Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 18:10:52 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADAlert 03.13.98 GLAADALERT March 13, 1998 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAADAlert Follow-Up: Time to Publicly Apologize? In response to a GLAADAlert item (3.6.98) criticizing Time magazine for excluding from its 75th Anniversary issue lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, as well as the AIDS pandemic, the magazine is planning on running a number of letters. This will include a commentary by longtime AIDS activist Larry Kramer and a special box section on issues that were neglected in the 75th Anniversary issue. In response to a GLAADAlert reader's letter to the editor, Chief of Time Letters , Amy Musher said that the magazine "did not consciously eliminate whole subjects," and called the "omission" of "Time's extensive coverage of the gay rights movement and the impact of AIDS on the gay community....[in the special issue were] oversights, pure and simple." Given their past coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues and HIV/AIDS, GLAAD is pleased with Time's rapid and sensitive response. Clearly, the 75th Anniversary issue should not be taken as an all-encompassing analysis of Time's coverage of these issues (the magazine is nominated for a number of GLAAD Media Awards this year). Recognizing the omission in an upcoming issue marks Time's willingness to admit when an error has been made. Please commend Time for publicly recognizing their historical error but remind them that it is still shocking it happened in the first place. Contact: Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor, Time Magazine, Time-Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, fax: 212.522.8949, e-mail: Letters@time.com (include phone and address with all correspondence). Will Josh Be Significant? From the creators of Party of Five comes Significant Others on Fox, which on March 18 features Josh, the show's three lead characters' gay neighbor. The twentysomething drama follows the lives of Campbell, Henry and Nell, friends living in Los Angeles trying to fulfill their dream and find themselves. On the episode, Josh invites the three to his birthday party that he and his partner are throwing. While at the party, the trio becomes envious of Josh and his partner's relationship and happiness. Significant Others never really addresses Josh's sexual orientation directly, rather it is coded by his witty, slightly bitter, banter and his clever reference to ladies footwear. Later at the party, his partner kisses his check and gives him a birthday hug. While some viewers may long for a gay television character with slightly differing qualities then we see on many other shows, or even an actual kiss, his interaction and significance to the characters in this episode is refreshing. It would be interesting to see what could happen with Josh and his boyfriend if the show is picked up for the fall season. Tune into Significant Others and tell the producers what you think. Also, encourage the producers to make Josh a more integral part of the new show. Contact: Amy Lippman and Christopher Keyser, Executive Producers, Significant Others, c/o Columbia TriStar Television, 9050 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, fax: 310.202.3797. GLAAD on Long Island Love and Death on Long Island, based on a novel by Gilbert Adair, stars John Hurt as Giles De'Ath, a British widower who becomes obsessed with young American actor Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley). In what can be considered an upbeat alternative to Thomas Mann's tragic Death in Venice, Kwietniowski skillfully weaves a respectful tale of a heterosexual-identified man who falls head over heels in love with a young teen idol. This tale of cute obsession could easily have taken an undesirable turn toward creepiness. But the combination of an intelligent script and the director's offbeat sense of humor makes this film a thoughtful exploration of desire in its many forms, and the film challenges conventional concepts of straight and gay identities. Please let Lion's Gate Releasing know that their limited release on this film is appreciated, and encourage them to distribute more high-quality lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender films. Contact: Mark Urman, President, U.S. Operations, Lion's Gate Releasing, 561 Broadway, Suite 12B, New York, NY 10012, fax: 212.966.2544. Exploring the Plight of Gay Youth on Both Coasts Both the Orlando (Florida) Sentinel and Los Angeles' Buzz magazine recently featured excellent articles looking at the challenges that lesbian, gay and bisexual high school students face. The March 5 edition of the Orlando Sentinel features a commentary by local high school teacher Judy Varblow, which begins by quoting Emily Dickinson's line, "I'm nobody, who are you?" Varblow continues, "Last month a friend of mine, Mike McKee (a teacher), announced he was gay. He wanted to be a role model for gay students and risked losing his job." She said people responded by saying it was his business and had nothing to do with being a teacher. "Wrong!" she retorts, "Few [lesbian and gay teenagers] feel comfortable confiding in their parents. If they are harassed at school, they have no one to tell; little support exists for them. These students live their lives in quiet desperation, lonely and isolated. This is what Mike is attempting to change. If more of us, as educators or community members, gay or straight, would take a stand, we might ease, and possibly save, the lives of these students." The March issue of Buzz features a cover story entitled, "The Hot Issue: Teens Take On Homeroom Homophobia." It looks at two different high school gay/straight alliances and their leaders. Garrett O'Neal is the openly gay president of the Santa Monica High School group, and Noah Strote is the openly straight president of the one at Harvard-Westlake, an exclusive private school. The article goes far beyond statistics on gay youth suicide and gives an in-depth look at what the clubs are all about, and what life as a gay young man can mean. "[Garrett and