Snapshots of Our Work

GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios traveled to Mexico City to present a GLAAD Media Award to actress and singer Lucía Méndez, who last year embarked on a tour, “Reina de Reinas,” to raise awareness about LGBT youth suicide.

The Nov. 12 event was covered by approximately 20 television outlets and numerous print outlets, including the Associated Press. Stories by the AP have run in newspapers throughout Mexico and Latin America. Méndez, an icon for more than 30 years, spoke at length and eloquently about issues faced by young LGBT people who cannot turn to their parents for support.

In attendance were local activists including Luis Perelman and PFLAG moms Gabriela Gonzalez and Patricia Ayard with the group Asociación Internacional de Familias por la Diversidad Sexual www.familiasporladiversidad.org. Ayard and Gonzalez presented Méndez with a sash that read “I love my gay child,” and Méndez later discussed her desire to continue working with activists in Mexico on these important issues.

While in Mexico City, Barrios met with local activists from Letra S, a longtime LGBT rights organization and news service, to discuss how Mexican activists can work to replicate the type of work GLAAD has done in the United States. GLAAD also met with Moises Calderon co-founder of La Manta Mexico (The Quilt, Mexico), a leading HIV/AIDS activist who also would like to continue working with GLAAD to fight defamation. Approximately 70% of the Spanish-language television consumed in the United States is produced in Mexico.

MEDIA COVERAGE:
“Lucía Méndez, reconocida por organización pro gay”
El Universal – November 12, 2009

“Lucía Méndez honrada por organización pro gay”
Associated Press – November 12, 2009

Lisa Larges was again approved for ordination by her regional Presbytery and, no sooner than approved, opponents collected 1/3 of the voting members to put a stay on the action until it can be appealed—again. She would become the first openly lesbian minister in the denomination. GLAAD staff on the east and west coasts assisted with media and spotlighting the discrimination that Larges faced as she navigates the Presbyterian Church (USA) process. GLAAD also worked with Larges in 2008 when first approved by her Presbytery and in a recent high-court appeal. The latest approval positions Larges, head of That All May Freely Serve, for the next national meeting of Presbyterian Church (USA) in July where they will again vote on full inclusion of gay and lesbian ministers and – with the unfair practice in headlines and being talked about around the nation – will likely become the next mainline denomination to approve inclusion of LGBT ministers and their stories.

RELATED MEDIA COVERAGE:
“S.F. Presbytery OKs ordination of lesbian”
San Francisco Chronicle – November 11, 2009

“Out lesbian wins ordination OK”
Bay Area Reporter – November 12, 2009

“A really good week for Lesbian Ministers”
Tips-Q GLBT News – November 12, 2009

A new GLAAD Spanish-language public service announcement (PSA) recently premiered on Telemundo, one of the nation’s most important and influential Spanish-language networks. It is one of two “Be an Ally & a Friend” spots that will run on Telemundo. The first features Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) and the second PSA features Vergara along with Zoe Saldana (Star Trek) and Eduardo Xol (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). In Spanish, the celebrities remind viewers that their LGBT Latino friends or family members may not always feel included by society and urges viewers to reach out to them. The ads also ask viewers to visit www.glaad.org where the “Be an Ally & a Friend” resource section exists in Spanish. The “Hazte Amigo y Aliado” section offers a whole host of resources.

MEDIA COVERAGE:
Click here to view a spot that ran during the popular entertainment show, “Al Rojo Vivo.”

Following GLAAD’s pitch, The New York Times published a poignant feature story about the journey of Sara Davis Buechner. Buechner is a classical pianist and transgender woman, who at the age of 39 transitioned to be her true self in 1998 in New York City, and faced substantial bias in the classical music business and rejection from her family. The story traces Ms. Buechner’s challenging road to rebuilding her career with the help of an unconventional yet tenacious agent, and her family’s ultimate acceptance of her true identity. She is now a tenured piano professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and plays with major orchestras throughout Canada while she and her agent continue to boost her profile and concert bookings in the United States. Articles like this, which closed with a discussion about one of Sara’s transgender students and the importance of transitioning early, are helping grow acceptance and understanding among parents and families of transgender children and adults.

MEDIA COVERAGE:
“Anything He Can Do, She Can Do”
The New York Times— November 15, 2009

GLAAD’s Director of Sports Media was invited to serve as a panelist at Rutgers University about anti-gay attitudes in athletics. Prior to the panel, the documentary Training Rules was screened. Training Rules looks at the lawsuit against Pennsylvania State University’s women’s basketball coach Rene Portland, who for decades openly discriminated against lesbian players.

Sue Rankin, an activist and former softball coach at Penn State, two Rutgers student-athletes, and an assistant wrestling coach rounded out the panel. Members of the athletic staff and students filled the audience. Additionally, the panel was filmed for Rutgers TV.

RELATED MEDIA:
“Panel pushes progress for LGBT athletes”

Jarrett Barrios speaks with The Bilerico Project about election results in Maine and Washington

Out Sports comments on GLAAD’s statement regarding wrestler Chris Jericho’s use of an anti-gay slur

SheWired covers GLAAD Tidings

Filmmagic Photos from GLAAD Tidings

Miami Herald Coverage of TGIF South Florida

USA Today reports on GLAAD’s work to demand action after NFL player Larry Johnson used the anti-gay f-word

Queerty discusses GLAAD’s work to educate Seventeen magazine editors on transgender issues