from the October, 1992 newsletter of GLAAD/LAY Cohn the Enigma "Citizen Cohn," a film about Attorney Roy Cohn, a Jewish gay man who tried to run and hide from both of those designations, was produced by and debuted on HBO during Aug. Based on the Nicholas von Hoffman biography, the movie is a well-crafted and seemingly well balanced portrayal of this infamous enigma. Cohn made his reputation prosecuting spies and ferreting out "Communists" as Chief Counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the red-baiting '50s. Publicly closeted, he persecuted other gays, Jews and anyone else who got in his way or who might lead him to power and headlines. "Citizen Cohn" presents him as the truly terrifying force he was and as a man who valued privilege over everything - and everyone - else. With a script by David Franzoni (author of the screenplay based on "The Mayor of Castro Street" about Harvey Milk) and an excellent cast headed by James Woods as Cohn, the film depicts Cohn's homosexuality and homophobia as one set of many fascinating contradictions in the life of a man dedicated to the promulgation of his own power and nothing else. Of all Cohn's characteristics, his homosexuality is treated with the most filmic sensitivity and actually becomes the lever which reveals the humanity of Roy Cohn - something none of his victims would have glimpsed or imagined. For once, rather than being the excuse for despicable behavior, the anti-hero's gay life and relationships are what make him a sympathetic character. HBO Pictures and all the cast and crew are to be commended for their professional film-making and their refusal to embrace the cliches of homophobia. Comments to: Mr. Robert Cooper, Senior Vice President, HBO Pictures, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 4100, Los Angeles 90067. ("Citizen Cohn" produced in association with Breakheart Films, a Spring Creek Production.) Meanwhile on stage... Roy Cohn/Jack Smith: Los Angeles theater audiences were given re-enforcement of this enigmatic view of Roy Cohn during the just completed run of "Roy Cohn/Jack Smith" at the Museum of Contemporary Art's (MOCA) Ahmanson Theater. This one-man, two act play featured openly gay actor Ron Vawter portraying these two gay men, both of whom died from HIV infection, and their approach to society's attitude toward gay sexual orientation. Working from a script by Gary Indiana, Vawter convincingly showed how the closeted Cohn was able to shift from addressing a group such as the American Society for the Preservation of the Family, where he would condemn homosexuality, and then be chauffer-driven with his male date for a night on the town. The "Jack Smith" half of the program included a slide-show and a glimpse at the persona behind this pioneering gay filmmaker. Also scheduled by MOCA were screenings of Smith's enduring opus, "Flaming Creatures." MOCA is to be commended and encouraged to do more of this creative programming. Comments to: Mr. Richard Koshalek, Executive Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles 90012. from the October, 1992 newsletter of GLAAD/LAY Without Project 21: A Case in Point Added proof of the importance of Project 21, the group of dedicated individuals fighting for the inclusion of accurate information regarding gays and lesbians in the textbooks in California, is the present use of the textbook, Sociology Contemporary Approach, at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV). Written by Frederick W. Preston and Ronald W. Smith, professors at UNLV, this 1989 book published by Allyn & Bacon, a division of Simon & Schuster, places its information on Homosexuality between Prostitution and Alcoholism under the heading "Deviance." That this fountain of misinformation appears in a college level textbook only confirms the need for continuing and intense education about sexual orientation in America. In ignorant text that could be rivaled only by a Pat Robertson sermon, the authors give much credit for their astonishing misinformation to Laud Humphreys, a person who gathered data on homosexuality by posing as a self-proclaimed "watchqueer" in public restrooms. Mr. Humphreys, according to the Preston/Smith book, was able to identify five types of homosexuals: trade homosexuals, ambisexuals, gay guys, closet queens and adolescent male hustlers. It would appear that these authors may have spent more time at the slot machines than on research. That a division of Simon & Schuster would print such a piece of garbage as text for a sociology course, only produces great anxiety over the quality of sociologists who may survive this course at UNLV. To suggest other more accurate information to the professors, write: Fredrick W. Preston and Ronald W. Smith, Sociology Department, Univeristy of Nevada at Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154.