Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 20:00:36 -0500
From: glaad@glaad.org (GLAAD)
Subject: GLAADALERT -11.21.97

GLAADALERT -- November 21, 1997
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation

Drew Carey's Brother Dresses For Success
On the November 19 episode of ABC's popular sitcom "The Drew Carey Show,"
the title character's brother, Steve, visits after he breaks up with his
fiancee and shocks Drew by cross dressing. Unsuspecting Drew hires Steve
for the cosmetic section of the department store he works at, and when Drew
pays him a visit he finds Steve dressed as a woman. Steve explains that he
is a cross dresser and that he could not think of any other way of telling
Drew. Mr. Wick, Drew's boss, insists that Drew fire Steve. In the end, Drew
comes to accept his brother and saves Steve's job.

Earlier this year, GLAAD briefly spoke with a writer from the show
regarding issues of gender, cross dressing, sexual orientation and
transgender people. Overall, the episode handles the issues around cross
dressing quite well, breaking down a number of myths and stereotypes.
However, the episode does make one large mistake. When Drew asks Steve if
he is gay and Steve responds that he is not, Drew says that it is
unfortunate because lesbians and gay men are protected from job
discrimination by federal law. In fact, that legislation (Employment
Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA) failed to pass Congress last year, and is
one of the most important legislative protections that the community is
still fighting for today.

Please thank "Drew Carey" for a show that dealt with transgender issues in
a progressive and fair manner, and encourage them to continue to feature
Steve. Also stress that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community is not protected from job discrimination by federal law, and that
in fact hundreds lose their jobs each year simply because of their
perceived sexual orientation or identity.
Contact:
… Jamie Tarses, Entertainment President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los
Angeles, CA 90037, fax: 310.557.7679, e-mail: abcaudr@abc.com;
… Bruce Helford, Executive Producer, "The Drew Carey Show,"
Warner-Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd., Building 19, 1st Floor, Burbank, CA
91522.


For Gay Hip-Hop, Go Straight to "The Source"
The December issue of the national hip-hop music and culture magazine "The
Source" features an outstanding article on "A B-Boy Adventure Into
Hip-Hop's Gay Underground." Writer R.K. Byers (who identifies himself as
heterosexual) describes his experience going to Phab, a gay hip-hop night
at a New York City nightclub. He acknowledges his discomfort as part of a
broader societal discomfort with gay people. "Even extremists from
different sides of the racial divide seem to be able to come together in
opposition to [gay people]," he says. "In the hip-hop community, homophobia
seems to be linked to an even greater fear. Hip-hop, which is quite
unfairly seen as the last frontier of real nigga-ness, might suffer as an
icon of Black masculinity if one of its more hard-core artists revealed
himself to be gay." Byers interviews a host of people at the club,
including Tutti Frutti, who said, "'Eighty-five percent of the hip-hop
industry is gay.'" Byers also discusses how the recent embracing of hip-hop
by gay clubs has been a way for gay fans of hip-hop to, as one interviewee
puts it, "'trace my roots back to summer night block parties, the whole
nine. Back then, MCs were given credit for being an artist first. They
didn't have this whole Black manhood issue on their shoulders just because
they were rappers.'" Later, he describes "the gay insider term 'Banjee,'"
as "'urban men who have sex with men but are not effeminate or powerless.'
By definition, Banjees are not necessarily gay." He adds, "The scariest
thing should have been the number of times I kept seeing myself in the
club; bald, brown-skinned brothas who had the same walk, mannerisms, or
overall style that either I had or could relate to. And they loved hip-hop.
What did that say about them, or more importantly, about me? The Gay Rapper
controversy came back into my mind....It's easy to imagine that the
percentage of gay rappers is proportional to the percentage of people in
general. And let's be realistic, it probably wouldn't just be the wack
ones, either." To close, he quotes Nigel, "a gay brotha from around the
way,": "'If your shit is wack, it's wack whether you're gay or straight. If
your shit is the bomb, it's the bomb. If your interpretation of the art
changes because of the sexuality of the artist, then you're the one with
the issues.'"

