We Get The LGBT Diversity Of Media Contact Lists

by: Autumn Sandeen

Mon Oct 12, 2009 at 15:30:00 PM EDT

I added a few lines to the piece to clarify this earlier in the piece.
~~Autumn~~

My weekend was incredibly busy. I went to a Equality California Trans Mixer on Friday night, the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community Center (as the guest of Equality California), and gave a speech for the Annual Scouting For All Rally. So, pardon my delay in getting this diary up.

In between all these events I attended this past weekend, I watched a lot of cable news regarding President Obama's speech at the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC's) annual gala in DC, as well as the National Equality March.

When I watched who the cable news chose from the LGBT community to give commentary: What I saw in the chosen community spokesmodels (which is a colorful way of saying spokespeople) was a sea of gay, white, male commentators. There were exceptions, but those were exceptions.

And, this is a problem. This isn't the problem of the gay white men who are being tapped for commentary, but instead a problem of network and cable news not recognizing the LGBT community is significantly more diverse than just gay white men.

The white gay males I saw speaking for the broad LGBT community included Joe Solmonese, Cleve Jones, Michelangelo Signorile,  Wayne Besen, Corey Johnson (Towleroad), Charles Moran (Log Cabin Republicans).

Exceptions I saw included Daniel Choi, Hillary Rosen, Sherry Wolf, Pam Spaulding, and the two LGBT teens I highlighted earlier. However, I saw each of these folk just once each, while most of the white gay males I listed (with the exception of Corey Johnson) I saw more than once. And, the only African-American LGBT community member I saw interviewed on cable news -- Pam -- got one spoken line in that CNN piece.

Now don't get me wrong here. Gay white men are integral part of the LGBT community, and should be represented in giving cable news commentary on LGBT news stories. The problem is that gay white males are the majority of the "go to" guys on LGBT stories; we're getting the LGBT diversity of the cable news producers' contact lists.

And, the amount of diversity that these contact lists are providing is completely inadequate. I won't speak to lesbian and bisexual representation, but I will speak to transgender voices cable news could have tapped.

For example, Kim Coco Iwamoto, an elected State Board of Education member for Hawaii, is an Asian-Pacific-Islander woman who is also trans -- she spoke at the National Equality March Rally. So did Babs Siperstein, the only transgender member of the Democratic National Committee. Trans people were visible and findable at the rally, but they weren't tapped by the cable news producers.

Outside of DC, cable news networks could have tapped many trans community people who could have spoke to LGBT and trans specific issues:

• Monica Roberts,  the African American blogger/2008 Weblog LGBT Award Finalist of Transgriot

• Masen Davis of the Transgender Law Center

• Drian Juarez of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center's Transgender Economic Empowerment Project

• Author Jamison Green, who is a longtime transgender and transsexual workplace advocate.

• Cecelia Chung, Former Deputy Director of the Transgender Law Center, and Chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission

• Prof. Jillian Todd Weiss, the Associate Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College who is running a campaign Facebook for an Inclusive ENDA

• Internet Podcasters Mila L-Pavlin and Jayna L-Pavlin of Trans-Ponder

• Vicki Estrada, A prominent City Planner/Landscape Architect in San Diego -- part of the California Transgender Leadership Committee (a group whose current focus is California trans employment issues)

• Internet Broadcaster Ethan St. Pierre of TransFM

• Allyson Robinson, the HRC's Associate Director of Diversity and faith blogger at Crossing The T

• Kim Pearson, the Executive Director of TransYouth Family Allies

And, of course, the National Center for Transgender Equality was out and visible at the march.

The erasure of bisexual and transgender experience was furthered by cable news this weekend by their frequent use of  "gay" and "gay and lesbian" instead of more encompassing LGBT terminology. With the notable exception of the writers for Don Lemon on CNN's Newsroom, the news writers at CNN and MSNBC didn't use lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) as the descriptor regarding either the HRC gala or the National Equality March. In fact, in all the hours I watched MSNBC this weekend -- as well as this morning -- I never heard any of the on air reporters use the terms "bisexual" or "transgender." The B and the T were erased by not only by the producers of the cable news networks, but erased by the language the cable network writers used to define our broader community.

And too, by primarily going to gay white men for interview commentary on the LGBT issues, the ethnic diversity of our broader community was ignored as well.

So, in a nutshell, the cable news networks completely failed with regards to LGBT diversity.

When white gay men are the primary "go to" folk for the longer form interview commentaries at mainstream broadcast and/or cable news networks, then mainstream broadcast and cable news networks are not showing the world what our broader LGBT community actually looks like, and what those of us who are erased actually think and believe about our broader LGBT community.

If this were a twitter tweet instead of a longer form commentary, I'd give cable news networks coverage of the HRC gala and the National Equality March the hashtags of #lgbtfail and #diversityfail. The broadcast and cable news organizations need to broaden their contact lists of LGBT spokespeople to represent the actual diversity within the LGBT community.

Transcripts, videos and accessiblity -- H.R. 3101 and the online community

by: joeray

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 13:52:41 PM EDT

(crossposted on DailyKos, with some changes...)

This is my first diary on PHB. I'm crossposting from DK, but I wanted to modify things just a tad. First, introductions: I'm JoeRay, sometimes JosephRainmound, and I'm a Deaf, bisexual male blogger living in NYC. I've followed PHB for years, and so do many of my Deaf friends. The Deaf and queer communities have a special tie - some say because we're both flamboyant outsiders. I digress, although I might try to figure that out in a future diary.

