>From: PMDAtropos >Date: Mon, 6 Jun 1994 16:35:01 -0400 [ Send replies to afprogress@aol.com ONLY ] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS (800)520-4237 or (214)520-2205 Gay Rights Movement in the Heartland Until recently, the gay rights movement locale has been viewed as coastal in nature. Now, the Heartland of America is home to an innovative nonprofit organization in Dallas, Texas - Alliance For Progress. Gay rights advocates, Roger Davis, a Los Angeles businessman, Jon Etienne Mourot, a Dallas entertainment attorney, and Christopher Parman, an Oklahoma City political advertising consultant, have combined their talents to promote a positive mainstream image of the gay and lesbian community through television advertising and public educational forums. "The gay rights movement must inevitably advocate its message not only through Congressional lobbying efforts, as other gay rights groups currently do, but also through voter awareness campaigns. The most effective means of lobbying voters is through televised commercials," Parman asserted. "We will air 30-second commercials which emphasize the similarities between gay and heterosexual lifestyles and values. The spots will be telecast both nationwide and to locally targeted areas, much like public service announcements," he explained. Alliance For Progress will film its first commercial, entitled Sunday Morning, this spring and air it nationally this fall. The organizers said that Sunday Morning demonstrates how the majority of gays and lesbians actually spend their Sundays like most Americans, such as going to church, eating at a restaurant, recreating at a park, shopping at the malls, and spending time at home together. "Our goal," Mourot stated, "is to show the heterosexual audience that gays and lesbians are normal everyday people who engage in normal everyday activities, the difference being that they live with, and love, a same-sex partner. If we can alleviate some of the public's fear-induced stereotypes of gays and lesbians, anti-discriminatory legislation will no longer be a threat that must be fought at every level of our political system and in our courts. By educating the public to the realities of gay life, we can replace an atmosphere of fear and hate with one of understanding. As an Episcopalian, it would be especially rewarding to see Christian attributes extended in the Bible-belt to the gay and lesbian community. Everyone has the right to live in peace, out of the closet." While the advertising campaign has been carefully planned, Alliance For Progress needs the financial support of the gay and lesbian community to effectively implement it. "Once we have raised the necessary financial support," Davis stated, "the benefits to the gay and lesbian community will instantly transpire. Alliance For Progress will utilize donations to target areas where gay and lesbian issues are at risk; for example, in states that have introduced legislation like Colorado's Amendment 2. Our philosophy is simple. When we present our community in a positive manner to the Heartland and change its beliefs, then our community's battles will be over and the war won." Financial donations may be sent to Alliance For Progress, The Centrum, Suite 700, 3102 Oak Lawn Ave, Dallas, Texas 75219. For more information call 1.800.520.4AFP or in Dallas call 520.2205. Davis added, "We are scheduling several fundraisers beginning in Dallas and the Heartland this summer and ending in Los Angeles this fall."