Media coverage: how are we seen?

[CellarDweller115]

On the other hand, I think it is good to see parenting tips for parents of gay boys in the papers - what do straight people need to know about riaising healthy gay boys?  Do you think the advice was worthwhile at all?

Oh yes, I do think there was worthwhile information in there, and if you replaced the word 'girl' with 'sex partner', the advice would work for gay teens as well as straight.

The last statement needs to be removed, because anyone can be a victim of a predator, not just a gay teen.  A few years ago, I used to be a member of a gay forum similar to this one.  It's no longer around, but it was popular with young teens, to the point they made a special teen section just for them.

A few of the young men would hit on me, citing my age as "experience".  When I politely refused them, I would offer up advice about what to watch for on the 'net in regards to predators, and things they may need to do to protect themselves.

it's advice that should be given to all teens, gay or straight.

[jack]

time for a word from the geriatric corner...

perhaps some re-wording of that last section IS in order, especially if we are speaking to an intact family unit; however, and it is a big however, i have watched with dismay, time and time again, online and in real life, teens struggling with their sexuality go to older men for mentoring, and even parenting, when their own parents were either not present of abusive, only to wind up being mentored straight into a sexual relationship.  i have even seen older gay men extort sex for support and approval from homeless or parentless straight boys who just needed a helping hand and some male bonding.  i have known mature lesbians to get so involved as well.
sometimes it is not intentional, but it remains the responsibility of the ADULT to set proper boundaries.

perhaps as written it was not politically correct, but it is a warning i wold give, and have given.  although it is now recognized as a universal problem, i believe, and most data, albeit skewed by the societal construct that gives women a pass on much of this, that males, by their very nature are the more predacious.

back to my rocking chair...     

[quithammerin]

thanks, guys, for your willingness to discuss this. I know that parents are (almost)  always worried about their kids' well-being, and especially when those kids' lives take them beyond anything they (the parents) know. Given the pace of change, it's something all parents are faced with.   Immigrant parents have this problem with lots of the new world culture they encounter in their new country, and straight parents have this with their GLBT children. 

The fears may be founded or unfounded, but they are there.  Sometimes those fears themselves are exploited by hate-mongers, so this can get complicated. But parents of gay teens will look to the media and popular culture for ideas on how to make their kids's lives work out.   So those kids will be served by their parents getting the best info. possible. 

We all need to take what we read in context - but some of us have no context!  I knew I could count on folks here for a wide-ranging discussion & lots of food for thought.

[michaelflanagansf]

India's gay rights movement comes out
Heidi J. Shrager, Chronicle Foreign Service
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Aggrieved Indians have long taken their causes to the streets. From Mohandas Gandhi's nationalist campaigns to contemporary marches against racy movies, protests are as Indian as spicy curry.

But one group, despite its large size, has long kept silent. That silence broke Sunday, when gays and lesbians found their voice in three major cities - New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore - in the first large public display of gay pride India has ever seen.

"Up until now, we've been in the public space protesting a violation, or someone being beaten up," said Gautam Bhan, 28, one of the New Delhi parade organizers. "Now we feel like we have enough of a foothold to celebrate a positive presence."

While the U.S. gay-rights movement has progressed to the wedding altar, Indian activists are still fighting for decriminalization of gay sex. Efforts to reform a 19th century law banning homosexuality are galvanizing the gay community as it fights for reforms in a country where arranged marriages are still the norm.

story continues:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/01/MN5K11I4TH.DTL

[CellarDweller115]

Michael, I searched for more on that, and found this blog entry....


About 150 of India’s most influential figures - from the novelist Vikram Seth to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen - have joined their voices in a protest letter demanding the repeal of “cruel and discriminatory” legislation banning gay sex.

http://vikram.blogsome.com/category/economics/

[michaelflanagansf]

That's very interesting!  Thanks Chuck.

