September 28, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE.
on the airoff the press
Jerry Falwell does damage control on ABC morning show
by John Graves
Despite a protest from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, ABC aired an interview with homophobic televangelist Jerry Falwell on Good Morning America.
Speaking on Pat Robertson's 700 Club September 13, Falwell offended many Americans, liberal and conservative alike, when he said the terrorist attacks two days before were God's retribution for the nation's tolerance of gays, lesbians, feminists, civil liberties advocates and others.
Even the notoriously anti-gay pundit Rush Limbaugh went ballistic over Falwell's outrageous and offensive remarks. Bill O'Reilly, the right-leaning host of the O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Network,
invited two conservative Christian spokespersons to address whether or not Falwell's remarks had damaged their movement.
When the representatives tried to claim the controversy had nothing to do with their movement and that Falwell should answer
I did not intend to do what obviously I did do. I'm sorry. I have God's forgiveness and I ask yours."
""
Sawyer: "And you will not be attacking these groups again, ever?"
Falwell: "When you say attacking groups, I'll be speaking out against abortion for as long as I live. I'll be speaking out against the secularization of our country as long-but no, you will never hear me blaming individuals. I don't do that. I haven't done it, I'm not doing it now."
Stating that it is irresponsible for legitimate news media to give him further visibility, GLAAD has asked ABC and other media outlets not to offer Falwell or others like him additional air time.
Bearse helms 'Mad TV' opener
Long missing after Married With Children was canceled, openly lesbian actress and director Amanda Bearse made her return to show business by directing the season première of the Fox's Mad TV.
O'Reilly's questions, O'Reilly insisted that State senator is innocent, but outed Falwell and Robertson, who had quickly agreed with Falwell on the 700 Club broadcast, were "poster boys" of the conservative Christian movement.
Reilly said he could have invited Falwell and Robertson on his show, but he found Falwell's remarks so offensive he refused to do so.
When Falwell appeared on Good Morning America Sept. 20, Diane Sawyer pushed him to make a serious apology.
"I certainly don't believe that those innocent thousands in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, were the targets of God's wrath," Falwell said. “And I—I sincerely apologize...I was wrong."
Sawyer pressed him. "You've said things like this before. Pagans, abortionists, secularists, the ACLU, gays, all these lists of people. I want to know, do you believe that they provoke the wrath of God, that they endanger America?”
"I do not believe they endanger America," Falwell replied. "I misspoke totally and entirely... And that one stupid statement that I made is indefensible, it is not-it is not a blip, it was a mistake, and I-I didn't get to straighten it out... And this one time I hope that I can clearly say to the people who've been hurt in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, to all Americans, I do not blame God, I do not blame any human being. This is the act of terrible zealots."
Sawyer noted a number of commentators have compared Falwell's Sept. 13 comments to the views of the Taliban.
"Their point is that you demonize entire groups of people and that's exactly what the Taliban do.
""
"Well... I did do that. And I-I did not intend to do that... That's why I'm here on Good Morning America to say to you, the American people, to the groups I mentioned,
SIONAL
O PROFESS
PHOTOC
AMERICA
GRAPHERS
MEMBER
Meanwhile, over at ABC in a surprise ending to the season premiere of The Practice, a state senator whom Elinor persuaded to plead guilty in the killing of what was assumed to be his wife's lover was revealed to be gay. His wife confessed, under the protection of privileged communication with her lawyer, that she had killed the man and that he was actually her husband's lover.
'Nightline' gay show postponed
Citing the need to provide ongoing news coverage of the present national crisis, ABC News has postponed the broadcast of a special report examining gay life in America that was to debut on Nightline September 28.
ABC News says it will air the "A Matter of Choice?" five-part series at a later time.
Comic strip to be animated TV show
The Texas Triangle, an LGBT newspaper in the Lone Star State, reports the syndicated gay comic strip Chelsea Boys, by Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwirth, may soon become the first gay animated TV series.
Film Roman, producer of The Simpsons and King of the Hill, has agreed to develop the TV series.
