Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 18:08:56 -0500
From: glaad@glaad.org (GLAAD)
Subject: GLAADAlert 12.12.97

GLAADALERT
December 12, 1997
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation

Should Media Respect Orientation of Closeted Gays?
In the December 4 Miami Herald's "Outlooks" column (see GLAADAlert
9.19.97), staffer Steve Rothaus examines the evolving challenges for media
outlets in covering closeted lesbian and gay community leaders. "When
heterosexual community leaders are profiled in newspapers and on
television, it is routinely reported whom they are dating or married to,"
Rothaus begins. "But this information is seldom revealed about prominent
gays and lesbians, making them seem two-dimensional. Few issues are more
sensitive than whether the news media should respect the privacy of gay
people in the closet. Many are still horrified at the suggestion of outing
public people who spend their personal lives in complete privacy." Rothaus
interviews local editors and journalists, who seem to feel that while each
instance should be considered case by case, "'If you have a person who has
devoted a significant portion of his life to gay and lesbian issues, you
would want to reflect on that,'" said Herald managing editor Larry
Olmstead. The journalists "agree, though, that sexual orientation plays a
major role in who a person is, regardless of how open (or closeted) the
individual," Rothaus writes. "Thus the quandary: Whether to mention sexual
orientation in detailed profiles, news stories and obituaries of gay men
and women." He adds that among lesbian and gay activists, there is hardly a
consensus. And that the issue becomes particularly complex when dealing
with closeted members of  the media itself, such as "one gay South Florida
newsman, who says he keeps his personal and professional lives apart. The
broadcasters, who often contributes to network news stories, said he would
'prefer not to take the chance' that coming out would destroy his career."

Please let the Miami Herald know that as this important and controversial
debate continues to evolve, Rothaus contributes a valuable article to the
mix.
Contact: Larry Olmstead, Managing Editor, Miami Herald, One Herald Plaza,
Miami, FL 33132-1693, fax: 305.376.8950, e-mail: HeraldEd@aol.com.

Larsen Blames Gay Activists for AIDS
In the pantheon of anti-gay AIDS diatribes, syndicated columnist Leonard
Larsen's December 7 column, "Gays Still Mostly Responsible for Ongoing AIDS
Epidemic," will earn its own plaque on the wall with its specious
reasoning, outdated statistics and blame-laying. Larsen's column, which was
written in response to World AIDS Day, maintains that "gay activists" have
hidden the "real" culprits behind HIV (i.e.-gay  people) by pushing
pictures of women and children to the forefront. The columnist goes on to
point to a Washington, DC ceremony where President Clinton delivered a
message to young people encouraging them to "keep yourself safe," and to a
HIV-positive six-year-old girl who read a statement which said, in part,
"AIDS can affect everyone, but so can ignorance." Larsen sees these as
examples of deflecting blame from the gay community, whose "ceaseless
gay-bar hopping and orgies of anonymous gay sex...helped launch the
epidemic." He goes on to say that "gay activists seem to have successfully
sold [the idea] that AIDS is a no-fault epidemic, not associated with any
segment of society or sexual conduct [...]," and that with the cooperation
of the media and politicians, "leery of offending a loud, affluent and
demanding constituency," assist the gay community in "erasing evidence." In
his closing sentence, Larsen makes explicit what he only hinting at prior
to that: "the responsibility-the blame- for the ongoing epidemic is still
theirs [gay activists]."

Larsen's scapegoating of the gay community for the HIV epidemic is nothing
new. His ignorance of the changing face of AIDS is nothing new either:
Those who are simply looking for an excuse to hate the community have a
ready excuse in a virus which, obviously unknown to the writer, has become
the fourth leading cause of death for women between the ages of 25 to 44;
has been diagnosed in 7,902 children under the age of 13 as of June 30,
1997; has now become more prevalent in communities of color than in white
communities; and is primarily transmitted heterosexually in other regions
of the world. Larsen's willingness to put aside reality in his quest to
pillory the lesbian and gay community detracts from the very real issues
facing people with AIDS: access to health care, treatment and research
initiatives, a vaccine and the continuing societal ostracization of those
with HIV. It's also incredibly insulting to those women and children who
are living with HIV-Larsen paints them as patsies of "homosexual
activists," unwittingly used to further an agenda which exists only in
Larsen's head.

Please write to Leonard Larsen, and Scripps Howard News Service, and tell
them that this hateful rhetoric harms many people, and serves only to make
Larsen's intense (and poorly reasoned) bigotry obvious to fair-minded
people who know the truth about AIDS, and about the gay community as well.
Contact: Marvin West, Managing Editor, and Leonard Larsen, Columnist,
Scripps Howard News Service, 1090 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20005-4905, fax: 202.408.5950, e-mail: shns@shns.com.

