Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 15:32:07 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 07.11.97 GLAADALERT July 11, 1997 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation contents: 1. GLAADAlert Follow-Up: First Steps Taken By Sega and PlanetWeb (Sega (multimedia entertainment company), PlanetWeb (Web browser)) 2. All My Children's Gay Kid Gets Good Plot, Bad Medicine (All My Children (television soap opera), ABC Daytime (television daytime programming), NBC Daytime (television daytime programming), CBS Daytime (television daytime programming)) 3. Time Watches Transgender Custody Fight (Time (national magazine)) 4. SF Paper Tells Clinton to Dump "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (San Francisco Chronicle (newspaper)) 5. Letterman's Anti-Gay Top Ten Fizzles (David Letterman Show (late night television talk show), CBS (television network)) 6. Michigan Paper Rallies Community Against Anti-Gay Blow Dart (Lansing State Journal (newspaper)) 7. Beantown's Real World Has A Real Lesbian (Real World (television docudrama), MTV (television cable network)) 8. Lesbian Cows Satire Puts Absurd Legislator Out to Pasture (San Francisco Examiner (newspaper)) 9. Weekly World News Exposes "Lisping, Limp-Wristed Sissy" (Weekly World News (satirical paper)) 1. GLAADAlert Follow-Up: First Step Taken By Sega and PlanetWeb The June 27 GLAADAlert reported that PlanetWeb's Sega Saturn game console browser featured an anti-gay content filter entitled "alternative lifestyles," defined as "impartial references to homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestites and transgender issues or lifestyles." It contained archaic homophobic language such as allowing the option to block sites that "promote alternative lifestyles or attempt to recruit the viewer into the lifestyle." In response to that GLAADAlert and an ongoing dialogue with GLAAD, PlanetWeb and Sega have taken their first step forward in fairer and more equal access to the Internet for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. PlanetWeb has reworded the definitions of the content filter so that instead of "alternative lifestyles," it now offers the option to block "Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Subjects." While PlanetWeb still offers filters of "positive" and "impartial" gay representations, it has added the option of blocking sites with "a negative representation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender subjects." GLAAD applauds this small step forward, but PlanetWeb and Sega still singles out our community, treating us as an ideology instead of as an orientation. GLAAD fully supports a parent's right to choose the content a child sees. But PlanetWeb and Sega do not provide parents the option to choose to block out other entire classes of people, on such traits as race, gender, age, national origin or physical or mental ability. By singling out the gay community among these groups, PlanetWeb and Sega perpetuate the misconception that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is simply a "controversial ideology," such as politics, violence or nudity, rather than an orientation. GLAAD has challenged these companies to ask themselves if the same technology had existed before the civil rights movement, would they have offered the option to filter out civil rights information or positive representation of people of color. In the July 3 CNET's News.com, PlanetWeb founder Ken Soohoo "said that he never would filter out a certain racial or ethnic group. 'We're not in the business of selling prejudice here.'" GLAAD hopes that PlanetWeb and Sega will make the connection that prejudice is prejudice. GLAAD has sent letters to both companies outlining its concerns and offering GLAAD as a resource in planning a fairer and more equal content filtering system. Sega has expressed a willingness to seek resolution. Please let both Sega and PlanetWeb know that their responsiveness is encouraging and urge them to work with GLAAD to continue moving towards a more fair and equal Internet for all. Contact: Bernard Stolar, Chief Operating Officer, Sega of America, 255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 200, Redwood City, CA 94065, fax: 415.802.3622, e-mail: webmaster@sega.com; Ken Soohoo, Founder and Vice President of Engineering, PlanetWeb, Inc., 1390 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041, fax: 415.903.7002, e-mail: soohoo@planetweb.com. 2. All My Children's Gay Kid Gets Good Plot, Bad Medicine Throughout the past several weeks, Kevin Sheffield (Ben Jorgensen) on ABC's All My Children has begun to develop a storyline involving themes including gay youth and family, homophobia and so-called "reparative therapy." After Kevin came out over a year ago, his parents abandoned him. Now his mother has returned, and has urged Kevin to see an anti-gay therapist who claims he can "cure" Kevin's sexual orientation. By doing so, the mother hopes to reconcile Kevin with his virulently bigoted father and "make life easier" for Kevin who she fears will have a hard life because he is gay. Meanwhile, hospital Chief of Staff and beloved AMC Patriarch Dr. Joe Martin introduced the quack therapist Dr. Chapman by calling him a manipulative, unethical "snake oil" doctor whose methods deceive and end up doing far more damage than good. Kevin has begun seeing Dr. Chapman to please his mother. Kevin's close female friend, Kelsey, has formed a one-sided crush on him, and is hoping against hope that Kevin will change his sexual orientation. Will Kevin resolve his desire to reunite with his family, make his galpal happy, expose Dr. Chapman's bigotry and maintain his own dignity? According to GLAAD sources on the show, this story will