Notes From Hollywood

May, 1990

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Page 11

by Nicholas Snow

Andy Rooney is old, at least as a news item. But the fact remains that Andy sings his "Rooney Tunes" to millions of people every week. He is a very public figure who influences multitudes of Americans with his words and actions on 60 Minutes. And, having already demonstrated his ignorance about gay men and lesbians, Mr. Rooney should be closely watched. And perhaps, just maybe, Mr. Rooney will mature with age and display a more enlightened viewpoint about gay men and lesbians.

Andy Rooney's "few words" put CBS in a position that CBS executives probably dreaded. CBS had to take a stand regarding racism and homophobia. CBS did, in fact, address the infamous RRS (Rooney Racial Slur). And CBS, by what it did not say, and by what it did not do, took a stand on homophobia.

CBS, through its actions, seemed to allow the Rooney story to “spin askew.” In case you don't know, a news source has the ability to put a "spin" on a story, which is to say, the source can emphasize some facts, while de-emphasizing or not mentioning other facts. The media "spin" on the Andy Rooney suspension emphasized Rooney's racial slur, and consistently questioned the professionalism of the gay and lesbian press, specifically the Advocate.

The underlying message is CBS's handling of the whole affair seems to be this: "It's bad to be racist, but it's not so bad to be homophobic." The real reason for Rooney's three month suspension from the airwaves seems unclear, given that he returned to 60 Minutes three weeks into his forced hiatus. Throughout the controversy, CBS seemed to place much more importance on Rooney's racial statements, while questioning the

validity of Rooney's homophobic remarks (even though Rooney had demonstrated his homophobia on the airwaves and in his own signed letter).

The credibility of the Advocate was brought into question, and homophobia at CBS was swept under the carpet. The Advocate was often portrayed in the media as being "out to get Andy Rooney." Reporters were calling the Advocate and asking questions like, "Why are you doing this?" The credibility of Advocate reporter Chris Bull, who interviewed Rooney, was continually questioned. Reporters quizzing Advocate executives would ask questions like, "Why wasn't Chris Bull using a tape recorder during the Andy Rooney interview?" In answering these questions, Advocate executives asked the inquiring reporters if they were using tape recorders. Not once was the answer affirmative. It is not common practice for reporters to tape record telephone interviews.

CBS could have shown a tremendous amount of social responsibility by condemning homophobia, and by developing programming which specifically addresses the concerns of the gay and lesbian community. How about having openly gay and lesbian anchors in the news divisions of network television?

Another mystery in all of this is "Where was the 'gay' press?" Of the 1,000 media calls the Advocate received during a three week period, only ten calls (ten calls, not ten percent) were from the gay press. Our community newspapers around the world are the foundation of the infrastructure of our movement, and deserve great praise for the service that they perform, often times with little or no money or paid staff. Yet, where was the "gay" press during the Andy Rooney affair?

Many of the 1,000 calls received by the Advocate during the Rooney affair were

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from self-identified gay men and lesbians who had taken it upon themselves to cover the story in their programs and publications. When one hears the term "gay press," what comes to mind are the radio programs, the cable television programs, and the newspapers that are directed primarily to a lesbian or gay audience. And members of the "gay" press often refer to the so-called "mainstream press" as the "straight" press. I sometimes forget that the lesbian and gay movement has many, many gay and non-gay allies in every echelon of the media.

Maybe the "gay" press (myself included) needs to take a more aggressive role in acting as a societal watchdog. Maybe we haven't taken ourselves seriously as equal partners in the media process. Maybe it hasn't occurred to us to take on investigative reporting. Maybe we can more effectively create and utilize a network of pro-gay and lesbian professionals who are in the so-called "straight" press.

I would like to suggest that there really is no such thing as "mainstream" media, and that the publications which have evolved internationally in the gay and

lesbian movement can now declare and act upon their equality with the so-called straight press. The media is a network of people ten percent of whom are lesbian or gay and many more of whom are supportive of lesbian and gay causes. These are people who are members of the same society, the same world that the media is watching. In the Andy Rooney scenario, CBS and the Advocate, each media entities, were watching each other, and being watched by the world.

