Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 18:52:30 -0800 From: glaad@glaad.org (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Subject: GLAADAlert 10.11.96 GLAADALERT October 11, 1996 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Checks Out GLAAD's Donated Books On September 22, GLAAD's Project 21 donated nearly 200 gay-positive young adult books to area school districts in Kansas City, Missouri. Within days, the event received coverage in The Kansas City Star and on the evening news of several local television stations. The September 25 Star contained an excellent article by columnist Barbara Shelly entitled "Warning: Books Can Spark Ideas," which shelves the controversy over these books with the censorship of such classic works as Alice in Wonderland, The Diary of Anne Frank and The Invisible Man. "To challenge a book is to compliment the author," she wrote. "It shows the writer is raising issues, presenting ideas and giving voice to the conflicts that rage inside human beings. The day will come, perhaps when [the donated books] are as acceptable as Alice in Wonderland." Television coverage was not as solid. While WDAF-TV Channel 4 provided extensive interviews with GLAAD members and talked to students and their parents in Fort Osage School District, another channel, KSHB-TV Channel 41 included homophobic comments by longtime anti-gay book burner Rev. John Birmingham. As John Corbaley of GLAAD in Kansas City noted, "When Jesse Jackson comes to town, are representatives of the Ku Klux Klan sought out for 'balance?' By airing the views of Rev. Birmingham, you perpetuate the climate of fear and hatred in which gay and lesbian teens must live. The inclusion of such an anachronistic fringe [individual] is offensive." Please let both The Kansas City Star and WDAF-TV know that their balanced and thoughtful coverage of this critical project is appreciated, and inform KSHB-TV that their knee-jerk sense of balance needs some major realignment. Contact: Robert C. Woodworth, President and Publisher, The Kansas City Star, 1709 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64108, fax: 816.234.4926, e-mail: talkback@kcstar.com; Mike McDonald, News Director, WDAF-TV Channel 4, 3030 Summit , Kansas City, MO 64108, email: wdaftv4@wdaftv4.com; Margaret English, General Manager, KSHB-TV Channel 41, 4720 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO 64112, email: news@kshb.com. GLAAD Urges History Media to Present Our Past In honor of Lesbian & Gay History Month, GLAAD is encouraging two major media purveyors of history to embrace our heritage. TheHistoryNet, an extensive website devoted to history, has yet to address Lesbian & Gay History Month. "We hope that they proclaim October as Lesbian & Gay History Month, as well as highlight historical events in the lesbian and gay civil rights movement," said Loren Javier, GLAAD's interactive media director. "We'd also like to see profiles of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who have contributed to our society, culture and technology." Additionally, while the site has many links, it fails to link to the official Lesbian & Gay History Month page (http://www. glaad.org/glaad/history-month). The History Channel also has not declared October Lesbian & Gay History Month, nor have they established any special programming around it. Please let both media outlets know that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history is rich and diverse. Explain that Lesbian & Gay History Month is part of an important tradition recognizing communities frequently overlooked by history, not unlike Black History Month and Women's History Month. Contact: TheHistoryNet, e-mail: historynet@newmedium.com, WWW: http://www.thehistorynet.com/general/emailconnect.htm; Nicklos Davatzes, President and CEO, A&E and The History Channel, 235 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017, fax: 212.949.7147, WWW: http://www.historychannel.com/feedback/feedback.html. The Doctor is Out On October 7, CBS's highly acclaimed hospital drama Chicago Hope explored the budding friendship between two doctors in a frank, open and comical way. In a previous episode Dr. Alan Shutt's (Adam Arkin) found himself in an uncomfortable situation when Robert, a new male colleague, makes a pass at Alan mistakenly believing that he was gay. In this week's episode, the two grow to be good friends as they work on a research project together. They discuss each of their respective failed marriages, their problems with relationships, and about some of Alan's problems dealing with Robert's sexual orientation. Their exchanges are often as comical as they are fraught with a sense of commonality. When Alan attempts to crack Robert's back, Robert warns him that "if you hurt me, I'll kiss you." Homophobia in the work place is a major problem for many gay men and lesbians. Please let CBS know that we appreciate the warm, touching and honest way that Chicago Hope is depicting these two characters intimate, yet still professional, friendship. Contact: CBS Television Network, 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, fax: 213.651.0285, e-mail: marketing@cbs.com. For Mazda, Lesbian Ellen Just Doesn't Feel Right In the October 7 issue of Advertising Age, Mazda Motor of America said it would pull out of any "lesbian episode" of the ABC show Ellen. According to the article, "When it comes to gay TV characters, marketers may be more scared off by the controversy surrounding them than by the actual subject matter." Linda Colleran, senior vice president and media director at Foote, Cone & Belding, which represents Mazda, said that "It's not the Ellen character-I like to see TV reflect reality-it's