From: owner-hrc-news@netra-1.hrcusa.org Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 18:24:33 -0400 ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: hrc@hrc.org WWW: http://www.hrc.org ________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 VIEWER WARNING BEFORE `ELLEN' SHOW AMOUNTS TO ABSURD DOUBLE STANDARD, ASSERTS LARGEST NATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ORGANIZATION Honest Portrayals of Gay People Do Not Merit Red Flags, Says Elizabeth Birch WASHINGTON -- The Human Rights Campaign slammed ABC-TV today for its plan to broadcast an advisory at the beginning of the "Ellen" show warning parents that the program contains adult material. "Ellen DeGeneres has portrayed an openly gay character honestly and with enormous sensitivity and humor. Now, ABC-TV wants America to think this warrants `viewer discretion,'" said Elizabeth Birch, HRC's executive director. "The realistic depiction of the life of a gay person hardly qualifies as content that should be marked for viewer discretion. This amounts to an absurd double standard in which characters who reflect the real lives of gay people are marked as `adult content.'" Sources at the "Ellen" show revealed to HRC that the network was planning to air the advisory on the Emmy-award winning program tonight. The episode features a scene in which DeGeneres' character jokingly kisses another character, played by Joely Fisher, on the lips. The warning will advise parental discretion due to the show's content. "To stick this advisory on the `Ellen' show is be a terrible setback for ABC, which showed a great deal of courage when it agreed to allow actress DeGeneres to play an openly lesbian character in prime time," Birch said. "Plus, this undermines a rating system that has only been in effect for a week." The "Ellen" show is rated TV-14, which puts it on par with other evening sitcoms. Additional ratings are available for violence (V), sex (S) or language (L) should a particular episode's script warrant. HRC asked its members to contact ABC-TV to urge network executives to drop this unnecessary warning. ABC can be contacted as follows: Ms. JamieTarses, Entertainment President ABC Television Network 2040 Avenue of the Stars Los Angeles, CA 90067 Phone: (310) 557-7777 E-mail: abcaudr@ccabc.com The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. - 30 - Sender: owner-hrc-news@netra-1.hrcusa.org Precedence: bulk