September 2008

The Best and Worst of National News” is a monthly publication that provides GLAAD's constituents and friends with an overview of recent praiseworthy and problematic print, television and radio coverage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The report encompasses stories from the national media as well as from major regional news outlets, and provides synopses, analyses and contact information so constituents can contact news outlets with messages of appreciation or concern.

Newsweek Explores Unmet Needs of LGBT Seniors

Newsweek offered a compelling portrait of the unique challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors face in the article, “Invisible and Overlooked,” published in the September 18 issue.  The article, by Jessica Bennett, examines the myriad of inequalities that LGBT elders encounter, including lack of familial support systems, low rates of health insurance coverage and anti-gay attitudes when they attempt to access medical and social services. Bennett also points out some of the serious legal issues facing LGBT elders, including the inability to pass along Social Security and pension benefits to ensure that they can take care of their partners. In the article, Michael Adams, Executive Director of Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE), eloquently describes the struggles aging LGBT people experience.  “If you can imagine a situation where you're 80 years old, with no kids, a partner passed, no cousins or relatives and not one service that will provide you help with [a modicum] of respect, that's what most LGBT seniors in this country face right now.”

READ ARTICLE:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/159509

TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact Jessica Bennett and Newsweek and thank them for this informative piece which spotlights LGBT senior citizens, a vital, yet often neglected segment of our community

CONTACT:
Jessica Bennett
jessica.bennett@newsweek.com

Newsweek
WebEditors@newsweek.com

 

Dangers of So-called “Ex-Gay” Programs Illuminated by Op-Ed in the Anchorage Daily News

In light of the revelation that vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s former church in Wasilla, Alaska promotes so-called “ex-gay” conferences, the Anchorage Daily News published a September 22 op-ed titled, “Where is the love in trying to make gays go straight?” This passionate opinion piece by Alaska American Civil Liberties Union Policy Coordinator Tiffany McClain points out the concrete harms that are caused by these anti-gay activists, referencing the American Psychological Association’s findings that         “ex-gay” programs are harmful to those subjected to them, and cause depression, anxiety and self-destructive behaviors. McClain says that they validate “social prejudices that lead to acts of discrimination, harassment and violence.”  She goes on to communicate that,  “these acts cause far more mental harm to gays and lesbians — and do more harm to our democracy — than allowing law-abiding citizens to live their lives equally, honestly, and without fear — regardless of their sexual orientation.”

READ ARTICLE:
http://www.adn.com/opinion/compass/story/534077.html

TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact Tiffany McClain and the Anchorage Daily News to thank them for giving their readers vitally important information about dangerous programs designed to divide and destroy loving families, alienate gay people from their faith, and make it harder for loving, committed couples to take care of each other.

CONTACT:
Tiffany McClain
tmcclain@akclu.org

Anchorage Daily News
newsroom@adn.com

 

Miami Herald Shares Struggles and Joys of Gay Adoptive Father

The Miami Herald published a moving portrait of a Florida family in its September 24 edition. The article, “A gay father finds victory in his family,” focuses on Wayne LaRue Smith, an openly gay man who, after much struggle, was finally able to adopt the foster son he has raised for the past 7 years. Reporter Carol Marbin Miller focuses attention to Florida’s ban on adoption by openly gay parents, a law that has been on the books since 1977.  The Monroe Circuit Court ruling successfully challenged the 1977 ban making Smith only the second openly gay person to be granted an adoption in the state. Miller captures what the adoption means to Smith, his partner and their son, quoting Smith who says, “we’re just more of a solidified family now.”  While this is a victory for one family, it may not immediately have an effect on the ban on adoption by gay parents, leaving many other Florida families unable to have the same resolution.

READ ARTICLE:
http://www.sundaysupperclub.org/?q=node/3546

TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD urges you to contact Carol Marbin Miller and the Miami Herald to thank them for showing the impact the Florida ban on adoption by openly gay parents has on families throughout the state.

CONTACT:
Carol Marbin Miller
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/contact-us/

 

Consequences of Church Rejection Explored by Pocono Record

The Pocono Record in Northeast Pennsylvania took a look at the painful rejection one Pennsylvania family endured when trying to join a local Lutheran church in Hamilton Township. In the September 18 article “Family struggles with church rejection,” reporter Howard Frank tells the story of Stephen Rivera and Nicholas Barthold, a gay couple who, along with their four adopted children, were rejected when they tried to join the Christ Hamilton Lutheran Church.  Before they moved, the family had been active church members in their Bronx, N.Y. Lutheran church, but when they tried to join Christ Hamilton they were told they were not welcome because they are gay. The family has not attended church since then, and they decided to go public with their story after learning that the pastor who had rejected them was retiring. Barthold explained that while society has gotten better for gay headed families and that he and his family “have lived a charmed life,” he believed that they, “still live as second-class citizens.”

READ ARTICLE:
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/NEWS/809180318/-1/NEWS01

TAKE ACTION:
GLAAD encourages you to contact Howard Frank and the Pocono Record to thank them for offering this informative piece that sheds light on the rejection many gay families encounter within communities of faith.

CONTACT:
Howard Frank
hfrank@poconorecord.com

Pocono Record
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=INTERACT

 

Fox and Friends Provides Platform for Anti-Gay Spokesperson to Insult MSNBC's Rachel Maddow

On September 9, Fox and Friends gave Tim Graham, of the anti-gay organization the Media Research Center, a platform to make an insulting reference to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. The recent premiere of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC marked a milestone in cable news history, as Maddow is the first openly gay woman to host a primetime news program.  Graham was speaking of the “damage done” to MSNBC by having Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews host the cable network’s election coverage when he said with a sharp disdainful tone, “Not only is the damage already done, the damage continues.  Not only are they keeping these people on for an hour a night, they’re adding this lesbian Air America radio host, Rachel Maddow, on every night…” While many have mentioned Maddow’s sexual orientation, Graham’s condescending tone and irrelevant use of Maddow’s orientation did not add anything to his argument and only served to highlight his anti-gay bias. 

WATCH CLIP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klKvaKWm26Y

TAKE ACTION: 
GLAAD urges you to contact Fox and Friends producers and voice your concerns about Tim Graham’s comments which imply that the presence of an openly gay talk show host is causing “damage” to MSNBC.

CONTACT:
Fox & Friends
friends@foxnews.com

 

Fox’s Greg Gutfeld Offends LGBT People Yet Again, Unnecessarily Insulting Transgender People

Earlier this year he took a jab at Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi about their marriage telling them to  “shut the hell up about it.” In his September 17 blog titled “Moveable Feast: A Modest Suggestion for the United Nations,” Fox News Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld ranted about United Nations diplomats saying, “These bloated bureaucrats would learn more in two days ducking for cover in Liberia, than two weeks trying to pick up transvestite hookers in Times Square.” Using the phrase “transvestite hookers,” was offensive and unnecessary to include in his criticisms of the UN.

READ ARTICLE:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,423927,00.html

TAKE ACTION: 
GLAAD encourages you to contact Greg Gutfeld and voice your concerns about his continued lack of respect for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

CONTACT:
Greg Gutfeld greg.gutfeld@foxnews.com