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-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- INDEX: MediAlert! for 27 June 96 -Item 1: "Heart of the Matter" [Have A Heart; America's Talking; Salt Lake City School Board; Gay/Straight Student Alliance; National Education Association - Human & Civil Rights Unit]. -Item 2: "Demonizing Dykes" [National Enquirer; Pointer Sisters]. -Item 3: "(Re)Viewing Lorde" [A Litany for Survival-The Life and Work of Audre Lorde; P.O.V.; PBS; USA Today]. -Item 4: "MediAlert!/BRIEFS" [Ann Landers; PFLAG; KQED-TV; USA Network; Breaking the Surface-The Greg Louganis Story; QWorld; Gay American Composers; CRI; Hollywood Pictures; The Rock]. Item-5: "Sound & (Un)Sound Bites" [Stephen Whitty/San Jose Mercury News; Eugene Narrett/AFA Journal]. -General Information [about MediAlerts; author notes]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- M e d i A l e r t ! ____________________________ June 21-27, 1996 Al Kielwasser [1] H E A R T O F T H E M A T T E R "Have A Heart" is a breezy talk show that airs each weekday on the "America's Talking" (AT) cable network. The program is built around viewer calls, taken in response to a "Question-of-the-Day. The June 19 broadcast included a segment on Salt Lake City's School Board, which recently voted to ban a "Gay/Straight Student Alliance." The Gay/Straight Alliance had been formed to combat homophobic ignorance, and was one of dozens of "non-academic" student clubs. Prohibiting ONLY this club -- which the school board wanted to do -- would have violated equal access protections. So, rather than allow the Gay/Straight Alliance to meet, the board opted to ban ALL student clubs. "Have A Heart's" Question-of-the-Day asked: "Did the Salt Lake City Board of Education go too far?" To help discuss this issue, the show featured Lee Berg, a representative of the National Education Association's (NEA) Human and Civil Rights Unit. The choice in guests was a smart one. The NEA is the largest teacher's union in the United States, and has been a significant voice of reason -- advocating for educational equity and lesbian/gay inclusion in textbooks and other curricula. Unfortunately, however, Berg's well-intentioned comments also revealed a heterosexist slant. Framed and echoed by the show's daily question, this bias is worth a closer look. It repeats a persistent, debilitating rhetoric found throughout the mainstream media. According to Berg, the Salt Lake City School Board's decision is "a tragedy for all the other non-academic groups." It's tragic, he further explained, because "you cut out the chess clubs, the Bible clubs, the computer club...." He added: "I would encourage the students in all the clubs.... to continue to meet on an informal basis." The point NOT made by Berg is that prohibiting the Gay/Straight Alliance would have been reprehensible even if it were the ONLY club banned. The real tragedy is homophobia, which is actively promoted by the school board's ban. THAT situation -- of rampant, institutionalized bigotry -- is hardly comparable to the "tragedy" experienced by chess club members. Of course, homophobia DOES affect everyone, queer and non-queer alike. However, denying what is fair and factual -- and promoting what is hateful and bigoted -- is, IN ITSELF, an immoral and tragic act of stupidity. This point was further obscured by the host of "Have A Heart," Bob Raser, as he asked callers: "Did the board go to far in banning EVERYTHING?" Raser's question assumes a heterosexist metric; the weight of homophobic with word 'help' in message body netnews@sift.stanford.edu