Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 17:26:03 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines December 3, 1998 GLAADLINES Contact: Liz Tracey, Publications Manager (212) 807-1700 tracey@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 1998 News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community 1. AMAZON.COM TAKES CARE OF HOMOPHOBE 2. NYC AIDS GROUP CONFRONTED WITH HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE 3. MAN BEATEN, FOUND WITH ANTI-GAY EPITHET WRITTEN ON CHEST 4. AMERICA'S FIRST "GAY NEIGHBORHOOD" AMAZON.COM TAKES CARE OF HOMOPHOBE: Amazon.com, the online bookseller boasting the "world's largest bookstore," has severed all ties with Bob Enyart, political religious extremist and radio host, whose web site was an Amazon.com affiliate. (Through the affiliate program, web site owners can earn money through sales of books linked from their site to Amazon's.) Enyart, whose writings advocate the death penalty for homosexuals, sings songs with lines such as "homos roasting on an open fire," and takes pride in his self-acknowledged homophobia, was dropped from the Amazon.com Affiliates’ program on November 6, after they reviewed the contents of his web site and found it incompatible with their non-discrimination policies. "When Amazon.com became aware of Bob Enyart's homophobic rhetoric, they attended to the matter promptly and removed his site from their program," said Jennifer Einhorn, GLAAD Director of Communications. According to Bill Curry, Director of Communications for Amazon.com, Bob Enyart has now removed all Amazon.com links and logos, but a "recommended reading list" remains linked to their site. Said Einhorn, "In fruitful conversations with Bill Curry on Thursday [December 3] and then today, he wanted to assure the community that Amazon.com was working to ensure that Enyart complies with all of their requests." For more information, contact Jennifer Einhorn at (212) 807-1700, or via e-mail at einhorn@glaad.org, or Bill Curry (Amazon.com) at (206) 694.2275, or via e-mail at curry@amazon.com. NYC AIDS GROUP CONFRONTED WITH HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE: In New York City, World AIDS Day was marked by a march by activists City Hall, which was to culminate in a press conference on the steps of the building. After the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, fought in court the organization's right to hold the event at that location the approximately 200 people who participated were met with over 100 police officers, circled by New York City Police Department helicopters, watched by two sharpshooters and made to enter holding pens after passing through metal detectors. Officials insisted that the officers were necessary because of possible terrorism targeting City Hall and that Housing Works had overestimated the number of people participating. However, Housing Works co-executive Director Charles King was quoted in the New York Blade as saying, "It was a game, played by the mayor, in an attempt to make this as demeaning as possible." For more information, contact Charles King at (212) 966-0466. MAN BEATEN, FOUND WITH ANTI-GAY EPITHET WRITTEN ON CHEST: An unknown man in his mid-20s was found wandering dazed and beaten in San Francisco in the early morning of December 4. Found outside a hospital, the man was taken to the hospital by police for treatment of facial injuries. According to a United Press report, at the time of his examination, doctors found the message "You should all die, You don't deserve to live, (expletive) queers" scrawled on his torso. The man, who remembers nothing of the attack and tested negative for alcohol and drugs, was found without any identification and has not been identified as of yet. He was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco. For more information about this assault or about other recent cases of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender violence, contact Jeffrey Montgomery (Executive Director, Triangle Foundation) at (313) 537-3323. AMERICA'S FIRST "GAY NEIGHBORHOOD": According to reporter Rex Wockner, the redecoration of Chicago's North Halstead Street, a neighborhood where many members of Chicago's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community live, has been completed, creating America's "first official gay neighborhood." The redecoration, undertaken by Chicago mayor Richard Daley as part of a neighborhood revitalization program, cost $3.2 million, and includes sculptures welcoming residents and visitors to Lakeview, as the area is officially known, and "Northalstead;" new street signs and rainbow pylons located along the length of the "strip." When Daley first announced the plans for North Halstead Street, some residents were resistant to the idea, citing a possible loss of property value, and an unwillingness to be seen as living in an "officially gay" neighborhood. Wockner quotes Rick Garcia, executive director of the Illinois Federation for Human Rights as commenting "I deeply appreciate Mayor Richard Daley’s refusal to succumb to those who didn’t want the rainbow motif to be included. One of rainbow pylons is directly in front of our office and I love it. When I saw the first installed pylon, I cried." For more information, contact Rick Garcia at (773) 477-7173. 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 Wonbo Woo at (212) 807-1700 or at woo@glaad.org. 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