Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 16:48:19 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 06.20.97 GLAADALERT June 20, 1997 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Contents 1. Wire Bias On Baptist Boycott (UPI (newswire), Associated Press (newswire), Reuters (newswire), The Walt Disney Company (multimedia entertainment company)) 2. Boston Herald Columnist Cries Censorship Wolf (Boston Herald (newspaper)) 3. Dateline Enters "Gender Limbo" (Dateline (television news program)) 4. Gay Problem, Black Problem (Chicago Defender (newspaper)) 5. Wall Street Journal Finds Lesbians In "The Third Place" (Wall Street Journal (newspaper)) 6. Everett Makes The Wedding (My Best Friend's Wedding (film), Tri-Star Pictures (motion picture studio)) 7. MTV Movie Awards Honors Gay and Lesbian Images (MTV (music television network), MTV Movie Awards (award ceremony)) 1. Wire Bias On Baptist Boycott United Press International (UPI), which has featured several biased stories in the recent past (GLAADAlert 3/21/97 and 4/25/97), continued that tradition with a June 18 wire report on the decision by the Southern Baptists Convention to boycott Disney in part for its recognition of equal treatment for lesbian and gay employees, theme-park goers and inclusion of gay-related subjects in its programming. The article features numerous quotes by members of the group, but does not place them in context with commentary by either spokespeople for Disney nor the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. In contrast, the wire articles from both the Associated Press and Reuters included commentary from both Disney and representatives from gay political organizations. The Reuters story even went a step further, acknowledging that even within the ranks of the religious group there was dissension: "Some delegates said it was unreasonable to ask ordinary Southern Baptists to rule out family trips to Disney World, stop renting The Jungle Book or buying Mickey Mouse and Pocahontas T-shirts for their children." Without presenting a balanced view of the Southern Baptists' statements, UPI creates a biased story by failing to give any context to the radical views of a religious group out of step with mainstream American values. Please let UPI know that objective journalism demands more balance than its story provides, and encourage them to look to their competitors for examples of more trustworthy wire reportage. In addition, please thank the Walt Disney Company for their continued support of diversity. Contact: Tobin Beck, Managing Editor, UPI, 1400 I. Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005, fax: 202.898.8057; Michael Eisner, CEO, The Walt Disney, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521, fax: 818.560.1930, e-mail/WWW: http://www.disney.com/Mail. 2. Boston Herald Columnist Cries Censorship Wolf In the June 11 edition of the Boston Herald, columnist Don Feder claims that lesbians and gay men protesting an anti-gay conference on the Georgetown University (GU) campus are attempting to "smear, intimidate and suppress the First Amendment rights" of the organizers. The American Public Policy Institute's (APPI) "Homosexuality and American Public Life" conference being held June 19-21, brings together so-called authorities on homosexuality, primarily affiliated with radical religious hate groups, and includes, "discussions of the causes of homosexuality, religious and moral concerns, therapeutic responses and public policy questions." Feder notes that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) took issue with the conference on the ground that it was just a forum "to express discredited and blatantly false theories about human sexuality, gay and lesbian people and our political movement." But, he adds, "If the ideas presented are so flawed and refuted, why is [HRC] frantic to quash the forum? Those in possession of the truth do not fear intellectual challenge." Feder says, "Not content to control the culture, own the judiciary and have the political establishment salivate whenever they arch an eyebrow, gay groups are driven to enforce a monolithic view of homosexuality everywhere....Where are the old-fashioned liberals in all of this?...How long will the mute majority tolerate efforts to demonize those who uphold their values?" Feder seems to misunderstand the difference between dissent and censorship. The conference refused to allow any voices of reputable psychologists, choosing instead to focus on exploring so-called "reparative therapy," widely dismissed studies on sexual orientation and fundamentalist Christian Biblical interpretations against lesbians and gay men. When students offered to present corrections to the lies and misinformation of the so-called experts, they were rebuffed. GU recognized that these students, as well as representatives from the American Psychological Association, HRC and others, had a right to speak out against what Jonathan Zucker, co-chair of the Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Association