A little over a year ago I wrote a diary called "Transcripts could save democracy." The thrust of this diary was as follows: DailyKos was including more and more video; video logs and blogs are becoming fast part of the internet community. But most of these were inaccessible to many hard of hearing and deaf people. This ten per cent of our country is a voting bloc that needs to be included - there's political safety in numbers. I asked the community to add more transcripts or subtitles to their video.

I didn't have too much hope. After all, movie theaters refuse to use open captioned films because hearing people complain about seeing words on the screen, and online subtitling is nearly nonexistent. But I asked the community and I kept my fingers crossed. 

Wednesday This & That: Open Thread

by: Autumn Sandeen

Wed Jul 22, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM EDT

Here's what Bookworm Bob & I have been looking at recently:

• (en)gender's Alcohol Poisoning:

Author and university professor Helen Boyd reviews the ABC television special on Chloe Prince, using the Trans Documentary Drinking Game as a measure. Let me quote the three lines from the piece that sum up her thoughts on that ABC special:

I've been drinking.

And...

So yeah, I'm drunk. You?

And...

Can we stop making these now?

Pfft. As long as the American viewing public is only interested in trans people when they're transitioning, verses showing trans people living full and complete lives, then we're going to get sh*tloads more of these kind of documentary specials.

Kudos to Professor Boyd for another superior article -- she does a great job culling out the trans documentary stereotypes.

• Civil Rights.org's Senate Adds Death Penalty Amendment to Kill Hate Crimes Legislation:

On Friday, the Senate passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 Department of Defense authorization bill.  But today, the Senate passed an amendment to the Act, offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R. Ala., that would allow the death penalty to be applied in hate crimes cases under some circumstances.  

LCCR and other civil and human rights groups that are supporting the Act do not support the Sessions amendment.  In a letter to the Senate, the groups said: "We strongly oppose this amendment...The death penalty is irreversible and highly controversial - with significant doubts about its deterrent effect and clear evidence of disproportionate application against poor people. Moreover, there are serious, well-documented concerns about unequal and racially biased application of the death penalty."

Civil rights activists, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists, are already working to see the death penalty provision removed when this bill goes to the House/Senate conference committee.

• A commentary in the Miami Herald by former Senator Bob Packwood -- Include gays, lesbians in anti-bias act:

Forty years ago, when I first came to the U.S. Senate, it was entirely possible for an employer to fire workers because of their sexual orientation, and that remains true today in 30 states. In 38 states, it is true for gender identity as well. Today there is no federal law banning employment discrimination for sexual orientation and gender identity. That baffles many of us.

...President Jimmy Carter named Florida Governor Reubin Askew to be our nation's Trade Representative, and we were talking about America's trade priorities. There were no real surprises during the questioning.

...For the first time in congressional history, perhaps, we embarked on new ground on civil rights. I asked Askew whether he had said these words, ``I would not have a homosexual on my staff.''

The official hearing record makes it clear:

Askew: ``Yes sir, I did. I said a known homosexual, and I would not."

...Askew: ``Let us put it this way, senator, that I would follow whatever the personnel policy of the federal government is, but in the selections I have made thus far -- and I have very little flexibility in hiring -- I have not, and would not.''

Times have changed, but we still as yet don't have a fully inclusive, federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

• NASA's New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter:

Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark "scar" had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.

New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly dark "scar" and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.

"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a scientist at JPL...

Oh so kewl. I just love planatary astronomy -- I'm so axiously awaiting for my favorite Rocket Scientist blogger to have at this story!

[Two more articles below the fold -- with one of them mentioning SpongeBob SquarePants...]

Tuesday This & That: Open Thread

by: Autumn Sandeen

Tue Jul 21, 2009 at 19:30:00 PM EDT

I'm thinking of changing my This & that frequency to Tuesday, Thursday, and weekend. The reason is that I (and my sockpuppet bookworm friend) find a lot of articles during the week I'd like to share, but I'd like to cut the number of articles I highlight in these posts to four or five articles. These last two have had eight or nine articles in 'em (I actually split this one up into two parts -- one for today and one for tomorrow because there were sooooo many link-farming links!). So, upping the frequency of these This & That: Open Thread diaries to three times a week from the current format of two a week is something I'm thinking about. Your thoughts?

So anywho, here's some of what Bookworm Bob & I have been looking at so far this week:

• Helen Boyd at (en)gender: Trans-centric:

One of the things I've always liked about Vanessa Edwards Foster is that she doesn't lose sight of the goal: actual equality. I agree with her that our standards are low when it comes to justice for the trans people, and their families and friends, who are murdered. I agree that "manslaughter" is not murder, and that shooting at someone who is basically a sitting duck in a car can't possibly have been an accidental killing.

But what I don't agree with is the vitriol directed at the LGB leadership of the organizations that called the ruling on Teisha Green's murder a victory.

Our standards are low because we are too used to seeing no justice at all when it comes to people who intentionally hurt and kill trans people for being trans...

...Do we know Michael Scott Goucher? Richard Hernandez? Satendar Singh? Ryan Keith Skipper? Jeremy Waggoner? Daniel Yakovleff? These are the names of gay men who have been murdered for being gay in the last couple of years. I didn't know most of their names.

Community goes both ways. We all have more than enough mourning to do.

Hear, hear, Professor Boyd.

• A press release referencing the current issue of Journal of African American Studies with 'Go to the doctor? Only if I'm really sick...':

African American men could be putting their health at risk by avoiding disease screening, in the belief that the results might threaten their masculinity. Because they prove their masculinity through their sexuality and sexual performance, seeking medical advice including HIV/AIDS testing goes against their notion of masculinity.

