Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 16:04:24 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines 09.15.97 GLAADLINES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 15, 1997 News, Tips and Breaking Stories about the Gay & Lesbian Community contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FILMMAKERS SAY, "WE'RE CONCERNED WOMEN, TOO!": Responding to claims by the anti-gay group Concerned Women for America (CWFA) that the Academy Award-winning documentary It's Elementary is a "militant homosexual propaganda effort," director Debra Chasnoff and producer Helen Cohen are offering a free copy of the film to public school board members and school district superintendents. It's Elementary, a GLAAD Media Award-winner, looks at how schools have incorporated an awareness of gay and lesbian issues into curricula. In a recent fundraising letter, CWFA sought to both garner financial support and censor the film by calling it an "unspeakable evil" showing "just how low homosexual extremists will stoop to ensnare children." Chasnoff and Cohen, both mothers and active PTA members, said the hysteria points to the need for thoughtful discussion, not hate campaigns. "It's Elementary is a highly effective resource for helping schools prevent violence, support all families and affirm all children so they can thrive academically," said Chasnoff. Cohen added, "We'd hate for any school to miss out on this opportunity because of the vicious rhetoric from religious conservatives. We invite educational policy makers to look at [the film] first." For more information contact Ariella Ben-Dov at (415) 641-4616. EQUAL PARTNERS CAUTION PROMISE KEEPERS HAVE HIDDEN AGENDA: Preparing for the October 3-4 Promise Keepers' rally in Washington, DC, Equal Partners in Faith (EPF), a national multi-racial coalition of faith based activists and other critics of the Right, are working in part to expose an anti-gay agenda in the Promise Keepers' hidden messages. Using Christian teachings, the Promise Keepers (PK) create divisive and potentially dangerous messages about the "submission" of women, racial "reconciliation" and the so-called "ex-gay" claims of "curing" homosexuality. According to the openly lesbian Rev. Meg Riley, Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Washington, DC office and a founding member of the EPF coalition, the gay community knows PK founder Bill McCartney's radical religious politics better than most Americans. "We've listened while he has denounced us publicly as 'abominations' and worked to make our civil rights illegal in Colorado," Riley said. "We need to be in the vanguard of waking up other people of faith about his connections to right wing leaders like Pat Robertson and James Dobson." EPF will be organizing a "Week of Witness " in Washington, DC featuring nationally acknowledged religious figures and critics of PK's movement September 28-October 4. For more information contact Michael Kusek (Equal Partners in Faith) at pgr. (202) 886-7354. ACLU TO CHALLENGE KANSAS SAME-SEX SODOMY LAW: On September 16, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will go before the Kansas Court of Appeals to argue that the state's same-sex sodomy law violates the equal protection and privacy rights of lesbians and gay men. The case on appeal involves Max D. Movsovitz, who was charged in 1995 with "solicitation of sodomy" by an undercover police officer who engaged him in conversations about his sexual practices. In a state municipal court, Movsovitz was found guilty of the state sodomy code, which prohibits two people of the same gender from soliciting or engaging in any form of sexual intimacy. For more information contact Matt Coles (ACLU National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project) at (212) 549-2666. FUND HONORS UTAH GAY YOUTH: Following the suicide of Utah gay student leader Jacob Orozco, the Tzabaco Catalog's Safe Schools Initiative on September 11 formed a Memorial Fund to aid high school gay-straight alliances across the country. Orozco took his own life after a two-year battle against the Salt Lake City school district for formal recognition of East High School's Gay-Straight Student Alliance, a support group for students dealing with issues related to sexual orientation and homophobia. He was to be the group's next president this fall. Tzabaco began the drive with a $2,500 donation. "The Memorial Fund is a simple way for anyone gay or lesbian and their supporters everywhere to express their concern over this young man's senseless death," said Stuart Harrison, director of the Safe Schools Initiative. Co-supporters of the fund include PlanetOUT and XY Magazine, a publication for young gay men. For more information contact Stuart Harrison (Tzabaco) at (415) 647-9003. GAY AND LESBIAN EMPLOYEES MAKING PROGRESS: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employee resource groups from companies nationwide will gather in Dallas September 19-21 for the third annual PROGRESS Summit for Workplace Leaders. In addition to a keynote speech by openly gay Texas State Representative Glenn Maxey, the weekend will feature a variety of workshops and seminars on workplace policies of nondiscrimination, domestic partnership and employee organizing. "PROGRESS is now educating employers nationwide about inclusive workplace policies and showing them how employee groups play an integral role in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights movement," said Sarah Fairchild of Kaiser Permanente, an event co-chair. For more information contact Garrett Hicks (PROGRESS) at (888) 776-5428. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is 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. 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