of Georgetown University Law Center called "nothing more than a thinly veiled pseudo-intellectual platform for gay bashing and a reinforcement of the worst stereotypes and myths." On June 21, in the first-ever university-sanctioned protest outside a designated campus "free speech" zone, students, academics and lesbian and gay advocates at GU will voice their opposition to the conference. If, as Feder claims, "those in possession of the truth do not fear intellectual challenge," it doesn't look good for his compatriots at the conference. Unlike the conference planners' approach of those who disagree with them, the students did not want to silence the so-called experts-merely to address them. Free speech is a cherished right and especially as a journalist, Feder should know better than to cry wolf. Please let the Boston Herald know Feder insults free speech by calling dissent against bigoted anti-gay views "censorship" and that his small-minded diatribe reflects very poorly upon such a highly reputable newspaper. Contact: Andrew Gully, Managing Editor, Boston Herald, PO Box 2096, Boston, MA 02106-2096, fax: 617.426.6812, e-mail: heraldedit@delphi.com. 3. Dateline Enters "Gender Limbo" On June 17, NBC's Dateline ran an excellent segment entitled "Gender Limbo," which discussed the subject of intersexuality. According to the segment, 1 in every 2,000 children is born intersexual, or children born with either ambiguous or both sets of genitals. While intersexuality is not a rare occurrence, intersexual children are often subjected to grueling medical examinations and surgery to "correct an anomaly" to one gender or another. The story featured an interview with Intersex Society of North America director Cheryl Chase who discussed how she was born "Charlie," and then after a few months "surgically corrected" to be "Cheryl." The surgery left her deprived of any sexual sensation, and while her parents were told that the surgery must take place so that she could grow up to be a happy, healthy child, Chase, as well as many intersexuals in the growing movement, call this forced surgery nothing short of "genital mutilation." Dateline reflected the intersex movement call to stop this unnecessary surgery and give intersexual children options. The piece also included commentary from Surgeon Dr. Kenneth Glassberg, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, who claimed that the surgery is for the good of the child who would not survive in a world divided into male and female. However, Chase replied that her own experience reflects that of countless intersexuals thrown into a gender limbo after surgery and that doctors should not be arbitrarily assigning a gender to intersex infants. Dateline should be commended for its sensitive and in-depth reportage of the intersex community and its burgeoning struggle against the medical establishment. Contact: Neal Shapiro, Executive Producer, Dateline, NBC, 30 Rockerfeller Plaza, New York, New York 10012; e-mail: dateline@msnbc.com. 4. Gay Problem, Black Problem The June 14 edition of the Chicago Defender, a newspaper targeted to the African-American community of the Windy City, featured an article entitled, "My Gay Problem, Your Black Problem," by Earl Ofari Hutchinson that provides an excellent reflection upon the particular ways African-American men confront gay identity. "From cradle to grave, much of America has drilled into Black men the thought that they are less than men," Hutchinson writes. "In a vain attempt to recapture their denied masculinity, many Black men mirrored America's traditional fear and hatred of homosexuality. When men broke the prescribed male code of conduct and showed their feelings they were harangued as weaklings, and their manhood questioned." In addition, he notes, "Many Blacks in an attempt to distance themselves from gays and avoid confronting their own biases dismissed homosexuality as 'Their thing.' Translated: Homosexuality was a perverse contrivance of white males and females that reflected the decadence of white America." Because of all these elements and the words of "countless Black ministers," Hutchinson says, "for many African Americans, Black gay men became their bogeymen and they waged open warfare against them. Black gay men became the pariahs among pariahs, and wherever possible every attempt was made to drum them out of Black life." Still, he notes that change can come from within the African-American community. "Black gay filmmaker Marlon Riggs...stole a bit of the rhetoric of Black militants and proclaimed that 'Black gay men loving Black gay men is the revolutionary act of our times.'" Unfortunately, Hutchinson feels "it didn't work. Riggs found that anti-gay bigotry was just as entrenched as ever among many Blacks." While homophobia is certainly no more rampant in communities of color than its is among whites, the bigotry takes on a myriad of both overlapping and distinct forms in a multicultural society. Hutchinson's article is an excellent step towards healing divisions within the African-American community based on sexual orientation and discrimination, and because of its placement in the Defender, serves as an ideal forum for the dialogue. Please thank the Chicago Defender for raising the issue of how homophobia is also shaped by cultural understandings of race and gender. Contact: Michael Brown, Managing Editor, Chicago Defender, 2400 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60616, fax: 312.225.9231. 