NOVEMBER 13, 1998

GAY PEOPle's ChroNICLE

ON THE AIROFF THE PRESS

Magazine cover stories abound in wake of killing

by John Graves

People, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report all featured in-depth reports on the tragic gay-bashing murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard. Surpassing all of these was the October 26 edition ofTimewhereTHE WAR OVER GAYS on the cover announced no, less than four feature articles dealing with the murder, hatecrime laws and the upcoming court decision over same-sex marriage in Hawaii.

Plus, it looks like the sanctimonious and misleading "love the sinner, hate the sin" rhetoric hard-line religious conservatives love to spout in support of their anti-gay agenda has generated a bit of a backlash in mainstream America.

In his "Between the Lines" column in Newsweek, Jonathan Alter warned Republicans of the danger of allowing "theoconservatives" to take over the party and overplay their conservative stand on gay civil rights.

Citing GOP opposition to gay businessman James Hormel becoming a U.S. ambassador, Alter said, "The only reason Hormel has not been confirmed is that he happens to be gay. (The charge that he funded gay pornography is untrue.) This is old fashioned bigotry. Even for those senators whose religions abhor homosexuality, rejecting Hormel is about hating the ‘sinner' as well as the 'sin.'

Catholic paper weighs in

The National Catholic Reporter made perhaps the strongest comment in its October 23 editorial, "Pious veneer can't hide hate he editorial recalled the paper's September 2, 1994 report on the undisguised hatred of gays spouted by Christian right leaders at a secret meeting in Colorado, where they had gathered to develop strategies to combat the gay civil rights movement.

The editorial pointed out the real hate behind the recent ads sponsored by Gary Bauer's homophobic Family Research Council and other conservative religious groups "offering homosexuals the chance to change" saying: "Don't be fooled. That's what they and their ilk would like the public to believe. Whatever fancy words they dress themselves in, they are really are inciters of hate against gays and lesbians."

The Reporter's editorial concluded, "It was clear in that secret session in Colorado that the god of the gay-bashers is a menacing and vindictive god, one who joins in jeering those who are different, in condemning those on the margin, who mocks the humanity of those who, through no fault or choice of their own, have a sexual orientation that is different from that of the majority."

GLSEN report called 'politics'

In Cleveland, however, the only supportive comments on the nationwide calls for gay-inclusive hate crimes laws after the Shepard killing in the Plain Dealer were Afi-Odelia Scruggs' comments in her column, similar thoughts expressed by guest columnist Martin E Marty in the religion section and an op-ed piece by Cleveland developer Sam Miller and Bishop Anthony J. Pilla.

The Plain Dealer itself lambasted the recent GLSEN report on the lack of gayprotective policies in the Cleveland school system in its "Cheers and Jeers" mini-editorial section.

Ironically published just as the story of the Shepard killing stunned the nation, the "Jeer" said, "The 'failing grades' given school systems by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network certainly raise a question of priorities in Cleveland. Schools with a long way to go just to produce literate graduates have a lot of pressing problems to solve before they work their way down to sexual interest-group politics."

The viciousness in this mean-spirited bit of editorial garbage is a slap in the face to Leslie Sadasivan and all other parents whose lesbian and gay children were harassed in school and got no protection or worse, more harassment, when they turned to teachers and school officials for help.

Sometimes this anti-gay harassment, especially when it is ignored, or worse supported, by school officials results in tragedy. Such was the case of Sadasavan's son, St. Ignatius student Robbie Kirkland, who took his own life after suffering harassment that began in grade school.

This is the same Plain Dealer that published an award-winning article on Kirkland's tragic suicide, and the harassment faced by lesbigay students.

The callousness of the "Jeer" shows a disregard for the need to provide a safe learning atmosphere for our school children and points to some deep-seated homophobia on the paper's editorial board.

No regrets for coming out

Openly gay British actor Sir Ian McKellen was the subject of a feature interview by Elizabeth Snead in USA Today recently. According to the interview, McKellen came out on BBC radio in 1988 during a discussion of a pending anti-gay ordinance. Although he admitted that there might have been some negative impact on his career at the time,

McKellen soon became an activist for gay rights, and told Snead, "I've never had any regrets, nor have I ever met anyone who regrets coming out."

Soon after coming out, McKellen became an activist and co-founded England's Stonewall gay civil rights organization. McKellen stars as openly gay Frankenstein director James Whale in the soon-to-be released biopic Gods and Monsters.

He noted that Hollywood's treatment of gay actors has not changed much saying, "The reason the closet door is still scarcely ajar in this town is, although there are increasing numbers of out gays in the industry at the level of executives, producers and directors, costume directors and agents, actors are still

"I've never had any regrets, nor have I ever met anyone who regrets coming out."

told to lie. But saying a gay man can't convincingly make love to a woman on the screen of course they can. It's called acting. Do people really think heterosexuals are making love on screen? They're pretending. We're all pretending."

Addressing young actors in his lifetime achievement award acceptance speech at Los Angeles' Outfest lesbigay film festival in July, McKellen told young actors: "There's no career worth having if the price is a lie. When you come out, you may lose a few friends, but you will make thousands more."

McKellen noted Whale's importance in the history of gays in the movie industry saying, "He was one of the more honorable people, unlike most of his contemporaries who agreed to go along with Hollywood's line that if you are gay, it was your misfortune and you should shut up about it."

Parts of A Knight Out, a one-man autobiographical show McKellen uses to raise funds for the various British and international gay rights organizations he supports, are available on the internet at www.mckellen.com.

John Graves is the producer and host of Gaywaves, a lesbian-gay public affairs show on Cleveland's WRUW 91.1 FM Fridays at 7 pm. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contributed to this column.

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