• Los Angeles Times' More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs:

The weak economy is taking its toll, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County being cremated at taxpayers' expense.

*Sigh* ... The bad economy seems to be hitting the poor -- especially the new poor from this economy -- hard.

• The Australian's India wants births remote-controlled:

INDIA intends to harness the passion-killing properties of late-night television to help control a potentially catastrophic population explosion.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has called for the country to redouble its efforts to bring electricity to all its huge rural population.

The introduction of the electric light and television sets to those vast areas that still did not have them would discourage procreation, he argued. "If there is electricity in every village then people will watch TV until late night and then fall asleep. They won't get a chance to produce children," Mr Azad said. "When there is no electricity there is nothing else to do but produce babies." He added: "Don't think that I am saying this in a lighter vein. I am serious. TV will have a great impact. It's a great medium to tackle the problem ... 80 per cent of population growth can be reduced through TV." ...

Fbbbbt. Just expose all of the men in India to American gay men, and then they'll catch "the gay" -- they'll get to keep the passion, but have new partners that won't increase the birthrate. That'll save the environment from the new pollution related to the production of electricity for the new customers. Er...ah...right?

• San Francisco Chronicle's All systems go for Apollo anniversary (with images):

Six-year-old Jack Tilley from Los Altos, or another kid like him, may one day design the rocket that transports astronauts to build a permanent space base on the moon.

Tilley and scores of other junior rocket scientists blasted off model spacecraft Sunday from the Moffett Field tarmac before a rapt audience invited by the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing on July 20, 1969.

In addition to an all-comers rocket launching session, Moonfest 2009 included hands-on exhibits, games and lectures by notable scientists...

So, so kewl. Anything to get our youth rocketing their dreams off to the stars seems pretty wonderful to me.

So...It's an open thread! What are you reading or thinking about today?

Time To Pull The Trans Documentary Drinking Game Out Of The Closet Again

by: Autumn Sandeen

Mon Jul 20, 2009 at 17:15:00 PM EDT

Helen's blog post is for those who aren't aware of the stereotypes of how transgender women are shown in most documentaries and network television shows about trans people. That these documentaries almost always focus on transition itself as well, and not on the lives of trans people after transition...well, that's key to how trans people's stories are told.

So, out of the closet comes the drinking game! Here are the rules:

1.  Putting on makeup. Two drinks for reverse camera shot into mirror.
2.  Doing anything better done in jeans and sneakers in heels and a skirt. Examples: cleaning the house, shoveling the sidewalk, yard work, walking the dog.
3.  Before picture shown. Two drinks for picture in stereotypical male mode (sports team, facial hair, military, wedding tux)
4.  Camera shot putting on or taking off a bra.
5.  Photo of any wig, breast form, padding, etc.
6.  Surprise disclosure, when a trans woman is introduced and then partway through the piece, her secret is revealed.
7.  Camera focus on masculine body parts: hands, feet, Adam's apple, height, etc.
8.  Any reference to genital surgery that refers to "becoming a woman" or "finally a woman"
9.  Minor chords played softly on a piano
10.  talk show host saying "you go girl"
11.  any discussion of plumbing or electricity
12.  black and white childhood shots, MTF with cap gun and cowboy hat, FTM as ballerina.
13.  Trans woman saying, "I am not a crossdresser. Not that there's anything wrong with that."
14.  Trans woman clutching large teddy bear in hospital bed.
15.  Birthday balloons after surgery.
16.  Trans woman with new boyfriend (after shot of tearful ex-wife).
17.  Trans woman sitting in chair in above-the-knee skirt, posed so you can see what great gams she has.
18.  Patient wheeled off to surgery ...
19.  ... lingering shot of the hospital bed with the teddy bear (or wife) left behind.
20.  Shot of protaganist sitting at the computer keyboard, looking at a trans support website or surgeon's website....
21.  Any helping professional teaching deportment
22.  Camera in the operating room - just drink the whole bottle
23.  Any and all deployments of soft focus = 1 shot
24.  Close up of dotted lines in magic marker on pale fleshy body parts = 1 shot
25.  Earnest surgeon describes his motivation as "to help [girlname] become the woman she's always really felt herself to be" = 3 shots
26.  Before picture with extreme facial hair - 1 shot
27.  Before picture in uniform - Military, Football, etc... - 2 shots
28.  Video from hair removal session : Laser - 1 shot, electrolysis - 2 shots
29.  Before picture - Last time she wore a dress (F2M) - 1 shots
30.  Breast binding - 2 shots
31.  Taking Hormones - Self-injecting 3 shots, orals 1 shot
32.  Did anyone mention an arduous and lonely childhood?
33.  Meeting the school bully as "the new me" at the High School reunion?
34.  Looking at the old picture of self and saying something to the effect of "he was a nice guy...." or "Ken was a lot of fun, but his time is over. It's Ginger's turn now!"
35.  Trans woman claiming to have [intersex] chromosomal pattern, an affinity for washing dishes, a sudden dislike of sports, etc.

Professor Boyd adds:

Believe it or not, these are not the most snarky suggestions, but also remember: there are quite a few people who hang out on our boards who have done this kind of media work, including me & Betty, of course, but also Jenny Boylan. We need to laugh at ourselves as much as we laugh at the inanity of it all.

Twelve-Steppers should find their own version, of course. Maybe those ice cream poppers? But the point is to feel as physically ill by the end as the drinking crowd.

