Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 16:01:40 -0700 From: glaad@glaad.org (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Subject: GLAADAlert 08.23.96 GLAADALERT August 23, 1996 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation New Book Hell-Bent on Outing Football Star Troy Aikman In his soon-to-be-released book Hell-Bent, sportswriter Skip Bayless explores the rumor that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is gay. Discussion by at least one media professional on the subject has brought to light upsetting anti-gay undertones. In an August 15 MSNBC internet commentary, Ron Borges attacks Bayless for bringing up what he describes as the "vicious rumor that Aikman is gay," explaining that "in a sport as close-minded as pro football, to charge your quarterback, of all people, with being gay is in itself enough to hurt Aikman. The NFL is a place of rich jocks, a place where men are men and if they aren't they don't want anybody to know about it." In his zeal to downplay the rumors, Borges makes more than a few anti-gay assumptions, from calling the rumor of homosexuality "vicious," to the presumption that if a man is gay or even rumored to be gay he is less of a "man." Perhaps Borges meant that the NFL is rife with homophobia; that in such an atmosphere, people who are gay, or are labeled as such, are potentially the victims of unjustified discrimination based on the small-mindedness of their peers; that sponsors who steer away from giving endorsement to athletes that are lesbian and gay, or perceived to be gay, are caving into homophobia and should be resoundingly criticized for their actions. Let MSNBC and Borges know that speculation about Troy Aikman's sexual orientation is not the problem. The problem is homophobia perpetrated by the NFL and biased journalists like Borges. Contact: Mark Harrington, Vice President, MSNBC, 2200 Fletcher Avenue, Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024, telephone: 201.583.5000, WWW: http://www.msnbc.com. More Gridiron Gossip: S.F. Columnists Tackle Kemp Gay Rumor In the rush to dismiss long-standing rumors of Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp's homosexuality, two San Francisco columnists investigating the story forgot to ask anyone who wasn't a Kemp ally. Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, who write a daily political column in the San Francisco Chronicle, posed the question of Kemp's sexuality to Lyn Nofzinger, who was Governor Ronald Reagan's communications director in 1967 when the initial scandal broke; Lou Cannon, Reagan's biographer; and John Buckley, presidential candidate Bob Dole's communications director. Not surprisingly, they totally dismissed the gay rumor. Buckley, who was also Kemp's spokesperson during his 1988 presidential bid, went even further, saying that "any garbage rumors about any aspect of his personal life are just that-garbage," adding that "it isn't true and even raising the issue is demeaning to him and the political process." While Buckley's staggering statements equating homosexuality to "garbage" and calling the issue of a person's sexual orientation "demeaning" go unchecked by Matier and Ross, none of the journalists making the allegations about Kemp are interviewed for the story. Explain to Matier and Ross that homosexuality is not a dirty little secret, nor is being lesbian or gay demeaning, and that if they want to investigate the truth behind a rumor, they should try to have at least some sense of balance and objectivity in who they ask. Also, ask them a question: What is it about gay rumors that make so many people fall over themselves to help dismiss them? Contact: Matier and Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, fax: 415.543.7708, e-mail: chronletters@sfgate.com Gay Trek Rumor Light Years Ahead of Reality Gay trekkies beamed when the August 8 London Daily Mail printed that in First Contact, the next Star Trek film, Lieutenant Hawk would be openly gay. The Daily Mail also credited the inclusion to the over 5,000 people signing GLAAD's Voyager Visibility Project petition to Star Trek producers to honor creator Gene Roddenberry's wishes for regular lesbian and gay characters. Unfortunately, according to Producer Rick Berman, Lieutenant Hawk is heterosexual and there are actually no gay characters in the film, or, for that matter, on Voyager or Deep Space 9, the Star Trek shows scheduled to begin new seasons this fall. Once again, Paramount has continued to ignore the wishes of Roddenberry, Roddenberry's openly gay grandson, a significant number of the various Star Trek casts and crews, including Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) and over 5,000 forward-thinking trekkies by envisioning a future where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can't seem to get hired by the Federation. Let Paramount know that their retro vision of the future is getting really old. Contact: Kerry McCouggage, President, Paramount