Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 02:51:14 -0400 Sender: GLAADP21@aol.com GLAAD MEDIA WATCH for October 21, 1994 By Al Kielwasser JOURNALISM THAT COUNTS The cover story of the October 17 issue of Time magazine is "Sex in America: Surprising News from the Most Important Survey Since the Kinsey Report." The magazine's table of contents further heralds the new study as the "first truly scientific survey of who does what with whom." The title for the article -- which runs to several pages -- readies readers: "Now for the Truth About Americans and SEX." At issue is a new University of Chicago study of the sexual behaviors of 3,500 randomly-selected Americans. Despite the incredible hype, the article (though not necessarily the study itself) suffers from a number of problems common to mainstream reporting on sex surveys. In his article, Time correspondent Philip Elmer-Dewitt writes: "Most Americans don't go in for the kinky stuff. Asked to rank their favorite sex acts, almost everybody (96%) found vaginal sex 'very or somewhat appealing.' " The heterosexist bias here is clear. Only vaginal sex is normal; everything else is "kinky stuff." Among the new survey's "key findings," Elmer-Dewitt reports, is: "There are a lot fewer active homosexuals in America than the oft-repeated 1 in 10. Only 2.7% of men and 1.3% of women report that they had homosexual sex in the past years." There are a number of key problems with this "key finding." First, this is not a key finding of the Chicago study. Elsewhere in his own article, Elmer-Dewitt quotes one of the Chicago researchers, who cautions: "There is probably a lot more homosexual activity going on than we could get people to talk about." Elmer-Dewitt's conclusion that "there are a lot fewer active homosexuals in America than the oft-repeated 1 in 10" is simply not supported by the limited facts of the survey. Interestingly, Elmer-Dewitt only uses the adjective "active" to refer to homosexuals; no "active heterosexuals" are mentioned as such. The bias here is slightly more subtle, but no less insidious. Heterosexuality is something you are. Homosexuality is just something you do. Homophobic "change ministries" thrive on this distinction, always reducing homosexual orientation to genital activity (because then a homosexual person only has to be "inactive" in order to be "cured"). To its credit, the Time article includes a boxed insert "But Should We Believe It?," which identifies some of the methodological problems associated with a survey of this nature. Nonetheless, the article clearly spins this survey as if it were sexual gospel. Lost in hype is any substantive consideration of the factors that diminish the study's authority on the issue of homosexuality. About their new survey, the Chicago researchers are quoted as saying: "Our feeling was that you could get people to talk about anything if you approach them right." In some cases, in fact, reluctant participants were visited 15 times by a pollster trying to "win them over." All of the surveys were conducted face-to-face, without anonymity. What the Time reporter (like so many others) failed to do is provide a meaningful context for understanding why lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents might not "talk about anything." The author makes only a passing reference to the group as "stigmatized." Instead, he could have specifically noted that: * According to the U.S. Justice Department, lesbians and gays are probably the most frequent victims of hate crimes. * Numerous surveys have demonstrated pervasive patterns of discrimination against lesbians and gay men in employment, public accommodations, health care, credit, parenting, police protection, insurance, and education. * In one national survey of young men (15 to 19 years old), 89 percent said that sex between two men is "disgusting" and only 12 percent "felt confident that they could befriend a gay person." * Lesbian and gay love is actually a criminal offense is half of the United States, and homosexuality is still cause for official government discrimination. Now, it isn't all that hard to imagine how this climate can impact survey results. In fact, it's easy to understand how a 19-year-old man might think twice when asked by a pollster -- who has hounded him 15 times -- whether or not he has had sex with other men. Or how about a 30-year-old lesbian mother? What has she got to lose by "talking about anything" (besides her job, her child and, possibly, her life)? Notably, the Time article is followed by a "response" piece, written by heterosexual author and radio personality Garrison Keillor. Given the problematic nature of surveying homosexuals in America, did