October 26, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
1.1
on the airoff the press
Dispatch gay series ranges from coming out to sports
by John Graves
The Columbus Dispatch started a threeday series of articles on gay life in the city on Sunday, October 21, with stories on everything from the coming out experiences of four notable people to the state of LGBT sports.
The series, inspired by last summer's census data showing 3,241 same-sex couples living together in Franklin County, started on page one of the Metro section. It had originally been slated for the front page but was pushed to Metro by war coverage, the paper said, not fear of a backlash from the religious right.
"The fact is, the war against terrorism is something none of us has faced before. Almost daily, stories that typically would merit front-page display aren't making the cut because, in our view, the content doesn't compete," editor Benjamin J. Morrison wrote in Sunday's issue. "In this case, the issue isn't content, but a three-day commitment during uncertain times."
Responding in advance to criticism from fundamentalists, Morrison continued, “And those who believe gays don't belong in the newspaper can't fully appreciate the role of a newspaper. A good newspaper mirrors its community, and our community consists of people from all walks of life."
"To ignore one segment as a way of appeasing another would mean ignoring our obligation as a newspaper," he concluded.
An Associated Press version of one story in the series, about the growth of the Columbus lesbian and gay community, appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and possibly other Ohio papers.
Other stories included a look at LGBT families, the rise in rates of HIV infection, religion, gays in business and the city's status as a gay mecca.
'The best experience I've had'
Actress Helen Shaver says her love scene with Patricia Charbonneau in the 1985 lesbian romance classic Desert Hearts was her best acting experience.
In an October 23 interview with Steven Strauss of the Globe supermarket tabloid,
Shaver said, "Doing that intimate scene with another woman was easier than doing it with a man because we were very unabashed about talking about how we felt. It turned out to be the best acting experience I've ever had.”
Shaver noted that she met her husband Steve Smith while filming Desert Hearts. She is currently costarring as Erica, the first transgender regular character on a network drama, The Education of Max Bickford.
death of gay university student Matthew Shepard.
"These new spots are much broader,” said MTV vice president Stephen Friedman, “and get at the terrifying normality of this abuse." 'Guardian' helps "throwaway"
A lawyer works to save a "throwaway" gay teen from street life in the October 23 episode of The Guardian.
The attorney, Nick, was sentenced to give
Guiliani, in drag, on 'Queer as Folk' free legal services to the poor after he was
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has agreed to make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of Showtime's series Queer as Folk, and he'll do it in drag.
The New York Post said October 13 that Giuliani was persuaded to make the guest appearance after the Empire State Pride Agenda got its members to pledge funds for disaster relief.
"I said to the mayor: Would you be willing to do it?" said Empire State Pride co-chair Jeff Soref told New York magazine, “and he said: If it means more money, sure."
MTV airs GLSEN spots
MTV and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network have joined forces to air a series of public service ads aimed at countering anti-gay sentiment among teens. The ten-second public service ads give graphic depictions of harassment, including one in which a male student finds a slur about his sexual orientation carved into his desk. Another shows the bruised and bloody face of a lesbian student who was beaten in a gaybashing.
Chiropractic Health Services, Inc.
GLSEN said the ad campaign is the largest of its kind on any television network, and is set to run on MTV for at least four weeks, maybe more.
MTV aired the first ad in the series on October 10 when it aired Hate in the Hallways, an episode of the cable network's new weekly documentary series Criminal. The show focused on the case of William Wagner, a student who had been harrassed in his school because of his sexual orientation.
MTV has addressed anti-gay harassment before, with special broadcasts and a public service ad prompted by the 1998 beating
busted for drugs.
Ethan had been living on the streets of Pittsburgh and hustling ever since his parents threw him out for being gay. Now, he has found a gay couple who is willing to take him in. However, a court rejected the couple and plans to send the youth to a shelter.
Nick must do all he can to get the court to reverse its decision and allow the gay couple to take him in.
PRIMERICA J
Amember of exagroup
Dressed to kill
Fashion Victim: The Killing of Gianni Versace will debut November 20 on the pay cable network Cinemax.
The documentary, part of Cinemax's Reel Life series, talks to Versace's partner and many of his longtime friends and other fashion designers, as well as to the father and friends of Versace's killer, Andrew Cunanan.
The film examines how Cunanan's desire to be a jet-setter and his descent into drug abuse eventually led to the killing spree that took the life of one of the world's premier designers.
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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