Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 15:04:25 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: LESBIAN & GAY HISTORY MONTH WELCOMES ED ALWOOD FOR SPECIAL VIRTUAL TOWN MEETING AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR JOINS GLAAD FOR LIVE FORUM ON GAY.COM CALENDAR LISTING FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 15, 1997 Media Contact: Liz Tracey (212) 807-1700 pager: (800) 946-4646, pin #1423527 e-mail: tracey@glaad.org LESBIAN & GAY HISTORY MONTH WELCOMES ED ALWOOD FOR SPECIAL VIRTUAL TOWN MEETING AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR JOINS GLAAD FOR LIVE FORUM ON GAY.COM WHAT: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), in honor of Lesbian & Gay History Month: A Celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History, will hold a global Town Meeting on gay.com. WHO: Special guest Edward Alwood, former CNN reporter and author of the recent book, Straight News, an insider's view of the changing fortunes of lesbians and gay men in American print and broadcast news media. Earlier this year, Alwood's book garnered him a GLAAD Media Award. WHEN: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21st, 1997 at 10pm Est/ 7pm Pac WHERE: http://www.gay.com/pages/glaad.html (gay.com) or http://www.glaad.org/glaad/history-month/chat.html WHY: During Lesbian & Gay History Month, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community examines its political struggle, cultural achievements and collective creativity. This is the last of three special town meetings GLAAD is hosting in honor of Lesbian & Gay History Month. Past guests have included Rodney Wilson, founder of History Month, and Loraine Hutchins, bi activist and co-founder of BiNet USA. In January 1994, Rodney Wilson, a high school teacher in Missouri, appalled by the exclusion of lesbian and gay history from textbooks, set out to make a change. Wilson organized teachers and community leaders to educate the public about lesbians and gay men past and present. They formed a national grassroots network to create a celebration and education campaign that continues today. MORE: GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Gay.com's mission is to provide an online community for gays and lesbians to come-out, socialize, learn, and have fun. Attracting over 750,000 visitors each month, gay.com (http://www.gay.com) is free and supported through corporate sponsorships. -30- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's DISPATCH AND QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.