Newsgroups: bit.listserv.gaynet
Date:         Sun, 23 Aug 1992 21:31:41 -0400
From:         gaynet@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject:      GayNet Digest Volume 5 Issue 651

In this issue:
                   Gay press story on OLTL (l-o-n-g!)
                             Rejected mail
                Thoughts from the Republican Convention

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Gay press story on OLTL (l-o-n-g!)
From: rodney@oxy.edu (Rodney J. Hoffman)
Date: 23 Aug 92 16:39:07 PST

Excerpted without permission from FRONTIERS (Los Angeles - based gay
biweekly newsmagazine), Aug. 28 1992:

		ONE GAY LIFE TO LIVE
		   By Randy Boyd

.... But the most ground-breaking experience for gays on entertainment TV
this summer might be what's going on weekday afternoons on ABC's daytime
drama, "One Life to Live."  For it is here, in the fictional town of
Llanview, that gay issues are taking center stage....

Almost daily for the last few months the show has featured such scenes as
a teen-age boy wrestling with coming out; a worried mother letting her
guard down long enough to ask her minister is homosexuality is a sickness;
an upstanding matron (who has been the rock of the show for over 20 years)
informing others that gays are not automatically child molesters; and a
straight teenager sticking up for his gay best friend when his homophobic
father orders them not to see each other again.

"I want to change people's minds," says Linda Gottlieb, the executive
producer.... Well, at the very least, Gottlieb's making them think.

[Recap of the storyline so far...] Most of the town's "good" characters
have been decidedly pro-gay, but the show is not without its share of
realistic anti-gay sentiment from the general, Billy's parents, and
others....

The story and most of its ripples will culminate at the end of August
when several characters, including Rev. Carpenter and Billy, visit the
Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.  The outdoor scenes were shot on
location in New Vernon, NJ, using over 250 real panels from the Quilt,
along with a fictional panel for the character of the reverend's brother.
[Two photos of quilt scenes included.]

"It was a really emotionally charged day," says Ryan Phillippe, the
17-year-old actor who protrays Billy Dougals.  "You couldn't turn around
without seeing someone with tears in their eyes."

In an age where protests against positive gay roles on television are
heard louder than the roles themselves, it's somewhat shocking that OLTL
has decided to go this far out on a limb.  But Linda Gottlieb, who hired
gay psychiatrist Richard Isay as a consultant, never wavered from her
intent.  "We wanted to make people understand that gays are people just
like their own children, that they come in all shapes and sizes," she
says.  Thus the character of Billy was introduced as the captain of the
swim team before the audience learned he was gay.

I hope poeple will also begin to understand it from the point of view
of the parents," adds Gottlieb.  "What happens if my son or daughter were
gay?  How would I react, do I have enough love in my heart to deal with
it?"

Much to Gottlieb's surprise, ABC has been very supportive.  "We were all
sort of girding our loins to do battle with the network and sponsors and
they've been quite superb.  Our ratings are up and fan mail was up 500%
last month."  The content of the mail?	"Overwhelmingly pro."

Phillippe himself has received in the neighborhood of 600 letters (40%
from gays and lesbians) and all but one has been positive.  The numbers
are encouraging, if not necessarily the content.

"A lot of kids write and say things like they're giving themselves to the
end of the summer to figure out whether they want to live or die," says
Phillippe.  "I'm talking some really heavy stuff.  They're contemplating
suicide and they're asking me how they should deal with it."

Phillippe seeks out professional advice on how to write back, often
sending along information and hot-line numbers.  If there's a bright side
to the letters, it's that their authors now have someone to reach out to;
many of his older gay fans say they wish they'd had Billy as a role model
when they were young.

It's what makes Phillippe glad he accepted the role earlier this year, just
as he was graduating high school in New Castle, Del.  "It's been nothing
but a positive experience," says the straight actor, who admits he hesitated
about taking on a gay role.  "I grew up in a Baptist school so I led a fairly
sheltered life and I didn't know exactly how to deal with homosexuals 'cause
I never had to.  I never had any as friends and I couldn't understand how
somebody could feel like that."

But that's all changed in a few short months, thanks in part to the show.
Phillippe says he now has gay friends and a lot more compassion for those
different than him.  "I've learned that humankind as a whole needs to have
more understanding for others' needs and if you can't understand someone,
that shouldn't give you reason to ridicule them.  That's what I hope our
audience gets out of the show because that's what I've gotten out of playing
the role."

I don't think many people understand the power of what OLTL is doing right
now," says Chris Fowler of GLAAD/LA.  "It's a tremendously innovative story-
line for daytime television.  Gay and lesbian teens are seeing someone just
like them coming to grips with his sexuality.

