GLAAD/Denver Media Monitor April 1993 The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation / Denver chapter Internet Edition RECRUITMENT MYTH What happens when editorial policy influences basic reporting? Credibility takes a vacation. "Denver Recruiting Gay Cops" screamed the front page of the Rocky Mountain News (3/24). "Officials seek 'fair representation,' meet tonight with up to 40 potential officers" teased the sub-head, no doubt exciting those readers hoping that the elusive quota connection had finally been found. Reporter Mike Romano's lead sentence: "For the first time, the Denver Police Department will conduct a recruitment drive for a different type of minority officer: gays, lesbians and bisexuals." Well, isn't that `special`? For two days the News milked a non-story (and produced a rather revealing editorial). While the second story backtracked on the previous day's sensational headline, the editorial staff blasted the DPD for "going beyond its equal opportunity policy and adopting a version of affirmative action for gays... [creating] a brave new world of group entitlement." Gays, the News reasoned, suddenly had "special recruitment rights." Excuse me? Since when is informing a segment of the community about a want ad an 'entitlement'? Never mind the fact that the DPD application asks nothing about sexual orientation. Write First, Think Later Enter the Denver Post to provide a Reporting 101 refresher: "The [News] article didn't mention that the police department has given similar presentations to at least 20 other community groups" and that since the beginning of the recruitment campaign in February the DPD "sent out approximately 300 letters to community leaders and advisory groups" including high schools, colleges, military groups, and career fair coordinators. "...During the Amendment 2 debate the public was assured that gays and lesbians don't want special rights," postured the News' editorial staff. Apparently the gay community's sin is in requesting equal access to recruitment information. Hmmm... ever wonder what the News' real agenda is? In Your Face Enforcement Does homophobia exist within the Denver police force? Ask David Biddle, a gay man who was repeatedly maced in Cheesman Park March 19 after asking an officer for his badge number. Biddle witnessed what he considered the officer's harassment of a lesbian couple in the park and wanted to document the incident. According to witnesses, Biddle did nothing to warrant the macing. "The city's police force is far stronger and more in touch with its constituents for having diversified its membership," commented the Post about the recruitment flap. As of April 3 only the gay press had reported the Biddle story. Contact RMN editor Jay Ambrose -- (303) 892-5381 -- and Post editor Chuck Green -- (303) 820-1010 -- and ask them why they think that harassment and unprovoked assault by a Denver police officer is not considered newsworthy. Let Mr. Ambrose know that the News is steadily losing what crdibility it has by producing sensationalistic coverage like that given to the recruitment incident. Compliment the Post for not climbing aboard its rival's band wagon. SUFFER THE CHILDREN "Their aberrant, deviant, and disruptive behavior [is] deserving of discrimination and not protection," an irate parent told the Jefferson County Parent Teacher Association considering a state PTA proposal which supports education efforts about the harmful effects anti-gay discrimination has on gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. At their upcoming conference later this month (April 28-30) the Colorado PTA is scheduled to vote on the proposal (a year in the making). In a letter to the News (3/31), Colorado for Family Values' Kevin Tebedo constructed a linguistic fun house by claiming that the PTA's "radically pro-homosexual measure" would censor "pro-family, conservative approaches" since children would be "subjected to an unadulterated diet of pro-homosexual dogma" which didn't represent "diversity." Gosh, Kevin, the only government-authorized report which documents the incidence of lesbian and gay youth suicide (approximately 30%) and its connection to anti-gay prejudice was suppressed by the Bush administration. Is that the "pro-family, conservative approach" to dealing with facts that don't support CFV's agenda? And is ignorance now a form of opinion diversity? Must "family values" include sadistically torturing 10% of American youth into taking their lives due to socially corrosive anti-gay bigotry? Counter CFV's "diversity" ruse by urging your local PTA chapter to support the LBG youth education proposal. Contact the Colorado PTA at (303) 422-2213 for the names and numbers of your local PTA delegates authorized to vote at the April 28th convention. Education is one step to stopping the bigotry. BITS AND PIECES Pansy Patrol The Denver Post (3/22) reprinted a "Special Report" from the New York Times on "gender identity disorder" under the headline "When Boys Will Be Girls." The article quoted the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic Manual to make a spirited defense of gender role stereotyping ("Intense desire to take part in the games and pastimes typical of the other sex") while sounding the alarm against cross-dressing and the refusal to adhere to gender-roles (RuPaul and k.d. lang were cited as examples). Although "some contend that it is a precursor of homosexuality," the article states, butch girls are less of a problem than pansy boys because "gender standards for girls are more liberal than those for boys." The article feeds homophobia and gender role conformity by concluding that so few parents are aware of this "disease" because "there is not a distinct line between what is normal and what is abnormal." Lesbians and gays fought hard to convince the APA that sexual orientation wasn't a mental disorder. How secure is that notion when violations of institutionalized gender roles are considered an APA-approved mental disease? Bad Pat, No 700 Club Today In the hands of conservative columnist Pat Buchanan, commentary frees itself from such mundane journalistic rules as factual honesty. Buchanan took on Mississippi's Camp Sister Spirit in his syndicated column (Denver Post, 3/16) and stated that the lesbian cople running the retreat "want to defecate on the values of a traditional community" and lied about the harassment and provocations from their Ovett neighbors: "The dead dog was not shot...and the carcass was not draped over the mailbox." Really Pat? Despite 20/20's broadcast of a photo of a dog stuffed with tampons draped over the mailbox? Buchanan is odious. Must the pages of the Post reek with his hate-filled propaganda? Where's Linda? You might assume that when 75% of the Denver mayor's Gay and Lesbian Advisory Board quits, a reporter might ask the chairperson a few questions. Yet the committee's chair, Linda Fowler, wasn't mentioned in the Post's story (3/30). Maybe going to the source isn't fashionable these days. ACTIVISTS NEEDED The only way to cure homophobia is to confront it! If the way the media covers lesbian and gay issues pisses you off, then get media active. GLAAD/Denver is short-handed and looking for enthusiastic people to assist with all areas of operations, from media monitoring and response to fundrasising and volunteer coordination. Every bit helps -- we need you! Our next general meeting is Monday, April 11. Contact GLAAD/Denver (303) 331-2773 for more details.