Date: Fri, 18 Feb 94 14:31:13 PST From: rlafont@eis.calstate.edu (Robert j Lafont) Subject: Media Watch GLAAD MEDIA WATCH February 11,1994 ABC . . . KISS THIS! The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) announced that it will not broadcast the March 1st episode of Roseanne because the program contains a kiss between two women. According to ABC spokesperson Sherrie Berger, the network's official comment is "no comment." However, ABC vice president Steve Weiswasser said the show had to be censored because it "is not a lifestyle most people lead." In the banned episode, Roseanne (Roseanne Arnold) visits a lesbian/gay dance bar with her bisexual friend Nancy (Sandra Bernhardt). After dancing, Roseanne sits down for a chat with Nancy's new girlfriend, Sharon (Mariel Hemmingway). Some sort of "crossed-signals" eventually result in Sharon giving Roseanne a kiss. The second half of the episode deals with Roseanne's reaction. According to Executive Producer Tom Arnold, Roseanne "finds out she's a bit of a hypocrite, that she wasn't comfortable and she's not quite as cool as she thinks she is." Arnold also said that ABC officials had asked him to remove the kissing scene from the storyline, which he refused to do. Whether or not such storylines make an affirmative contribution to lesbian visibility is certainly debatable; the "lesbian makes pass at straight woman" premise is certainly problematic. However, it hardly seems likely that ABC censors had such questions on their minds when they decided to cancel the broadcast. ABC's decision appears to be based in mindless homophobia. In fact, such censorship actively promotes homophobia. Television's routine censorship of lesbian and gay lives maintains a profound ignorance that motivates hate, violence and fear. Demand that ABC retract its homophobic censorship and air the Roseanne episode. Contact Ted Harbert, President, ABC Entertainment (tel. 310-557-6516, fax 310-557-7160) and Stephen Weisswasser, Executive Vice President, Network Grouup (tel. 212-456-7203, fax 212-456-6202), American Broadcasting Company, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, CA 90067. Send your support for Roseanne should be sent to Carsey-Werner, Producers, Roseanne, 4024 Radford Ave., Bldg. 3, Studio City, CA 91604, tel. 818-760-5135. TEXTBOOK DEFENCE San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan has called upon the United Way to reject a homophobic petition drive being orchestrated by the Christian Action Network (C.A.N.). C.A.N. recently launched its nationwide attack against the United Way for indirectly supporting GLAAD's educational equity program, "Project 21." In a letter to United Way headquarters, Jordan urged President Elaine Chao to support Project 21's efforts "to insure that fair, accurate and unbiased information about gay men, lesbians and bisexual people included in public school textbooks." Jordan also pointed to the pivotal role that education must play in combating the many outcomes of homophobia (such as hate violence and teen suicide), and he urged Chao "to stand proud and tall in the face of ignorance, to reject intolerance, and to embrace knowledge." Send comments to Frank M. Jordan, Mayor, City Hall, Room 200, San Francisco, CA 94103 (tel. 415-554-6141) and Elaine Chao, President, United Way, 701 North Fairfax, Alexandria, VA 22314-2045. CABLE CENSORS Six San Francisco producers have filed a lawsuit against Viacom Cable for allegedly violating the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 and censoring programs on leased and public access channels. Though not participants in the lawsuit, also recently criticized Viacom for censoring programs under the company's "anti-indecency" policy. Significantly, the vague and subjective standards of that Viacom policy have been used to suppress lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender programming. Five of the seven shows censored by Viacom during the past year have been produced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender producers. These programs include Electric City, Lavender Lounge, Wax Lips, Museo Contempo, and Triangle Productions. By censoring these and other "indecent" programs, Viacom is depriving the community of the alternative programming that leased and public access channels are supposed to provide. Public access channels are a particularly important venue for groups that have historically been overlooked or ignored by the mainstream television networks. Urge Viacom to do the really decent thing withdraw its programming "indecency" guidelines. Let the company know that San Francisco's community standards (as affirmed by the voters with Proposition 0 in 1991) support tolerance and reject every form of censorship. Write to Jon Marx, Vice President & General Manager, Viacom Cable, 2055 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94103, tel.415-863-8500.