I personally don't drink, and I don't eat lots of sugar any more due to the gastric bypass, so I'll just have to feel ill watching the special itself if too many of the stereotypes are dragged out from the documentary closet.

Special thanks has to go to Gwen Smith, who came up with the original version of this drinking game.

Wednesday This & That: Open Thread

by: Autumn Sandeen

Wed Jul 15, 2009 at 03:05:00 AM EDT

• New York Times' Senate Democrats Attach Hate Crimes Law to Defense Bill:

Senate Democrats said on Monday that they would seek to broaden the federal hate crimes law to protect victims of attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities.

To lift the chances of passage, Democrats said the legislation, known as the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would be attached as an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill - a must-pass measure.

The proposal is named for Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was tied to a fence, beaten and left to die in 1998.

The Senate approved the legislation last year, also as part of the military authorization bill, but it was never reconciled with a similar House-passed bill.

Didn't we try this last session (2007/2008)? The House Democrats wanted a stand alone bill, while the Senate Democrats connected the bill to the Defense Appropriation Act. Nothing ever made it to President Bush's desk.

If the same scenario plays out in the 2009/2010 version of the Matthew Shepard Act, how does the Democratic Party believe the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community would respond to not getting federal hate crimes legislation to President Obama's desk? -- A president who would sign such a bill?

To quote the musical The Music Man:

"Ya' got trouble,
    my friend,
         right here,
              I say,
Trouble right here
    in River City."

• District of Colombia's Trans Coalition's press release DC Trans Coalition and Office of Human Rights Launch Bathroom Access and Safety Campaign:

Even with the District's comprehensive Human Rights Act, which includes protections for gender identity or expression, trans and gender non-conforming people continue to experience verbal and physical harassment ranging from being attacked and thrown out to even being arrested for simply trying to use the bathroom in the District.  In fact, according to a recent citywide survey for transgender and gender non-conforming people, 70 percent of respondents indicated that they had experienced problems accessing or using gender segregated bathrooms.

"Since its founding in 2005, the DCTC has organized community members to fight for the human rights of and equal access for trans and gender non-conforming people living in the District of Columbia.  The Bathroom Access and Safety Campaign carries on this commitment, ensuring that the District's laws are appropriately enforced, making certain that trans and gender non-conforming residents have equal access and appropriate safety when using restroom facilities along with other public accommodations," said Sadie Baker, a member of the DCTC.

Regulations accompanying the Human Rights Act clarify that all residents have the right to use a bathroom consistent with their gender identity or expression, regardless of real or perceived assigned sex or gender expression.  The regulations also specify that all single occupancy restrooms (i.e., any restroom intended for use by one person at a time) in any public or commercial space, like a restaurant, should use gender neutral signage only.  For example, signs reading "Men" and "Women" must be replaced with signs that read "Restroom," or another non-gendered label.  

"Despite these regulations, many businesses all over DC are not in compliance with the law, which is why we created this campaign.  We are developing a list of all non-compliant businesses throughout DC so that we can inform the Office of Human Rights.  OHR Director Velasquez has agreed to help by sending all the businesses we identify a letter informing them of the Human Rights Act and what they need to do in order to be compliant.  The businesses will then have 30 days to change their signs, at which point we will check back.  It is our hope that all business will comply with OHR's request.  If they do not, we will report them to city officials who will initiate a discrimination complaint," said Jody Herman, a member of the DCTC.

Basically, The District of Colombia's Trans Coalition (DCTC) and the District of Colombia's Office Of Human Rights (OHR) have asked that community members help by identifying restaurants, cafes or any other public or commercial spaces that are not in compliance with the law -- If you live in DC, please take a read at the Presser and consider helping in this undertaking.

• Joanne Mariner's FindLaw piece The CIA's Bad Apples:

FindLaw columnist and human rights attorney Joanne Mariner comments upon Newsweek's recent report that Attorney General Holder is considering appointing a prosecutor to look into Bush Administration interrogation abuses. Mariner argues that Holder should make the appointment, which she says would send the strongest possible message to the world that the U.S. does not employ, endorse, or condone torture. However, she also expresses concern about the reported scope of the potential prosecutorial task, which is said to be limited to investigating only interrogation tactics that went beyond those authorized by lawyers. Mariner contends that opting for such a narrow scope would validate the erroneous legal opinions of attorneys who were simply Bush Administration ideologues providing easy rubber-stamps; and would mischaracterize the facts, styling Bush Administration torture as the work of a few rogues, not the officially-validated policy it actually was. Tuesday, July 14, 2009

• Los Angeles Times' writer Geoff Boucher in the piece Doctor Who in the house: David Tennant at Comic-Con and the rumors are flying:

Is David Tennant coming to Comic-Con International to say goodbye ... or to announce the start of something big? The time traveler is on the clock when it comes to his signature role - the announced plan is that he will leave the character behind after a series of specials that will air on the BBC next year - but there has been speculation across the Atlantic that he is coming to San Diego to announce a Doctor Who feature film. Could it be true? It seems unlikely to me, but (ahem) time will tell...

This is Dr. Who -- Stranger things have happened in that franchise's plot lines.

The face of the LGBT movement and the mainstream media: tackling the diversity problem

by: Pam Spaulding

Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 09:00:00 AM EDT

What I believe hurts our case a bit, from a PR (and strategic) perspective, is that we've seen few LGBT people of color on-air as the movement faces off against the first black President and his administration. If you think this shouldn't matter, well you're right. But in reality, do you really think it isn't an issue? You only need to read some of my posts on race and LGBT issues (see "Black, Gay and Reclaiming 'Civil Rights'" at Huff Post) for a prime example of blowback, and I'm black, for god's sake.