Please commend "The Source" for an excellent article which breaks through
stereotypes about hip-hop, and lesbians and gay men to contribute to the
ongoing dialogue about the ways sexual identity shapes (and is shaped by)
culture, race and gender.
Contact: Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Editor, The Source, 215 Park Ave. S., 11th
Floor, New York, NY 10003-1603, fax: 212.253.9344, e-mail:
jali@sourcemag.com.


The Lady Chablis Lights Up Eastwood's "Midnight"
Today, the Clint Eastwood-directed "Midnight in the Garden of Good and
Evil" opens in theaters across the country, and features a number of gay
and transgender characters.  The story centers around Jim Williams (Kevin
Spacey), a gay antiques dealer, who shoots and kills his gigolo boyfriend.
The Lady Chablis, a black transgender performer in Savannah, Georgia,
portrays herself and has been credited by a number of reviewers as the
film's "scene stealer."

This film, sure to be a hit, treats with sophistication gay and transgender
characters who could easily have fallen prey to Hollywood
oversimplification and sensationalism.

Please thank Clint Eastwood, who had almost total control over the film's
production, for translating the gay and transgender characters from this
entertaining and engaging best-selling novel to the big screen.
Contact: Clint Eastwood, Malpaso Productions, Warner-Brothers Studios, 4000
Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522-001.


Emma & Sean "Come Out" and Scare Some Baptists
The November 19 "Ellen" was a hilarious tour de force for guest stars Emma
Thompson and Sean Penn, both portraying themselves. Ellen gets a job as
Thompson's personal assistant shortly after she discovers that Thompson is
a lesbian. Thompson is encouraged by Ellen's candor regarding her sexual
orientation and decides to come out herself at a nationally televised
Hollywood dinner in her honor.  "Let's go out and terrify some Baptists,"
she declares. Ellen warns her that the press will probably dig deep into
her past.  A drunk Thompson confesses to her darkest secret...she's really
from Dayton, Ohio and learned the accent from watching Julie Andrews
movies.  At the dinner, Sean Penn steals Thompson's thunder by coming out
himself. The underlying theme of the show highlighted how difficult being
openly gay can be for all types of people, especially celebrities who fear
loosing movie and TV roles because of who they are.

Please thank Thompson and Penn for their inspired performances on "Ellen,"
and for supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Contact:
… Emma Thompson c/o Catherine Olmin, Public Relations, PMK, 955 S. Carrillo
Dr., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90048;
… Sean Penn c/o Mara Buxbaum, Public Relations, PMK, 1775 Broadway, Suite
701, New York, NY 10019.


Hormel Debacle Dissed in the Gray Lady
The November 18 Frank Rich column in the "New York Times" did an excellent
job of exposing the folly in two senators' blockade of the White House's
appointment of openly gay philanthropist Jim Hormel (of the Hormel food
dynasty-i.e. SPAM) to be the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Noting that the
biggest thing to hit the small country prior to this was The Battle of the
Bulge, Rich says, "A half-century later, Luxembourg's number may be coming
up again-as the unlikely site of another battle in America's culture wars."
Senators James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) have stalled
the decision on the nomination until next year. "Accordingly, Senator
Inhofe, his spokesman explained, is alarmed that Mr. Hormel 'might use this
post to promote [the gay] agenda,'" Rich writes. "Ambassador to Luxembourg
is not a post conducive to promoting any agenda more daring than a wine
list....Does Inhofe fear that Mr. Hormel might jump out of a cake at an
embassy function [singing] 'The Hostess With the Mostes' on the Ball?' Or
does promoting the 'gay agenda' mean participating in the Duchy's sexual
demimonde? Bonne chance! Clearly Mr. Hormel, [subjected to] G.O.P.
gay-baiting, deserves far better....Maybe Senator Lott will move [the]
nomination in January rather than hand the Democrats an attractive martyr.
At the very least let's hope he'll order costly new hearings for Mr.
Hormel, if only to force him under oath to out the closeted ingredients of
Spam."