Noah] both hang out with straight and gay friends, and both are president of new official student led [gay-straight] clubs. Essentially rap sessions about gay harassment in and out of school, politics, and life, GSA meetings attract an edgy clique of kids, the majority of whom identify as straight or bisexual, when they identify at all," author Evan Forster writes. Forster attends meetings with the young men, giving a slice of the discussion and some of the people involved. He then follows Garrett to the mall and watches him flirt with one guy of whose sexual orientation he isn't sure. "'It gets bothersome that I can't just go through the normal process of dating. Like if a straight guy likes a girl, he can go up to her and ask her on a date, and if she's not into him, it's like, "Whatever"-and he won't get his ass kicked,'" Garrett is quoted as saying. The article looks at a host of issues, from dating to grades to where to hang out as a lesbian or gay teenager in Los Angeles. Please thank the Orlando Sentinel and Buzz for their valuable contributions to the increasing media attention lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people are garnering. Contact: … Jane Healy, Managing Editor, Orlando Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801-1349, fax: 407.420.5286, e-mail: osoinsight@aol.com … Marilyn Bethany, Editor in Chief, Buzz Magazine, 11845 West Olympic Blvd., #800, Los Angeles, CA 90064-5014, fax: 310.473.2876, e-mail: scottb@buzzmag.com Local Paper Miffed At Myrtle Beach Mayoral Madness After Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) Mayor Mark McBride attempted to block the planned local South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival recently with an offensive and ill-informed pronouncement, the Myrtle Beach Sun News featured a March 8 editorial chastising the mayor for his intolerance and lack of perspective. When the local Pride organizers applied for a standard request to close some streets for their event, McBride stated on February 24 that "Whether it's a union group, abortionists or the Ku Klux Klan, if we allow one group to close streets, we will attract groups who just want to use Myrtle Beach's recognition to better their cause," adding that, "For 60 years, this community has promoted itself as a family beach with family values." On March 8, the Sun News editorial stated, "McBride has managed to unnecessarily alienate gays and lesbians, labor unions, skinheads and just about every other special interest group. The bully pulpit he uses ought to be given to a council member spokesperson more in the mainstream of Myrtle Beach thoughtfulness and leadership....The Gay Pride '98 festival is not the first special interest group that has walked the streets of Myrtle Beach. When the supporters of the Confederate flag marched here for an extremist viewpoint, there wasn't this much concern. The image of Myrtle Beach is at stake. McBride would do well to keep his individual opinions to himself and not present them as the city's beliefs. The city is strong because of its diversity of age, gender, lifestyle and opinion. It must not follow the singular path being hacked by McBride." Please commend the Myrtle Beach Sun News for their right-on indictment of a small-minded politician. Contact: John X. Miller, Managing Editor, The Sun News, 914 Frontage Road East, Myrtle Beach, FL, 29577-6700, fax: 803.626.0356. GLAAD Media Round-Up: Live Sex At Six and Ten During the February sweeps month, a series of local television news programs around the country produced sensationalistic reports about public sex between men, focusing the story around the controversial Web site "cruisingforsex.com," which publishes public sex locations nationally and provides updates on police raids of areas. Many of the stations used hidden cameras to illustrate the stories, blurring faces and genitalia of men involved. An early February report by Seattle ABC-affiliate station KOMO led to many others. San Diego ABC-affiliate KGTV, used essentially the same text as the Seattle station to introduce the program and featured the same "in the shadows" interview with "Keith," the webmaster of the cruisingforsex.com site. GLAAD is appalled by the low-brow tactics used by KGTV and others in their sweeps month restroom "exposes." KNXV, the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, also did a similar story and it would seem that a number of ABC-affiliated local news programs, beginning with Seattle's KOMO-TV, passed this pre-packaged public sex story around to spike ratings. The newsworthiness of public sex is dubious; it is made even more so by the stories' placement during the sweeps period. While KGTV at least interviewed local lesbian and gay leaders, something many of these "perverts in the park" style stories fail to do, the bottom line is this: Sweeps month sleaze is just that-sleaze. Nothing else can explain the cheap-and in some places, such as San Diego, illegal-ploy of bringing a hidden camera into the bathroom. The law banning filming in a public restroom was no doubt designed to prevent voyeurs from ogling unwilling subjects. GLAAD finds it difficult to see how this is any different when the camera has a news sticker on the side. Please let these stations know how you feel about the newsworthiness of these stories and ask them why they have not done similar stories on heterosexual lovers' lane-type public settings-and why the stories of sex and hidden cameras suddenly became "news" when sweeps month rolled around. Contact: … Joe Barnes, News Director, KOMO-TV, 100 Fourth Ave. North, Seattle, WA, 98109-4997, fax: 206.443.3422, e-mail: tvtips@komonews4.com … Don Wells, News Director, KGTV-TV, 4600 Air Way, San Diego, CA 92102-2528, fax: 619.527.0369, e-mai: 10news@kgtv.com … Jeff Klotzman, News Director, KNXV-TV, 4625 South 33rd Place, Phoenix, AZ, 85040-2861, fax: 602.232.6363, e-mail: news15@primenet.com … Bruce Whiteaker, News Director, KXAN-TV, 908 West Martin Luther King Blvd., Austin, TX, 78701-1093, fax: 512.469.0630, e-mail: news36@kxan.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. 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