appear once or twice a week and has the support of ABC's daytime television executives. Still, this is a groundbreaking plot for soap operas and ABC needs to receive clear support from fair-minded viewers. By opening a dialogue about the pressures placed on gay youth by their families as well as exposing the malicious motives of anti-gay therapists who claim they can "change" sexual orientation, All My Children's new plot will undoubtedly be thought-provoking and educational. Please applaud ABC for Kevin's continued presence on AMC and the ongoing plot about his sexual orientation and the discrimination based on it. It is especially important that women ages 18-49, daytime's main demographic, respond. In addition, encourage ABC, CBS and NBC daytime to add more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters to their soap rosters. Contact: ABC Daytime, 77 W. 66th Street, New York, NY 10023-6201, fax: 212.456.2381, e-mail: daytime@abc.com; NBC Daytime, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91523, fax: 818.840.4275; CBS Daytime, 6309 N. O'Connor #125, Irving, Texas 75039, fax: 214.869-2653. 3. Time Watches Transgender Custody Fight In the July 7 issue of Time Magazine, Jeanne McDowell examines a child-custody case in California involving a transgender father whose parental rights are being challenged by his estranged wife, not because he is incapable of parenting-but because he underwent sex-reassignment surgery. The article explains Joshua Vecchione's fight to continue co-parenting his daughter, Briana. Vecchione made the transition to male in 1976, and has been upfront and honest about being transgender with both of his former wives. Kristie Vecchione, who is suing Joshua for sole custody of their daughter (conceived by artificial insemination with Joshua's brother acting as a donor), says that their marriage was never valid-since Joshua was once a woman, their union violated California's same-sex marriage ban, and that Joshua is not entitled to joint custody of Briana. The story is told in a balanced and fair manner, treating both parents' concerns sensitively. The issue of Joshua's transgender status is dealt with in a matter-of-fact way, relevant to the story. McDowell sees no need to seek the opinion of small-minded bigots, which would give a misguided and ultimately prejudicial angle to the story; instead she lets the players in this human drama speak for themselves, with dignity and respect intact. Thank Time for this responsible and moving story about a father who simply wants to parent his child. Contact: Jim Gaines, Managing Editor, Time, Time-Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020, fax: 212.522.0323, e-mail: letters@time.com. 4. SF Paper Tells Clinton to Dump "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" The lead editorial in the July 7 San Francisco Chronicle called the recent federal court ruling against President Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy an "Opportunity to Scrap" the anti-gay military compromise. "President Clinton has an opportunity to show some leadership by eliminating an indefensible set of rules designed to appease a voting bloc that, as a lame duck, he no longer has to worry about," the Chronicle explains. "The current slew of sex-related courts-martial demonstrates that there are procedures in place for prosecuting sexual predators regardless of their rank, gender or sexual orientation." Following U.S. District Court Judge Eugene Nickerson's ruling that "gays are denied equal treatment under guarantees of due process because only they are subject to separate, discriminatory regulations," the administration appealed. According to the Chronicle, "Clinton should cancel the appeal and then start lobbying to change the law." Please commend the San Francisco Chronicle on an articulate and well-reasoned editorial against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Contact: Daniel Rosenheim, Managing Editor, San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-2988, fax: 415.512.8196, e-mail: chronletters@sfgate.com. 5. Letterman's Anti-Gay Top Ten Fizzles David Letterman's Top 10 List from July 2, "Top Ten Firecrackers or Richard Simmons' Nicknames," not only hit longtime Letterman punching bag Richard Simmons but singled out and perpetuated stereotypes and epithets about gay men. Among the ten were: "Sweatin' Sissy," "Trouser Blaster," "Yankee Doodle Nancy," and "The Fruitron Bomb." Of all the possible things to lampoon Richard Simmons about-and there are many-Letterman seems instead fixated on grabbing cheap laughs about gay men in general. Perpetuating myths of gay men makes it easier for bigots to see the community as less-than-human. This serves to fuel the hatred that makes the community the target of anti-gay violence. In response, GLAAD has created its own Top Four Reasons Letterman's Anti-Gay Attacks Stink: 4. Sissies don't sweat-they glisten. 3. Since when has Richard Simmons been seen as hypersexual? Hyperactive, certainly, but "trouser blaster?" Does Letterman know something the rest of us don't? 2. Isn't "Yankee Doodle Deal-A-Meal" funnier than using a gay epithet? 1. The slur "fruit" went out with the Edsel. Please let CBS and the Late Show know that while Simmons may encourage jabs by Letterman about himself, the Late Show should leave the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community out of it. Contact: Leslie Moonves, President of CBS Entertainment, CBS, 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, e-mail: marketing@cbs.com; Rob Burnett, Executive Producer, The Late Show, 1697 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, fax: 212.975.4780. 