JANUARY 24, 1997 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 19
ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS
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Ellen tapes a coming out episode, but it won't air
by John Graves
Talk about your highs and lows. Just last week I learned from the Internet that an episode of Ellen had been taped in which lead character Ellen Morgan (Ellen DeGeneres) comes out. However, just as my hopes went up, another report said that ABC has decided not to air the part of the episode where she comes out.
Ellen's coming-out was seen by Adam Sofen and his boyfriend, who attended a January 10 taping of the show. Sofen said that ABC taped two versions of a song that Ellen sings with musical guest stars David Crosby, Sheryl Crow, Aaron Neville and Bonnie Raitt near the end of an episode in which she attends a rock 'n' roll fantasy camp. At the end of one of the versions of the song, "I'm Scared of Being Afraid," Ellen sings: "So here's what I have to say, And by the way, I'm gay! It's okay!" According to Sofen, DeGeneres sang "I'm gay! I'm gay!" over and over to a wildly cheering studio audience.
ABC later said that they would not air the gay version of the song. This comes on top of the ABC announcement last week that it will temporarily replace Ellen with anew Arsenio Hall sitcom from March through May. ABC indicated that Ellen would return in May and that having its lead character come out was still under consideration "depending on the creative direction of the show."
In a statement last week, William Waybourn of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said, “It is a great tragedy that ABC is now waffling on what could be one of the boldest and most dramatic steps ever taken by an American television network. It defies understanding that ABC would float yet another trial balloon to determine if they should air this groundbreaking episode of Ellen after the first trial balloon rose so successfully and to such unexpected heights."
By the way, GLAAD maintains an "Ellen Watch" web page at http://www.glaad.org.
Ellen DeGeneres, who pushed the idea of having her character come out, reacted angrily to ABC's decision. In an interview, DeGeneres wondered whether she was in the right business because the network's decision took away her creative control. She was also disappointed in ABC's decision to move her show to a later time slot, from 8 to 9:30 pm Wednesdays, saying it took away what-
ever gains in the show's ratings the comingout saga had produced.
At press time it was not known whether ABC has killed the whole idea of Ellen coming out, or whether they objected to the way she came out in this particular episode. To let ABC know how you feel, contact Jamie Tarses, ABC Television Network, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067. The fax number is 310-557-7679. ABC's e-mail address is abcaudr@ ccabc.com.
Cross-dressing NBA star Dennis Rodman; whose talk show Dennis Rodman's World airs weekly on MTV, is the subject of an interview in the January 21 edition of the Advocate. In the interview, Rodman says that his cross-dressing is not a publicity stunt and is not necessarily proof that he is gay.
"I don't need to be more famous," Rodman said. “I've won championships. I've won this and that. All I'm doing is challenging the world when I say, 'Hey, one day I may be gay.' Or maybe I am and I'm just not accepting the fact, or it hasn't hit me yet. So accept me for who I am-gay or straight."
USA Today reported that rambling 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney is still upset about his 1992 suspension for bigoted on-air remarks about gays and AfricanAmericans. Rooney reportedly talked to Television Quarterly about a meeting he had with former CBS News president David Burke, following stories about the remarks in a gay newspaper and on a CBS News special.
According to Rooney, when he entered Burke's office, Burke put his hand on his hip in a mock effeminate gesture and said, “Hi Andy!"
"It was bizarre that he was suspending me and he made a joke which I, at that point in my life, would not have dreamed of doing," Rooney said.
Rooney went on to say that, "As a young man I said the same stupid things that American males did at that time, referring to homosexuals as fairies and fags. I was ignorant, not malicious. I didn't realize that it is not always a matter of choice. But I would still not be a favorite of a lot of gays because I find what they do to each other repugnant."
,;
AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho and several articles on the AIDS epidemic dominated the December 30 edition of Time magazine. Ho, named the magazine's "Man of the Year," led the research that developed the
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The "On the Line" department in the December edition of The Progressive contained a report about an attempt to ban gay-positive art in Bollingham, Washington. The report, "First Amendment Under Fire," said that city voted to ban potentially controversial art from public buildings. The vote came after Republicans on the city council objected to a traveling photo exhibit called "Family, Friends and Neighbors" that featured positive images of lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
Members of the local gay civil rights organization have charged that they were denied access to letters sent to city council regarding the issue. The group also said that calls to city council in support of the exhibit were not recorded while calls objecting to the artwork were. The National Campaign for Freedom of Expression has accused the city of "discriminating against gays in trying to appease the objections of a vocal minority of bigots." City council has promised to re-examine the issue. For more information, write to the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, 1402 Third Ave., Suite 421, Seattle, Washington 98101 or call them at 206-3409301. To protest the anti-gay policy directly write to Bruce Ayers, President, City Council, 210 Lottie, Bollingham, Washington 98225 or call city council at 360-676-6970.
"Teaching Tolerance: Three Takes on Ballot Battling Bigotry" was the feature report in the January edition of NEA Today, the journal of the National Education Association. The report includes a story about Austin, Texas journalism teacher Deanne Kunz, whose students publish the Featherduster,
the Westlake (Texas) High school newspaper.
In 1993, the Featherduster published a five-page article on homosexuality that aroused the ire of some parents. The controversial article included an interview with a gay student, a summary of religious objections to lesbians and gays, an overview of the struggle for lesbian and gay rights and a student poll on the issue. Kunz and her students withstood the controversy with the full support of the school administration. The Featherduster later received several national journalism awards for the article for courageous reporting.
The "Rights Watch" corner of NEA Today's Learning Section featured another report; "Is Your School Library Safe? The Censors Are At it Again." The piece tells the story of Oleta, Kansas where a group of parents forced school superintendent Ron Wimmer to remove copies of Annie on My Mind, a novel about the romantic feelings that develop between two teenage girls. Copies of the book had been donated to the high school libraries by a Kansas City gay group.
Thankfully, a coalition of parents, students and teachers successfully challenged the censorship in federal court. The court ordered the books reinstated, citing the 1982 Supreme Court decision in Board of Education v Pico. In that case, the U. S. Supreme Court, citing the First Amendment, said local school boards may not remove books from schools simply because they dislike the ideas they contain.
John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a public affairs radio show heard on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM every Friday from 7 to 7:30 pm. Gaywaves correspondents Dave Haskell and Jim McGrattan also contributed material for this column.
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