Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 22:52:16 -0400 From: glaad@glaad.org (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)) Subject: GLAADAlert - October 8, 1998 GLAADALERT - October 8, 1998 The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 1) Chicago Hope Tackles Religious Issue 2) Delta Dawn, What's That Frock That You Have On? 3) Westside Weekly Remembers Those Lost In The "War" 4) Anchorage Daily News: Teen Talk on Marriage 5) AP Covers Utah Candidate from All Sides 1) Chicago Hope Tackles Religious Issue On the Wednesday, October 8 edition of CBS' Chicago Hope, the television drama depicted the difficulties a gay Hasidic teen has in revealing his sexual orientation to his father -- a rabbi. After a suicide attempt, Jacob Joffe (Michael Goorjian), the gay teen, visits the hospital and is treated by the understanding Dr. Aaron Shutt (Adam Arkin), a psychologist. After diagnosing and treating Jacob's obsessive/compulsive disorder, Dr. Shutt attempts to discover what truly troubles the young man. Jacob tells Dr. Shutt that he desperately wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a rabbi. Yet Jacob feels his father will disown him because he is gay. Asked to describe what he thinks his father's reaction to the news might be, Jacob envisions his father sitting Shiva, a Jewish tradition marking the death of a loved one. Dr. Shutt tells him that hiding one's sexual orientation is another way of "being dead in life." He agrees to help Jacob break the news to his father, who "blames" Dr. Shutt and orders Jacob to get married and have children. After Rabbi Joffe (Arthur Rosenberg) explains to Dr. Shutt his strongly held beliefs against homosexuality and asks him to "treat" Jacob, Dr. Shutt asks the rabbi, "what is the meaning of religionŠany religion, when it means tearing apart a father and son who clearly love one another?" Finally, the rabbi agrees to attend counseling with his son in order to keep the family together. This latest Chicago Hope episode is only the most recent example (see GLAADAlerts 05.05.98, 03.27.98, 11.07.97 and 10.11.96) of how the show has continued to tackle difficult, yet timely and important issues relating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The complex and often heart-breaking problems that many gay teens face coming out of the closet in religiously conservative families are rarely dealt with by primetime TV programs. The intersection of sexual orientation and Hasidic sects of Judaism is one we have not yet seen. Chicago Hope -- which won a GLAAD Media Award in 1997 -- dealt extremely well with this agonizing dilemma for Jacob, and still managed to avoid demonizing an entire religious community. Please write the producers of Chicago Hope and CBS thanking them for this important story line. Contact: … Ms. Janet Daily, CBS Public Relations, CBS Television Network, 7800 Beverly Blvd., LA, CA 90036-2165, e-mail: audsvcs@cbs.com, or call the automated viewer response line at 212.975.3247 … Mr. John Ticker and Mr. Bill D'Elia, Executive Producers, Chicago Hope, c/o 20th Century Fox, 10201 W. Pico Blvd., Trailer 773, LA, CA 90035 2) Delta Dawn, What's That Frock That You Have On? In the October issue of GQ magazine, writer Jack Hitt, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, movingly describes a neighbor from his childhood, and in the process explores the past in a rich and substantial portrait of how race, sexuality and gender played out in the person of Dawn Langley Hall. A local celebrity, Hall was known as Gordon Langley Hall when he moved into the neighborhood, an English novelist of means who was known for entertaining a multiracial group of friends, for keeping a large coterie of pets, and in 1968, effectively becoming the second person to undergo sex reassignment surgery (Christine Jorgensen was the first, in 1967.) Hitt recounts the fact that Hall was often the object of much gossip. Upon her return as Dawn Langley Pepita Hall, she married her African-American butler, and was seen pushing a baby carriage, her daughter in tow. It is from this narrative that Hitt begins to examine his own history (and that of his family), focusing on issues of race, class, and sexual orientation. In his later childhood, he became friendly with two closeted gay men who represented to him "a world beyond Charleston", and one who much later in time, would admit at least to "hav[ing] cover[ed] the waterfront." The story continues to chart Dawn's life: a mysterious assault, the disappearance of her husband, and her subsequent departure from the landscape of the very Southern Charleston after the auction of her home. Hitt then attempts to find out just who this woman really was, and what lived behind the artifice and legend that had surrounded her -- 30 years later. What he finds is that Dawn has written a book about her life. He contacts her and finds they are neighbors once again. Hitt meets with Dawn twice: first over lunch, where Dawn tells him that she is an intersex person, and again, two years later, with Dawn's daughter Natasha, who takes care of her. While he initially reflects on questions that might test the veracity of the terms "mother" and "daughter," Hitt later finds a touching and sincere respect for the family that Dawn has raised and loved, and that loves her. The story is tremendously moving, well-written and ultimately, a sensitive portrayal of a larger-than-life figure and the complex realities of her day-to-day living. Dawn Hall is a fully-fleshed person in what becomes not only a journey for Dawn's "truths", but for the writer and audience as well. Please write GQ and thank the magazine for a groundbreaking piece of personal reporting. Contact: Mr. Martin Beiser, Managing Editor, GQ, 350 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017-3704, fax: 212.880.8757 3) Westside Weekly Remembers Those Lost In The "War" The October 4, 1998 issue of the Westside Weekly, a twice-weekly Los Angeles Times supplement, featured a column by writer Robert Sheer that honors those lost in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The column, entitled "Where Did All The Guys Go?" covers "Passport," a yearly fashion show sponsored by Macy's in San Francisco and Los Angeles. This year's Los Angeles show, hosted by k.d. lang, Magic Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor is the departure point for Sheer, prompting him to remember the men he would have seen at AIDS benefits a decade ago. He thinks of a time when even the White House could not bring itself to utter the word "AIDS", and when AIDS Project L.A. (APLA) was like an outpost on a battlefront in a war that everyone else seemed able to ignore. Sheer then talks about Elizabeth Taylor's courageous initiative in spearheading campaigns for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), even when many others had shied away from doing the work that had been so stigmatized. And now, more than 10 years after her first forays into AIDS work, Taylor points out that "in terms of AIDS apathy, we may be going full circle." She discusses the unimaginable death tolls worldwide, and those who are living with HIV/AIDS, and perhaps again ignored because of what has been termed "compassion fatigue." Sheer closes, comparing Taylor's demeanor to that of her performance in `Cat on A Hot Tin Roof" -- tough. Please thank Robert Sheer and Westside Weekly for a personal and emotional report that served as much more than a society item. It reminds us of how far away we are from the end of an epidemic. Contact: Ms. Orli Low, Editor, and Mr. Robert Sheer, Westside Weekly, 1717 Fourth St., Suite 200, Santa Monica, 90401, fax: 310.314.1242, e-mail: wweekly@earthlink.net, or call 310.314.1298 to leave a telephone letter to 310.314.1298 4) Anchorage Daily News: Teen Talk on Marriage The October 1 edition of the Anchorage Daily News focuses on teenagers in one of the battleground states for same-sex marriage, giving them an opportunity to discuss their feelings and beliefs around the issue -- and by extension -- lesbian and gay issues. The reporter, Sarah Lemagie, wrote the article for the "Perfect World" section of the Alaskan paper. The state faced a ballot proposition that would make marriage illegal between members of the same sex, and would refuse to recognize any marriages of this kind. Interestingly, Lemagie originally sought the opinions of members of the Gay/Straight Alliance of Dimond High, who declined to comment on the issue. Noting that "the debate is touchy, especially in a high school setting, where the word "gay" and other less politically correct versions of it" are frequently used in a derogatory way, the reporter then approaches students at other area high schools and lets them discuss the issue. The reporter allows the young people to speak in their own voices and does not mediate, correct or guide the discussion. The spectrum of beliefs among the teens is fairly broad: from evangelical Christian students to those who approach the matter quite simply: "I think it's totally cool. Everyone has the right to be happy," said one. The students interviewed are articulate, informed and opinionated, and it's a welcome change from the often patronizing or demonizing press coverage often given to youth. While it was unfortunate that no openly lesbian, gay bisexual or transgender youth were included in the discussion, the attempt to speak to the Gay/Straight Alliance points to an attempt to include these students. The reporter's decision to open up the floor, and the article, to young people who while not voting on this proposition, will no doubt face future initiatives on lesbian and gay issues, was an illuminating look at the future of how lesbian and gay issues will look very soon. Please thank the Anchorage Daily News for looking beyond the rhetoric surrounding the issue of same-sex marriage and including an often ignored point of view with respect and intelligence. Contact: Mr. Pat Dougherty, Managing Editor, Anchorage Daily News, PO Box 149001, Anchorage, AK 99514-9001, fax: 907.258.2157, e-mail: pdougherty@adn.com 5) AP Covers Utah Candidate from All Sides In an October 6 story filed from the Salt Lake City bureau of the Associated Press, reporter Mike Carter examines the candidacy of openly lesbian Jackie Bikupski, who is running for a seat in the Utah State Legislature. Nationwide this year, four openly lesbian candidates are running for office -- one at the state level, and three for Congress. While covering the almost hackneyed ground of conservatives who are opposing Bikupski's candidacy in the conservative Mormon state, Carter includes the opposition presented by another openly lesbian politician, Claudia O'Grady, who Bikupski ran against for a city council seat in 1997. O'Grady points to Bikupski's seeming reluctance to discuss her sexual orientation during the campaign, which resulted in splitting the "gay vote" and perhaps contributing to Bikupski's defeat in the general election for the seat. She lost by 43 votes. After talking about Bikupski's history with the lesbian and gay community, the reporter then talks about the conservative opposition to Jackie Bikupski's run. Another of her opponents, Bryan Irving, denied claims of using Bikupski's sexual orientation against her. In the next sentence Irving is quoted as saying "I think homosexuality is a choice and that it causes confusion and is destructive," thereby belying his own statements. Bikupski has been targeted by the local Eagle Forum chapter, which made her sexual orientation an issue in the city council race mentioned above. More recently, the conservative organization has been talking about getting the word out about "a candidate [who] is committing sodomy and living a blatantly immoral lifestyle." Carter goes on to observe that the Eagle Forum attacks may well be backfiring, quoting an 88-year-old Democrat, and a 20-year-old Republican, both women. The Associated Press report is something we may well see more of in the future: more complex and challenging reports on gay men and lesbians running for office, which point out not only the increasing frequency of lesbian and gay candidates, but the changing face of opposition, and how with more candidates running, instead of the choice being between a out or friendly candidate and one who opposes equality, the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender communities have to make more nuanced decisions regarding political representation. Please thank the Associated Press for a multidimensional look at one candidate's race for office and the implications for both her constituents and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Contact: Mr. Bill Beecham, Bureau Chief, Associated Press, 30 East 100 South, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT 84111, fax: 801.322.0051 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 (LA), 212.807.1700 (NY), 415.861.2244 (SF), 202.986.1360 (DC), 404.876.1398 (Atlanta) and 816.756.5991 (Kansas City) Feel free to pass GLAADAlert on to friends, family and associates! 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