6. Michigan Paper Rallies Community Against Anti-Gay Blow Dart The Lansing State Journal recently had an editorial entitled "Tolerance: Dart Attack Demands Community Response," which pushes for community support of the local lesbian and gay community after two men were arrested for June 22 blow dart attacks on gay men during Pride weekend. "Hopefully the positive, quick response [of police] will be mirrored by the entire community, not with retribution but with tolerance for all people and intolerance for hate crimes or intimidation," said the Journal. "Last year, a civil rights ordinance...to protect all city residents, including gays and lesbians, from discrimination...was defeated by voters. That was not a proud moment for Lansing. What happened last weekend symbolizes hope, but prejudice and ignorance live side-by-side with hope. We are positive that most Lansing residents do not wish to live in a community where someone is attacked for simply being part of a group [such as gay people]. What we are not so sure of is whether the community will allow such attacks to go unchallenged. The police did their job. Will the community do its part?" Please congratulate the Lansing State Journal for its insight and civic commitment to nondiscrimination. Contact: Lansing State Journal, 120 E. Lenawee Street, Lansing, MI 48919, fax: 517.377.1284. 7. Beantown's Real World Has A Real Lesbian The sixth season of MTV's hit show The Real World will spotlight a young Southern lesbian as part of the seven young adults who "start getting real," this time in Boston. According to the press release, "Twenty-years old and from Gulfport, Mississippi, Genesis...is very open about her sexuality; she knew from a very young age that she was gay. Up until she moved in with her new housemates in Boston, she lived with her girlfriend Tammy, with whom she has been involved for two and a half years." The first two episodes of the new season air on Wednesday, July 16. Please let MTV and creators of The Real World know that you appreciate another inclusive season. Contact: Greg Dredin, Programming Vice President, MTV, 1515 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10036, fax: 212.258.8718, e-mail: feedback@mtv.com; Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray, Bunim-Murray Productions, 6007 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91411, fax: 818.756.5140. 8. Lesbian Cows Satire Puts Absurd Legislator Out to Pasture The July 9 San Francisco Examiner featured a column by Lyssa Friedman satirizing an odd comparison drawn by state Assemblyman Peter Frusetta (R-Los Pinos) between cows and gay youth made during a debate over legislation to bar discrimination against lesbian and gay people in public schools. "'I've probably seen three and, at the top, four that had the hormonal imbalance of being odd. We called them the heifer hermaphrodites,' [Frusetta] said. 'They must have had some hormonal imbalance that makes them shy away from bulls and take up with other heifers.' Right on, I thought," said Friedman, "Let's take Frusetta's assertion one step further. If young people are like livestock, then within the fence of one politician's cattle ranch sits the perfect petri dish for the examination of human sexuality, homo and otherwise." She then draws out her thesis. "When did the female calves first know they were hermaphrodites? Was it in fifth grade? Tenth? Who were their calfhood role models? Unmarried aunts? P.E. teachers? How did the rest of the cattle respond? Did they call them names? Deface their lockers?...[Did a teen lesbian cow] pierce her udder, shave her head, crank Melissa Etheridge? As the anti-bull queer grew to adulthood, were her calves remanded to the custody of heterosexual cows?" She sums up, "in conclusion, Assemblyman Frusetta, I hypothesize that our state legislature is no place for someone who clearly flunked freshman biology." Please thank the Examiner for publishing this sharp-witted look at a ridiculous anti-gay claim. Contact: Phil Bronstein, Editor, San Francisco Examiner, 110 5th Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, fax: 415.512.1264, e-mail: sfexaminer@examiner.com. 9. Weekly World News Exposes "Lisping Limp-Wristed Sissy" Accompanied by photos of terrified and crying children, the July 15 issue of the notorious tabloid Weekly World News includes "How To Tell If Your Baby Is Gay!," an offensive article on how to spot signs that your child may be gay. The article asks, "Is your bruiser of a baby destined to become a lisping limp-wristed sissy? Will that gurgling little girl in powder and pink lace grow up to be hairy-legged, Harley-revving lesbian?" According to the theories of "expert" Dr. LeMont Proctor, gay baby boys "give girl babies the cold shoulder," and scream and throw "hissy fit(s) at the sound of country music-but coos contentedly when serenaded with chamber music, show tunes or anything by Liberace." Gay baby girls have voices that "boom rather than chirp," and seem "unduly enthralled by the roar of trucks, the rumbling of a train-or especially the revving of a motorcycle." While some people read the Weekly World News for fun, others take the articles to heart. This piece is predicated on some of the most absurd and archaic stereotypes attributed to the gay and lesbian community. There is no excuse for anti-gay lies in the guise of "journalism," even in a tabloid. Please write the Weekly World News and let them know that their article is nonsense and degrading to the community. Contact: Sal Ivone, Managing Editor, Weekly World News, 600 S. East Coast Avenue, Lantana, FL 33462, fax: 407.540.1084. 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), 415.861.2244 (San Francisco), 202.986.1360 (Washington, DC), 404.607.1204 (Atlanta) and 319.472.4520 (Kansas City) 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.