"Linda Gottlieb deserves quite a bit of support from the gay and lesbian
community," adds Fowler, citing inside reports of network nervousness and
the usual barrage of anti-gay phone calls, which is why, he stresses, the
gay community needs to write to ABC in support of the show.

At least until the storyline reaches its upcoming climax, OLTL will continue
to bring gay issues every weekday to over five million viewers.  As for the
future, Linda Gottlieb says the character of Billy is so successful, he'll
remain on the show as "a teen-ager who happens to be gay."  But what about
giving him a love interest?  "That'll really rock 'em," she jokes.

Gottlieb will make no promises, but adds, "You never know.  If you have only
one life to live in the media, you might as well do it on an important
story."

[Publicity shot of Phillippe is captioned:  Young Billy Douglas,
struggling to come out: "My mom calls it sick; my dad calls it perversion.
What's gonna happen if they find out they're describing their own son?"]

[Caption of next publicity shot:  The Rev. Carpenter, victim of a gay witch
hunt: "I feel like I'm in Salem, Massachusetts.  They ought to throw me into
the pond and see if I float."]

[Caption of last publicity shot:  Gen. Sloan Carpenter, hiding from the
truth:	"My son did not die of AIDS, he died of pneumonia."]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 19:48:44 -0400
From: Michael G. Maki <am250@nextsun.INS.CWRU.Edu>
Subject: Rejected mail

am250 is rejecting mail from you

------------------------------

Subject: Thoughts from the Republican Convention
From: BJKPMA%FARMNTON.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (Brian)
Date:    Sun, 23 Aug 92 19:53:32 EDT

Returning from the Republican National Convention I couldn't
help but consider how soldiers felt as they came back from
Viet Nam....after a week of intense and dangerous action in Houston,
people appeared both disinterested and unaffected by what we attempted to
accomplish.   Perhaps my most disappointing and sad thoughts centered
around having had to run for my life from the police after the rally
Monday at the Astrodome.
    I travelled as part of a delegation from ACT UP/Maine, and it was
delightful watching the Republican delegates who travelled on our flights.
They shrank back in fear...of what, I wonder?  We looked intimidating in our
ACT UP/Maine t-shirts and whistles, but had no intention of disrupting
the flight.  At least one passenger expressed concern to a flight
attendant that we would blow our whistles and frighten the children on
board.  Upon arrival in Houston, we enjoyed the warm welcome extended
from the M&M and Minutemaid folks who distributed their wares in the
name of God and country.
     Our mailing tube with our banner was lost, and the phone that we
needed to call the courtesy van for the rental car had been stolen.
Other than that, the airport was lovely in its red, white, and blue
convention bunting.
     That evening, as we checked into our hotel (along with other ACT UP
groups, Operation Rescue, and Republicans) we decided to go ahead and
prepare for the affinity group action that we had planned.  We mingled
with the other activists and checked in at the hotel headquarters for
ACT UP.  The night was quite enjoyable, as I discovered that the AIDS
activists were unusually sexually charged individuals, much moreso than
your typical lesbigay activists.
     The next morning, Sunday, we started out on our affinity group
plan, where our special.... well, 'nuf said about that.
It never got into the press, probably because of the panic that
would have ensued.
     In the afternoon, we embarked for the ACT UP/RNC workspace,
a well hidden spot near downtown Houston.  Unfortunately, the
address was of no use to anyone from "away", and like most of the
out-of-towners, we spent the next two hours trying to find it.
Even calls to the workspace proved futile, the folks in Houston
just couldn't get the directions clear.
     By late Sunday, most of the activists were, in fact, able to
