Date: Mon, 14 Mar 1994 10:42:29 +0000 From: Bonnie Haley Subject: GLAAD/SFBA Media Watch (3/11/94) GLAAD/SFBA MEDIA WATCH March 11,1994 BOX OFFICE HIT Home Box Office (HBO) made a positive contribution to lesbian visibility in an installment of of cable channel's LIFESTORIES: FAMILIES IN CRISIS series. HBO's origional series, which features "true-life stoies," recently offered an episode titled "More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter." "More Than Friends..." tells the story of Heidi Leiter, a high school senior who comes out to herself and her parents, falls in love, and takes her girlfriend to the senior prom. The program manages to capture the courage of this young woman who faces the joy and tribulation of finally being who she always was. Of special note: unlike the half-hidden "lesbian kiss" on a recent episode of ROSEANNE, this program features a much more loving (and more truly lesbian) kiss, between Heidi and her girlfriend. Send comments to LIFESTORIES: FAMILIES IN CRISIS, HBO, 1100 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, tel. 212-512-1000. JOURNALISM'S BALANCING ACT The MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL's (IJ) March 9 editorial began: "It's always a shame when a historically oppressed group equates fighting for equality with oppressing others who have different views." In this case, the "others who have different views" are the homophobes of the American Family Association (AFA). And guess who's oppressing them? That's right, lesbians and gays! The IJ's editorial (written by John Moses) scolds GLAAD for complaining about the tendency of mainstream journalists to quote a homophobis bigot every time they do a story about lesbians and gays. According to the IJ, GLAAD is actually "castigating" the concept of "objectivity" embraced by journalists who favor "including many sides in a news story." What the IJ doesn't get is that this "bigot for balance" practice has nothing to do with objectivity or quality journalism. The practice is, in fact, an insidious bias. It reinforces the notion that the very existence of lesbians and gays is a matter of debate. Additionally, it suggests that homophobes are experts on homosexuality! In celebrating the concept of including "many sides" in a news story, the IJ is actually deferring to homophobia in a way that few newspapers would ever defer to other forms of prejudice. When a reporter does a story on fair housing practices, should a white supremacist automatically be quoted for "balance?" Should the uninformed views of a Neo-Nazi be included in every review of SCHINDLER'S LIST? In fact, if we follow the IJ's logic, then a "homosexual point of view" should be included in every article that mentions anything about heterosexuals. Unfortunately, it seems as if mainstream journalists are afraid to talk about gays and lesbians unless they quote some bigoted pinhead who tells everyone that it's O.K. to hate us. Write to the IJ and tell the paper that you resent the tactic of turning every gay- of lesbian-related discussion into a fight about whether or not we are nromal, sick, or even have the right to exist. Or, tell the editor that you beleive heterosexuals are destroying the country and ask the paper to call you up every time they do a story about someone straight so that you can provide "balance." Write to Barbara Morgan, Managing Editor, MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, P.O. Box 151790, San Rafael, CA 94915-1790, tel. 415-883-8600, fax 415-883-5458. HOMOPHOBIA HIGH The San Francisco school district's JROTC program, which teaches homophobia, racism and violence to The City's children, is once again under review by the Board of Education. It now seems that cadets in this para-military program have been beating the crap out of each other as part of a brutal "hazing" tradition. The JROTC program has also been accused of using racist textbooks and discriminating against lesbian, gay and bisexual students and instructors. The Board of Education's lesbian and gay commissioners (Angie Fa and Tom Ammiano) hope to muster the votes to rid the school system of the JROTC disease. School Board members who continue to support the program are Steve Phillips, Carlotta del Portillo, Leland Yee, and Jill Wynns. You can share your thoughts on JROTC with these commissioners by writing to the San Francisco Board of Education, 135 Van Ness Ave., S.F., CA 94102, tel. 415-241-6427. TRANSVESTITE SUPER-VILLAINS ZWANNA: SON OF ZULU, a relatively recent entry in the comic book field, features a foot-fetishist super villain who wears a tutu. he works with three "black widows" who are portrayed as S/M transvestites. Presumably, the cartoonist thinks such gay imagery somehow makes the super villains appear more demonic. Share your thoughts on this not-too-comic subject with Nabile P. Hage, Writer/Editor, Dark Zulu Lies, Inc., P.O. Box 38261, Atlanta, GA 30334. MEDIA BRIEFS Plans are underway for a "Lavender Broadcasters Convention" that would bring together TV producers, film/video artists, and other media critics and creators. Anyone interested in participating should call 1-800-L-LOUNGE by March 30th. For more details, call or write Mark Kleim, Executive Producer, Lavender Lounge, 2300 Market Street, Suite 29, S.F., CA 94114. A revised version of the "Queers in History" computer program has been published. In addition to a database of hundreds of historical homos, the latest edition features the trivia game "Queeries." For more information, contact Quistory, Ltd., P.O. Box 1064, Beverly Hills, CA 90213-1064, tel. 310-659-2783, fax 310-659-2774. The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association is now cruising the information superhighway. NLGJA can be found on America Online (AOL), bumper to bumper with a number of lesbian, gay and bisexual organizations. For more information, you can call either NLGJA (415-905-4690) or AOL (800-827-6364). WE MUST CONFRONT HOMOPHOBIA IN ORDER TO CURE IT! TO NOTIFY THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION OF ANY DEFAMATORY MEDIA COVERAGE, OR TO REQUEST 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.