Cedar Rapids Gazette Peddles Pedophilia Pitch
In an incredible display of ignorance towards lesbians and gay men as well
as basic civil rights law, the December 9 Cedar Rapids Gazette served as a
megaphone to the rantings of anti-gay guest columnist Glenn E. Chatfield,
who seems unable to distinguish between homosexuality and pedophilia. "The
summer of 1999 brought justice for Tyree. After passing the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act [ENDA] in 1998, Congress finally passed a law
prohibiting any discrimination based on sexual orientation...But now, Tyree
is no longer accused of pedophilia. His orientation is 'intergenerational
sex,' and the new laws protect him from discrimination. Is this story
far-fetched? Not at all. Once laws are passed protecting 'sexual
orientation,' Pandora's Box will be opened," it begins. "Are we to
seriously believe that pedophilia will be considered just another sexual
orientation?" Chatfield asks, presumably thinking the question is
rhetorical. Citing the 1973 American Psychological Association (APA)
decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, he
claims the "pedophile community" could do the same, since some
psychiatrists believe that sex between minors and adults is not necessarily
damaging to the child. Without any tangible connection between gay people
and pedophiles, Chatfield sums up, "It is time to make it clear to your
city, state and federal representatives that you want no laws giving sexual
orientation the same anti-discrimination protection as race, gender or
national origin. If we don't act now, the opening scenario will be
reality."

Chatfield, an air traffic controller at Eastern Iowa Airport, cites as his
credential for this analysis of legal and psychiatric policy that he
"studies social issues as a hobby." But equal rights, and an understanding
of law regarding sexual orientation, is not a "hobby." His specious
argument ignores several major realities: First, child molestation is
illegal everywhere due to both age-of-consent and statutory rape laws. Acts
between two consenting adult same-sex partners have profoundly different
psychological, emotional and legal ramifications than do acts between an
adult and a child, regardless of their genders. Adult same-sex sexual
activity has no more in common with pedophilia than adult heterosexual
sexual activity. Second, the APA is nowhere near removing pedophilia from
its list of mental disorders. Third, he seems unable to distinguish the
sexual act from sexual identity. ENDA has nothing to do with sexual
practices. It simply protects people from being fired solely on the basis
of their perceived or declared sexual orientation. Like race, gender or
national origin, sexual orientation should not be the basis of job bias.

Tell the Cedar Rapids Gazette that while diverse viewpoints should be
encouraged in their op-eds, they should at least be well-informed and at a
minimum, the columnists should have a base understanding of the subject
they address. Otherwise, the newspaper just serves as a megaphone to the
foolish voices of the ignorant and intolerant, and this kind of gay-baiting
serves no one.
Contact: Mark Bowden, Managing Editor, Cedar Rapids Gazette, 500 Third
Avenue, SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401-1608, fax: 319.398.5846, e-mail:
gazette@fyiowa.infi.net.

Houston Chronicle Tackles "Gay Issue" in Local Politics
The December 9 Houston Chronicle featured an excellent article on the
evolving perceptions by voters and political strategists about sexual
orientation and campaigning. It begins by contrasting openly lesbian Annise
Parker's recent victory in the local city council race against Don Fitch,
who "seemed to loathe to campaign on Parker's homosexuality," to "the
political strategy of City Controller  [Lloyd] Kelley, who faced Municipal
Court Judge Sylvia Garcia during last month's general election. Early in
Kelley's campaign, he called his opponent gay, which she then denied.
Kelley spent the rest of the race trying to explain away the statement and
eventually lost by a large margin." It interviews several political
advisors and scholars who feel that the days of being able to dismiss a
candidate solely because of sexual orientation may finally be coming to an
end. "A full-frontal assault [on Parker] would have been ineffective and
may have backfired, [Rice University political scientist Bob] Stein said.
He noted that a Chronicle poll taken during the controller's race found
that over 80 percent of voters believed that a municipal candidate's sexual
orientation was not an appropriate issue for the campaign," it said. The
article looks back on campaigns for local elections since 1977 where such
gay-baiting tactics worked, "but Clarence Bagby, chairman of the Houston
Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said Parker's victory indicates such
tactics will be less effective in future campaigns. 'Perhaps we'll reach a
day in Houston where sexual orientation is less of an issue,' he said."

Please commend the Houston Chronicle for an insightful and encouraging
article on the politics of sexual orientation smear-campaigns.
Contact: Tony Pederson, Managing Editor, Houston Chronicle, 801 Texas
Avenue, Houston, TX 77002-2996, fax: 713.220.6677, e-mail: hci@chron.com.

Commentary Honors Ground Zero Activist
Colorado Springs Gazette columnist D'arcy Fallon, in the December 4 edition
of the paper, profiles a gay activist who has made his home in that city
which is also headquarters of the anti-gay radical religious group Focus on
the Family. The activist, 57-year-old father and local character Frank
Whitworth, headed up Ground Zero, the local gay civil rights organization
he helped found in the wake of the anti-gay Amendment 2. "The city Frank
Whitworth himself once referred to as 'the belly of the beast' is now his
hometown, the place he says he's happiest," Fallon says. "I'm still
struggling to find the right words to describe this fiercely private,
droll, soft-spoken Virginian who is so different from his public personae.
Many adjectives have been used to describe him: catalyst, hell-raiser,
raconteur, peacemaker, award-winning activist, gourmet. Those titles are
clumsy approximations." The writer recounts several stories of encounters
with Whitworth, and about his son, Erik, who is so approving of his
father's work that he supported him financially for two years. Finally, it
sums up with his own words: "'I need to belong, to be a part of something.
I wanted to contribute to this community as well as receive something from
it. This is home now. To me, the difference between 1992 and 1997 is a
whole new world.'"

Please commend the Colorado Springs Gazette for a smart, sensitive and
touching tribute to a tireless activist.
Contact: Terri Fleming, Managing Editor, Colorado Springs Gazette, 30 S.
Prospect Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3638, fax: 719.636.0202,
e-mail: tfleming@gazette.com.

The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation.
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