The comic follows the adventures of three gay roommates residing in New York's trendy Chelsea neighborhood. Hanson and Neuwirth both have many prior credits as designers, writers and producers of animated television fare.
According to the Triangle, Hanson's credits include Spy Groove, Beetlejuice, and Daria while Neuwirth has worked on Courage the Cowardly Dog, Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and Big Bag.
Peter Schankowitz, Film Roman's president of television programming and development told the Triangle, “Not since All in the Family have we seen a comedy with the types
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of textured characters and stories featured in Chelsea Boys. Here's a family you've never seen before, and storytelling that speaks the truth rather than playing to stereotypes. We're excited to work with Glen and Allan in bringing these rich stories to the small screen."
Ellen and Anne could be in court
Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche (now Laffoon) may soon end up facing each other across a courtroom, reports John Harlow in the September 16 Times of London.
Heche's mother is suing to challenge statements about dysfunction in the Heche family, including Anne's claim she was abused by her father, in her recently released memoir, Call Me Crazy.
Harlow reports Nancy Heche said she could "find no place for myself in the lies and blasphemies of this book," and she and Anne's sisters, Susan and Abigail, are taking legal advice on how to persuade publisher Simon and Schuster to delete offending passages. If the family decides to pursue litigation, Harlow says DeGeneres could be called as a witness.
No kids for Elton and David
Openly gay superstar Elton John told the Scottish Sunday Mail September 16, that although he has admitted thinking about going through a committment ceremony with his long-term love David Furnish, he has mixed feelings about the marriage because he dislikes wedding ceremonies.
"I find them really depressing," John told
the Mail, adding that he would only go through with it to protect Furnish after his death.
"Getting married is a huge and utter commitment. I've done it once, and I should never have done it. I entered into it but I didn't really think about the consequences of being married. But with David, there are mitigating circumstances. If I did die and was not married, he would have huge taxation problems because he is not officially my partner. So if it meant doing that for David's safety and to protect him when I die, I would do it. I just think it's crazy not to.'
""
John also said that Furnish wanted them to adopt a child but said he had serious reservations about that also.
"I said to David," John told the Mail "If you had asked me 20 years ago, I would probably have said yes. But we are one of the most publicized gay couples in the world. The kid is going to have paparazzi following it. I don't want to put a child through that. I'd rather just pay for some kid's education and put him or her through university in the
country they were born-in South Africa or wherever."
Seven fall movies of interest
A number of films with LGBT subject matter are in Tinseltown's fall lineup.
Films which opened this past month include American Astronaut, in which a space traveler swaps flesh of the opposite sex to all-male and all-female cultures in what AP film critic David Germain called a as "surreal musical"; L.I.E., a controversial film in which a teen-age boy, struggling with his mother's death, falls into bad company with a school friend and a sexually predatory older man; and Zoolander, a comedy written and directed by Ben Stiller, about a male model who learns the fashion world is a front for a world conspiracy.
Coming up in October look for Max Keeble's Big Move in which a bullied teen who believes he's moving to a new school exacts a farewell retaliation, then learns he's staying put after all; and Vulgar, in which a cross-dressing clown gets revenge after he's raped at a bachelor party.
Punks, a romantic comedy about four gay friends seeking love and companionship in Los Angeles opens in November while Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, based on part one of the J.R.R. Tolkien epic and co-starring openly gay British actor Sir Ian McKellen, closes out the season in December.
'Baby Story' features lesbian moms
Ali and Kim, an expectant lesbian couple, will share the birth of their new daughter Kelly on A Baby Story, a medical documentary series that follows expectant couples through their prenatal and childbirth experi-
ence.
The show is done in cinéma vérité style, letting the proud parents and other family members speak for themselves. In each episode, viewers meet a different couple and follow them through the cravings, mood swings, ultrasounds, and baby showers that are just as much a part of the birth as the delivery itself.
The episode featuring Kelly's birth will debut in October. A Baby Story airs on the Learning Channel weekdays at 9 am, 9:30 am, 2 pm and 2:30 pm.
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 contributed to this column.
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