GLAAD released its groundbreaking report Access Denied: The Impact of Internet Filtering Software on the Lesbian & Gay Community at the Summit to demonstrate its concerns about the use of filtering software and the consequences for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied users of the Internet. This report marks the first time a lesbian and gay national organization has produced research and analysis of such depth on the issue of Internet access.

While GLAAD appreciates the importance of beginning a dialogue around child safety on the Internet and recognizes and shares parents' concerns, it is troubled by the overemphasis on the "technology toolbox" set forth by the Summit. As outlined in Access Denied, current technology is still imperfect and poses a threat to many educational, informational and support resources on the Internet.

"GLAAD challenges the industry to develop technology that will filter inappropriate materials on the Internet while leaving intact many resources that have accidentally been blocked through under-developed technology," said Loren Javier, GLAAD's Interactive Media Director. "GLAAD plans to continue offering itself as a resource to the various Internet filtering software manufacturers, and is encouraged to see that many in the industry are receptive."

GLAAD also plans, in the spirit of public education outlined at the Summit, to form a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parent, family, youth and education organizations to develop a list of "family-friendly" lesbian and gay Web sites that it will make available through GLAAD Online (www.glaad.org).

"We commend GLAAD for their careful analysis of commercial filtering software, for surfacing serious issues, and for their constructive recommendations," said Daniel Weitzner, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Environment/ Technology (CDT), a leading Internet civil liberties group in Washington, DC (http://www.cdt.org/). "In order to help assure that the goals of diversity and informed user choice among filters are met, CDT has announced the creation of the Filtering and Free Speech Forum and is pleased that GLAAD will participate in this important dialogue between civil libertarians, press and publishing organizations, Internet service providers, filtering companies, and child advocacy groups."

"Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender parents want a world without inappropriate images or speech for our children. However, we are concerned that the current versions of filtering software display a world without contrast, diversity or our families. The Internet Online Summit is a start, but future meetings must focus on solutions where all divergent views are included and the community is an active participant in the process," said Jim Fagelson, a Summit participant and a director of the Gay & Lesbian Parents Coalition International (GLPCI) which represents the 25 million lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents, their partners and children in the United States.

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online.