reach the space for our first press conference and to discuss the agenda
for the rest of the week.
     Monday morning, about 20 activists decided to help defend
the abortion clinics that were being hit hard by the "lambs of
Christ", a very militant and violent pro-life (?) group.  We
agreed to sponsor a Kiss-In at the clinic, as well.  It was a blast,
with the appearances by the several creative pro-choice "floats"
giving our spirits a lift.  Cameras were everywhere and our energy was
high.  We went on to other clinics later in the day to continue
defending against the fundamentalists.
   Although we had been warned about the heat and humidity, we
were enjoying Houston's coldest August in a decade...the pool and
hot tubs at the hotel offered needed rest as we recharged ourselves
for the big march to the Astrodome.
    Buses were chartered to take us from our hotels to a park about 2
miles from the Astrodome.  The police and secret service were there to
greet us, and offered "friendly advice" regarding our banners and signs..
nothing wider in circumference than a pencil could be used to support a
sign (for our own safety, of course).  We quickly spotted the undercover
cops, knowing that they could easily shove any of us into an unwanted
confrontation with their brethren in blue.  We also noted the
formidable "anarchists", who were dressed in hooded robes with
scarves covering their faces.  Nobody was sure exactly whose side they
were on.
     As we prepared for the march, Urvashi Vaid distributed our
"invitations" to the Jerry Falwell luncheon to be held on Wednesday at a
nearby hotel.  We taped our permits to our bullhorns (yes, we had to buy
permits for our bullhorns!) and got ready to step off into the night.
     My partner and I carried the ACT UP/Maine banner, and we each
had a bullhorn to make the chanting easier along the way.  We stayed
at the very end of the march, just a few feet ahead of the police
vans and other camera crews.  We made sure that the back of the
march had as much noise and energy as the front lines. :-)
    There were rumors that the KKK was going to meet us at the gate
to the Astrodome where we were headed, no one was too thrilled about
meeting up with them face to face.
    As it turned out, the KKK were dressed in blue and mounted on
horseback...hundreds and hundreds of them in full riot gear.  We were
led into what was essentially a cul-de-sac...backed into a corner
up against the police, and they were eager for action.  The Houston
organizers knew that we had permission to congregate for only 10 minutes,
however, this information was not widely known.  We got into the chants.
We burned one or two Bush's in effigy.  Some of the hooded anarchists
took out bottles filled with gasoline and sent the flames soaring into the
sky.
    I realized that I was standing precariously on a pile of unused
police barricades...in fact a few of my friends had ended up there, and
it was kind of hard to balance ourselves on them.  One suggested that
we throw them onto the fire, and it sounded like a great idea.  Posters,
banners, barricades all went into the bonfire.  More than 10 minutes had
passed.
     Without warning, and quite suddenly, the rows of mounted police
which had been stationary all this time began to careen through and into
the crowd.  Police were surrounding individuals, three to one, and beating
them into the ground.  When my friend, a long-time activist screamed for me
to run, I did.  I turned around to see people being dragged by arms and
legs by police on horseback, others were being turned like corkscrews into
the ground by horses three at a time.  It was impossible for some
to get away from the officers' batons and shields.  Pandemonium and panic
described the scene, helicopters were shining their searchlights in our faces,
blinding us so we couldn't see where we were running.  People ran across
fields, in the street, in circles.  Mounted police chased and beat
anyone who wasn't fast enough.  Some of the slower ones, of course, were
on crutches and in wheelchairs.