The Advocate, in its handling of the Rooney affair, certainly demonstrated that the "gay" press has come into its own as a full participant in monitoring, reporting about, and facilitating the expansion of our world's consciousness regarding not only lesbian and gay issues, but all issues pertaining to life on Earth. We are now ready to join the “mainstream," because we are the "mainstream.”

Notes from Hollywood is a regular column of the Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Artists in the Entertainment Industry (AGLA). Address questions or comments to Notes from Hollywood, AGLA; P.O. Box 69A18; West Hollywood, CA 90069.

Judge says phone sex is protected

In a court order issued in response to a suit challenging the government's most recent attempt to control dial-a-porn companies, U.S. District Judge Fern Smith declared that phone sex is constitutionally protected speech.

The suit, filed by three California companies offering sexually oriented telephone services, seeks a preliminary injunction against the Helms Amendment to the Communications Act of 1934. National Gay Rights Advocates, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) filed a joint amici curiae (friends of the court) in support of the injunction. Plaintiffs in the case are Ramrod Enterprises, Syncronet Inc. and Westpac Audiotext.

The Helms amendment, named for Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina,

lesbian-gay rights ordinance passed Congres last fall as a rider on a

Pittsburgh's City Council has approved an amendment to the City Code which would add lesbians and gays as a protected class regarding discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Pittsburgh joins Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pa., Detroit, and nearly 60 other cities which have legislation explicitly protecting the civil rights of lesbian and gay citizens.

The bill amends Title VI of the city code, which already protects against discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, place of birth, sex, handicap, disability, or use of guide dogs. "Sexual orientation" is now added to that list.

The vote of six for, two against, and one abstention occurred during council's morning session on March 20.

An 'outing' threat allegedly quieted the Catholic church

The Pittsburgh Fairness Campaign, an ad hoc committee formed two years ago to support the bill, first attempted passage of this legislation when it was introduced in 1988. The bill failed that year in a 4-4 vote. Fairness Campaign members vowed to unseat opposition council members in the 1989 elections. During the elections in 1989, CRY

OUT!, a Pittsburgh gay group, initiated a series of public demonstrations aimed at council members and Mayor Sophie Masloff, who had lobbied against the bill in closed door meetings, while publicly supporting the measure. Her efforts seemed to prevent the bill from arriving at her desk for signature. Three of the four council members who voted in favor of the amendment in 1988 were returned to office, while only one of the four who voted against the 1988 amendment sits on council today.

The CRY OUT! protests backed Ms. Masloff into signing a March 1989 executive order banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Her directive provided protection for 4,000 city jobs. Additionally, she had promised to sign the lesbian-gay rights amendment when it is passed by city council.

The Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese did not prominently oppose the bill, as it had in 1988, allegedly due to threats of “outing" a prominent closeted church official. As a result, the bill passed without the exemption for religious organizations which had been added in 1988 in an attempt to mollify the church.

The 6-2-1 vote assures that the amendment will become law. Six votes are required to override a mayoral veto. Lew Boreman, an assistant to the mayor and her assigned contact to the lesbian-gay community has assured the Fairness Campaign that the mayor intends to sign the bill.▼

funding bill. It calls for FCC regulations that would require users of sex phone services to be subscribers of these services. Because of billing technicalities, such as an arrangement would effectively eliminate dial-a-porn companies.

In his brief filed on behalf of the amici, Leonard Graff, former legal director for National Gay Rights Advocates, argued that "sexually explicit telephone communications may play a positive role in curbing the AIDS epidemic... sexually explicit telephone communications deserve First Amendment protection if they may help save lives by deterring or replacing life-threatening behavior."

According to the plaintiff's attorney, William Turner, of Turner and Brorby, Smith is the first judge in the country to rule on the issue. Judges have yet to rule in similar suits filed in Texas and New York.▼

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