FEBRUARY 5, 1999 GAY PEOPLE's ChronICLE 17
ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS
■
Look for lurid Fox show to reappear on the 700 Club
by John Graves
In a lurid little bit of tabloid journalism, Fox's newsmagazine show Fox Files recently did a "special report" that purported to expose the "little known and shocking gay underworld, full of confusion and bitterness."
Going "Undercover in the Night," Fox Files cameras sneaked into bathrooms and nightclubs to shock straight viewers with scenes of supposedly gay gang-bangers attacking people in the streets, male prostitutes, and transgender people that narrator Arthel Neville said were going behind signs and bushes to inject themselves with hormones "in broad daylight."
It then showed heavy drug use and open sex in lesbian and gay clubs, one of which Neville described as "a dungeon of deviant souls," people denouncing safe sex practices, gay men cruising in public parks, and going to sex clubs for anonymous sex in small rooms.
Few peoples' faces were shown, and the locations were never identified. Warning viewers that what they saw next would be even more shocking, the segment showed shadowy figures moving in the dark as Neville intoned, "Here gay men insert themselves into holes in a wall for anonymous sex with whoever is on the other side."
With only a few disclaimers that what was shown did not represent our entire community, you just know this report will be used by the religious right to scare Americans into believing that this does represent the whole lesbigay community.
You can be sure the few disclaimers in the report will be edited out when the "shocking" scenes reappear on the 700 Club. Thanks but no thanks to Fox. You certainly didn't do us any favors.
Even if what was reported was true, this type of report would have been better if it had been done by our own media. At least, there it would be balanced by other reports on more positive aspects of lesbigay life. Instead, mainstream media usually assigns straight correspondents with little knowledge of what it means to be lesbian or gay to cover gay stories, fearing we can't do objective reporting on gay issues.
Tabs go nuts as actor says he's bi
The tabloids were ablaze last week with the news that bad-boy actor Robert Downey Jr. has come out as bisexual in the February issue of Details magazine. According to the reports, the interview reveals Downey has had a number of gay relationships since he was nine years old.
Downey, who played a gay man in Jodie Foster's Home for the Holidays, is set to play a gay man married to a woman played by Brooke Shields in the soon to be released film Black & White.
Harassment charged on ER
Dr. Maggie Doyle, the lesbian doctor on NBC's ER, has filed sexual harassment charges against a male doctor. Look for other upcoming plot lines involving HIV-positive physician's assistant Jeanie Boulet and the new Asian-American gay male scrub nurse. (I said this character was a doctor in a previous column. My mistake-I didn't see the episode where the character was first introduced.)ER airs on NBC, Thursdays at 10pm.
Billie Jean King honored
Rosie O'Donnell is scheduled to present the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage to lesbian tennis legend Billie Jean King at the February 15 Espy Awards gala.
One in twenty
This one I got from my correspondents Jim McGratten and Dave Haskell: Nineteenyear-old Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network staffer Kerry Ashforth was honored for her work as a lesbigay youth activist in "20 Teens Who Will Change the World," a feature article in the February issue of Teen People magazine. Katie Hnida, a starting kicker on her high school's varsity football team, feminist Meredith Osborne and AIDS educator Jamie Morales were among the other teens named to the list.
The February Teen People also features an article on "Hate in America" that focuses on the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard last October.
John Waters bio on cable
Look for In Bad Taste: The John Waters Story, a documentary about the life and work of the openly gay actor and director, now playing on Bravo and the Independent Film Channel.
Lucy would be loud and proud
When asked if she was a lesbian on the notorious Howard Stern show, Xena, Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless replied, “No. But if I were I'd proclaim it loud and proud."
Xena fans should check out the "Welcome to Rusty's Obsessions" Web site at http:// www.poconnor.dircon.co.uk/xena.htm, where animated flames identify episodes with gay subtexts.
PBS looks at natural resistance
In January, PBS' Nova aired a report on what scientists have learned from people who seem to have a natural resistance to HIV and AIDS.
Nathan Lane comes out
Actor Nathan Lane, who portrayed a gay man in The Birdcage, has come out of the
closet himself in the latest issue of the Advocate. Take a look at Lane in a new light in the film, now playing on cable, and in his new sitcom, Encore! Encore! airing on NBC Wednesdays at 9:30 pm.
Goldberg, DeGeneres to star
Actress Whoopi Goldberg, who portrayed lesbian characters in the films The Color Purple and Boys on the Side, co-stars as Candy Bliss, a lesbian police detective, in the film The Deep End of the Ocean, set to open in movie theaters February 26. Ellen DeGeneres will co-star as a cop in the filmEd TV, due to hit theaters March 26.
The next Navratilova?
This past week, Amielie Mauresmo of France shocked the tennis world when she stormed into the quarter finals of the Australian Open and came out loud and proud as a lesbian.
According to a very brief report in USA Today, 19-year-old Mauresmo, who ranked 190-something in the world before the Australian Open, said her relationship with her 31-year-old girlfriend Sylvie Bourdon was the inspiration that led her to her first grand-slam quarter final.
The paper went on to say that Mauresmo had moved from Paris to St. Tropez this past December to be close to her new lover.
Except for the tiny USA Today story, there was almost no press coverage of the rising young tennis star's matches until she stunned the tennis world once again by trouncing Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals.
Amielie Mauresmo
After her defeat, Davenport commented on Mauresmo's extremely strong serve and broad shoulders, and said playing her was like playing a man.
Mauresmo lost to Martina Hingis in the final match. But it looks like another out lesbian may be following in Martina Navratilova's footsteps.
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.
Some of our readers need
a good plumber...
2
ན 、 ་ '、、'
Don't hike all over town trying to find the latest issue of the
Gay People's
Chronicle...
Tell us where to
distribute them in your
neighborhood!
Call 216-631-8646
or 800-426-5947
Please ask for David.
There is no cost or obligation for distributor.
are you a good plumber?
Place an ad in the
GAKPEOPLES CHRONICLE
Classifieds.
216-631-8646 or 800-426-5947