Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 14:10:30 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: HBO AND LAW FIRM SKADDEN ARPS ARE HONORED BY GLAAD FIRST FAIRNESS AWARDS RECOGNIZE FAIR TREATMENT OF GAYS AND LESBIANS MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alan Klein (212) 807-1700 Pager: (800) 601-5483 (please include area code) Email: klein@glaad.org HBO AND LAW FIRM SKADDEN ARPS ARE HONORED BY GLAAD FIRST FAIRNESS AWARDS RECOGNIZE FAIR TREATMENT OF GAYS AND LESBIANS NEW YORK CITY, NOVEMBER 6 1996-The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) announces the Fairness Awards, established to honor a long-term commitment to fairness by leading supporters of equal rights nationwide. Honorees are HBO's Sheila Nevins and the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The Awards will be presented during a luncheon at the Rainbow Room, located at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, on November 19, 1996 at Noon. The GLAAD Fairness Awards recognizes corporate leaders and institutions that are on the front lines in the battle for fair and accurate representation of gay men and lesbians. Fairness Awards recipients demonstrate exemplary leadership in combating discrimination based on sexual orientation through education, communications and civil rights protection. "The tireless work of Sheila Nevins and the attorneys of Skadden, Arps clearly shows how our nation's corporate and cultural landscape has grown to embrace all Americans-including lesbians and gay men," said Peggy Brady, Co-Chair of GLAAD's Board of Directors. "GLAAD's Fairness Awards honor them with recognition from their peers and the public at large for their work to end intolerance and bigotry and to promote fairness." Sheila Nevins, HBO's Senior Vice President of Documentaries and Family Programming, is responsible for overseeing the development and production of all documentaries and family programming at HBO. Sheila has supervised the production of more than 150 programs, winning 35 CableACE Awards, 12 Emmy Awards, eight George Foster Peabody Awards and five Academy Awards. Among her most notable programs dealing with lesbian and gay issues are: The Celluloid Closet; Why Am I Gay?; More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter; The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter; Cinemax's Singing Positive; and the upcoming Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End. With more than 1,100 attorneys in 21 offices, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is one of the largest law firms in the world, providing a wide array of legal services domestically and internationally. The firm represents a broad spectrum of clients, from small high-tech start-up companies to more than one third of the Fortune 250 industrial corporations, in addition to many financial and governmental entities. Skadden, Arps also maintains a strong commitment to pro bono legal services, as evidenced by the firm's active pro bono program, its unique Skadden Fellowship Program and its supports of individual Skadden, Arps' attorneys pursuing pro bono causes, including lesbian and gay rights advocacy and legal advice. Featured speakers at the GLAAD Fairness Awards luncheon are the Honorable Bruce Lehman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks; Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of HBO; esteemed television journalist and producer Linda Ellerbee; and Tom Stoddard, former Executive Director of Lambda Legal Defense Fund. Ticket prices for individuals are $300 and $500 (for preferred seating and a program listing), and are $3,000 for tables of ten and $5,000 for corporate sponsors (both include a program listing plus an ad for corporate sponsors). To purchase tickets, please call Mark Tadlock at GLAAD at (212) 807-1700. Requests for tickets must be received by November 11, 1996. GLAAD was founded in 1985 by a group of writers, including the late Celluloid Closet author Vito Russo, who were outraged by the defamatory headlines about AIDS in the New York Post. They mobilized to change the way lesbians and gay men are represented in all forms of media. Today GLAAD is a national organization that effectively mobilizes public response to media coverage and educates media professionals on lesbian and gay issues and concerns. GLAAD has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Northampton (MA) and affiliates in Atlanta, Kansas City and St. Louis. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay media watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. -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 the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD 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.