One of the problems with this is it allows the inaccurate impression that if you're black and gay, these things aren't on your radar, or worse, that it's only white gays who are angry at this President, a black man, something that doesn't go unnoticed in communities of color. This impression was somewhat exacerbated in a CNN debate between Dan Savage and Stampp Corbin (co-chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the 2008 campaign). They disagreed on-air about the logistics of DADT repeal in a segment host Campbell Brown framed as "President Obama selling out the gay community" (transcript here).

But what did people see in that segment? It was a black man defending the President (asking the gay community to stop asking Obama to move more quickly on DADT). It's not that simple of course, since Stampp worked for the Obama campaign. But we're talking about the visual medium and cultural shorthand/bias telegraphed to viewers not keenly attuned to our community and its issues. It's easy to imagine someone walking away from the TV and thinking "well black gays are defending Obama, so it's just these white whining gay men again." You know what I'm talking about.

BTW, Stampp, who agreed on-air with Dan about the DOMA debacle, later announced he wasn't going to attend the fundraiser, writing "The DOMA brief ruined everything." The reality is that one can disagree on one aspect of policy but not another, and support the President overall. Those who are unhappy (enraged, pick your word), usually argue that "oh we'd be better off with the Republicans in power" or some such, but honestly, I can't see how that's a useful tack to take. That said, overall support for this President does not equal criticism-free governance, something the apologist set seems to forget; Obama himself said to hold him accountable. His administration's behavior regarding our issues has been abominable and there are a variety of ways to hold him accountable. As a movement we'll never all be on the same page.

But back to the matter at hand -- I'm grateful, that Rachel Maddow, an out lesbian, is on the air discussing these topics (have we seen any lesbian talking head guests of any color?) and that Daniel Choi has been very visible re: DADT. It's pretty clear that we have a shallow, pale bench to make our cases on the air and it reinforces the stereotype of what "gay" looks like.

The bottom line is that this image problem gives the Obama administration racial and cultural cover it shouldn't have and doesn't deserve. When you have POC on the air to represent the grave anger at this administration's inaction, it shatters the ingrained perceptions of people -- and that includes some of our straight progressive "friends", not just the pols and admin drones -- that discussion of these issues affects a broader spectrum of our community. It's sad that this is the case, but you know we've had to deal with this image problem for a long time. Unless it's right in front of their faces -- and that's the power of the visual medium, for good or ill, people will lean toward their implicit biases.

I don't have an easy solution for this, mind you, since the MSM is lazy and goes to its rolodexes and picks out people they've had on before; it's not a conspiracy. Oh, and for the skeptics out there eager to think this is self-serving, let's just quash that straight out -- this isn't a bid on my part to go on-air. I hated the experience the two times I did appear on CNN:
1) I had to do it by satellite, so you cannot see who you're speaking with, and it's an art to do it well;
2) I do not live in a major media center like NY, LA or DC - I had to drive all the way to Raleigh to a contract studio;
3) I'm not available at the drop of a hat to do it anyway since I have a full-time, unrelated-to-politics day job;
4) I'm not sufficiently telegenic for the MSM; let's get real; it's a cruel medium for non-svelte women .

Radio is a lot easier, though the scheduling problems remain the same. I've done Skype before -- that is still junior-league broadcasting and is still rife enough with technical problems to be unreliable for live TV.

So let's get back to building a vibrant, diverse media bench -- certainly we need to add more women, T-folk and minorities to be effective on-air advocates (and people from outside gay metro areas of the country, another perception problem out there, but there are the above logistical problems to reckon with). It strengthens our game. If the media would ring up POC LGBT orgs, they certainly would find people to put on the air. If the MSM called up the Women's Media Center for example, an organization that actually holds training for women to build on-air skills, they might net new guests.

However, as I said, the MSM is lazy and has to be spoonfed. I think one of the things the LGBT movement could do, in terms of boosting its effectiveness, is to build that bench and give the MSM an information guide filled with a slew of people they can bring on air to discuss our issues, including the usual people we see. I do, however, see internal political problems ahead, particularly with our organizations, which will have a hard time with the idea of messaging for the community coming from those not affiliated with the "professional gay" sphere.

What none of us can ignore, however, is that on-air media messaging and advocacy can reach the greatest number of people less well-versed in the issues being discussed, and it can have the greatest impact in a single shot. We need our issues represented by a wide range of well-trained members of the community of all stripes to throw down on the air to counteract the stereotypical image of what it looks like to be LGBT.

Qs of the day...

* Do you think that on-air diversity is a problem? If not, why not?
* If so, what can or should be done to help build a deeper bench?

HDTV - Enabling Government Mind Control

by: cindik

Sat May 30, 2009 at 12:37:01 PM EDT

They're still out to get us.

http://proliberty.com/observer/20090118.htm

The coming conversion to HDTV has been orchestrated to free the airwaves for the potential puppeting of mankind. 

 On the bright side, maybe this will distract some of the paranoid from thinking the queers re out to get them.

Or maybe they'll just think we're behind the move to HDTV.

8: The Mormon Proposition (Interview w/ director Reed Cowan)

by: Chino Blanco

Mon May 25, 2009 at 11:36:45 AM EDT

CB:   When did you decide you were going to be the one to make "8: The Mormon Proposition" and what factor(s) drove your decision?  What aspects of your own background or of the Prop 8 campaign brought you to this project?