it not occur to Time's editors that they might include a response written by a homosexual in America? Lesbians and gays have a right to be heard, as well as counted. And the mainstream press has a responsibility to listen. Send your feedback to "Letters," Time magazine, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York NY 10020, fax 212-522-0601. GENTLY GAY The October '94 issue of Gentlemen's Quarterly includes "A Gay Man's Risks for Love," by Dudley Clendinen. In just over three pages, the essay provides an intentionally personal -- perhaps idiosyncratic -- look at HIV/AIDS, from the perspective of an HIV-negative gay man. The quality or worth of this essay must be left to the determination of individual readers, but it is significant that the work finds itself nestled between the covers of GQ. And it's more significant still to find the word "gay" on the magazine's cover. For too long, men's fashion magazines -- ludicrous, hypocritical to the extreme -- have posed as if their readerships were exclusively heterosexual. Send comments to Martin Beiser, Managing Editor, GQ, 350 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017, tel. 212-880-8800, e-mail gqmag@aol.com. KFRC: MORE AIR POLLUTION Bay Area radio station KFRC is at it again. This time, morning disc jockey Gary Bryan has been airing a racist song that "pokes fun" at Los Angeles Superior Court judge Lance Ito. In Bryan's "parody," Ito is depicted "eating sushi in his chambers, mixing his R's and L's and speaking of the Simpson trial in pidgin English, using such phrases as 'Ito, he don't budge. That's right, I no budge.' " According to Bryan: "It wasn't intended to be racist and if anybody's feelings were hurt, I do regret that." In March of this year, KFRC's morning DJ was busy shouting that lesbians and gay men are "sick and pathetic." Then, as now, the station and staff offered nothing but "regret." Once again, the S.F. Human Rights Commission is investigating the station, which is licensed by the Federal government to use the public airwaves in service to the community. Share your comments with the radio station and copy your letters to the Human Rights Commission: David Bramnick, General Manager, KFRC, 500 Washington St., San Francisco, CA 94111, tel. 415-391-9970, fax 415-397-7655; Edwin M. Lee, Director, Human Rights Commission, 25 Van Ness Ave., Suite 800, San Francisco, CA 94102-6033, tel. 415-252-2500, fax 415-431- 5764. COVERING GENDER Recent issues of both Harper's and Details magazines cover transsexual subjects. The "Readings" section of the October '94 issue of Harper's includes "I Am Mauve, Hear Me Roar," an excerpt from The Apartheid of Sex: A Manifesto on the Freedom of Gender. Transsexual author Martine Aliana Rothblatt debunks "the division of humanity into two sexes" and argues that "to identify the meaningful elements of sexual identity it is necessary to abandon entirely the male/female, masculine/feminine lexicon." Rothblatt posits a "chromatic" lexicon instead: "Anatomically, we may have penises or vaginas, testicles or ovaries. Sexually, we are a rainbow of color, a spectrum of gender." In the November '94 issue of Details, Emily Yoffee "explores the meaning of gender in the world of female-to-male transsexuals." The six page feature effectively uses individual biography to anchor a wide- ranging examination of female-to-male transsexuals. This feature continues Details admirable record of covering queer subjects. Encouragement may be directed to Harper's Magazine, 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012; Details, 632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. MEDIA BRIEFS * The Winter 1994 issue of Radical Teacher (P.O. Box 102, Kendall Square Post Office, Cambridge, MA 02142) is dedicated to "Lesbian/Gay/Queer Studies." * This November's season premiere of In The Life -- "public television's guide to gay culture, entertainment and events" -- will feature an interview with actress Amanda Bearse (Married With Children) and a look into the "two-spirit" people of Native American cultures. Make sure you local PBS station is carrying the series; call or write In The Life for broadcast schedules (30 West 26th St., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010, tel. 212-255-6012, fax 212-255-6097). * Celebrating its third anniversary, Art & Understanding is described as "America's only non-profit AIDS magazine." For more info., contact A & U, 25 Monroe St., Suite 205, Albany, New York, 12210. 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 GLAAD SFBA@AOL.COM. WHEN APPROPRIATE, ATTRIBUTIONS FOR ITEMS USED SHOULD BE MADE TO AL KIELWASSER AND/OR 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!