From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 18:24:33 -0400

________________________________________________________ 
NEWS from the
Human Rights Campaign
1101 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
email:  [email-masked]
<A HREF="http://www.hrc.org">
WWW:  http://www.hrc.org
</A>
________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997
    VIEWER WARNING BEFORE `ELLEN' SHOW AMOUNTS TO ABSURD DOUBLE STANDARD,   
        ASSERTS LARGEST NATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ORGANIZATION
        Honest Portrayals of Gay People Do Not Merit Red Flags,
                        Says Elizabeth Birch
WASHINGTON -- The Human Rights Campaign slammed ABC-TV today for its plan 
to broadcast an advisory at the beginning of the "Ellen" show warning 
parents that the program contains adult material.
         "Ellen DeGeneres has portrayed an openly gay character honestly 
and with enormous sensitivity and humor. Now, ABC-TV wants America to think 
this warrants `viewer discretion,'" said Elizabeth Birch, HRC's executive 
director.
        "The realistic depiction of the life of a gay person hardly 
qualifies as content that should be marked for viewer discretion. This 
amounts to an absurd double standard in which characters who reflect the 
real lives of gay people are marked as `adult content.'"
        Sources at the "Ellen" show revealed to HRC that the network was 
planning to air the advisory on the Emmy-award winning program tonight. The 
episode features a scene in which DeGeneres' character jokingly kisses 
another character, played by Joely Fisher, on the lips. The warning will 
advise parental discretion due to the show's content.
       "To stick this advisory on the `Ellen' show is be a terrible setback 
for ABC, which showed a great deal of courage when it agreed to allow 
actress DeGeneres to play an openly lesbian character in prime time," Birch 
said. "Plus, this undermines a rating system that has only been in effect 
for a week."
        The "Ellen" show is rated TV-14, which puts it on par with other 
evening sitcoms. Additional ratings are available for violence (V), sex (S) 
or language (L) should a particular episode's script warrant. 
        HRC asked its members to contact ABC-TV to urge network executives 
to drop this unnecessary warning. ABC can be contacted as follows:
                        Ms. JamieTarses, Entertainment President 
                        ABC Television Network
                        2040 Avenue of the Stars
                        Los Angeles, CA 90067
                        Phone: (310) 557-7777
                        E-mail: [email-masked]
        The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay 
political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively 
lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to 
ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, 
at work and in the community.
                                - 30 -
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