Newark Mayor Cory Booker to Meet with LGBT Journalists
August 20, 2009
The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) will host a brunch this Sunday, August 23 in Newark for local LGBT journalists to discuss community issues.
In a press advisory NLGJA notes Booker’s support for the LGBT community, saying, “In his first term, Booker has reached out to the LGBT community and faced some harsh criticism from many of his city’s residents because of it.”
The brunch will be held at the Newark Prudential Center from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.
Complete, behind-the-scenes tours of the Prudential Center will be offered after brunch.
For more information, please visit NLGJA’s Facebook event page here.
Related Posts:Gay Couple Detained for Kissing
July 15, 2009
It used to be Main Street in Salt Lake City – a road through the heart of downtown. Now it seems a stroll down this stretch of land can result in fines and physical restraint if you appear to be a gay couple who shows any type of innocent affection towards each other.
On July 9, on the Mormon Church-owned Main Street Plaza in Salt Lake City, a gay couple of five years was roughed up and detained by Mormon church security for what the couple and most media outlets report to be a mere kiss on the cheek.
According to their own accounts, the couple, Derek Jones, 25, and Matthew Aune, 28, were walking home when they paused for a brief hug and peck. Mormon Church security officers demanded the couple leave for engaging in “inappropriate behavior.” Aune demanded to know why they were being kicked out. After a brief argument, the security officers pushed Jones to the ground and then handcuffed both of the men. The couple was detained while waiting for Salt Lake City police to arrive. The police cited both men with misdemeanor trespassing charges.
Matt Aune and Derek Jones pictured in The Salt Lake Tribune
This was a highly visible news story, and received coverage in both the state’s major newspapers, major radio stations and all the local television news shows.
What’s striking is that the coverage of the Mormon Church-owned media outlets – KSL (NBC affiliate) and the Deseret News – reported the story differently than the rest of the media outlets.
A look at the headlines about the incident makes the discrepancy very clear:
· The Salt Lake Tribune: “Trespassing case? Gay couple detained after kiss near LDS temple”
· The Associated Press: “Gay couple detained near Mormon plaza after kiss”
· KUTV (CBS affiliate): “LDS Security Detains Affectionate Couple on Plaza”
· Deseret News: “2 Men Cited in Trespassing on LDS Plaza”
What’s more, every news report about the incident makes clear that it was a kiss on the cheek or a peck, except the Deseret News, which is much less clear about what Aune and Jones were actually doing. The Deseret News description of events is also sparse on details about how many security guards out-numbered the couple and the physical force used by officers to detain the couple. Though neither Aune nor Jones required medical attention, both had bruises and scrapes from the force used by the security officers. KSL, the church-owned NBC affiliate’s story is also heavily one-sided.
In response, former Salt Lake City Councilwoman Deeda Seed organized a Sunday “Kiss-In” at the plaza to publicly demonstrate how Aune and Jones were singled out for engaging in behavior that is otherwise accepted at the same location when engaged in by straight couples.
The follow-up reports by The Salt Lake Tribune recounts, “This time, though, they had an audience of more than a hundred,” when talking about the “Kiss-In.” The Associated Press reports, “About 100 people gathered.” The Deseret News reports, “…about 60 people.” The church-owned NBC affiliate, KSL, reports, “Dozens of people.” It is curious how the church-owned newspaper and television station come up with a number approximately half what other media outlets report.
This could all be circumstantial, but as GLAAD has reported on this blog before, the Deseret News has been widely criticized – even by its own reporters – for not giving accurate and fair accounts of LGBT issues.
In May, the Columbia Journalism Review gave the Deseret News a “Dart,” for “dereliction of journalistic duty” in coverage of the Mormon Church’s involvement in Proposition 8 and the National Organization for Mariage.
The Deseret News is owned by the Mormon Church. However, not until recently has the paper’s journalistic integrity began to be questioned. The Deseret News, and any media outlet, fails to retain journalistic integrity when it ceases to fairly and accurately report on LGBT issues, and downplay any potentially negative coverage of the Mormon Church’s treatment of LGBT issues. This week, the one-sided reports related to Aune and Jone’s brief kiss, and the physical force church officials allegedly used in reaction to that affection, is just another example of why the paper continues to lose credibility.
Related Posts:GLAAD Attends National Summit on “Putting the “B” in LGBT”
June 29, 2009
Last month, the Bi Writers Association, with support from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York City, organized “Putting the “B” in the LGBT”, a national summit whose aim was to “give people the tools to understand and include the bi community more fully,” said bi activist Sheela Lambert, who was also the driving force and primary organizer behind the summit.
The Bi Summit, as it was dubbed, was co-sponsored by The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the New York Times Company GLBT & Allies Affinity Group and Renna Communications.
The summit began with an incredibly stirring welcome address by Robert A. Woodworth, Director of Meeting and Conference Services and Capital Projects at the LGBT Center. During the course of his address, Woodworth recalled the time and efforts it has taken to make our communities as inclusive as they are now:
“After years of organizing and prodding by some people in this room – Sheela can tell you stories – the Center changed its name in 2001 to include the words “Bisexual” and “Transgender”. Words used publicly – like “gay” in the early 70s and “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” today – have the power to spark awareness as they are absorbed into the culture. But awareness is not true understanding. That comes with connection and dialogue. That’s why we need a Center where we all bump into each other day in and day out, and why we need this summit.”
Click here to read his entire address.
Summit attendants were also welcomed by Frank O’Connell of the Steering Committee of the New York Times Company GLBT & Allies Affinity Group and Hawk Stone, Board Member of NGLTF, who appeared on behalf of Dr. Jaime Grant, Director of the Policy Institute at NGLTF, who was unable to attend. During the course of the summit, O’Connell also mentioned he was the only openly bisexual person in the Affinity Group, though many others had come out to him in private. Click here to read his welcome speech.
