Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 18:11:53 -0500 From: "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)" Subject: GLAADAlert - December 22, 1999 GLAADAlert - December 22, 1999 GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation GLAADAlert Index: 1) Don't forget the children in the debate 2) 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' makes the op ed page 3) Discovering intersex people 1) Don't forget the children in the debate While the heated debate over Proposition 22, a March 2000 California ballot item to limit marriage to a man and a woman, continues to provide copy for newsrooms, Los Angeles Times columnist Shawn Hubler focuses on how such legislation and the debate around it affects children in same-sex families. In her Dec. 16 column, "Anti-gay efforts: Oppression disguised as civic duty," Hubler writes the story of Cody Fine, a child of a lesbian household. Cody is now a high school senior who speaks to student groups about his family life. Hubler presents him honestly, including how he was at first uncomfortable in school after realizing having two mothers was something not accepted by all. He later came to terms with his situation while writing a research project in eighth grade on the topic "Children of gay parents." Using Cody and Proposition 22 as her step-off point, Hubler then discusses the larger anti-gay activities in government, schools and the military - making them less cerebral and more personal. How will this one boy and others like him be affected? Will these children continue to be denied the equal protections and benefits children in opposite-sex households have? Analysts have said passage of Proposition 22 could "also jeopardize the few legal protections that exist for California's 400,000-plus gay and lesbian families." Similar laws in other states have been used as a way to argue against any protections or equal treatment for lesbians and gay men. Hubler writes: "The law still does nothing to address matters that children in straight families get to take for granted - things like inheritance and child support." She also points out that giving legal recognition to same-sex partners "can mean health insurance for a kid like Cody, or parental leaves for both parents after a child's adoption or birth." Hubler concludes that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is affected by anti-gay activities, writing, "These anti-gay campaigns aren't about civic duty. They're about the need to oppress, which, in the end, depraves everyone, even bystanders like you and me." Please thank the Los Angeles Times for inclusion of this thoughtful column, one that should make readers think about the total consequences of anti-gay legislation and actions. Contact: Michael Parks, Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053; fax 213-237-4712; e-mail letters@latimes.com 2) 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' makes the op ed page The Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy recently has been getting more attention than usual. Along with the court-martial of Army Pvt. Calvin Glover for the murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell, because President Clinton, possible U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and presidential hopefuls Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley have all come out in opposition to it. Additionally, Defense Secretary William Cohen has called for the policy's review. Many newspapers around the nation have run editorials and columns on the policy; the majority agree that the policy does not work and needs either to be revamped or dropped entirely, while some advocating support of the policy. Two warrant comment. o In the Dec. 16 Chicago Tribune, Jim Sollisch's commentary, "Before they start getting into your business," uses employment discrimination against Jewish people as a comparison to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue." To show the damage of secrecy, he writes of a fictional Mr. Schwartz who "Š avoids certain incriminating inflections and steers the conversation clear of Israel, ham and religion. In trying not to tell who he is, Mr. Schwartz denies his cultural identity, his religion, his humanity." He later writes of his own father always making sure his clients were aware of his being Jewish, it being his identity. Showing their identity is something lesbians and gay men in the military should also be able to do. He writes, "Those rights shouldn't have to be checked at the door of the recruiting office of one of America's most important institutions [the military]." By using his own related experience as an example, Sollisch makes the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" issue more understandable to a wider variety of readers. While the majority of the editorials and commentaries that have appeared across the nation agree with him philosophically, few took the extra step to personalize the issue. Please thank the Chicago Tribune for running this commentary that doesn't pit one minority against another to make its point, but instead shows the commonality such groups share. Contact: Dodie Hoffsetter, Editor, Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill 60611-4003; fax: 312-222-2598; e-mail: tribletter@aol.com o "Don't ask, don't kill," an editorial in the Dec. 15 Washington Times, makes use of misinformation about the Winchell murder and tired rhetoric to support "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue." It starts by calling Winchell a homosexual, something that has not been established. The paper then shows its insensitivity by calling Calpernia Adams, who Winchell was dating, a "nightclub drag queen," when she actually identifies as a transgender woman. While agreeing that Winchell should not have been killed, the paper minimizes his death as a valid reason for politicians to examine the hostile climate in the military, writing, "Š his death should not serve as a mere springboard for political opportunism." Gays must be kept out of the military the Times writes, because "Homosexuality is a behavior that is detrimental to both military cohesion and effectiveness; race is not a behavior, and has no effect on cohesion or effectiveness." By trotting out this often heard "cohesion" illogic, the Times shows it is willing to hold on to outdated notions, failing to acknowledge that problems with cohesion and effectiveness are not caused by lesbian and gay military personnel, but by the prejudiced people with whom they must associate . And, while race is obviously not a behavior, it can and does have an effect on cohesion (white supremacists can and do join the military, after all). The Times misses the point that racial bigots must coexist with those they detest because the Pentagon has a clear policy against racial discrimination. Let the Times know that it failed to make the logical step of saying it is time for the Pentagon to have an equally clear policy protecting lesbians and gay men. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" is not that policy. Also ask the paper to be more aware of the way it identifies transgender people. Contact: Wesley Pruden, Editor in Chief, Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; fax: 202-832-2982, e-mail: letter@twtmail.com 3) Discovering intersex people The January edition of Discover features a lengthy, well-written article about intersexuality by Emily Nussbaum. It details how being born with ambiguous genitals affects the person, how families react and procedures followed by the medical community. It starts: "Meet Emma, one of 65,000 babies born each year neither male nor female. Once surgeons made them into females. Now parents wonder if these infants shouldn't be left untouched." Nussbaum writes about her reaction to doing the story: "It's a habit to divide people into men and women in your mind, but this story made me hyperaware of how illusory people's gender is." The article presents the uneasy struggle of the parents trying to do the right thing as they waver on the decision whether to leave the baby as is or have the surgery. Pictures of Emma show a smiling baby girl; her parents opted for surgical reconstruction removing the partial male genitals. Intersex babies usually are made female because the procedure is more refined and less complicated. Questions of gender identity and sexual orientation are brought up in the article and society's reaction to those who do not fit into clear gender categories is considered. Although not mentioned specifically, the article provides a possible explanation for transgender people when it goes into the sex-determining role of chromosomes and hormones: how the two working together do not always produce absolute male or absolute female humans. Nussbaum writes of the Intersex Society of North America, formed in 1993, whose members lobby against unnecessary genital surgery. The group maintains the decision should be left to the intersex person when they are old enough to make a choice, and not by a doctor who pressures parents into surgery within hours of birth. Please thank Discover for shedding light on a not-often-talked-about group of people who are often denied the right to choose their sexual identity. Contact: Stephen L. Petranek, Editor in Chief, Discover, 114 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011-5690; e-mail: editorial@discover.com NOTE: This is the last issue of GLAADAlert for the year. The next issue will be Jan. 6, 2000. __________________________________________________________________________ The GLAADAlert is the bi-weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at 323.658.6775 (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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The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. __________________________________________________________________________ "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.