Friday December 30, 2005 SGN.org |
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Volume 33 Issue 52 |
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Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009
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Letters |
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| McDERMOTT OPPOSES SCOUTS
DISCRIMINATION
Dear SGN, There has recently been rumor in the GLBT community that Congress Jim McDermott is not supportive of the work of Scouting for All. When I heard this rumor I went directly to the source: I called Mr. McDermott's Seattle office and obtained a copy of the letter posted below. I trust this letter will put that false rumor to rest. Bill Dubay Seattle, WA [Ed. Note: The following is a letter McDermott recently sent to Scouting for All, a nonprofit organization that seeks to end discrimination in the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA bars gays and atheists, both youth and adults, from membership.] Scott Cozza, President Scouting for All National Headquarters PO Box 2832 Petaluma, California 94953 Dear Mr. Cozza: While I was not able to attend your recent press conference in Washington, DC, I would like to express my support for the work that is being done through Scouting for All. The Boy Scouts of America's policy of discrimination against gay males and atheists is unjust and unjustifiable. The Boy Scouts of America claims that its mission is to train young people in the qualities of citizenship, service, and leadership, yet these policies set a tone of exclusion and of intolerance. That is contradictory to the American ideal of equality. When the President of the Unites States serves as an honorary leader of an organization that discriminates, it sends a message to the nation that exclusion on the basis of sexual orientation or religious conviction is acceptable. It is my hope that President Bush will denounce these unfair policies immediately. Please accept my best wishes and support for the Scouting for All campaign to reverse this policy. Sincerely, Jim McDermott Member of Congress BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN NOT THE FIRST Dear SGN, In the late 50's there was a TV western whose main charcter was a single man who always wore black and lived by himself in a hotel in San Francisco. I think Paladin in "Have Gun Will Travel" was the first gay cowboy. R.B. FRANK CRITICIZES ARMY'S INACTION IN ASSAULT CASE [Ed. Note: Congressman Barney Frank this week wrote to U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker expressing his deep disappointment over the Army's failure to charge, or seek any disciplinary action against, the assailant in the assault on Private Kyle Lawson. The text of Frank's letter follows.] December 27, 2005 General Peter Schoomaker Chief of Staff United States Army 200 Army Pentagon Washington, DC 20300-0200 Dear General Schoomaker, I am deeply disappointed by the failure of the Army which you head to protect a young man who has been repaid for volunteering to serve his country by being assaulted, and seeing his assailant go unpunished. I am referring to the attack on Private Kyle Lawson at Fort Huachuca. According to unchallenged reports, the local police believed the attack to be a criminal assault, with no justification such as self-defense. Despite this, apparently at the request of the Army over which you preside, no charges were filed against the assailant and the consequence is that Private Lawson was doubly victimized, once by the assailant, and then by having to leave the Army in the absence of any action by those under your command to protect him. As I respond to requests from your service for help in increasing recruits, I am struck by the cruel irony of your allowing a young man who appears to be guilty of nothing to be first assaulted and then driven out. These actions or inactions are unworthy of the great tradition of our military. Barney Frank SOME COMMERCIALS STILL HARMFUL Dear SGN, You, your loved ones, and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community must live through homophobia and transphobia every day, legally, medically, professionally and personally - and corporate advertising still encourages it. Can you believe the advertising industry still creates more than 25 commercials a year that hurt the image of GLBT people? And the right wing is aggressively attacking GLBT-friendly advertisers. Ford Motor Co. - a four-year friend of the GLBT community - is struggling with boycott pressure by the anti-gay American Family Association to withdraw up to $1 million in annual sponsorship of GLBT organizations and gay-friendly advertising for its brands Jaguar and Land Rover. The AFA does not want a more comfortable world for GLBT people! They are a powerful anti-gay group with 1.5 million members and a budget of $13 million per year to oppose gay-friendly ads. They are also targeting Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Avis, Orbitz, Motorola, Allstate, Walgreen Co., Wells Fargo, and other gay-friendly advertisers who support our community. Commercial Closet Association is the only GLBT community organization with direct access to the creative professionals who give birth to the positive and negative advertising messages. We have recently been invited to give advertising sensitivity trainings at Toyota, American Express, Yahoo, Google, Hallmark Cards, Johnson & Johnson, Glaxo SmithKline, Young & Rubicam Advertising, the Association of National Advertisers, Advertising Week and elsewhere. Advertising that perpetuates homophobia and transphobia can foster violence and discrimination against you and me, and they have to stop. Won't you join Commercial Closet Association this season and help us continue our important work? Your gift to Commercial Closet Association would foster improved corporate ad images of GLBT people and help counter right wing efforts to bring down gay-friendly ads. Commercial Closet Association is educating advertisers who spend $1.1 trillion worldwide annually ($145 billion in the U.S.) with advertising sensitivity trainings and panels, Best Practices guidelines, media outreach, and maintain the world's only archive of over 3,000 GLBT ads with editorial ratings and visitor feedback. We're working directly with advertisers! And we've got some exciting projects underway for early 2006, including a major redesign of our website that will mean new features for everyone, including dedicated areas for ad professionals and students/professors. Thanks in advance for your support, happy holidays, and here's to a great 2006! Michael Wilke, Founder and Executive Director Commercial Closet Association |
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