5. Wall Street Journal Finds Lesbians In "The Third Place" The June 17 Wall Street Journal ran a great special report entitled "Reaching Out-All Together: Many sites aim to create virtual communities," featuring the story of how "Kyla Dillard and Kelly Garland are carrying on their long-distance love affair in front of hundreds of other women." The article discusses how the growing number of people going online are settling into "virtual communities," or into "what author Ray Oldenburg called 'the third place,' the social space that, after home and work, characterizes a healthy culture. Often, that place has been provided by the cafe, the pub or the church." A discussion of how "virtual communities" are springing up all over cyberspace begins with the inhabitants of the community called "DykeDrama, a lesbian discussion forum that's part of PlanetOut a gay and lesbian site on America Online and the World Wide Web." The article describes, "Ms. Dillard, who lives in Memphis, Tenn., and Ms. Garland, who lives in London, Ontario, both go on-line before making coffee each morning. They post love poems, personal news and political opinions several times a day in DykeDrama." By headlining with the lesbian couple, the Wall Street Journal's recognizes that we are part of the fabric of society and important visitors in cyberspace. The article effectively reports on how bulletin boards and chat areas on the Internet can transform people's lives, especially gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Please commend the Wall Street Journal for its inclusive coverage and encourage them to do more stories like this one. Contact: Paul E. Steiger, Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal., 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281, fax: 212.416.2658. 6. Everett Makes The Wedding This week TriStar Pictures brings movie audiences Rupert Everett playing the gay pal of Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding. Openly gay Everett portrays George Downes, Julianne's (Roberts) editor and good friend. In order to make her best friend (played by Dermot Mulroney) jealous before he marries another woman, Julianne enlists recruits George to act as fiancee. Throughout the romantic comedy, George remains the voice of reason for Julianne, who goes to great lengths to break up the wedding. For the past decade or so, the "gay best friend," usually placed in a story to dish advice to the broken- hearted leading lady, has repeatedly appeared in wide-release films. Everett's character, however, does not easily fall into the trap that many of these other portrayals do. He is charming, funny, sincere and perceptive. While his love life is never explored, he is neither portrayed as an overly sexed gay man nor as a flamboyant yet lonely individual. Many reviews have singled out Everett and his character George for these qualities and the dignity he brings the role. Please write TriStar and thank them for the multidimensional George. Also, encourage them to develop films with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as main characters. Contact: Robert Cooper, President, TriStar Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232. 7. MTV Movie Awards Honors Gay and Lesbian Images For the first time, lesbian and gay performances from wide-release films were amongst the nominees for the recent MTV Movie Awards. In the category of Best Onscreen Duo, Robin Williams and Nathan Lane were nominated for their performance in Birdcage, while Best Kiss nominee Bound honored the sizzling performances of Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon. While neither won the final award, their inclusion speaks to the increasing recognition of diverse images in the entertainment industry, and the support of MTV in acknowledging this healthy trend. In addition, it means that the sexual orientation of the characters need not be the determining factor in the quality of the performance, or the intensity of a kiss. Please applaud MTV for nominating these performances, and encourage them to continue to stand for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Contact: Judith McGrath, President, MTV, 1515 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10036, fax: 212.258.8718, e-mail: feedback@mtv.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. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 213.658.6775 (Los Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York), 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 "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.