RC:  Truthfully, this film started out as an exposé on the problems of gay teen homelessness in Utah's "Zion" and an examination about WHY otherwise loving parents would kick their kids out on to the streets just because their kids are gay.  But as the weeks and months unfolded in our project, I began seeing that history demanded our project be larger in scope.  Slowly, but with great force, our focus shifted to what I believe is the "touchstone" of Mormon ideology regarding homosexuality...and that is exclusively Mormon efforts to get PROP 8 on the ballot in California and see its passage.  It's the case against Mormons and what I believe has been a decades long work to damage gay people and their causes.  

PROP 8 is truly the most obvious, shining example of what is at the root of Mormon belief about gay people.    As to what factors drove my decision to make the film what it is today, they were personal really and deeply rooted in something that is fundamental to my character.  Human suffering cuts me to the quick.  And when I obtained the entire LDS call-to-action broadcast (transcripts and audio) that was heard by thousands in California, as a former Mormon myself, I knew statistically speaking, that at least ten percent of the Mormon youth who heard the call to action, were gay.  I hurt over the thought of what they must have felt sitting in those pews, hearing their church leaders launch an assault against gay people.    I went in the direction of the fires of their pain, and it's my prayer this film will be a part of putting out the fire of that pain in their lives.  What the Mormons did and what they continue to do against gay people needs to be a matter of record, because it is spiritually criminal.  When these young people sitting in the pews grow up, I hope they can turn to my film and get the message that it's OK to leave the organization that pulls them to its breast tenderly, while choking the spiritual life right out of them through assaults on their very civil rights.  

Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III comes out

by: SuburbanHomo

Thu May 07, 2009 at 10:36:53 AM EDT

For those of you who are M*A*S*H fans, an interesting bit of news....many of you probably saw this story already:

David Ogden Stiers, perhaps most famous for his role as the subject persona on M*A*S*H from 1977 - 1983, and who voiced Cogsworth in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, has come out:

 Story here.

I grew up watching M*A*S*H and to this day still think it was the best show ever produced on network television.   And Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie of all time. So I was intrigued when I read this last night.

Kudos to DOS.

Moonlighting video break

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 22:19:28 PM EDT

This is from one of my favorite episodes, Big Man on Mulberry Street; it's a dream sequence cultivated in Maddie's horny little mind. The lead dancer is Sandhal Bergman (whatever happened to her?), and it was directed and choreographed by Stanley Donen (Singing in the Rain, On the Town, and dozens of golden age of Hollywood classics). Willis and Shepherd aren't gifted hoofers, but heck -- they get props for working hard on this sequence alongside trained dancers and making this one memorable video that I'm glad hasn't been snatched off of YouTube (yet).

Always over budget and late, the show was ace the first couple of seasons (seasons two and three were the best of the lot) before the bottom fell out with discord on the set between the producers and Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis and well who knows what else was going on. If you have the DVD, it sounds like most of the cast and crew lay the blame at Cybill's door for production problems, though Willis made the then-surprise blockbuster Die Hard in 1988, so he was itching to move on. The show really sucked donkey the last couple of seasons.

My favorite episodes aside from the above? See below the fold.

Censorship Deprives Millions of Hearing Oscar Night Equality Messages

by: waymonhudson

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 08:43:17 AM EST

Riptide Blog: "South Florida Makes Big, Queer Reality TV Show History"

by: Autumn Sandeen

Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 18:00:00 PM EST

In the event that you've had better things to do than watch MTV deteriorate into a steaming sewer of reality programming, you may have missed South Florida's double-time queer cast previewed on Real World Brooklyn. The show's 21st season premiers January 7 and will follow its first-ever transgender character - a Broward male-to-female named Katelynn - along with a gay Miami Beach dolphin trainer (the mammal, not the team) as they "stop being polite and start getting real" in front of a tilted-for-effect camera.

Katelynn Cusanelli, 24, is a former Palm Beach Community College student and moved in with the cast three weeks after her gender reassignment surgery. Judging by her Facebook profile, she's now doing a decent job "passing" in Missoula, Montana -- post all of that "getting real." (That will no doubt change once the show airs.) The teaser previews one of the male character's thoughtful reflection: "Dude, she was born a man!" And it promises a hipster Mormon and a macho military guy.

TV and film seem to be sloooowly becoming more comfortable with the idea of trans and cross-dressing characters in non-comedy roles, at least when it comes to guys becoming ladies. (Transamerica, A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story even All My Children) For some reason, though, middle America still doesn't seem able to digest chick-to-dude tranny folk. But, hey, there's always season twenty-two.

From what I hear from GLAAD's Mik Kinkead, we're goint to see some bad behavior/bad language in the first episodes towards the trans housemate, and then we'll see significantly improving behavior as the show goes on.

Frankly, I'll be watching the show to see how corporate America and the housemates handle the trans learning curve process.

Then, I'll be looking to see how the conservative "Christian" press handles it.

If you're not a virgin are you, by default, a slut?

by: ol cranky

Mon Sep 08, 2008 at 20:51:38 PM EDT

The "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" funnyman also encouraged Americans to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the upcoming election, referred to George W. Bush as a "retarded cowboy fella" and took a shot at Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter.

"The safe sex message is to use a condom or become a Republican," Brand said.  FOX NEWS

My own feelings about the uber-public hyping of virginity of pledges and purity rings to sell oneself as a good person/role model, etc. aside, it sounds like Brand got a little inappropriate last night (expected for MTV) but (understandably) not everyone was pleased with what they were hearing.  As a matter of fact, American Idol alum Jordin Sparks decided to put Brand in his place by spouting the following when she took the stage

"Not everyone wants to be a slut," Sparks spat back, the auditorium filling with applause.