   We were not allowed at first to return to the area where our buses were,
the police kept threatening that we'd be arrested or beaten whichever
direction we headed.  I used my megaphone to find the medical support
teams that had been dispersed, and dispensed some asthma medication
to someone having an acute attack.  I found two friends, and decided to
go back with them to ground zero to see if we could find the rest
of their group from Miami.  This was a first action for many, and they
didn't know what to do.  We were all miles from our hotels and there
was no public transportation to use.  I was shocked by one female
ACLU neutral observer -- her entire body was covered by hoofprints.
There were other activists having seizures, and some with heads
split open.  We found the buses, but the police were demanding that they
leave the area.  As one was pulling away, I noticed its open door and
pushed my friend from ACT UP/Miami onto it, and got on myself.  The buses
circled the Astrodome area about 3 times, and along the way I used my
bullhorn to let stranded activists know that they could get on if they
wanted to.  The buses had been forced to leave with only four and five
people on them.  The rest of the activists were forced to find their
ways home, miles from anywhere.  It was a very disturbing night.
   Tuesday was a pretty haphazard day.  Communications had not been
great among the organizers to this point, and with the melee at the
Astrodome, many activists decided to lay low and get some rest.
There were sporadic episodes around town, but no major actions.  Later
Tuesday, there was Network meeting and planning for other events.
    I decided to check out the local bath house that night after a
fundraiser that was held for ACT UP/Queer Nation Houston.  The
Club Baths was in the neighborhood where it was rumored that riots
might break out, so I figured it was the place to be.  I admit, my
nerves were pretty shot by this point.  I had spent the day calling
Houston city desk editors trying to get them to pick up on a story that
appeared to have been covered up...the usual cloak-and-dagger phone calls
from different locations was trying.  By evening, I was sure the police were
looking for me.  At the baths, there were a few delegates (that's right!)
and a "cab driver" that seemed to know an awful lot more than he should
have about the convention and the disruptions.  There were also some
guys that were being very loud about having media passes to give away for
anyone wanting to get onto the Astrodome convention floor.  I was sure
they were undercover agents trying to get me to confess to something!
     Wednesday was interesting....by now, the survivors were experiencing
a sense of bonding, as if this were an Outward Bound adventure, or as if this
were an ACT UP sleep-away camp.  In spite of the dangers and hard work,
we were all having the times of our lives.  I was on my way back from
 a protest at Abbott pharmaceutical company when I spotted lots of
Houston police near a hotel...this was the Jerry Falwell luncheon!
I pulled the car off the highway onto the grass, and joined.  We shouted
some great slogans at the Republican fundamentalists (12 apostles, 12 dicks,
one happy Jesus!) and did our best to figure out how many activists were
still inside the reception.  As each was discoverd inside, Falwells
body guards and secret service would pounce on their search and destroy
missions.  Bail for these folks was set at $4,000 each, much more than
anyone had planned for.  One activist, Scott Sawyer, was alleged to have
bitten a police officer (yeah, right!) and is being held on $20,000 bail
and will be charged with attempted murder if the mandatory HIV test
shows that he is HIV positive.  ACT UP/Los Angeles played a large part
in the success (?) of this action.
     Wednesday evening we re-assembled at the designated "free speech"
area near the Astrodome, and were joined by hordes of pro-choice
activists when we staged several die-ins.  We read a roll-call of
states, listing the numbers of lives lost to AIDS in each one.
    When our time was up, several wanted to stay and challenge the
police, but we were encouraged to disband quietly and go  home.  (Damn!)
    I needed to head out from Houston early Thursday, but learned that
there were no major actions or disruptions planned anyway...the consensus
was that whoever was left in Houston should just get some rest!
    The return home was fun...the large, cardboard posters showing a
post-puke Bush in Japan, followed by the caption "George Bush you make me
sick" were too large to fold, so I HAD to carry them, very visibly throughout
each of the airports.  Folks in Houston were not at all amused... they
looked as if they were ready to explode with rage....(heh heh heh)
but the folks in Pittsburgh, LaGuardia, and Logan airports really
loved them!  Even the flight attendants and pilots were coveting the
signs!  I couldn't resist stopping for a while around Harvard Square
in Cambridge to walk around with the signs, and the reaction was really
nice!  People were cheering and muttering things about Bush.  I taped
one to the back of my station wagon for the trip back up to Maine, and
haven't taken it down yet.
    I learned a lot in Houston.  As a psychologist, I couldn't help
but be amazed at the incredible sexual energy of these activists.
Certainly anyone who would travel to Houston to help disrupt a
convention is going to be a passionate person...I cant help but wonder
if the pro-life folks are going to see mucho births nine months from
now!
    I learned that many of the larger cities had the same problems as many
smaller ones: that people just dont want to get involved.  Many large
metropolitan areas were not even represented in Houston.  And many other
ACT UP groups that seem to be bursting with energy have only a few
instrumental and key members.
    That ACT UP groups that had experienced splits near San Francisco,
Seattle, and Chicago were mending their wounds and rejoining forces
is an encouraging sign in the maturation of the AIDS activism movement.
I and others in my group wonder if that will happen one day here in Maine,
also.
    It was startling and frightening to find myself in this role as
an AIDS activist.  I initiated and participated in events this week
that I would never have considered before...and it felt great!
I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement, the constant adrenaline, the
comraderie, and the escapades through which we achieved our agenda.
   Upon arriving back in Maine, I learned how hard it is to step back,
to resume a "normal" and "responsible" life as an average citizen.
I thought that maybe I was having a peculiar and uncommon reaction,
so I telephoned some of the friends I made from Houston.  They were
feeling the same way.  They detested having to pretend that nothing had
happened, and that the majority just dont have the interest or ambition
to get involved and take a stand.  At least the friends I made from
ACT UP/Miami and ACT UP/West Palm Beach have the excitement of Hurricane
Andrew to feed their addiction.  The rest of us have to slip back into our
roles as fathers, teachers, lovers, etc.  Maybe I've gone too far this time.
From this point on, it is far easier to carry a bullhorn than to whisper,
to carry a banner than to wave a flag, and to march than to stay hidden.
I'll never be able to have the slightest hint of respect for police
again, after having to run or be killed by them.  And I'll never be
able to relate to people that tell me that these issues dont affect their
lives.

Enough, I guess.  I'll close with another favorite chant:

People with AIDS are dying.
When are YOU going to join the fight?

==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+
Brian J. Kaufman, Ph.D
Department of Psychology
University of Maine at Farmington
Farmington, Maine   04938
207-795-6584 (h)  207-778-7379 (w)
BITNET: BJKPMA@FARMNTON
==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+

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