Television, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038. The Voyager Visbility Project web page is: http://www.gaytrek.com/gaytrek. Are Gay Movies Still In the Closet? The August 9 Entertainment Weekly recounts the ongoing struggle to successfully steer a lesbian or gay project though Hollywood. Following the controversy over the making of The Secret, a movie based on The Dreyfus Affair, Peter Lefcourt's novel about a gay baseball player, Entertainment Weekly said, "The Secret has all the ingredients of a perfect Hollywood confection, There was just one problem: The romance was between two men." After several incarnations, the project is now collecting dust on a shelf. As the article notes, "Hollywood remains skittish about gay films that don't fall into two relatively safe categories-cross-dressing minstrel shows or AIDS dramas." The Secret's director-to-be, David Frankel, adds that "Birdcage is the most conventional story about stereotypical, flamboyant gays who are hardly shaking up the system. What did Birdcage make possible? More Birdcages." Still, as the story notes, there are about 30 other gay-themed films "in the pipeline-many dealing with AIDS or gay martyrdom." And more actors are willing to take on lesbian and gay roles. Kevin Kline will appear in the upcoming In & Out, about a star who, in his Oscar acceptance speech, inadvertently outs a small-town teacher. Lois & Clark's Dean Cain will play a gay bank robber in a low-budget drama called Independence. The article ends with a quote by Richard Jennings of Hollywood Supports: "There are still taboos. Especially intimacy between two men. But I think that will disappear over the next couple years." While the article may not go far enough into exploring the core issues of homophobia within the entertainment industry, author A.J. Jacobs does a good job of raising the question of why more lesbian and gay Hollywood features don't get made. Let him know his analysis is appreciated. Contact: A.J. Jacobs, Entertainment Weekly, 11766 Wilshire Boulevard, 17th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025, fax: 310.268.7610. Chicago Tribune Tells it Like It Is Following the acquittal on Air Force Major Debra Meeks on charges that an alleged lesbian relationship violated military codes of conduct, the August 20 Chicago Tribune included a stinging criticism of the Clinton administration's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The editorial, "A Verdict for Sanity and Fairness," says that while Maj. Meeks's acquittal is cause for celebration, "another travesty was already an accomplished fact. Homosexual members of the armed forces are supposed to keep their sexual orientation to themselves-and in return, the services are supposed to refrain from inquiring about or investigating the matter. In this case, the Air Force failed to keep its end of the bargain." It continues by complaining that military regulations against sodomy, which officially forbids "unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex," is actually used aggressively and selectively against lesbians and gay men. The conclusion is simple: Maj. Meeks's "sexual orientation is largely irrelevant-as it is for both gay and straight members of the Air Force. What matters is how they do their jobs. It is hard to imaging a heterosexual aviator being prosecuted for sodomy because he allegedly had an affair with a civilian woman. There is no reason Maj. Meeks should have been either." Please tell the Chicago Tribune that this appeal for common sense in an often sensationalized debate is a welcome one, and encourage them to follow up on their belief by aggressively pursuing other stories of anti-gay abuses in the military. Contact: Chicago Tribune, P.O. Box 4041, Chicago, IL 60611-4041, fax: 312.222.3143, e-mail: tribletter@aol.com. Orlando Sentinel Talks About Coming Out In an August 9 article entitled, "When Gays Come Out: How Their Decision Also Affects Family, Friends, Co-workers," Orlando Sentinel staffer Mary Brooks does an excellent job of exploring the issues that not only gay people, but their communities, face when someone comes out of the closet. Along with first-hand accounts by lesbians and gay men about their coming out experiences, Brooks interviewed mothers, bosses, friends, co-workers and clergy. The overall message of the piece is that coming out is a process of acceptance for everyone, especially those who are close to someone they have just discovered is lesbian or gay. In addition, a sidebar item gives suggestions from several lesbian and gay community leaders about how gay people who are considering coming out can handle fallout and how to prepare for possible hostility from family and friends. Local resources are listed, as are a number of excellent books. Please thank Mary Brooks for coverage that puts a human face on the coming out experience from a number of viewpoints and articulates a basic "Coming Out: 101" that is always a relevant