Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 19:08:37 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 02.13.98 GLAADALERT February 13, 1998 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Heavy Metal Rocker Comes Out On MTV First appearing on MTV's Web site on February 5, and then on the cable channel's new news program MTV News 1515 a day later, former "beast from Judas Priest" Rob Halford came out as gay. "I think that most people know that I've been a gay man all my life, and that it's only been in recent times that it's an issue that I feel conformable to address," Halford told MTV. "It's something that I've been comfortable with forever...and this is the moment to discuss it and to go into the reasons, and the whys and the wherefores as to the statement, the so-called coming out phase," he added. In March, Halford's new band Two will release their first album, Voyeurs. "A lot of homophobia still exists in the music world," Halford said. "I wouldn't say it's any more phobic in metal or rap...but just something...we all have to address in our own lives. If we have a problem with it, I think we should seek help and find out why we do have a problem with it." MTV said Halford hopes his openness will inspire others. "I think it's difficult for everybody...especially if you're a teenager," he said. "Maybe people like myself...that do step in front of a camera and let the world know, maybe it's of some help, where there's an individual that's been successful...and not let the issue of sexuality be something to hold them back." In addition, MTV News' Web opinion page, "Blowhard" (http://mtv.com/mtv/news_launch.html), asks "Has heavy metal culture come to the point where a frontman's sexual orientation is not an issue?" It also states that MTV will "be taking a look at reaction amongst metal fans to Halford's statement, and would like to hear from you....We often read some of the most interesting responses on air (if you tell us your name) and we present a larger selection of your opinions here." Please congratulate Halford for coming out and let MTV know what you feel about openly gay people in heavy metal culture and their fair coverage of Halford's announcement. Contact: … Rob Halford, c/o Nothing Records, 225 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 … Judy McGrath, President, MTV, 1515 Broadway, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10036-8901, fax: 212.846.1942, WWW: http://mtv.com/mtv/news_launch.html Oklahoman Not O.K. An editorial in the February 7 edition of the newspaper The Oklahoman, and an accompanying op-ed by the anti-gay group "Accuracy in Media,"(AIM) peddle out the roundly dismissed claim that the "life-expectancy" of gay men is 45. The op-ed is a rehash of the group's column in the arch-conservative Washington Times last fall, which attempted to parallel the dangers of smoking cigarettes with the AIDS epidemic (GLAADAlert 9/5/97).That time, the focus was Hillary Clinton's assertion that Hollywood should try to discourage smoking among young people, and AIM pundits Reed Irvine and Joe Goulden claimed she should attack gay people, because, they said, "Homosexual sex is the largest single cause of AIDS among American men." This time, they claim the media is overemphasizing the dangers of the tobacco industry's encouraging young people to smoke. Instead, they say, the media should discourage young people from being gay, claiming that "AIDS is a lifestyle choice," and that AIDS "kills between one-third and one-half of homosexual males by the time they are 45. AIDS causes an average loss of nearly 36 years of potential life, compared with only 12 years for smoking." The Oklahoman editorial, entitled "Silence=Deaths," concurs with AIM, saying "condemning cigarette smoking is now 'in,' and most journalists have eagerly jumped on the bandwagon [but] they remain dead silent about the efforts being made to introduce very young boys to a lifestyle that reduces life-expectancy by three times as much as smoking cigarettes." It ends, "Risky behavior should be discouraged. But in Bill Clinton's America, some risky behaviors--especially those which are actually immoral--are apparently more acceptable than others." The "findings" about gay men AIM claims are "fact" (and the Oklahoman so readily accepts) are suspiciously similar to the work of Paul Cameron of the anti-gay Family Research Institute, whose own study on "The Homosexual Lifespan" studied "homosexual obituaries," comparing them to the obituary pages from two newspapers. Cameron's intensely biased misrepresentations about the lesbian and gay community earned him a formal dismissal from the American Psychological Association, including a written notice sent to all members announcing his dismissal. In fact, the numbers cited by Cameron in his abstract on his "research" and those cited in the op-ed and editorial are almost identical, and have been completely dismissed by all serious scientists. The riskiest behavior involved in these two articles, and the former Washington Times article by AIM, is spreading lies gussied up as truth to try to justify anti-gay bias. Let the Oklahoman know that serving as a megaphone for malicious and inaccurate hate is bad enough--but to support it with its own editorial is both unconscionable and unprofessional. Contact: Edward L. Gaylord, Chairman/Publisher, The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City, OK 73114-3799, fax: 405.475.3970, e-mail: