Date: Sat, 22 Jan 1994 23:58:02 +0000 From: Bonnie Haley Subject: glaad's media watch (1/23/94) GLAAD MEDIA WATCH January 23,1994 SUPPORT VIOLENCE ON TV! Under attack for promoting violence, the major television networks have announced plans to intensively examine the issue as part of their news and informational programming. NBC, CBS and Fox are each producing specials on the subject of growing violence in the United States. CBS intends to fill prime-time with a three-hour documentary on violence, slated to air in the Fall. Joining with CBS, on the same night, the Fox network will air a program on violence intended for young viewers. NBC has announced plans for a full week devoted to "American the Violent: Fed Up and Fighting Back." That effort will involve NBC's news and entertainment programs. One question looms large: Will these efforts address the issue of homophobic hate violence? Unfortunately, the major television networks have done a poor job in covering the hate violence beat. insist that the plague of homophobic hatred is included in the networks' exploration of violence in America. Contact: Eric Ober, President, CBS News, 524 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019, tel. 212-975-4321; Andrew Lack, President, NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, tel. 212-664-4444; Lucie Salhany, President, Fox Broadcasting, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, tel. 310-277-2211. HATE MEDIA ALERTS The Right Wing continues to flood the country with video tapes, brochures, booklets and other hate media in a non-stop misinformation campaign. Among the latest contributions is a widely-circulated pamphlet titled THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HOMOSEXUALITY. This glossy little tract is published by the Family Research Institute, a group of deeply disturbed and delusional men who describe themselves as "scientists defending traditional family values." According to THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HOMOSEXUALITY, lesbians and gays tend to "display defensive malice towards others," are "generally unreliable" and "of a more or less psychopathic nature," and (get this!) "provoke attacks against themselves and then count these 'attacks' as injustices they had suffered." The authors conclude: " The 'gay life' is short, lonely, and filled with cheating, insecurity, disease, and danger." Among some of the "facts" you might not have known: the booklet states that homosexuals are "about A third more apt (than heterosexuals) to report a traffic ticket or traffic accidents." When lesbians and gays aren't busy voting for special rights, it seems, we're running people down on America's highways. Who knew that bad driving was part of the "gay agenda?" THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HOMOSEXUALITY also includes plenty of figures, charts and graphs that "document" everything from "one night stands" to "fecal exposure" rates amongst homosexuals. All of this would simply be amusing if the Family Research Institute were not so successful in passing these ridiculous and hateful pamphlets off as "legitimate research." The Institute's "scientific evidence" was widely touted during Colorado's Amendment Two trial, for example. Write for a copy of the pamphlet today. Send requests to Family Research Institute, Inc., P.O. Box 2091, Washington, DC 20013-2091, tel. 703-690-8536. Send the pamphlet to your favorite local reporter and ask him or her to investigate, write about, and help shed some light on the dark activities of these media-manipulators. TRICKS AND TREATS TRICKS, cable television's "hit gay dating show," can be seen locally on the fourth Friday of each month, at 10:00 PM, on "Cityvisions" (Viacom cable channel 53). The show offers a queer version of TV's more routine (and exclusively heterosexual) mating programs, such as STUDS or THE DATING GAME. The dateless and desperate who want to directly join in the fun may audition by sending a photo, phone number "and other vitals" (you figure that one out) to TRICKS, 7985 Santa Monica Blvd., suite 109-448, West Hollywood, CA 90046, tel. 310-289-3241. If you're more interested in treats than tricks, the LAMBDA BOOK REPORT has announced it's Sixth Annual lambda Literary Awards. Nominations are now open and ballots can be obtained by writing to Lambda Literary Awards, 1625 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009-1013, fax 202-462-7257. All ballots must be received by february 7, 1994. WE MUST CONFRONT HOMOPHOBIA IN ORDER TO CURE IT! TO NOTIFY THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION OF ANY DEFAMATORY MEDIA COVERAGE, OR TO REQUESST MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GLAAD, CONTACT GLAAD/SFBA, 514 CASTRO STREET, SUITE B, SF, CA 94114, TEL. 415-861-4588, FAX 415-861-4893, E-MAIL BONNIE@OUTRIGHT.COM.