all the press around it" that makes the marketer skittish. Colleran said that Mazda would return when the controversy died down. According to the article, an informal survey of ad executives found that most would not flatly refuse to buy time on Ellen if the character comes out. Please thank Advertising Age for a well-written article that looks past the hype to the true bottom line of Ellen sponsorship. On the other hand, inform Mazda that instead of being fair-weather friends, they should have the courage to hold their ground and let lesbian and gay consumers know their dollars are important. Contact: Advertising Age, 220 East 42nd Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10017-5846, fax: 212.210.0200, e-mail: sdonaton@adage.com; George Toyama, President, Mazda Motor of America, 7755 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA 91628, fax: 714.727.6101. Time's Touting Outing In an article entitled "The Baiting Game," the October 14 Time magazine discusses the new outing resurgence by examining several Congressional races around the country. "In recent weeks some Republicans have found that the issue of sexual orientation-specifically their own-has re-entered the campaign," the story states. "Why are these episodes happening now?" Time asks. "Partly because the defeats on same-sex marriage and workplace discrimination raised bitter questions about whether closeted gay lawmakers were guilty of hypocrisy. 'If Sarah Brady owned a handgun, would you write about it?' asks [openly gay Rep. Barney] Frank." Log Cabin Executive Director Rich Tafel comments that "'the sad thing in all this is that everybody involved believed that being 'charged' with being gay is bad.'" The article concludes by saying that "Republicans may have fostered that climate. Will Democrats be any better if they turn it to their advantage?" Please commend Time for balanced coverage of this complicated issue and for raising the question of why many feel that being identified as gay is such a bad thing in the first place. Contact: Norman Pearlstine, Editor-In-Chief, Time, Time-Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020, fax: 212.522.0323, email: letters@time.com. Homophobic "Ex-Gay" Ads Bring Hate To Washington State Beginning on October 7, KAFE-FM in Bellingham, Washington began airing three anti-gay commercial spots by Youth Action Coalition, a homophobic local branch of the Christian Coalition. The ads feature Michael Johnston from Alaska, a self-professed "ex-gay" born-again Christian. In one, Johnston states, "While spending 11 years in the homosexual community, I learned a lot from homosexual activists about how they deal with people. I learned that when anyone disagrees with them they just call them a hate monger. When your friend or neighbor says they don't want their children taught about homosexuality in schools, they just call them right-wing extremists. Oh yeah, I learned a lot from homosexual activists. Kinda makes you wonder where the real hate is coming from." The ads are deplorable in their polarizing attempt to paint lesbians and gay men as the perpetrators of the very hate and bigotry that we struggle to fight. These patently offensive commercials do not deserve air time, and when they surfaced on a different channel last June, they were pulled within days and the radio personality who played them was fired. Demand that the same action be taken at KAFE-FM. Explain to them that simply taking these hateful spots off the air is not enough. Insist on a full public and on-air apology for pandering to such a profound level of low-minded homophobia and misinformation. Contact: Michael Pollock, General Manager, KAFE-FM, 2360 E. Sunset Drive, Bellingham, WA 98226, fax: 360.734.5697, e-mail: kafe@kafe.com. Utah Religious Coalition Advertises Respect On September 29, the Coalition of Concerned Religious Leaders in Utah placed an advertisement in the three major daily newspapers-The Daily Herald of Provo, and The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News of Salt Lake City-urging law-makers to treat lesbians and gays with respect and dignity. "We believe it is against the best interest of all citizens to legislate intolerance against any group of human beings," the 14-member group stated. "We further believe that the purpose of education is to offer opportunities for all students to learn with one another in an atmosphere that nurtures and supports individual growth in our diverse cultures." In The Daily Herald, the placement of the ad made surprisingly well-rounded front-page news, even though the conservative paper used the term "homosexual" instead of "lesbian and gay." According to the article, the ad was partially prompted by the antics of the state legislature and Salt Lake City School Board earlier this year in attempting to ban a Gay-Straight Alliance from meeting at East High School. Please let The Daily Herald know that their coverage of the advertisement was balanced and fair, and that the message of respect, dignity and tolerance for all people, including lesbians and gay men is vital. Contact: Paul C. Richards, Editor, The Daily Herald, 1555 North Freedom Boulevard, Provo, UT 84603-0717, fax: 801.373.5489, e-mail: edit1@itsnet.com. 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. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (Los Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York), 413.586.8928 (Northampton), 503.224.5285 (Portland, Oregon), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC) or 415.861.2244(San Francisco). Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD's Web Site at http://www.glaad.org "GLAADAlert," "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.