Bisexual and marriage equality activist Robyn Ochs, who was recently honored by NGLTF for her tireless lifetime commitment to the LGBT movement, was the keynote speaker. She spoke of the problematic nature of bi invisibility as people only “see” bisexuals when we are simultaneously partnered with members of both sexes, which is not the reality lived by most of our community.
As a marriage equality activist who is married to a woman, Ochs knows first hand the ways in which media outlets and others have tried to make her bisexuality invisible. She situated part of the blame with the messaging of LGBT organizations and their own biphobia.
Bisexual and Marriage Equality activist Robyn Ochs gives the keynote address.
“We oversimplify our messaging so people will ‘get it’ but then they don’t ‘get it’ because we’ve given them an over-simplistic message…The ick factor with with regard to bisexuality is both about a resistance to sex and a resistance to complexity.”
Following the keynote address, was a series of panels, including Bisexuality: Exploding the Myths*, Bi Community Panel: Telling Our Stories and Crafting the Message: How to Put the “B” in LGBT. The Summit ended with a closing plenary discussion: Putting the B in LGBT: How Can We Do a Better Job?.
Many and varied issues were touched upon emanating from both within and outside of the LGBT community. In Exploding the Myths, Peter Ruggiero of the Bi Writers Association, spoke movingly of the despair that came from the lack of images of bisexual men.
“Hearing bi men don’t exist had detrimental effects on me – I literally though of doing myself in.”
Other speakers called for more representation on a national and political level. Author and activist Ron Suresha noted:
“We have a lack of representation on a national level. They don’t have anyone addressing bisexual issues full time. I think that’s a problem.”
Educator and activist Renata Moreira spoke movingly about her inability to secure a visa for the woman she loves and the fact that the mere request for her partner’s visa has put her own citizenship in jeopardy. Moreira, who has a green card and was applying for her citizenship, was previously married to a man.
“Now they are now reevaluating my paperwork because they think my previous marriage might be fake.”
This suspicion has caused much stress and pain for Moreira, as well as her ex-husband and family, with whom she is still close, as they are all being subjected to an investigation as to the validity of Moreira’s previous marriage.
Moreira’s story illustrates what happens as bisexuality is made invisible on a national and international level. As LGBT organizations continue to do more work around the effects of current immigration law and same-sex couples, this is something we must keep in mind.
Joshua Lynsen, News Editor for the Washington Blade, followed up the panel on Telling Our Stories with a lesson on messaging for news outlets who want to be inclusive of bisexuality. You can read his article which covers all the main points of his talk here.
The closing plenary was a roundtable discussion that featured LGBT activists, media professionals, politicians as well as bi community activists. GLAAD’s Director of National News, Cindi Creager, also took part and addressed the issue of how LGBT organizations could work to keep their messaging consistent with a bi inclusive perspective. It was a rousing discussion with many diverse perspectives and as Ann Northrop, cohost of Gay USA, noted, as someone with 39 years of experience in journalism,
“People do not like complexity. The human race runs screaming from the room not to deal with this.”
Northrop’s suggestions for how to move forward?
“I want to encourage you to encourage the conversation. Talk more. Think more. Have conversations with everybody.”
The first National Summit on “Putting the “B” in LGBT” is a promising beginning to an inclusive and complex conversation.
*Segments of Bisexuality: Exploding the Myths can also be heard on Out FM WBAI New York. It begins about halfway through the segment. Tune in to 99.5 FM New York City on Mondays at 11 am for additional coverage of the summit or visit the station’s archives.
Related Posts:Journalists Take Note – Media Toolkits For Pride, Stonewall at 40
June 18, 2009
As many of you already know, 2009 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. We at GLAAD are encouraging journalists to incorporate this historic occasion into their planned LGBT coverage this month.
GLAAD’s Stonewall Toolkit includes history, progress and setbacks, an overview of the community today and media contacts. You can find it here.
GLAAD wants to give a shout out to Stonewall historian and David Carter who authored Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. You can learn more about Stonewall and share any related news and events during the special anniversary on his website.
We also have available a Pride Month Resource Kit that assists journalists to think outside of the box when it comes to reporting on this annual occassion. The kit includes story ideas, tips on diversifying Pride coverage and much more. You can find this resource here.
Pride Month brings a flurry of LGBT TV programming for small screen enthusiasts. Our Pride Month Progamming Guide provides a LGBT round-up of what will be on television this month. Check out what’s on television this month here.
Finally, GLAAD will be celebrating Pride month in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, DC. Make sure to join us to celebrate this special anniversary!
Related Posts:
Philadelphia Inquirer’s Gail Shister is a Hall of Famer
August 21, 2008
cineQueer warmly congratulates reporter Gail Shisteron her upcoming induction into the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame! The ceremony will take place Saturday at the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Convention in Washington.
Here are some highlights from the press release:
Gail Shister was among the first “out” reporters in U.S. mainstream news media when she joined the New Orleans States-Item (now Picayune) in 1975 as its first woman sportswriter. Four years later, she broke the same barrier at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Shister was named The Inquirer’s television columnist in 1982. Widely recognized as one of the country’s foremost observers of the industry, Shister’s news-breaking column ran for 25 years and was distributed to more than 500 newspapers. On the Web, she had her own link on the Drudge Report.
Now a metro reporter for The Inquirer, Shister writes profiles for Page One. She is a columnist for tvnewser.com and appears regularly on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” She also teaches writing at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is an adjunct professor in the English Department.
Shister served as vice president of NLGJA and won the Distinguished Service Award in 1997. She and her partner, photographer Penny Jeannechild, have three children.