story. Contact: Mary Brooks, The Orlando Sentinel, 633 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801-1349, fax: 900.288.6397. Talking Back to a Quack Following an August 10 article about anti-gay author Dr. Jeffrey Satinover's claims of "curing" homosexuality, the Connecticut newspaper The Norwalk Hour ran an August 17 op-ed which challenges not only the questionable feasibility of "cure," but the offensiveness of the underlying concept that something is wrong with being lesbian or gay. In his piece, Roger Hooverman begins, "I was surprised at the coverage [the Hour] gave to Satinover. I thought this kind of bigoted crusade had long since been discredited." He continues by dismantling the homophobic agenda behind "ex-gay ministries" and supposed cures, and points out that, "It's no coincidence that those who generate the most hatred toward gays are also those who profit most from it, either by running 'ministries' to cure us or by preaching lies that demonize us and then using the resulting fear as a fund-raising tool." Hooverman also shares his own personal grief he went through in a "doomed heterosexual marriage that produced three children and a broken home" before he acknowledged that he would just have to come to terms with being gay, adding, "coming out was the best thing that ever happened to me." Please tell The Norwalk Hour that you appreciate the inclusion of Roger Hooverman's articulate and honest essay, but ask them what could have motivated them to pander to such a snake oil salesman and doomsayer as Dr. Jeffrey Satinover in the first place. Contact: The Norwalk Hour, 346 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851, fax: 203.840.1802. Lesbian Socialist Journalist Deserves Her Bias In an August 20 essay appearing in the Sioux City Journal, syndicated columnist Bonnie Erbe discusses the unfolding story of a journalist who had been stripped of her writing duties because she campaigns for lesbian and gay rights in her off-time and is a registered member of the Freedom Socialist Party. Sandy Nelson, formerly the education reporter and a feature writer for the Tacoma, Washington News Tribune, alleges she was demoted to the copy desk when her employers got wind of her politician leanings. Erbe says more than free speech is at stake, that this may be a good opportunity to seriously challenge "the archaic tradition for reporters to pretend to be 'unbiased.'" She notes that, " just as many people get their 'news' from Rush Limbaugh as Dan Rather. So why do editors cling to the belief that reporters should be unbiased? I would much rather get my news from reporters whose political predilections I know and can discount accordingly, than from a closet liberal or conservative." Finally, Erbe notes, the bottom line is that Nelson should have the right to express her personal views in her free time. And, she adds, "News consumers should win the right to the closest thing we'll ever get to an unbiased media: a media stripped of its alleged and disingenuous impartiality." Please thank the Sioux City Journal for this valuable contribution to the ongoing debate over media bias and objectivity, and the ways in which people like Sandy Nelson get caught in the tenuous balance between the two. Contact: Sioux City Journal, 515 Pavonia Street, Sioux City, IA 51102, fax: 712.279.5059. Softball: It Isn't Just for Lesbians Anymore In Long Beach, California, the Sun and Surf gay and lesbian softball league serves as an extended family for its hundreds of members, and in an August 8 story, Long Beach Press Telegraph writer Roger Phillips captures the distinct pleasures of being lesbian and gay and playing ball. Phillips writes about how the league brought many gay men back to softball who had left straight leagues years before due to alienation or homophobia. One player mentions how playing softball has helped him come to terms with his homosexuality after a childhood of not fitting into the Little League mold. "The media portrays gay people as effeminate, limp-wristed and sissies. When I realized there was nothing wrong with me, it was easy to accept myself." For straight members of the league, participation has broken down barriers of homophobia as well. Finally, Phillips writes romantically about one relationship that was begun on the diamond. Please let the Long Beach Press Telegraph know that human interest features with a gay angle are always appreciated, especially when they are as well-written as this one. Contact: Jim Crutchfield, editor-in-chief, Long Beach Press Telegraph, 604 Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90844, e-mail: ptnews@ptconnect.infi.net. The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. GLAAD is the 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 all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. Copies of articles referred to in the GLAADAlert are available to our members by contacting GLAAD. 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