[tfferg]

From The Melbourne Age today

Spare a thought for the American Family Association and the auto-replace gizmo it uses to cleanse its OneNewsNow website of unsavoury elements. For example, the AFA routinely replaces the word "gay" to denote sexuality, which worked fine until last Sunday when athlete Tyson Gay won a semi-final in the US track and field trials. The OneNewsNow headline: "Homosexual eases in 100 final at Olympics trials."

[michaelflanagansf]

From The Melbourne Age today

Spare a thought for the American Family Association and the auto-replace gizmo it uses to cleanse its OneNewsNow website of unsavoury elements. For example, the AFA routinely replaces the word "gay" to denote sexuality, which worked fine until last Sunday when athlete Tyson Gay won a semi-final in the US track and field trials. The OneNewsNow headline: "Homosexual eases in 100 final at Olympics trials."

LOL!!!!

[CellarDweller115]

rotflmao!

[tfferg]

The headline would make you wonder if the athlete used lube.

[michaelflanagansf]

The headline would make you wonder if the athlete used lube.

One would hope....

[tfferg]

The headline would make you wonder if the athlete used lube.

One would hope....

[BayCityJohn]

From AfterElton:

When should a person be angry about some anti-gay slight or slur in the media — and when should we let it slide?

Let’s face it: there are too many of these offenses to get worked up over everything. We’d be livid 24/7. And let’s also face it: a lot of “offenses” just don’t rise to a level warranting anything resembling “outrage.” They’re mildly annoying at best — and sometimes they might not be offensive at all, but have just been misconstrued by knee-jerk PC-types, at least according to some in the GLBT community.

But what makes some anti-gay slights “outrageous” and others just tempests in teapots — and how do we decide? And what happens when GLBT people themselves disagree?

Consider the gay media brouhahas from just the last few weeks:

• When the FX reality show 30 Days featured an episode on same-sex adoption, they included factually incorrect comments from a spokesperson from the Family Research Council claiming that gay people have higher rates of “mental illness…domestic abuse, child sexual abuse” — statements that went uncorrected on the program.

• After some British viewers as well as American conservatives including Bill O’Reilly complained, Heinz pulled a humorous European television commercial for Heinz Deli Mayo that showed two fathers kissing, with the company citing “consumer feedback.”

• During the network premiere of Brokeback Mountain, Bravo edited out not just the movie’s profanity and more explicit sex scenes, but also a tender kiss between Jack and Ennis.

When news broke of the unwarranted Brokeback edit, Bravo immediately issued a statement to AfterElton.com, saying it was “an unfortunate mistake” and that “the scene will appear in all future airings of Brokeback on Bravo.” Given Bravo’s long history of gay-positive programming (including the broadcast of GLAAD Media Awards immediately prior to the movie), most GLBT people seemed to take them at their word although some most definitely did not.

“There are a number of factors that go into our responses,” says Rashad Robinson, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs. “The history of who it is, the media outlet or public figure. What was said or what was done. It’s not a natural rubric or equation. We judge each situation individually.”

 As for the response itself, “We don’t just react,” Robinson says. “We have a proactive relationship [with many media outlets]. We try to work with people to make changes before something is released. We try to never put out a press release.”

When GLAAD decides that some sort of public reprimand becomes necessary, “Our options range from a call to action versus a posting on the blog versus an all-out campaign such as the one over the Isaiah Washington issue.”

But what does the GLAAD imprimatur mean? Are their views necessarily representative of the GLBT community at large? Naturally, Robinson says yes. “It’s a collaborative project,” he says. “People constantly contact us, and we pay close attention to the blogs.”

http://www.afterelton.com/media/2008/gaymediaoutrage?page=0%2C0

[CellarDweller115]

• After some British viewers as well as American conservatives including Bill O’Reilly complained, Heinz pulled a humorous European television commercial for Heinz Deli Mayo that showed two fathers kissing, with the company citing “consumer feedback.”

I had never seen the commercial before.  Found it on YouTube.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrXLlYweows

I think it's cute!

[BayCityJohn]

It's a great commercial.