Date: Fri, 07 Oct 94 22:14:08 EDT From: GLAADP21@aol.com GLAAD MEDIA WATCH for October 6, 1994 By Al Kielwasser HISTORY LESSONS ON NBC The October 4 broadcast of the NBC news program Dateline featured a gay high-school teacher whose career is on the line. After he showed his class a film about the holocaust, Mehlville High School teacher Rodney Wilson displayed a poster of the various patches worn by those incarcerated in the Nazi concentration camps. The poster included the pink triangle and Wilson told his class: "As a gay man, I would have been forced to wear the pink triangle." After a period of silence, his students literally applauded Wilson's decision to come out in the classroom. According to the Dateline report, however, school officials have been less enlightened than Wilson's students. Ronald Jones, the principal of Mehlville High School, described Wilson's statement as "inappropriate conduct." Bob Rodgers, the Superintendent of Schools agreed, and suggested that references to homosexuality have no place in the curriculum. The Dateline report provided Rodney Wilson with a fair forum to rebut such homophobic assertions. Wilson noted that the 800-page history book he used contained no mention of lesbian or gay people and that he was only trying to "stop the silence." "I simply stated a historical fact," Wilson said, "that gays were persecuted by the Nazis. I stated another fact, that I am gay. And I put those two facts together." Wilson added: "If it causes one kid to stop believing that gay people are monsters, then that's a good thing." The Dateline report also noted that, despite four years of "glowing" evaluations, Wilson's job is now in jeopardy. He is up for tenure this Spring. Comments can be sent to Dateline, NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York NY 10021, fax 212-664-3330, e-mail dateline@news.nbc.com; Rodney Wilson (courageous teacher) and Ronald Jones (homophobic principal), Mehlville High School, 3200 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63125, tel. 314-892-5000; Bob Rodgers, Schools Superintendent, 3120 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63125. DONAHUE'S BALANCING ACT Recently, Esther Newton -- the lesbian author of Mother Camp, a book about drag -- was asked to be a guest on an episode of Phil Donahue's popular TV talk show (scheduled for an Oct. 11 broadcast date). Other guests included a well-known drag queen and the stars of the movie The Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Dessert. Hours before the taping, Newton was informed that Paul Cameron -- a quack psychologist and arch-homophobe -- would also be amongst the panel of guests. Cameron's appearance would provide "balance," Donahue's producer's argued. Before the show was taped, the producers had been provided with ample documentation demonstrating that Cameron conducted fraudulent "research" on homosexuality and had no credibility as an expert on human sexuality. Nonetheless, they insisted on keeping Cameron in the line-up. Adrienne Wheeler -- the Donahue producer who booked Cameron -- assured Esther Newton that "Phil would handle Cameron" and expose the pseudo-psychologist's disreputable career in hate-mongering. According to Esther Newton, the talk show host did not "handle" Cameron at all. Instead, Phil's guests were left to fend for themselves. Once again, lesbian/gay/transgendered guests were forced into a debate with a homophobic lunatic, a move that too-often precludes any focused discussion of the issues that are (purportedly) at hand. Would the producers of the Donahue show require Spike Lee to sit on stage with a member of the KKK, in order to "balance" a discussion of the director's film work? Could they insist that an interview with the cast of Schindler's List would be "unfair" unless a neo-Nazi was invited to participate? Journalists routinely include homophobic bigots in the coverage of any lesbian or gay subject. As Larry Gross of the University of Pennsylvania points out, this insidious media bias promotes "a dueling experts circus routine that legitimates homophobes as morally equal to gays." Certainly, Paul Cameron's homophobic "research" agenda should be discussed on national television. But that discussion should take place in a forum dedicated to examining Cameron's claims. Cameron has published a slew of "research" pamphlets asserting -- among other things - that most murderers and child molesters are gay, that lesbians are bad drivers, and that lesbians and gays are not victims of hate violence but, instead, provoke physical assaults for political purposes. Rather than providing a privileged forum for homophobes to attack lesbians and gays, talk shows should require Cameron and his ilk to defend their hateful lies. Direct your comments to Patricia McMillan, Executive Producer, The Phil Donahue Show, NBC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York NY 10112, tel. 212-664-6501, fax 212-757-5386. DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY ASSOCIATION The homophobic "American family Association" (AFA) recently released the results of a six-month television monitoring effort. The report cites a list of 34 "offensive" programs that presented homosexuality "as a normal, acceptable, alternative lifestyle." A typical entry on this list, for example, is: "Melrose Place" (Fox, January 6) -- Homosexual character Matt, a regular in the ensemble cast, was prominent in one scene encouraging Michael, paralyzed from an auto accident, in his physical therapy session." What offends the AFA is that Matt is shown as a person capable of compassion (in real life, of course, homosexuals are not people and, therefore, have no feelings). On the basis of their analysis, the AFA concludes that "the largest advertisers on television have taken up the cause of the radical homosexual movement, sinking millions of dollars into sponsorship of TV programs pushing the homosexual agenda." The AFA identifies Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo as the leading advertisers on "pro-homosexual" TV shows. AFA members have been encouraged to bombard these companies with calls and letters demanding that they withdraw support from "homosexual advocacy episodes" of popular TV programs. Procter & Gamble makes everything from Folder's coffee to NyQuil decongestant, while PepsiCo products include Taco Bell fast foods and the Doritos, Fritos, Ruffles, Sun, Rold Gold, and Lay's snack chip lines. Comments may be sent to Chrm. D. Wayne Calloway, PepsiCo, 700 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY10577, tel. 914-253-2000, fax 914-253-2070; Chrm. Edwin L. Artzt, Procter & Gamble Company, P.O. Box 599, Cincinnati, OH 45201, tel. 513-983-1100 or 800-543-7276, fax 513-562-4500. ON A PERSONAL NOTE . . . It seems that the San Diego Union-Tribune adheres to a heterosexist double-standard when it comes to printing "personals." According to journalist Rex Wockner, the newspaper bans the use of the words "gay" and "lesbian" in the personal ads that are published each Thursday and Sunday. Oddly, it's OK for ad copy to read "man seeks other man for fun," but NOT "gay man seeks other gay man for fun." Additionally, heterosexual personal ads are printed under the headings "Men Seeking Women" or "Women Seeking Men." However, lesbian and gay personals are all restricted to the category "Seeking Just a Friend." The newspaper's Classifieds Director, Erin Coates, explained: "We feel those ads that are classified under 'Seeking Just A Friend' allow people to kind of read between the lines." When questioned abut the ban on the words "lesbian" and "gay" in these personal ads, Coates again replied, "They're thinly veiled. Readers can read between the lines." Suggesting that "readers can read between the lines" for lesbian and gay content is a poor excuse for homophobic censorship. Share your outrage with Doug Hope, Managing Editor, and Erin Coates, Classifieds Director, San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 191, San Diego, CA 92112, tel. 619-299-3131. We must confront the media's homophobia in order to cure it! To notify the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation of any defamatory or affirmative media coverage call our 24-hour Media Watch Hotline at 415-861-4588, or write to GLAAD/SFBA, 1360 Mission Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94103; fax, 415-861-4893; e-mail glaad sfba@aol.com. ************************************************* 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!