By asking the follow-up question avoided by many in the press, "What does
'gay agenda' mean, anyway?," Rich exposes how much the term is meaningless
and alarmist. He also calls into question the validity of foot-dragging
around this specific nomination for what is largely a decorative post, and
the real costs to tax payers that such gay-baiting entails.

Please thank Frank Rich and the "New York Times"for this biting and
thoughtful column.
Contact: Frank Rich, and Eugene L. Roberts, Jr., Managing Editor, New York
Times, 229 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036-3959, fax: 212.556.3690,
e-mail: letters@nytimes.com.


Cal Thomas Continues to Display Ignorance
From the Los Angeles Times Syndicate comes the November 12 column by
longtime anti-gay pundit Cal Thomas (see GLAADAlert 8.22.97), attacking
President Clinton for stating at a recent Human Rights Campaign dinner that
societies can evolve in terms of human rights. "According to Clinton,
because Jefferson owned slaves, his contention that 'all men are created
equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights' was
not followed by him or many of his contemporaries," Thomas says, explaining
that Clinton asserted that the end of slavery and civil rights legislation
for people of color and lesbians and gay men are part of an evolution
towards getting nearer to all people being equal. "[But] Clinton didn't
create the world," Thomas says. "God did. And God designed norms that are
in our best interests. When we act outside those norms -- such as for
homosexual sex -- we cause damage to ourselves and to our wider culture.
The unpleasant consequences of sexually transmitted diseases are not the
result of intolerant bigots seeking to denigrate others. They are the
result of violating God's standards." In a surprising moral evolution for
himself, Thomas allows that "homosexuals deserve laws protecting them from
hate crimes and discrimination in employment (so long as employers are also
protected, such as churches and religious schools, which find such behavior
offensive to their biblical principles)." But he then states, "If, as the
president claimed, morals are evolutionary, is there any place where he
would draw the line and, if so, on what basis? When we change the original
standard, there can be no standard left except popular opinion. That has
historically led to destruction of nations."

Thomas' argument regarding Thomas Jefferson, "norms" and God is flawed in
two very basic ways. The first being that whether or not one believes in
God, that has nothing to do with the governance of the United States.
Unless Cal Thomas and his radical religious friends have moved to another
country, America is not a theocracy, no matter how devoutly they may wish
it was. The second problem with Thomas' argument is that it completely
dispenses with the growing movements within many communities of faith to
acknowledge lesbians and gay men as equals.  His bigoted stance that God is
selective in his creation, and his love, is one that is being questioned
and refuted by many fair-minded Americans of faith.

Let Thomas know that the evolution of his own thinking which supports
employment and hate crime protections for lesbians and gay men is
encouraging, but that his specious "original standard" argument makes no
sense.
Contact: Cal Thomas, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, 218 S. Spring Street, Los
Angeles, CA 90012, fax: 213.237.4992.


AFA Jumps on GLAAD's "'Ellen' Watch" Bandwagon
Recently the radical religious group American Family Association (AFA) has
been appropriating GLAAD's work to further its own anti-gay agenda. This
week, the AFA redistributed GLAAD's weekly  "'Ellen Watch'" almost
word-for-word to its followers, encouraging them to attack "Ellen"
advertisers for sponsoring the groundbreaking television show. Please do
not let their narrow-minded hate be the only voice that these advertisers
hear! To receive "'Ellen' Watch" every Thursday, simply respond to this
e-mail (if you are receiving this "GLAADAlert" via e-mail) or contact GLAAD
at  glaad@glaad.org and ask to be added to the list. The AFA gets it, why
shouldn't you?!

The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation.
GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation in the media as
a means of
challenging homophobia and all forms of discrimination based on sexual
orientation or identity.
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"GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered
trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.