newsroom@oklahoman.net Intersex-o-Rama Two outstanding stories about intersex issues have been recently featured in unlikely places: the March issue of Mademoiselle and the February 9 broadcast of Chicago's FOX affiliate's 9 o'clock news. The Fox story, "Born Both Sexes," interviews both the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) Executive Director Cheryl Chase and intersex activist Angela Moreno. "Intersex," reporter Laura Jones says, "challenges the conventional definition of gender." In addition to Chase, Moreno and her parents discuss their frustration with a medical community intolerant of ambiguous genitalia. For Moreno, doctors recommended that at age 12, she be subjected to a clitoradectomy. "Surgery performed without their consent," Jones says, which "amounts to cosmetic surgery." Finally, ethicist Alice Dreger is also interviewed, stating that the current medical practice is unethical, and that the focus should be on helping children to accept who they are. Jones asks Angela's parents if "they would do things different" knowing what they do today. "'I think I would just leave them [intersex people] alone until they could make up their own mind," said the father. The mother added, "they should be given the option to choose what they want to do." Meanwhile, the Mademoiselle article, "Am I A Woman or Am I A Man?" is an in-depth narrative by Angela as told to Jan Goodwin. She says, "I'd been told by my doctor that I had ovarian cancer and needed a hysterectomy." In reality, she says, at the age of 12, she was cosmetically made female and her enlarged clitoris was removed after doctors discovered she was externally female but internally and chromosomally male. "No one at the hospital ever said what was really wrong with me. No one gave me any answers. For 12 years after that, I suffered in ignorance, afraid that I was some freak of nature," she says. She spent her adolescence hating her body, though prior to surgery she'd seen nothing wrong with it. Now she says she's taking control again by being an activist , speaking out against the medical practices she and thousands of other intersex people endure. "If I had to label myself man or woman, I'd say, a different kind of woman. Mom would say, 'Oh, honey, you're a woman, just a woman.' But I'm not a case of one sex or the other, nor am I a combination of the two. I was born uniquely hermaphroditic--and from the bottom of my heart, I wish I'd been allowed to stay that way," she sums up. Please commend both WFLD-TV and Mademoiselle for these inclusive and in-depth stories. Contact: … Stacey Marks-Bronner, General Manager, WFLD-TV, 205 N. Michigan, 2nd Fl., Chicago, IL 60601-5916, fax: 312.819.0820 … Faye Haun, Managing Editor, Mademoiselle, 350 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017-3704, fax: 212.880.8248 Salt Lake "OxyMormon" Zaps Anti-gay Zealots In his February 7 column, Salt Lake Tribune columnist and self-described "oxyMormon" Robert Kirby takes on the anti-gay ideologues attacking school teacher Wendy Weaver for being a lesbian. "If not flogged and shot, a lot of people want Weaver dismissed from teaching...and from ever working with young people again," he says. "The Weaver situation illustrates the trouble supposedly good Christians face when confronting something they view as a sin. Namely the problem of 'hating the sin/loving the sinner.' It's a tough gig, especially when the whole hating/loving thing is being determined by morons. Would I want a lesbian teaching my daughter. Frankly, I am a lot more worried about the immorality of self-righteousness rubbing off on her than I am about lesbianism. The big question for Christians is whether a political fight over morals can be waged with the level of love for others that Christ commands us to have. Considering the miserable track record many Christians have on this point, it seems to me the more important issue." Kirby sums up, saying, "If I remember my Bible right, Christ reserved his severest judgment for people who supplanted genuine love of others with a high-minded perception of moral correctness." Please commend Kirby and the Salt Lake Tribune for this provocative column about the attack on Weaver being spearheaded by so-called Christians. Contact: James E. Shelledy, Editor, Salt Lake Tribune, 143 South Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84111-1944, fax: 801.237.2326, e-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com Straight Talk on Gay Dress Columnist Matt Obmascik's article in the February 5 Denver Post skewers the absurd rule at a local high school against dressing gay. "At a time when most schools are begging students to stay, Lutheran [High School] booted a teenager for coming to school dressed like a homosexual, whatever that means," he writes. "In the words of [the] school director, 'Our dress code states that students can't wear clothes in such a way to be in opposition to the Bible. He was asked to leave because of the gay clothing, the gay jewelry.'" Obmascik notes that 18-year-old Jeremy Garza "dressed gay" by wearing black leather pants, or buttoned-up green polyester shirts and "Ward Cleaver" pants. "Some fabrics," he adds, "even were a little shimmery." He concedes that even though Garza wore no clothes with gay messages, he did wear a rainbow bracelet and necklace. "With a 3.3 grade-point average and an impressive 1,250 score on his SAT, Garta wasn't considered a troublemaker in school," he writes. Garz