Greensboro PFLAG newsletter, November 2000

              Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
GREENSBORO, N.C.
Vol. 7 No. 11
Nov. 2000
Time to Renew your membership
Now is the time for PFLAG members to renew
their annual membership.   Your dues support the newsletter
as well as the work of PFLAG both locally and nationally.
Individual - $25
Couple - $35
Limited income - $15
Bring your checkbook to the next meeting or mail your
check to Greensboro PFLAG at PO Box 4153, Greensboro
NC 27404.
Be sure to vote Nov. 7
What lies ahead for gay rights? Will Congress ever
pass hate crimes laws or laws protecting gays and lesbians
from employment discrimination? Will gays and lesbians
ever be allowed to serve openly in the military? Will the
state legislature ever repeal North Carolina's "crime against
nature" law? Will same-sex couples get the same rights and
benefits as heterosexual married couples?
This fall's election could pave the way for positive
LGBT legislation or delay progress for years. The
presidency, control of Congress, and the future makeup of
the supreme court are all up for grabs. And the most
significant battles for gay rights will be in the state
legislatures. So it is vitally important to cast your ballot on
November 7. Your vote matters.
Random Thoughts
Television - the great barometer of popular culture
- both reflects and strongly influences the attitudes of the
American public. By this measure, gays and lesbians have
achieved tolerance and even acceptance undreamed of when
I was growing up. Gone are the days when gays and
lesbians were ignored, treated with contempt, or the butt of
nasty jokes.
• Consider "Survivor," the CBS summer series watched
by millions. When a gay man, Richard Hatch, ran around
naked and later won   the   million   dollar  prize,   no  one
Greensboro PFLAG
November meeting
November 21, 2000, 7:30 p.m.
Friendship Friends Meeting House
1103 New Garden Rd.
Welcome to PFLAG.
space    in     which     to
We offer a safe, confidential
explore     our     feelings    and
understandings about the gay experience, especially
"coming out" and what this means to families and
other loved ones. Listen and share as much or as
little as you feel comfortable with, knowing that
others can understand. Welcome especially to our
returning members whose love is so healing.
complained, no one threatened a boycott, no one accused
CBS of corrupting America's moral fiber. People disliked
Hatch, not because he was gay, but because of the devious
methods he used to outlast the other contestants. The fact
that he was gay was regarded as perfectly normal.
• There are at least a dozen positive gay characters on
major network shows. After the controversy over "Ellen."
"Will and Grace" has quietly become a major critical and
ratings success. A new show this fall on the Fox network.
"Normal Ohio," also features a leading character who is gay
- John Goodman plays a gay man with a teen-age son.
• On the other hand, "Dr. Laura," the anti-gay radio talk
show host was given a TV show this fall. She has referred
to gays as "sexual deviants" and implied that all gay men are
pedophiles. But numerous major companies dropped their
plans to advertise on her show in the face of strong
opposition from gay activists. And after two weeks of bad
ratings and poor reviews, the show was put on hiatus for
retooling.
- Tom Clarke
* * *
HATE CRIMES BILL APPEARS DEAD: Despite
the fact that it was supported by majorities in both the U.S.
House and the Senate, federal legislation to expand hate
crimes law to cover sexual orientation appears dead in this
session after Republican leaders deleted the measure from a
defense spending bill. The vote came in a House-Senate
conference committee, presided over by Sen. John Warner
of Virginia - the same state where two weeks earlier one
man was killed and six others wounded during a shooting in
a Roanoke gay bar.
At press time, there is a slim hope that a threatened
Presidential veto of a budget bill - unless it includes the hate
crimes provision - might revive the issue.