Page 2 HIGH GEAR MAY 1981
NEWS
National Enquirer sued by West Coast
Reprinted with permission from the GAY COMMUNITY NEWS, 22 Bromfield St.. Boston, MA 02108.
by John Kyper
SAN FRANCISCO Carol Burnett's long overdue $1.6 million libel judgment against the National Enquirer is the first of what promises to be a long line of lawsuits against the Lantana, Florida, tabloid. Burnett sued over a 1976 gossip item that had falsely reported that she had engaged in a drunken altercation with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in a Washington restaurant.
During the trial Johnny Carson castigated the Enquirer in his show for claiming that his marriage was breaking up. Other entertainers, including singer Helen Reddy, are suing over similar alleged falsehoods. Rory Calhoun alleges that an untrue report that he was dying of cancer has cost him several acting jobs. And recently the San Francico Gay Freedom Day Committee (since' merged and renamed the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Day Committee) sued over its coverage last summer of the annual parade and rally.
Twenty years ago the Enquirer, then based in New York,
had a reputation as a journalistic cesspool, printing the grisly details of murder stories that the dailies would not touch and featuring photographs of dismem bered corpses. In the late 1960s the paper was bought and moved to Florida, made "respectable" enough for supermarket checkout lines, and filled with celebrity gossip and stories about UFOS.
The paper has also achieved notoriety in the gay community for its rabid homophobia. It has repeatedly "exposed" institutions like the United Way for funding Berkeley's gay Pacific Center for Human Growth, and the National Institute for Mental Health for commissioning the Center for Homosexual Education, Evaluation and Research (CHEER) at S.F. State University to conduct a study of anti-gay discrimination.
Typical of its shoot-from-thegutter brand of bigotry, last September the Enquirer ran an expose of the program to demystify homosexuality in the San
gays
Francisco public schools, breathiessiy charging that "these preaching perverts even speak to the students in graphic language about what the gays do in their privacy of their bedrooms-and even have the students act out gay roles!" Tom Ammiano, an organizer of the program, received so many harassing calls and death threats that he had his number changed.
A similarly inflammatory fullpage spread in July screamed that "weirdos and perverts march in 1980 Gay Freedom Day parade."
In February the Gay Freedom Day Committee (GFDC) filed suit in local court for $4 million, charging it had been "defamed" by the article's contention that the parade was "a cover for sex, drunkenness and dissolute behavior."
Several points are noted in the cutoffs and carrying a boa consuit: A young man dressed in strictor was described in the article as being nude and "prancing obscenely down Market Street." A picture of fifteen people under the banner "I am gay and I love you" received the caption, "Sick! Sick! Sick!"
The GFDC had demanded a retraction from the Enquirer, citric Association decision declasing the 1973 American Psychiat-
sifying homosexuality as a mentai discorder. The paper refused to publish a retraction and republished the photo, with caption, six months later. According to attorney Alan French, representing the CFDC, several of the people who appeared in the picture suffered repercussions from their families
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particularly those who were from the South, where the Enquirer is more widely read and respected.
Unlike Los Angeles, whose heavy court calendar forced Carol Burnett to wait several years before her case could come to trial, San Francisco's court calendar is much lighter, French noted. He was optimistic on the chances for an early trial. "I think this is going to be like the Scopes, trial," he said, "but instead of evolution in the Bible Belt, the issue will be 'Is it sick to be gay?" and the location will be in San Francisco." His strategy will be to force the National Enquirer to try to prove the truth of the allegations in its article.
A committee is being formed to help defray expenses of the lawsuit and plans to hold a benefit as the case approaches trial. Donations can now be sent to the
Committee for Truth in Printing, Avenue, San Francisco, CA c/o Chad Coolidge, 166A Caselli
94114.
Anti-gay doings in Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. April 7, 1981.--The Gay Rights National Lobby (GRNL) today reported on a wide variety of new anti-gay developments.
New McDonald resolution
Congressman Larry McDonald (D-GA), a long-time mover and shaker in the John Birch Society, has once again introduced an anti-gay resolution in the House of Representatives.
The Resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 27 (not to be confused with an anti-gay amendment to the Legal Services Corporation Act, also authored by McDonald) would declare the "sense of the Congress" that this nation will never afford gay men and lesbians the same civil rights which other citizens take for granted.
Although there is no clear indication that the Resolution will ever be passed, Christian Voice lobbyist Gary Jarmin indicates that, unlike last session, his organization will press vigorously for co-sponsors for the Resolution.
Their drive for co-sponsorship is at least in part aimed at intimidating others from support progay civil rights legislation.
"Their strategy is very clear," GRNL Executive Director Steve Endean said. "They hope to intimidate both legislators and the gay movement into backing away from the effort to end discrimination."
Endean said that GRNL had no intention of backing off, and he urged those committed to justice to write their Representatives at the House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515, to let their feelings be known. Anti-gay pro-lifers
The "Life Amendment Political Action Committee" (LAPAC), an anti-abortion organization which is closely associated with the New Right, has announced a "Program for Protection of the Family," which includes an antigay provision. That provision
states:
"No (federal) funds should be
Michigan Civil Service
available for any material or program which depicts homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle."
New "Family Protection" act
The so-called "Family Protection Act" has been re-introduced in the House of Representatives, with Representative George Hanson (R-ID) as its chief sponsor. H.R. 311, which is virtually identical to the bill introduced last session, has several anti-gay provisions.
Although there can be no certainty when it comes to Congressional developments, the Gay Rights National Lobby indicates that they expect H.R. 311 to be withdrawn when the "Family Protection Act" is re-introduced in the Senate--probably as several separate bills--and then reintroduced in the House to conform to the Senate version.
Contrary to information learned previously by the Lobby, it appears that Senators Roger Jepson (R-IA) and Jeremiah Denton (R-AL) will play leading roles on the legislation in the Senate. Former chief sponsor Paul Laxalt (R-NV) will be playing merely a supportive cosponsoring role.
GRNL Executive Director Steve Endean urged those concerned with this so-called "Family Protection" legislation to write their Representatives (House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515) and Senators (Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510) to voice their concerns.
"It is important that Members of Congress hear from constituents who oppose the exploitation of the family issue to enact the anti-gay, anti-black, antiwomen, and anti-labor provisions of the FPA." ACTION gets anti-gay head
Tom Pauken, an unsuccessful candidate for Congressman Jim Mattox's seat, will become the Director of the Reagan Administration's ACTION agency. As a Congressional candidate (Continued on page four)
says no anti-gay discrimination
According to a press release, dated March 30, 1981, from the Michigan Organization for Human Rights (MOHR), Michigan has become the third state to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for state civil service
employees. The new policy covers approximately 65,000 state employees.
MOHR's press release says that information about the new state policy comes from a letter to State Representative David Evans, the chair of the Michigan House of Representatives Civil Rights Committee, sent to him by Michael Dively, Chairman of the Michigan Civil Service Commis-
sion.
The letter says that conduct unrelated to job performance, such as cohabitation or sexual orientation, may not be considered in making state employment decisions.
Dively's letter says that state employees and applicants for state employment are protected according to Merit Principle Number Two, adopted on December 17, 1979, which calls for "fair and equitable treatment in all aspects of personnel management...with proper regard for their privacy and their constitutional rights."
This language is identical to language in Title I of the Federal
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which resulted in a similar policy statement in June of 1980 from the Federal Office of Personnel Management.
A new statement of Michigan state policy was asked for by the Family and Sexuality Task Force of the Civil Rights Committee of the Michigan House of Representatives. This task force recommended that the Michigan Civil Service Department ensure that in state employment decisions there would be no discrimination according to matters unrelated to work activities.
MOHR says that it worked very closely with David Evans, chairman of the House Civil Rights
Committee, to form the Family and Sexuality Task Force, and to help make sure that recommendations of the task force were implemented.
Michigan now joins Pennsylvania and California in prohibiting discrimination in state employment on the basis of sex-
ual orientation.
COVER PHOTO
The picture we used on this month's cover to convey the idea of togetherness is a still from a 1929 movie musical called Sweetie.
From left to right in the photograph are Stuart Erwin, Stanley Smith, Nancy Carroll, and Jack Oakie.