Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation San Francisco Bay Area Chapter GLAAD Media News Briefs -- July 16,1993 by Al Kielwasser GLAAD/SFBA Poster Paranoia Meeting in a closed session in June, the Saratoga Union School Board forced a Redwood Middle School teacher to remove an educational, gay-awareness poster from his classroom. The poster -- headlined "What Can You Do? Your Best Friends Has Just Told You 'I'm Gay"' -- had been displayed by teacher John Burns, who has since been ordered to keep it securely confined to the school's counseling office. The school board's decision demonstrates utter disregard for the most basic educational values. Censoring the ideas you disagree with is the tactic of fascists, not teachers. The forced removal of this important poster violently attacks the self-esteem of lesbian, gay and bisexual students. Imposing extraordinary regulations on information about sexual orientation also breeds an atmosphere of ignorance and fear, ensuring a hostile environment for lesbian and gay youth. Ultimately, limiting the poster to a clinical setting reinforces a pathological view of homosexuality that will nourish the hatred of a new generation of bigots and bashers. Scandalously, school board members continue to argue that their decision to have the poster stashed away was made in the interest of promoting school safety and harmony. Even though board members have refused to reconsider that decision, they must not be allowed to ignore the consequences of their action. To insist that board members recognize the contribution they have made to hate-mongering, and assume their responsibility for striking yet another blow to the dignity of lesbian and gay youth, write to: Saratoga Union School Board, 20460 Forest Hill Drive, Saratoga, CA 95070, tel. 408-867-3424. Vanity Fair on k. d. lang / k. d. lang on Vanity Fair A scene from k. d. lang's "dream-date fantasy" graces the much-discussed cover of Vanity Fair's August issue. Inside the magazine, the caption for another photo from the fantasy shoot explains: "k. d. lang checks out the curves on supermodel Cindy Crawford." In an appearance on e Arsenio Hall Show, Cindy Crawford was badgered with questions about "the risk" she had taken. With histrionic concern, Hall asked Crawford about any possible damage that might come from posing provocatively with a lesbian. To her credit, the supermodel rejected the premise of the question, pointing out that posing with k. d. lang was a privilege. Crawford also explained that, as a teen role model, she hoped her photos with lang would send an affirmative message to young women exploring their sexual orientation. Though the fantasy photo shoot became the center of talk show hosts' (limited) attentions, the article accompanying the photo is also a noteworthy effort. Intelligently written by Leslie Bennetts, the substantive profile resists the simple and hackneyed style of so many "music reviews." Bennetts weaves her interview with lang into an engaging combination of biography, cultural criticism, and personal reflection. "Lang is only 3l," Bennetts writes, "but after years of trying to win acceptance as a country singer and being rebuffed by the overwhelmingly white, male, heterosexual, Christian, and not exactly welcoming Nashville establishment, she has finally burst through the categories and restraints, and the ones who stood in her way will find themsclvcs eating her dust." Send feedback to E. Graydon Carter, Editor-in-Chief, Vanity Fair, 350 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10017. Digested Defamation In responding to complaints that Reader's Digest has a record of reprinting homophobic articles, without any apparent concern for fairness or accuracy, the magazine has failed to demonstrate any sensitivity to lesbian, gay or bisexual concerns. In a recent letter, Norman L. Simon, the editor in charge of the Digest's June issue, defended his decision to run "Gays in the Military," an editorial by Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune. Riddled with misinformation, the Royko editorial attempted to argue that the American public has been duped by gay activists and a pro-gay media industry, somehow conspiring to spread homosexuality and cover up the "facts" that prove the value of the military ban. However, editor Norman Simon claims that this defamatory rant takes an informed approach to a "sensitive issue." Simon says: "We feel Mike Royko's observations on the power of gay lobbyists and the media to influence public opinion are worth calling to our reader's attention." It seems that the Digest could benefit from a little self-examination, taking stock of it's own power to shape the homophobic opinions of a misinformed public. Letters on this "sensitive issue" should be sent to Norman Lewis Smith, Senior Staff Editor, Reader's Digest, The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Reader's Digest Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570-7000. Newsletter News More newsletters at are well-worth checking out: MediaCulture Review, a newsletter of media culture, politics and activism, is published every other month by the Institute of Alternative Journalism, 100 East 85 St., Now York, NY 10028, tel. 212-799-4822. CultureWatch is a monthly annotated bibliography of key articles on America's "culture wars," focusing on issues relating to freedom of expression, censorship, and Right-Wing attacks on the arts community. CultureWatch is published by The DataCenter, 464 19th St., Oakland, CA 94612-2297, tel. 510-835-4692, fax 510-835-3017. Various freedom of expression issues are also covered in Censorship News, the quarterly newsletter of the National Coalition Against Censorship, 2 West 64th Street, Rm. 402, New York, NY 10023, tel. 212-724-1500. The only way to cure homophobia is to confront it! To notify the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, of defamations, omissions or affirmations, or to request membership information, call our office at 415-861-4588; South Bay Hotline 408-235-0229; East Bay Hotline 510-273-9146; fax 415-861-4893. Our mailing address is GLAAD/SFBA, 514 Castro St., Suite B, San Francisco, CA 94114. Items for this weekly report should be sent to the attention of Al Kielwasser at GLAAD/SFBA.