San Francisco Bay Area Chapter GLAAD Media Watch -- February 4,1994 by Al Kielwasser Blossoming Awareness On a recent episode of the NBC sitcom Blossom (Jan. 31) "teen idol" Joey Lawrence gets an unexpected love letter. The note, signed "Leslie," sends Joey into fits of glee at the thought being the object of some girl's desire. It turns out that "Les" is not a girl, however, but a gay teen. What's a boy to do? Joey, as we might expect, has an apoplectic seizure. He confides in a (girl) friend, telling her: "Leslie used to be one of the guys. Now he's just somebody who gives me the creeps." His friend, a young African American women objects and tells Joey about her own experiences with racism. "So I know something about what it's like when people shun you for who you are," she says, "And, Joey, I wouldn't wish that feeling on anybody." In the episode's final scene, the gay teenager is seen in the school hallways, where he is being harassed by another student. Shoving Leslie, the bigot taunts: "Hey queer, is this your spot? Is this where you pick up all the boys!?" Joey stumbles on the scene, helps Leslie defend against the attacker, and signals his growing acceptance of Leslie. Referring to the would-be basher as an "idiot," Joey walks off with Les. Story lines such as this certainly case the suffocating silence that surrounds teenage homosexuality in our popular culture. Few network programs even acknowledge that lesbian, gay or bisexual youth exist. Of course, this sort of prime-time programming is a fundie's nightmare. NBC will be hearing from the hate-mongers. Encourage this effort; ask the show's producers to do more positive story lines in the future and, while they're at it, to consider adding a continuing lesbian or gay character to the Blossom cast. Direct your calls and letters to Executive Producers Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, and Don Reno, Blossom, NBC Entertainment, 3000 West Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91523, tel. 818-840-4444. More Out Advertisers The nation's newest queer glossy, Out magazine, continues to rack up major advertisers. The Perrier Group is the latest company to lend its support, buying ad space for Calistoga water. Such advertisers are, routinely, the brunt of boycotts launched by the homophobic American Family Association and other hate groups. Send supportive letters to Andy Hilliard, The Perrier Group, 777 West Putnam Ave., P.O. Box 2313, Greenwich, CT 06826. Send copies of your correspondence to Out, The Soho Building, 110 Greene St. Suite 800, New York, NY 10017, tel. 212-334-9119, fax 212-334-9227. Condom Sense Mayer Labs, distributors of Kimono and MAXX condoms (and Aqua Lube lubricant) has signed on as a sponsor of the Gay Games IV, which will take place June 16-25 in New York City. Mayer is the first U.S. condom company to support an international sporting event of any kind. According to a company statement: "In the spirit of the Gay Games, Mayer Labs hopes to help celebrate the diversity and culture of the gay and lesbian community while also reaching hundreds of thousands of health-conscious consumers with its fun, practical approach to safer sex and condom use." Mayer Labs "strongly favors gay and lesbian equal rights, reproductive rights, universal access to health care, increased government spending on health promotion and illness prevention, and sexual health education in the classroom." Contact David Mayer, President, Mayer Laboratories, 231 Fallon St., Oakland, CA 94607, tel. 510-452-5555 or 800-426-6366, fax 510-272-9021. No Condom Sense The Centers for Discase Control (CDC) and the Clinton Administration have launched the first federally-funded AIDS prevention campaign for radio and television, despite massive opposition from the "Religious Right." In contrast to the abstract, sex-negative (and idiot-positive) approach of the Reagan-Bush era, most of these new ads finally show condoms and encourage their use. Certainly, these spots are better than anything Nancy Reagan would have produced! Missing from the ads altogether, however, are any images of (or references to) lesbians, bisexuals or gay men. Quoted in a recent Advertising Age article ("Gays are MIA in the Latest U.S. Anti-AIDS Ads"), the CDC's chief marketing/media official, Melissa Shepard, defended the campaign's approach. According to the Princess of Double-Talk: "Not showing gay men doesn't mean we're not targeting them." Straight couples are included in the new series of 13 ads, by the way. While no one is suggesting that the CDC ought to reinforce notions that AIDS is a "gay discase," it is clear that lesbians and gay men deserve health messages that specifically address our needs and experiences. Self-esteem is a potent factor in discase prevention; AIDS prevention messages need to provide powerfully-affirmative images of our community. Send your comments to Bill Clinton, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC 20500, tel. 202-456-1414; David Satcher, Director, Centers for Disease Control, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30333, tel. 404-639-3311. Media Briefs * Eight queer programs will grace the S.F. Asian American International Film Festival (March 3-10). For information, contact the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA), 346 Ninth St., 2nd Fl., S.F., CA 94103, tel., 415-863-0814. * "Invisibility Homophobia and Heterosexism," are view of research on lesbians, gays and the media, appears in the latest issue (vol. 10) of the journal Critical Studies in Mass Communication. * The "Bisexual Resources Line" (415-703-7977) offers access to the Bay Area Bi community's educational, political, and social groups as well as to the magazine Anything That Moves: Beyond the Myths of Bisexuality. * Rethinking Schools is a non-profit, independent newspaper advocating the reform of elementary and secondary public schools, with an emphasis on equality and social justice issues. Slated for publication in June of this year is Rethinking the Classroom, a 160-page curriculum guide on teaching for social justice at all grade levels. Contact Rethinking Schools, Ltd., 1001 E. Keffe Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53212, tel. 414-964-9646, fax. 414-964-7220. We must confront homophobia in order to cure it! To notify the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation of any defamatory media coverage, or to request GLAAD membership information, write to GLAAD/SFBA, 514 Castro Street, Suite B, San Francisco, CA 94114. Call our main office at 415-861-4588; fax, 415-861-4893; South Bay, 408-235-0229; East Bay, 510-273-9146; North Bay, 415-647-3055. Items for this weekly report should be sent to Al Kielwasser at GLAAD/SFBA.