Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 10:34:08 -0800 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAAD PRAISES POPULAR MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Seomin GLAAD Entertainment Media Director 323.658.6775, ext. 14 seomin@glaad.org GLAAD PRAISES POPULAR MEDIA ADVOCACY GROUP COMMENDS FRESHMAN TV DRAMA'S SENSITIVE, ACCURATE DEPICTION OF LESBIAN MOTHER LOS ANGELES, CA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1999 -- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today praised series creator Ryan Murphy, writer Oliver Goldstick, the WB Network and the creative team of Popular for an outstanding episode spotlighting the relationship between a lesbian mother and her high-school-age son. On the Thursday, December 2 episode of Popular, series regular Harrison John (Christopher Gorham) struggles with public knowledge of his mother's sexual orientation and her romantic relationship with her co-worker. The episode sensitively deals with the reactions of Harrison's friends and family, both to the revelation and to Harrison's initial discomfort with it. Harrison's mother, Robin, is played by Alley Mills, formerly of The Wonder Years; her girlfriend, Sheila, is played by Tracy Kolis. "Popular's matter-of-fact portrayal of Robin and Harrison's relationship raises several important, rarely-addressed issues," said GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Scott Seomin. "The introduction of Robin brings important lesbian visibility to television - something that has been nearly non-existent this season. Harrison's response to his friends' learning of his mother's romantic relationship feels honest and true, and is all the more powerful for it." "The fear of being 'different' is not felt only by lesbian and gay youth," said Seomin. "Robin's gentle, compassionate acknowledgement of her son's concerns exemplifies the kind of sensitive parenting that lesbian and gay parents can provide. Popular really broke new ground with a very realistic picture of the complexities of everyday lesbian and gay families." "I've always felt that Popular reflects real life, real people and real situations," said Popular series creator Ryan Murphy. "Harrison's discomfort with his peers' knowledge of his mom's sexual orientation is not uncommon among school-age youth. Through Harrison and Robin, I wanted to show young people that their parents and friends are there to support them in situations like these, and that what may seem uncomfortable at first can actually serve to make lesbian and gay families stronger." For a complete list of regular, supporting and recurring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on primetime television this season, please refer to GLAAD's Fall TV Scoreboard at GLAAD Online at www.glaad.org/glaad/scoreboard/index.html The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. -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 QUARTERLY GLAADNOTES 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" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. --============_-1268048489==_ma============ Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Scott Seomin GLAAD Entertainment Media Director 323.658.6775, ext. 14 0000,0000,00FFseomin@glaad.org GLAAD PRAISES POPULAR MEDIA ADVOCACY GROUP COMMENDS FRESHMAN TV DRAMA'S SENSITIVE, ACCURATE DEPICTION OF LESBIAN MOTHER LOS ANGELES, CA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1999 -- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today praised series creator Ryan Murphy, writer Oliver Goldstick, the WB Network and the creative team of Popular for an outstanding episode spotlighting the relationship between a lesbian mother and her high-school-age son. On the Thursday, December 2 episode of Popular, series regular Harrison John (Christopher Gorham) struggles with public knowledge of his mother's sexual orientation and her romantic relationship with her co-worker. The episode sensitively deals with the reactions of Harrison's friends and family, both to the revelation and to Harrison's initial discomfort with it. Harrison's mother, Robin, is played by Alley Mills, formerly of The Wonder Years; her girlfriend, Sheila, is played by Tracy Kolis. "Popular's matter-of-fact portrayal of Robin and Harrison's relationship raises several important, rarely-addressed issues," said GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Scott Seomin. "The introduction of Robin brings important lesbian visibility to television - something that has been nearly non-existent this season. Harrison's response to his friends' learning of his mother's romantic relationship feels honest and true, and is all the more powerful for it." "The fear of being 'different' is not felt only by lesbian and gay youth," said Seomin. "Robin's gentle, compassionate acknowledgement of her son's concerns exemplifies the kind of sensitive parenting that lesbian and gay parents can provide. Popular really broke new ground with a very realistic picture of the complexities of everyday lesbian and gay families." "I've always felt that Popular reflects real life, real people and real situations," said Popular series creator Ryan Murphy. "Harrison's discomfort with his peers' knowledge of his mom's sexual orientation is not uncommon among school-age youth. Through Harrison and Robin, I wanted to show young people that their parents and friends are there to support them in situations like these, and that what may seem uncomfortable at first can actually serve to make lesbian and gay families stronger." For a complete list of regular, supporting and recurring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on primetime television this season, please refer to GLAAD's Fall TV Scoreboard at GLAAD Online at www.glaad.org/glaad/scoreboard/index.html The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. -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 QUARTERLY GLAADNOTES 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" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. Times_New_RomanThe Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on Timesgender identity and sexual orientation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. --============_-1268048489==_ma============--