The Hammerhead Is Great -- Wanna See My New Tattoo?

by: Autumn Sandeen

Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 17:30:00 PM EDT

So, this is one of the latter kinds of posts. I'm going to sit down with a cup of coffee that's infused with an added shot of espresso (which in San Diego is called a hammerhead), and talk about the Freya tattoo I had inked at High Voltage Tattoo for the show LA Ink.

Well, I thought I was going to be on LA Ink in a segment where Hannah Aitchison inked my tattoo. The season is over, the production company has shut down, and my segment never made it into an episode. Here I was, thinkin' I was pretty interesting and photogenic -- with a compelling narrative -- but apparently I'm not that interesting or photogenic, and my narrative perhaps wasn't compelling enough to air. * sigh *

Well anywho, the tattoo was still inked by the wonderful Hannah, a very skilled and renowned tattoo artist, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The point wasn't to get on television; the point was to have the best tattoo artist for creating the perfect Freya ink it on me. I'm very much more than satisfied that actually happened.

So, since I promised to explain the elements of the tattoo when I finally posted the picture, let me go ahead and tell y'all about what the elements in my tattoo of the Norse goddess Freya mean...

My Freya Tattoo Has Been Inked, Filmed

by: Autumn Sandeen

Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 17:00:00 PM EST

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, time to dig out the lighter side of life for weekend discussion around the coffee house's couches. If you're ordering coffee for me at the counter, I'd love a hammerhead.

Last Monday (January 21, 2008), Hannah inked my tattoo.  It's big (taking up the right side quarter of my back), it's incredibly colorful and beautiful. To me, it speaks to powerful womanhood, being a parent, and my personal history.  I want to show Freya off like crazy because she's just incredible.

But, because had the tattoo of Freya inked on camera for the show LA Ink, I can't show y'all what it looks like until after my episode airs on The Learning Channel (TLC). * sigh * If I could of had this beautiful  body art done by Hannah without going on TV, I probably would have -- then I'd get to show it to you now.  My friends who have seen the tattoo have used the terms "Awesome" and "BadAss" to describe it -- to say I'm very, very pleased with the final result is a huge understatement.

While on camera, I plugged transgender people, transgender civil rights, LGBT civil rights, gender identity, and Pam's House Blend when I was getting inked. How much of what I talked about on camera ends up on the cutting room floor is another thing altogether -- but hey, I tried to be the activist.

For the rest of my life, I see this tattoo of Freya as not only a beautiful piece of body artwork that documents some important aspects of my life, but also as a tool to talk to folk about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights issues.

