Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 17:15:38 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines 06.09.97 GLAADLINES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 1997 News, Tips and Breaking Stories about the Gay & Lesbian Community contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org MECKLENBURG COUNTY COMMISSION ATTACKS GAY YOUTH: This time fixing their aim on lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, the Mecklenburg, North Carolina, County Commissioners voted 5-4 to order that agencies providing counseling to teens about sexual orientation must contact their parents or lose county funding. Agencies are also required to tell both youth and parents about the state anti-sodomy laws. In part, the policy reads, "WHEREAS, the aggressive homosexual agenda seeks to undermine the values of the traditional American family...and the traditional American family is the gay community's declared enemy and this community believes they have a right to recruit children for experimenting sexually with anyone, including homosexual adults..." The commission also passed a ban two months ago on funding to art agencies that represent gay-themed work. "These commissioners, fueled by hate after passing the law to censor free expression in the arts, have targeted lesbian and gay young people in their zeal to enforce their own narrow values on society," said GLAAD Associate Communications Director Liz Tracey. For more information contact Liz Tracey (GLAAD) at (212) 807-1700 or email at tracey@glaad.org. UNITED SEEKS GAY DOLLAR, BUT SIDESTEPS SUPPORT OF GAY EMPLOYEES: United Airlines has become the first major airline to advertise specifically to the lesbian and gay market even as one gay organization has called for a boycott of the airline. According to the June 2 Advertising Age, United's "Rising" campaign specific to gay people will include a spread in the Advocate, a national lesbian and gay magazine, through the fall. On May 24, members of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/ Transgender Democratic Club in San Francisco protested United for its refusal to honor a law requiring domestic partner benefits for companies doing business with the city. While other major companies have complied with the ordinance, United and 24 other airlines making up the Air Transport Association, have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the law. "It's very hypocritical to ask for our money and on the other hand discriminate against the lesbians and gays who work for them," said spokesman Jeff Sheehy. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 2 to bar city employees from work-related travel on United unless no other air carrier is available. For more information contact Jeff Sheehy (Harvey Milk) at (415) 861-2217, ext. 2, and Supervisor Tom Ammiano at (415) 554-5144. PRESIDENT CLINTON TO TACKLE ANTI-GAY HATE CRIMES: In a June 7 radio address to the nation, President Clinton spelled out a plan to confront hate crimes against people on the basis of, among other things, sexual orientation. "We are clearly strongest as a nation when we use the full talents of all our people, regardless of race or religious faith, national origin or sexual orientation, gender or disability," the president said, citing as an example of a hate crime "an incident right here in Washington, D.C.," where "three men accosted a gay man in a park, forced him at gunpoint to go under a bridge and beat him viciously while using anti-gay epithets." The attack was one of a number of examples of anti-gay violence that representatives from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs presented to President Clinton during a meeting in April. Clinton also announced the first White House Conference on Hate Crimes, to take place this November. For more information contact Jeffrey Montgomery (NCAVP) at (313) 537-3323. THREE DECADES LATER MANY PEOPLE OF COLOR STILL SEEK RIGHT TO MARRY: On June 12, civil rights advocates nationwide will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision banning laws against interracial marriage. According to public polls from around the time of the Loving decision and current polls around same-sex marriage, as many or more Americans support the legalization of same-sex marriage today as did the legalization of interracial marriage in 1967. "As an African American gay man, the Loving decision marked a critical step forward by knocking down one barrier of discrimination for me," said Doug Robinson of Color Watch, an ad hoc group of lesbian and gay activists of color. "The current pending decision in Hawaii is another barrier which I hope will be abolished so that lesbians and gay men of all colors will receive their equal rights." For more information contact Evan Wolfson (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) at (212)809-8585. NEW YORK LIGHTS UP FOR SAFETY: Faced with a 40 percent increase in hate crimes against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, the New York Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project created the Chelsea Porchlight Project. Merchants will light their businesses at night, providing better visibility for those using the main Chelsea thoroughfares. "A lot of the merchants are lesbian or gay themselves, but whether they are or not, it's an important and easy way to show their concern and support for the community they serve and benefit from," said Clarence Patton, Development Director for the agency. For more information, contact Clarence Patton (New York City Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project) at (212) 807-6761. To report events that merit media coverage, or news stories breaking in your area, please contact us. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is the nation's lesbian & gay news bureau and the only national lesbian & gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. To subscribe contact Don Romesburg at (415) 861-2244 or at romesburg@glaad.org. "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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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