told a teacher he was gay when asked, but the school director told Obmascik, "'We don't want to remove a student just because he's sinful. If we did that, we'd all be gone. But we do have a dress code.' Ah yes," the columnist continues, "That dress code. It bans students from wearing anything that brings undue attention, though covered tattoos and even Green Bay Packers jerseys are OK, as are male students with earrings. While visiting the school, I asked if my clothes conformed to code. The director looked at my soft, swishy corduroys and my plush, velvety sweater and said: 'You're wonderful.' In the hallways, I saw kids in heterosexual jeans, heterosexual shirts and heterosexual sneakers. To be perfectly straight, I thought they dressed a lot like Ellen DeGeneres." Please thank the Denver Post for this biting and insightful column highlighting the absurdity of generalizations about gay people and identity. Contact: Jeanette Chavez, Managing Editor, Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202-5177, fax: 303.820.1369, e-mail: letters@denverpost.com GLAADAlert Round-Up: Love And Marriage During the week of both Valentine's Day and National Freedom to Marry Day, media outlets around the country featured discussions of same-sex love, relationships and marriage. Below are some of the highlights: … The February 5 edition of the Charleston (West Virginia) Daily Mail featured an op-ed by Barbara Steinke urging Americans to "let gays and lesbians celebrate marriage as well." She and her partner, Nina have a son, and she writes, "There are those who say we should not be permitted to get married in order to protect the health and welfare of children. Yet the fact remains we are raising children, and studies have shown our children growing up as healthy as children with heterosexual parents." … The February 12 Boston Globe had an op-ed by scholar E.J. Graff looking at the more egalitarian laws in other countries towards marriage, and, locally of radical religious attacks of equal marriage rights. Graff notes, "Abraham and Sarah shared a father; Jacob had two wives and two concubines; and Lot 'married' his daughters. The purpose of those marriages was to keep power in one family, in the very same way that antimiscegenation laws tried to keep power in one race. Today, our society opposes incest, polygamy and white-rule on egalitarian grounds. My new optimism that marriage might really open to include [her partner and her] is personal, practical and political all at once. And--need I say this?--it's thrilling to see not just our families but much of the world on our side." … The "Most Romantic Couples" February 14 edition of TV Guide features Ellen and Laurie from ABC's Ellen as the "Boldest Romance," saying, "Sure Ellen and her first girlfriend, Laurie, are breaking new ground, but it turns out they're almost like any other TV couple (most new couples don't worry about holding hands in public). In the coming months we may see the two deal with the issues of ex-loves, moving in together and raising Laurie's daughter. It's a mature relationship and, so far, dare we say, an out-and-out success." … The February 13 Miami Herald features a column by Bruce Mirken, who says he and his new boyfriend "will go out for a candlelit dinner for two, then for a walk in some lovely, out-of-the-way corner of town and kiss in the moonlight. And we'll be taking our lives in our hands." He then discusses the alarming rate of hate crimes and attacks on gay people in America, and urges heterosexual people to try walking with a same-gender friend down a busy block or shopping center holding hands. When saying goodbye, he suggests giving the friend a quick peck on the lips. "If the thought fills you with terror, you've just experiences a tiny fraction of what I live with every day," he writes. "Happy Valentine's Day!" … Deb Price's celebrated Detroit News column on February 13 told of the power of love, describing the relationship between Laura Carter, who was battling cancer, and her partner, Karen Bryant, who stayed with her every step of the way. "Despite Laura's periodic terrors and painful side effects, the staff quickly saw she was doing far better than others on the ward," Price writes. "Partly she was lucky. Plus, she was the only one with a Karen, a 24-hour cheerleader." … Nanya Friend, Managing Editor, Charleston Daily Mail, 1001 Virginia St., East, Charleston, WV 25301-2835, fax: 304.348.4847 … Gregory Moore, Managing Editor, Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02125-3338, fax: 617.929.2098, e-mail: letter@globe.com … Jack Curry, Managing Editor, TV Guide, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10036-8701, fax: 212.852.7470 … Jim Hampton, Editor, Miami Herald, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693, fax: 305.376.8950, e-mail: heraldedit@aol.com … Jennifer Harsha Carroll, Managing Editor, Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226-3197, fax: 313.222.2335, e-mail: letters@detnews.com 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. 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 816.756.5991 (Kansas City) Feel free to pass GLAADAlert on to friends, family and associates! Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine! 1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334) Visit GLAAD Online at http//www.glaad.org "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. 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