From: Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 21:33:22 -0500 Subject: #4/HOLLYWOOD: GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE FIRST! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ALONG THROUGH CYBERSPACE, THE WORLD WIDE WEB, ETC. _________________________________________ CONDITIONS FOR PUBLICATION and/or RE-DISTRIBUTION (modified 1/29/95). This is a FREE, weekly, syndicated column, distributed electronically via the internet, available to any interested print publication or on-line user. Although this material is copyrighted by the author, you are hereby granted permission to print (only in newspapers or magazines--no books) and distribute (electronically) this column on a one-time-per-column basis. EDITORS/PUBLISHERS: Please feel free to edit the column for length or timeliness, as it may simply be too long for your particular publication, or perhaps outdated, as some of the subscribing publications are monthly, or bi-weekly, as opposed to weekly. IF YOU PRINT OR REDISTRIBUTE THIS COLUMN IN ANY WAY, YOU MUST LEAVE THE FINAL PROMOTIONAL PARAGRAPH(s) INTACT (That's why this column is free), and you must send two copies of each issue which contains the column to Nicholas Snow, The Tinseltown Queer, 7985 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 450, West Hollywood, CA 90046. IF YOU WANT A BLACK & WHITE HEADSHOT TO ACCOMPANY THE COLUMN, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR REQUEST AND MAILING ADDRESS TO Ttownqueer@aol.com. (On online photo will be forthcoming in a few weeks, for electronic recipients). The column is distributed anytime between Sunday a.m. and Monday p.m., Pacific Standard Time. If you have received this column as the result of being on a list or newsgroup and wish to receive it directly, please notify me at Ttownqueer@aol.com. Thank you very much. Sincerely, 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 Ttownqueer@aol.com, write 7985 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 450, West Hollywood, CA 90046, or call Snow's 24-HOUR Audio Press Release at (818) 771-7690. ###