Subject: NGLJA may be ignoring AIDS issues
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 12:22:26 EDT

August 4, 2000

Barbara Raab
NBC News
New York, NY

RE: HIV/AIDS, gay men & National Lesbian Gay Journalist's Association

Dear Ms. Raab:

I see from your news release on behalf of the National Gay and Lesbian 
Journalists Association, appended below, that an historic gathering of gay 
leaders will take place during the group's annual conference to be held in 
San Francisco on September 9.

I find it appalling the panel of fifteen speakers does not include a single 
person from an AIDS organization. At a time when the gay community is accused 
by numerous health authorities of being complacent about AIDS and ignoring 
its lingering impact on gays, I fear NLGJA is sending a none too subtle 
message AIDS is of diminishing importance to us. It isn't just the fact that 
no gay AIDS group is represented on your panel, but also the fact that out of 
fifty-six events and workshops during the conference, only one venue is 
devoted to AIDS. This small amount of attention for AIDS leads me to believe 
AIDS is not all that crucial to NGLJA.

As you must know, gay men still comprise the largest number of cumulative and 
new AIDS cases according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
Clearly signs AIDS is not over for gay men.

You may also be aware of a June 30 front page story in the SF Chronicle 
alleging the HIV transmission rate among gay men here had tripled. The City's 
HIV epidemiologist and UC San Francisco researcher, Dr. Willi McFarland, was 
quoted saying HIV climbed to "sub-Saharan African levels of transmission," 
due primarily to gay male sexual practices and hygiene.

With HIV and AIDS still affecting gay men in apocalyptic measurements, if you 
believe McFarland and his ilk, not just in San Francisco and around the 
nation, how can NLGJA organize such an historic debate among gay leaders and 
fail to invite a gay AIDS leader to participate?

With more than a month to go before the event, I ask that you find a gay AIDS 
leader to add to your panel. You might also consider a last minute workshop 
on how gay and mainstream news outlets covered McFarland's allegations, and 
other important AIDS stories in the past six months.

I hope NGLJA will qickly increase visibility for gay AIDS concerns during the 
San Francisco convention.

Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
Ph: 415-621-6267

  *   *   *

NLGJA ANNOUNCES HISTORIC ON-THE-RECORD GATHERING OF GAY LEADERS 
NATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION 
August 03, 2000 - 06:04:22PM [US West ] News 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
For Immediate Release
August 4, 2000

NLGJA ANNOUNCES HISTORIC ON-THE-RECORD GATHERING OF GAY LEADERS 

Washington, D.C. (August 4, 2000) The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists 
Association today announced what they believe will be the largest, 
on-the-record gathering ever of lesbian and gay organization leaders. It will 
be held next month in San Francisco as a plenary session entitled "NLGJA 
Smackdown!"

The historic session will take place on Saturday, September 9th, 2000, from 4 
to 6 p.m. at the convention headquarters, the Argent Hotel, 50 Third Street, 
San Francisco.

The presentation, one of the highlights of NLGJA's 10th anniversary 
convention in San Francisco September 7-10, will feature gay leaders and gay 
journalists face to face for the first time to discuss and critique media 
coverage of gay issues and organizations. 

Confirmed participants include:

Gwenn Baldwin, Executive Director, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center 

Michelle Benecke, Co-Executive Director., Servicemembers Legal Defense 
Network (SLDN)

Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 

Brian Bond, Executive Director, The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund 

Joan Garry, Executive Director, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 
(GLAAD)

Jamison "James" Green, Board chair, Gender Advocacy & Education, Inc. 

Kevin Jennings, Executive Director, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education 
Network (GLSEN)

Barbara Jones, Executive Director, Billy DeFrank Lesbian & Gay Center 

Kate Kendall, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) 

Vera Martin, Director of Media & Information, Older Lesbians Organizing for 
Change (OLOC)

Jeff Montgomery, Executive Director, Triangle Foundation of Detroit 

Martin Ornelas-Quintero, Executive Director, LLEGO, the national latina/o 
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization 

Rich Tafel, Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans 

Elizabeth Toledo, Executive Director, National Lesbian and Gay Task Force 
(NGLTF)

Evan Wolfson, Senior Staff Attorney, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Barbara Raab, NBC Nightly News Producer and contributor to numerous 
publications and websites, will serve as the moderator. 

The NLGJA, founded in 1990, is the sole professional society of journalists 
working within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of 
lesbian and gay issues and oppose newsroom bias against lesbians, gay men and 
all other minorities. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NLGJA currently has 
over 1,000 members and 19 chapters in the US with affiliates in Canada and 
Germany.

More information about NLGJA and the 10th anniversary convention is available 
at www.nlgja.org. 

Contacts:

Robert Dodge, NLGJA President 202-661-8414 [email-masked] 

Xiomara Sosa, NLGJA Executive Director 202-588-9888 ext. 2 [email-masked] 

Barbara Raab, NLGJA New York 212-924-9206 [email-masked] 
=======================

Michael Petrelis
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