Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 16:43:01 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines June 22, 1998 GLAADLINES--June 22, 1998 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Contact: Don Romesburg (415) 861-2244 romesburg@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org 1) GLAAD LINKS JOURNALISTS WITH ORGANIZATIONS RESPONDING TO LOTT'S ANTI-GAY REMARKS 2) HISTORIC RULING GIVES GAY PARENTS EQUAL SURROGATE PARENTAL RIGHTS 3) ACLU RELEASES NEW REPORT ON INTERNET FILTERING SOFTWARE 4) MADISON GROUPS PROTEST INTOLERANT BILLBOARDS 5) AD AGENCIES SCORE BIG ON NEW GAY LESBIAN VALUES INDEX 6) U.S. GAY CHINESE CONFERENCE TO BE HELD 1) GLAAD LINKS JOURNALISTS WITH GROUPS RESPONDING TO LOTT'S ANTI-GAY REMARKS: Following Sen. Trent Lott's recent divisive anti-gay remarks, GLAAD has compiled responses from 25 leading lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (l/g/b/t), and progressive community organizations. Jennifer Einhorn, GLAAD Director of Communications said, "As a media resource, GLAAD wanted to provide journalists, the Internet community and activists with quick, easy and comprehensive access to diverse and prominent spokespeople." The statements, with available links, can be viewed at GLAAD Online at http://www.glaad.org . For more information contact Jennifer Einhorn (GLAAD) at (212) 807-1700, ext. 14. 2) HISTORIC RULING GIVES GAY PARENTS EQUAL SURROGATE PARENTAL RIGHTS: In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge last week ruled that same-gender couples have the same joint parental rights in surrogacy situations as heterosexual couples. The law firm Vorzimer, Masserman & Ecoff represented two gay men who won joint parental rights of a baby girl who was conceived through an assisted reproduction arrangement, and both male parents were listed on the original birth certificate. "The law does not consider homosexuality...comparable to alcoholism or kleptomania as Sen. Lott and Rep. Armey believes," said attorney Andrew Vorzimer. "Under the law and the protections set forth under the Constitution, the focus belongs upon the best interests of the child, not what the child's parents do in the bedroom. Sexuality is not a factor in good parenting. Rather, good people make good parents." For more info. contact Andrew Vorzimer (Vorzimer, Masserman & Ecoff) at (213) 782-1400, ext. 132. 3) ACLU RELEASES NEW REPORT ON INTERNET FILTERING SOFTWARE: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently released a report on Internet filtering software and the impact of its use in public libraries. The report, entitled "Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking Software is Wrong for Public Libraries," refers to recent studies on censorware by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), GLAAD (Access Denied) and the Censorware Project. The ACLU also cites the Internet Free Expression Alliance (IFEA) as a resource for links to more studies and background information. "Blocking software is clumsy and ineffective," said Ann Beeson, an ACLU national staff attorney who co-wrote the report with ACLU Deputy Media Relations Director Emily Whitfield. "It censors valuable speech and gives parents and educators a false sense of security about what their children are encountering Online." The report can be found on the Web at http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/box.html . For more information contact Emily Whitfield (ACLU Deputy Media Relations Director) at (212) 549-2566. 4) MADISON GROUPS PROTEST INTOLERANT BILLBOARDS: After a religious political extremist group waged an anti-gay billboard campaign in Madison, Wisconsin, Mayor Sue Bauman and local lesbian, gay. bisexual and transgender (l/g/b/t) groups have suggested they might stage a boycott of the billboard company, Vivid Outdoor Advertising. The 5 billboards placed by the group, Wisconsin Christians United, read: "Homosexuality is not a family value. Homosexuality is a sin!" Mayor Bauman said it is "unfortunate when a group chooses to use its freedom of expression to express blatant hostility towards valued members of our community," and suggested a possible boycott of Vivid by businesses. Jason Rasmussen, Co-President of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison Ten Percent Society, which advocates on behalf of l/g/b/t people said, "the best way to do this is to make sure advertisers realize how dangerous this message is." For more information contact Jason Rasmussen (Ten Percent Society) at (608) 240-0105. 5) AD AGENCIES SCORE BIG ON NEW GAY LESBIAN VALUES INDEX: The recently published 1998 Gay Lesbian Values Index (GLV), a survey tracking corporate responsibility on issues related to lesbians and gay men, reports that leading advertising agencies such as Foote Cone Belding, Hill, Holiday Cosmopolus, Hill & Knowlton and N.W. Ayer all fostered a positive and progressive workplace in relation to sexual orientation. "We know that the gay and lesbian community wants the corporate workplace and marketplace to be evaluated in a fair manner. The community needs a basic road map on major businesses and their current practices," said GLV Co-Author Howard Thrashing. "Our index provides that insight across a variety of leading industries as a kind of quick-reference snapshot, free of change." For more information, contact GLV Co-Authors Grant Lukenbill at (212) 727-8257 or Howard Thrashing at (415) 695-8766. 6) U.S. GAY CHINESE CONFERENCE TO BE HELD: During the weekend of June 26, over 200 delegates from around the world will gather in San Francisco for the First U.S. Chinese Tongzhi Conference which will address issues faced by/concerning Chinese lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As Conference Coordinator Gary Wu noted, "Our people in China cannot create much-needed agencies: There are no community-based HIV/AIDS organizations, PFLAG, role modeling programs for youth, or suicide prevention hotlines. Viewed by the Chinese to be a medical illness, homosexuality continues to be treated by archaic measures such as shock therapy. Being 'outed' very often means the loss of job and family and the increasing number of untreated HIV and suicide cases is an unspoken tragedy." For more information contact Gary Wu (Conference. Coordinator) at (415) 255-8680. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy 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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