Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 06:32:29 -0800 From: jessea@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Jessea Greenman) Subject: Gingrich Alert GLAAD MEDIA WATCH (for OUT magazine) A TEXTBOOK BIGOT Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House of Representatives -- and the "second most powerful man in the United States" -- has declared that homosexuality is not a "reasonable lifestyle." Therefore, the pedantic Speaker concludes, the subject simply has no place in the classroom. What is truly unreasonable, of course, is the homophobic censorship and heterosexist bias that characterize the millions of tax-supported textbooks used in our public schools. The facts of our lives are, after all, precisely that -- facts. To insist that these truths be hidden is intellectually dishonest and morally reprehensible. The silence in our schools not only fails to prevent homophobic discrimination, but actively encourages the violent oppression of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The climate of hatred in which we live is sustained by the textbooks our children read. In that regard, Newt Gingrich couldn't be more wrong. Our schools are recruiting grounds for homophobes, not homosexuals. * Register your concerns with Newt Gingrich, Office of the Speaker of the House, H-204 Capitol Building, Washington, DC 20515, tel. 202-225-4501, fax 202-225-4656, e-mail georgia6@hr.house.gov. Copy correspondence to your own Senators and Representatives; addresses and phone/fax numbers for Congresspersons are available by calling 202-224-3121; a list of Congressional e-mail addresses is available from CONGRESS@HR.HOUSE.GOV. * To help fill in the gaps still found in most textbooks, GLAAD's "Project 21" has created a full-color classroom poster, suitable for all grade levels, depicting significant events and figures throughout history (individuals are encouraged to donate this poster and similar resources to their local schools, which seldom take the initiative to seek out such materials). Request further information from GLAAD/SFBA, Project 21 Poster, 1360 Mission St., Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94131, tel. 415-861-2244, e-mail GLAAD P21@aol.com. # # # This column was written by Al Kielwasser and Erik Ferguson, and produced by GLAAD/San Francisco Bay Area, 1360 Mission Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103; (415) 861-2244. GLAAD/SFBA is solely responsible for the content of this column. *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Jessea Greenman Co-Chair, Project 21, GLAAD/SFBA 1360 Mission #200, San Francisco CA 94103 ph/fax @ home: 510-601-8883; gopher@outright.com "Always be smarter than the people who hire you." Lena Horn