Date: Fri, 19 Aug 94 22:28:15 EDT From: GLAADSFBA@aol.com GLAAD MEDIA WATCH -- AUGUST 19, 1994 BY AL KIELWASSER NO FAMILY VALUE An ad in the August 13 issue of TV Guide features "Luke," a WAL-MART sales associate, touting the store's line of video tapes. The young sales boy declares: "The best family videos reach out to kids, but have something the adults can enjoy, too." In the ad, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is among the eight "family videos" being pushed by WAL-MART. And what does Ace Ventura offer the kids? The film is a vapid opus to slapstick homophobia. At one point, Ace (played by Jim Carrey) "accidentally" kisses a man. Ace/Carrey reacts by taking a shower, vomiting, and using a toilet plunger on his mouth. Comments on its "best family video" selection can be sent to WAL-MART Corporate Headquarters, 702 S.W. 8th St., Denton Vale, AR 72712, tel 501-273-4000; copy your letter to the film's producer, Warner Bros. Pictures, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522, tel. 818-954-6000. HE'S BAAACK... Comedian Andrew Dice Clay -- whose stand-up act is built on little more than sexist and homophobic ranting -- will play a supporting role in the new NBC series, The Ties That Bind. The Warner Bros. production is executive produced by Peter Noah and Bruce Rasmussen, Warner Bros. Pictures, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522, tel. 818-954-6000. Copy your complaints to Warren Littlefield, President, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA 91523, tel. 818-840-4444. And, as always, be sure to request a reply! THE RIGHT RESPONSE The Journal of Hard Response and Freedom Writer are two newsletters that provide resources for fighting the Far Right (or is it the far wrong?). According to the editors, Hard Response is "dedicated to clobbering the Right in as many avenues of creative expression as possible." The newsletter favors a satirical tone, and recent articles include "Diddle-Heads" (about xenophobia on the Lake County Florida school board) and "Pig Update" (about, of course, Rush Limbaugh). Taking a more serious approach to the issues, Freedom Writer is published monthly by the Institute for First Amendment Studies. This useful resource provides "a hard look at the hard right," and the September issue includes numerous news updates and a feature essay on creationism in the public schools. For more information, contact: Hard Response, P.O. Box 845, Seabrook, TX 77586, tel. 713-532-3324, e-mail jite@blkbox.com; Freedom Writer, Institute for First Amendment Studies, P.O. Box 589, Great Barrington, MA 01230, tel. 413-274-3786 e-mail ifas@mcimail.com.. THE EDITORIAL PAGE Editorials from both the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News were quick to condemn the Helms-Smith amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The amendment, approved in the U.S. Senate by a 63 to 36 vote, would ban funds to schools "supporting homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative" or providing "referral of a pupil to an organization that affirms a homosexual lifestyle." The August 5 editorial in the Mercury News denounced the Senators' amendment as "a mean-spirited attempt to impose their brand of morality on the rest of the country -- and blackmail schools in the process. If it remains in the bill, it will be a disservice to educators, parents and students, gay and straight." The August 3 Chronicle described the Smith-Helms amendment as "a burst of unrealism and political pandering." "When the House and Senate versions of the education act are reconciled," the Chronicle concluded, "the bill must permit the nation's schools to provide positive instruction without bowing to the dictates of Jesse Helms." The Helms-Smith amendment must still be debated in conference committee before the final passage of the Education Act. Hopefully, the more-evolved legislators on the committee (which will be chaired by Ted Kennedy) will use the debate as an opportunity not simply to refute hate-monger Helms but also to proactively assert the educational needs and rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth. Contact Jerome M. Ceppos, Managing Editor, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Dr., San Jose, CA 95190, tel. 408-920-5494; San Francisco Chronicle, Matt Wilson, Managing Editor, 901 Mission St., S.F., CA, tel. 415-777-1111; The Honorable Edward Kennedy, U.S. Senate, 20510, Washington, D.C., tel. 202-224-3121. Please send copies of your correspondence or other items related to lesbian/gay educational issues to GLAAD's "Project 21," 1360 Mission, Suite 200, S.F., CA 94103, tel. 415-861-2244,e-mail glaadp21@aol.com. EDUCATING JESSE Hopefully, the U.S. Senate's biggest bigot -- Jesse Helms -- is wracked with convulsive terror over the news coming from a school board in his home state. The Chapel Hill-Carborro School Board voted on August 4 to include sexual orientation in the district's plans for diversity education. This new plan not only affirms the dignity of lesbian and gay persons, but calls for support staff for lesbian/gay students and families to be includedin every school in the district. Such welcome efforts are essential in the continuing struggle to combat the virulent homophobia in text books, which reach a truly captive audience and rank amongthe most widely-read mass media in the country. To support the effort in North Carolina, contact Ken Touw (Chair and author of the plan), Chapel Hill-Carborro School Board, Administrative Office -- Lincoln Center, Merrit Mill Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, tel. 919-967-8211. Please send copies of your correspondence or other items related to lesbian/gay educational issues to GLAAD's "Project 21," 1360 Mission, Suite 200, S.F., CA 94103, tel. 415-861-2244, e-mail glaadp21@aol.com. BBS WATCH "The Zone" is an on-line computer bulletin board system (BBS) for lesbian, gay and bisexual teens. Based in Los Angeles, the free service operates 24 hours a day. Connect at 213-731-0390. Activities of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates radio and television operations across the U.S., can be monitored through the on-line service "FCC World," tel. 202-887-5718. MEDIA BRIEFS * A new lesbian magazine, Lesbertaria, has debuted in Brazil. For more information, contact Caixa Postal 01495-970, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil. * In response to the homophobic hate film, The Gay Agenda, Atlanta-area media professionals are producing a short videotape intended to educate state legislators about gay/lesbian discrimination and civil rights issues. The production team is currently seeking people who have experienced harassment/discrimination to interview for the project. Contact"Voices Out Front," 2103 N. Decatur Rd., Suite 185, Decatur, GA 30033, tel. 404-734-2473, e-mail LSAuerbach@aol.com. * The August 8 issue of People magazine includes a feature on the Indigo Girls. The folk-rockers make passing references to the fact that they are lesbians and also announce their first movie, Boys On The Side, an up-coming AIDS drama starring Whoopi Goldberg. * With A Growing Voice is a new, national newspaper "about youth creating change" and advocating for educational equity. For details contact Unplug, 360 Grand Ave., #385, Oakland, CA 94610, tel. 510-268-1100 or 800-UNPLUG-1, e-mail unplug@igc.org. WE MUST CONFRONT HOMOPHOBIA TO CURE IT! TO NOTIFY THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION OF ANY DEFAMATORY MEDIA COVERAGE CALL OUR DEFAMATION HOTLINE AT 415-861-4588 OR WRITE TO GLAAD/SFBA, 1360 MISSION STREET, SUITE 200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103; FAX, 415-861-4893. SEND ITEMS FOR THIS WEEKLY REPORT TO THE ATTENTION OF "MEDIA WATCH" AT GLAAD/SFBA OR E-MAIL TO GLAADSFBA@AOL.COM. WHEN APPROPRIATE, ATTRIBUTIONS FOR ITEMS USED SHOULD BE MADE TO AL KIELWASSER, GLAAD/SFBA. AS ALWAYS, WE GREATLY APPRECIATE COPIES OF ANY PUBLICATIONS THAT USE ALL OR PART OF THE "MEDIA WATCH." THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUING INTEREST IN GLAAD'S WORK!