECK THEIR CLOSETS INSTEAD OF THEIR COATS.

 Nicholas Snow, self-proclaimed
"Actor-Writer-Singer-Songwriter-Publisher-Columnist-Activist-Diva", is the
producer and host of the syndicated television show, "Tinseltown's Queer!"
 His editorial mission (and the foundation of his entertainment pursuits)
is,"To examine and strengthen the relationship between the entertainment
industry and the Queer (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgenderist)
Civil Rights Movement, thereby positively impacting the movement itself."
 For more information, or with questions, comments, breaking news or gossip,
E-mail [email-masked], write 7985 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 450, West
Hollywood, CA  90046, or call Snow's 24-HOUR Audio Press Release at (818)
771-7690.
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