September 1 BYPAT ROBINSON OITM Staff Writer Sept. 19, 2001: Maj. James P. Cassela of the assistant secretary of Defense for Public Affairs office made the following statements regarding the stop—loss order issued by the Pentagon for the second time in a'declared war. The first time, George Bush Sr. was President. ”First, Gays and lesbians would be allowed to serve during any war, just as they do now, as long as they remain in compli- ance with the homosexual conduct policy.” Maj. Cassela went on to add, ”consistant with past practices, administrative dis- charges (medical, hardship, suitability) could continue.” Steve Ralls of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group for homosexual troops explained it this Way, ”The stop-loss order is an explicit acknowl- edgement by the Pentagon that gays and les- bians can serve their country. It also sends the unfortunate message that while there are gay men and women who put themselves in harm's way, who risk their lives for the country, they can expect to be fired from their jobs once the conflict is ovr::‘."’ Oct. 1, 2001: The weekly news and entertainment magazine PEOPLES recognized the heros of United Airlines Flight 93. Ahead of CNN, in an interview with Alice Hoglan, Mark Bingham was acknowledged as a ’’happy gay man” and serious rugby player. ” I knew before I heard the news that Mark, if he were at all able, would try to ~ keep the hijackers from killing innocent peo- ple on the ground.” Alice Hoglan continued, ”I am so honored to have been his mother.” _ Oct. 15, 2001: Traditionally a fairjour- nalist, Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC’s Today Show failed to ask the real questions of Lothar Machtan and the research done for his new book, The Hidden Hitler. NBC has made the LGBT community invisible in it's coverage of the terrorist attcks, it’s LGBT victims, heros, and families. Mr. Lauer said the following in a teaser for the interview, ”There have been 120,000 books give or take a few, written about Adolph Hitler since his death. The newest one claims the Hitler was actually gay, and that his-homosexuality was at the root of his evil.” Mr Lauer’s interview with Mr. Machtan can be seen at: http://www.glaad.org/org/publications/d ocuments/index.html?records=2871. In a press release, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is providing the follow- ing for anyone interested in expressing their opinion to NBC. Andrea Smith, Literary Editor, Today, NBC Television Network, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY. 10112- 0002; fax: 212-664-2914; email: today@nbc.com. Oct. 22, 2001; Robert Dodge, President of the National Lesbian &: Gay Journalists ‘Association issued a statement regarding the limited coverage the LGBT community is getting. ‘From the Open Letter to U.S News Organizations from NLGJA, Mr. Dodge has these words,‘ ”Since September_11 attacks, many of us have been touchedgby countless accounts of heroism. Americans learned about how ordinary peo- ple became extraordinary in a moment. We know about these people because jour- ...._.._.-.......— the _ nalists in print, online and broadcast have told their stories. We know.much about their lives, families and friends and_ what made them special because those details were revealed in newspapers, magazines and on. the air. - At least we know much more about the heterosexual heroes and victims. Some journalists may embrace outdated ideas_ that identifying openly gay and lesbian heroes will cast a negative image on their memory. This decision is based on a pre- sumption that being gay or lesbian is Wrong, a bias that works completely against news objectivity. Withholding relevant details about these lives, their partners and families is unfair and hurtful to the people they loved. In our mission as journalists, it also denies readers and Viewers information about the true identity of those who are in the news. It is the same as Withholding infor- mation about the spouse, children and other features about the heterosexual heroes. ' What about legitimate concerns about ”outing” someone, or disclosing the sexual orientation of someone who preferred priva- cy? We suggest more and better reporting. Instead of asking whether the victim was married, it might be better to ask if he or she had a partner. This basic question may open the door to find out more about the subject of your story — including the chance that they were heterosexual and had a signifi- cant, romantic relationship outside of tradi- tional marriage. Denying and obscuring the existence of gay and lesbian people is a form of discrimi- nation. Withholding the sexual orientation of ‘ these individuals, especially when inconsis- tent in equal coverage about heterosexuals, will leave readers and viewers with only the negative stereotypes of gays _and lesbians. News organizations that do so may find themselves having taken a biased editorial position that affirms those stereotypes. I invite you to call on NLGIA as a resource; you may reach me at 202-661-8414 or Pamela Strother, NLG]A’s executive'direc- tor, at 202-588-9888 ext. 11. NLGJA website; http: / /www.nlgja.org.” Oct. 24, 2001: The National Gay-& Lesbian Task Force announced a series of plenarys, workshops and panels, and in par- ticular, ”Terrorism, War, and Democracy: What Does it Mean for LGBT People” to be held at the Creative Change Conference in November in Milwaukee. Oct. 30, 2001: Elizabeth Birch of the Human Rights Campaign issued a press release regarding the September 11 Relief Funds and HRC’s Advocacy on behalf of the LGBT~community. OVERVIEW The Human Rights Campaign is actively working at the federal level and with private relief agencies. Already, we have been able to assist some families who have had difficulty receiving the proper benefits from the Red Cross. HRC is advocating for GLBT families, working directly with: a) relief funds such as the cAmerican . Red» Cross to ensure GLBT- inclusive policies and procedures; b) federal ‘ agencies to promote inclusive treatment of GLBT partners and children affected by the Sept. 11 tragedy; c) Congress to attempt to have GLBT families included, in any benefit .--_.__~~—--..-.-..._ .._.._, NEWS december 2001 OlTl"l ° 5 1 GLBT Impact Continues. packages. PRIVATE ‘RELIEF EFFORTS HRC is actively engaged in the education of private agencies involved in the distribu- tion of relief to‘ family members of victims of the attacks on Sept. 11. As a direct result of .our efforts, the American Red Cross has con- firmed in writing that it will use an inclusive definition of family in dispersing funds and offering assistance. We understand that some families have faced difficulties in getting the assistance that they need and deserve. When cases were brought directly to our attention, the Red Cross responded immediately to HRC’s request to correct the problems. We are working with Red Cross management at the highest levels to ensure that individual cases are handled appropriately and to develop policies and procedures so that these prob- lems can be avoided in the future. If you or anyone you know is having problems with the Red Cross, please contact HRC at (202) 628-4160 right away so that we can help cor- . rect the situation. FEDERAL AGENCIES HRC has an ongoing effort to ensure that our families are treated equitably in all fed- eral and state policies, particularly in the areas of tax, survivor benefits and employee; benefits. The events of Sept. 11 have only heightened our resolve and made it more clear that GLBT families are not treated equally under current federal, state and pri- vate benefit systems. As a result, we have stepped up our efforts to make sure that relief agencies are inclusive of all families. We will continue to work with our allies in C Congress to monitor and modify all federal efforts, both legislative and regulatory, so that our families are accountedfor. Several federal agencies are involved in the Sept. 11 reliefvefforts and we will work closely with those agencies to support GLBT families. Our efforts will focus on estab- lished relief programs, such a_s those admin- istered by . the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as newly estab- lished programs enacted in responseto the Sept. 11 attacks. These new programs include a public safety officer benefits fund administered by the Department of Justice and the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund included in the airline bailout bill. We continue to engage with members of , Congress and relevant federal agencies. HOW YOU ‘CAN HELP As you can see, we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us advocating for our families and we, need your help. The most effective action you can take right now is to call your U.S. senators and representa- tive and urge them to support all efforts to make federal relief ‘funds available to all families affectedlby the Sept. 11 attacks. This message from constituents will be enor- mously helpful as HRC and our allies in Congress work with the Bush administration to ensure the fair treatment of our communi- '- To send vane‘-mail toiyourr senators and federal representative, logon to": .-HRC’s A 5 Action Center at www.hrc.org/actioncenter.