As soon as I have info on the episode air date, I'll send it out to y'all -- and after the episode airs, I'll post a picture of the tattoo on PHB.

~~~~~
Related:
* Dates Are Set, So Full Speed Ahead
* An LA Ink Tattoo For Blender Autumn?

I Interupt...

by: zchildree

Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 12:49:18 PM EST

Gatlin and I were talking a few days ago about people we automatically assume are crazy. We heard "I believe in aliens" and we automatically think "crazy!". Someone says "9/11 was an inside job" and we automatically call them a wacko. Why?
Why are we, as a culture, conditioned to think anyone who challenges our current paradigm must be crazy?
Because big questions are what we've been trained to avoid. 24 hour news stations, MySpace, Entertainment channels galore all feed us distractions and we eat it up. We eat up the shit we've been told is good entertainment and we've almost convinced ourselves it doesn't taste as bad as we think it does. But it keeps us quiet and keeps us from asking big questions.

I'm as guilty as anyone else. Guilty of assuming that someone else will take care of the problems.

Well, there is nobody else. There's you and me. There are the people that speak truth to power, people who try to make a difference. Those people usually get shot.

Am I saying that entertainment is bad? No. Diversions are good every once in a while. its good to relax and its good to unwind. But for God's sake.... no... not God's.

The way this place is going, you can't help but think God gave up on us a long time ago. For YOUR sake, For the sake of your families, for the sake of the grandchildren that I may have someday, for the sake of human sanity, don't stop asking the big questions. Don't stop telling our leaders "you're wrong!". Don't stop speaking the truth to power. Scream it as loud as you can and with as many voices as you can get to join you.

If you don't, you'll wake up on a breathing tube 20 years from now with unbreathable air, whole cities underwater, and a government watching your every move "for your safety". Or you won't wake up at all.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress...

So, you listen to me. Listen to me. Television is not the truth. Television is a Goddamned amusement park! Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, story-tellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, side-show freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom killing business! So, if you want truth go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves because that's the only place you're ever going to find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you want to hear. We lie like hell....

We'll tell you any shit you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man! None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds...We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the Tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the Tube tells you. You dress like the Tube; You eat like the Tube; You raise your children like the Tube; You even think like the Tube. This is mass madness! You maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion! So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of this sentence I'm speaking to you now. Turn them off! -- Howard Beale, "Network" (1976)

Cross Posted at Sweet Homo Alabama

An LA Ink Tattoo For Blender Autumn?

by: Autumn Sandeen

Sat Dec 22, 2007 at 09:00:00 AM EST

Well, I mailed off a deposit today. With The Learning Channel (TLC) rolling cameras, I'm tentatively scheduled to get a tattoo at the LA Ink studio during the second or third week in January. If/when TLC broadcasts the show, it will be sometime "next season" -- whenever that might begin.

Sooooo, let me back up a little bit. I had a twenty-year Navy career, and believe it or not I never succumbed to getting a tattoo. Don't get me wrong -- I wasn't against getting a tattoo, but I had no idea what I wanted to put on my body that I'd be happy to wear for the rest of my life. However, since I retired from the Navy -- and since I've transitioned -- I've thought long and hard about what kind of tattoo I might want.

And, what I decided I wanted a few years ago was that I really wanted a tattoo of the Norse goddess Freya. My family name -- Sandeen -- is an Americanized spelling of the Swedish Sandin, so I wanted a tattoo related to my Swedish ancestry. And, I wanted a tattoo that reflected that I'd always had a female soul. Since Freya is roughly the equivalent goddess in the Norse pantheon as the goddess Venus is in the Greco-Roman pantheon, a tattoo of Freya seemed to fit the bill.

After deciding, I just hadn't found the right tattoo parlor or artist to do the tattoo.  But then I watched LA Ink. There they were: Female tattoo artists in a studio that wasn't bathed in testosterone.

And then in November, I saw an episode that included a casting call commercial for the show. So, I went online and submitted an entry, never figuring they'd ever get back to me.

But, they called me in for a casting interview. I guess they liked my narrative for the tattoo and my performance on the casting interview video -- this week they called and asked me if I wanted to come in for a tattoo this January. I said yes, and then...well, we're back to me sending the deposit for the tattoo this morning.

[Painting that will be the starting point for the tattoo after the break]

(A Shot of Love Makes Me) Want My MTV?

by: cantdance

Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 22:21:42 PM EST

I am waiting with baited breath to see who wins a shot of love with Tila Tequila.  This is embarrassing on many levels. Like any other piece of reality TV whose premise is that someone will find true love, A Shot of Love is a crappy show.   I got hooked while visiting folks who have MTV.  I’d watch on the sly, flipping channels to CNN to avoid detection whenever footsteps came remotely near my door. So please don’t tell anyone my dirty secret. On second thought, do tell.  Spread the word. No one will believe you anyway. This vice is way out of character.  

Or maybe it’s not.  The force behind my obsession with the reality soap-opera is Dani, a firefighter from Florida.  Dani is  easy on the eye, and, compared to other lesbians on TV, oh so butch.  I am captivated by how her “futchness” plays out in popular entertainment.  As we approach the finale I wonder whether a non-feminine woman can succeed “win” in mainstream media, especially at the expense of her 16 strapping male competitors.

Following A Shot of Love reminds me of my teenage habit of reading Annie on My Mind or Two Teenagers in Twenty to assure myself other queers existed.  Even in the age of the L Word ‘mos (homos) on TV are as invisible to me as they were in the halls of high school, so their presence is intriguing.  Apparently this still applies when the show features a silly plot and perpetually tipsy lesbians who I don’t for the most part find attractive. Go figure.

San Diego Union-Tribune Just Can't Get The Terminology Right

by: Autumn Sandeen

Sun Sep 23, 2007 at 14:20:32 PM EDT

Imagine being gay or lesbian, and constantly being referred to as homosexuals by one's local paper.  When religious right organizations use the term "homosexual," they are using the term as an intentional pathologisation of the LGB experience -- they're trying to harken back to the time before the early seventies when the American Psychological Association took homosexual off their list of medical conditions.

The Associated Press Stylebook states, under the entry for gay:

Used to describe men and women attracted to the same sex, though lesbian is the more common term for women.  Preferred over homosexual except in clinical contexts or references to sexual activity.

Include sexual orientation only when it is pertinent to a story, and avoid references to "sexual preference" or to a gay or alternative "lifestyle."

The San Diego Union-Tribune got a transgender term wrong today (September 23, 2007).  In their article You're in control ; Fear not, commitment phobes: Fall TV comes to you in 4 neat little packages, Union-Tribune Television Critic Karla Peterson wrote:

As ABC discovered last year with "Brothers & Sisters," there is plenty of room in our TV lives for the lives of the rich and dysfunctional. This season, the networks hope viewers have an appetite for more decadent drama, including the appearance of not one, but two transvestite playmates (on "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Big Shots").

So what's the big deal?  What's the difference?

The National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association Stylebook Supplement states, under the term transgender:

An umbrella term that refers to people whose biological and gender identity or expression may not be the same. This can include preoperative, postoperative or nonoperative transsexuals, female and male cross-dressers, drag queens or kings, female or male impersonators, and intersex individuals. If an individual prefers to be called transsexual, etc., use that term. When writing about a transgender person, use the name and personal pronouns that are consistent with the way the individual lives publicly.

An individual who identifies himself or herself as a member of the opposite sex and who acquires the physical characteristics of the opposite sex. Individual can be of any sexual orientation. To determine accurate use of names or personal pronouns, use the name and sex of the individual at the time of the action.

The term has developed a negative connotation and is now seen as crude and old-fashioned, akin to "colored."

Of all places, E! Online got the term for the Carmelita character on Dirty, Sexy Money correct:

Could Candis Cayne become the first transsexual Emmy winner?

Come Sept. 26, she'll definitely have a shot at it. Cayne pops up in the new ABC prime-time drama Dirty Sexy Money playing Carmelita, the secret transsexual lover of a U.S. senator, played by William Baldwin.

...Cayne, who was born Brendan McDaniel, grew up in Hawaii. Even before she decided to transition from a man to a woman about 10 years ago, she was a local celeb in New York's gay community for her drag act.