14 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE October
on the airoff the press
Matthew Shepard's mom appears in anti-violence TV spots
by John Graves
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has unveiled two new public-service television spots aimed at curbing anti-gay violence and promoting a greater understanding of gay issues.
The 30-second spots, featuring the mother of slain Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, debuted a few weeks ago before a celebrity-laden crowd in Los Angeles' Bel Age Hotel, at a luncheon in her honor. In addition to Judy Shepard, the luncheon attendees included Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Doris Roberts, Katey Sagal and Betty DeGeneres, the mother of lesbian actress Ellen DeGeneres.
In the spots, Judy Shepard speaks about the love she and others felt for her son, and urges viewers to "Choose to understand.”
"In a perfect world, because your child is gay, you don't worry about their safety. You just worry about them being happy," Shepard says in the first spot, titled "Parenthood."
The public service spots, produced with the Matthew Shepard Foundation, were distributed to every network affiliate and cable operator in the United States that uses public service announcements on the week of September 20, and should begin airing in October on stations that choose to run them.
USA Today has new column on gay life
Craig Wilson has begun writing a very openly gay column, "The Final Word," for the Life section of USA Today, in which he comments on the effects of modern life on he and his partner Jack.
Too, too far on the Late Late Show
CBS' Late Late Show host Craig Kilborn has come under fire from GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,
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for derogatory remarks he made about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community on a few of his recent shows.
GLAAD met with Late Late Show executive producer Billy Kimble in August, after the first incident, to express concerns about Kilborn's on-screen comments. Kimble apologized, and promised to work with Kilborn to ensure that such comments would not be aired in the future.
Then, on his August 25 program, Kilborn again made derogatory comments, this time directed toward LGBT television representations.
"[GLAAD] says that 28 gay or bisexual, transgender characters on TV is not enough," Kilborn said. "There's not enough gay or lesbians on TV next year. In response, some of the networks have decided-some new programs for the fall, including ‘2 Guys and 2 More Guys,' 'Touched by a Florist,' and 'Suddenly Sodomy." "
Kilbourn has gone over the edge before, when he hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central before he moved to CBS. Commenting on a news item about Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays' support of a Disney domestic partner policy, he assumed even our parents would have the speech patterns and mannerisms found in stereotypes of gay
men.
Kilborn was temporarily suspended from The Daily Show after one of the show's creators, Liz Winsted, protested derogatory jokes he had made about LGBT people, women and other minorities.
Winsted quit the show she created entirely, rather than continue to work with Kilbourn after he was reinstated. She now is a writer for Rosie O'Donnell's show.
Kilborn is not all bad however, and homophobes, racists, televengelists and other social conservatives are often at the receiv-
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ing end of his jokes. On a recent show, he quipped, "[GOP presidential hopeful] Steve Forbes said he opposes gays and lesbians adopting children, even though his father was a closeted homosexual. It's all part of his plan to go from being seen as an unknown, eccentric outsider to being seen as an ungrateful, homophobic bastard."
questions which could also be taught to the children to "maintain their privacy without implying that there is something secretive or wrong about their family arrangement."
In her syndicated "Miss Manners" column, Martin replied, "First, Miss Manners congratulates you on your assumption that there is a difference between privacy and shame. That distinction has been lost on a
'Throwaway teen' report pre-empted population that cannot fathom why everyone
ABC's 20/20 Monday had a report on homeless gay and lesbian teens, thrown out of the house, disowned, and left to fend for themselves by their parents because of their sexual orientation. The segment, reported by Connie Chung, appeared on the show's September 13 season opener.
Unfortunately for viewers in the Cleveland area, the 8 pm show was pre-empted by a local pre-game show for the Cleveland Browns vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers on ABC's Monday Night Football.
WEWS Channel 5 bumped 20/20 to 2 am Tuesday morning, after the game and late news, leaving little likelihood that it was seen by the parents and teachers in the area who could have learned something. Since 20/20 is a network show, WEWS is unable to re-air it at a later date. However, magazine shows like 20/20 often re-air segments during the winter holidays or the summer rerun
season.
Superstars head up Stonewall show
Openly gay pop superstars Elton John and George Michael will headline a concert at London's Royal Albert Hall to mark the 10th anniversary of the formation of Stonewall, Britain's leading gay activist group.
Organizers say that the November 28 concert will be the largest indoor, ticketed gay and lesbian event in Europe.
John and Furnish release first film
Elton John and his life partner David Furnish have started another career track as movie producers. The couple formed their own film production company, Rocket Pictures, three years ago. They presented their first film, Women Talking Dirty, to what was described as very receptive audiences at this year's Toronto Film Festival.
Based on a book and screenplay by Isla Dewar, Women Talking Dirty stars Helena Bonham Carter and Gina Mackee as an odd single mother and a shy cartoonist who become friends and confidants when they find themselves attracted to the same handsome cad.
Good advice on prying questions
Etiquette maven Judith Martin gave some good advice to a pair of proud and out lesbian parents who wondered how to handle casual inquiries as to their two children's biological father and the manner of conception.
The couple had no problem telling people that their children had two moms, but were looking for a way to handle the more intimate
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would not seize every opportunity to deliver monologues, and therefore equates dignity with shame.'
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Martin went on, "The children should be taught that while introducing their parents is a required skill, and discussing their family arrangements often relevant, describing their conception is neither."
All they need to say about their father is "I don't know, he's not around," she concluded.
Time and AP put Vilanch into the doset
Time magazine and the Associated Press recently managed to write stories about comedy writer Bruce Vilanch that completely ignored the fact that he is gay. The flamboyant Vilanch is one of Hollywood's most openly gay celebrities, and a major force behind the presence of gay humor in shows like the Academy Awards.
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Vilanch is a regular on the game show Celebrity Squares and the subject of a new documentary, Get Bruce. He also writes a regular column for the Advocate gay newsmagazine. Fortunately, TV Guide, People and other publications knew better,. and did recognize Vilanch's gayness in their articles about the new film.
Cruz joins Party of Five
Openly gay actor Wilson Cruz, who will soon join the cast of TV's Party of Five, is the subject of a feature interview in the September 28 "Big Fall Preview Issue" of the Advocate, which contains a pretty thorough and gay summary of what's coming up in the arts and entertainment world.
The best of Cleveland
Finally I am happy and proud to report that WRUW 91.1 FM, home to my Gaywaves radio show, was selected as Cleveland's "Best Radio Station" over all commercial and noncommercial stations in the area by the venerable Scene entertainment weekly.
Gaywaves alumnus Jerry Szoka's Grid nightclub was named "Best Gay Club," while the view from former The Gay '90s host Buck Harris' new Lake Effect restaurant was given the award for "Best Representative Cleveland View.”
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, and at http://radio.cwru.edu. Dave Haskell, Jim McGrattan and Kim Jones also contribute to this column.
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