14 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE AUGUST 2, 1996
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Some in the media still insist on using the 'H' word
How one is recognized and called in the world is a very important issue to everyone. This naming is especially important to members of minority groups who have had an ongoing struggle to affect the language used to identify themselves by the mainstream.
It is therefore bothersome that United Press International (UPI), unlike many of its competing newswire services, remains devoted to the use of the word homosexual, where gay and lesbian are more appropriate.
There is no question that the terms gay and lesbian are preferred over homosexual by the lesbian and gay community. Homosexual is a clinical term, and in fact puts the focus on sexuality. Being gay is much more than sexual activity and terms like gay and lesbian suggest the depth of individual identity. Referring to the gay and lesbian community as homosexual is akin to referring to the African-American community as colored or other antiquated terms.
Homosexual is a word used by clinicians to label us as sick, by fundamentalists to call us immoral, and by extreme conservatives to deny us our civil rights. As the word homosexual has been used as a weapon against us,
it is understandable why the community demands the use of terms of empowerment, like gay and lesbian.
Please urge UPI to afford the same respect to the gay and lesbian community as it does to other groups.
"morally superior," offering the most superficial of heterosexist arguments as talking points. Krauthammer opines that if samegender marriage were to become legal, polygamy and incest would follow. Interestingly, he dismisses the ideas of heterosexual Contact. Tobin Beck, Editor-in-Chief, polygamy for various “moral” and “social” United Press International, 1400 “I” Street, Washington, DC 20005, phone: 202.898.8000, fax: 202.898.8133
Time for name calling?
GAR
GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST
Time magazine's July 22 issue featured an essay by Charles Krauthammer which asks, "If gay marriages are okay, what about polygamy or incest?” Hardly a reasoned political discourse on same-gender marriage, Time has printed a biased personal attack on gay men and lesbi-
ans.
The essay gets stuck in the cesspool of the
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DEFAMATION
reasons,
implying that only people of the same sex would marry more than
once.
Krauthammer clouds the rest of his piece with a childish assertion that homosexuality is inferior to heterosexuality. His shrill taunts are more akin to third grade name-calling than a reasoned debate in a national news magazine.
Please write Time and let them know that this kind of personal attack is unacceptable, even in an opinion piece.
Contact: Norman Pearlstine, Editor-inChief, Time, 1271 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020 phone 212-522-1212, e-mail: Letters@time.com.
In memoriam
On July 15, Trans World Airlines Flight 800 met a tragic end when it exploded over the New York coastline. One of the victims of the fatal accident was a 47-year-old Jed Johnson, an openly gay interior decorator from New York who, with his life partner Alan Wanzenberg, designed the homes of such celebrities as Richard Gere, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol.
Johnson made many friends during the course of his life, including Good Morning America host Joan Lunden, who delivered a memorial at the end of the popular morning show on July 19. Her sensitive and heartfelt memorial to Jed Johnson and her acknowledgement of Alan Wanzenberg as his life partner afforded him the dignity and respect so often reserved only for heterosexual spouses, particularly by the media. In one simple and touching act, Lunden made a significant contribution to gay visibility and gay and lesbian civil rights.
GLAAD offers its condolences to Alan Wanzenberg, Joan Lunden, and all the families and friends of the victims of flight 800. As the tragedy has a nation grieving, GLAAD also commends Joan Lunden for her act of compassion, acknowledging the significant pain felt by Wanzenberg for a lost loved one. Please thank Lunden for her wonderful memorial.
Contact: Joan Lunden, Good Morning America, 147 Columbus Ave., 6th floor, New York, NY 10023, phone: 212-456-7777, fax:212-456-6926.
GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is the only national lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.
Copies of articles referred to in GLAADAlert are available to our members by contacting GLAAD.
Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@flaad.org or by phone at 413-5868928. Visit GLAAD's Web Site at http:// www.glaad.org.
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