Badpuppy Gay Today |
Thursday, 10 July 1997 |
Despite the growing visibility of gay men and lesbians in American culture, institutional bigotry is as pervasive as ever, according to a major report released Tuesday by People For the American Way. Hostile Climate, a book that chronicles institutional anti-gay activity state-by-state, finds a distressing increase in the number of incidents reported in 1996. The report also concludes that a significant proportion of anti-gay discrimination results from planned activity by far-right groups claiming to act in the name of religion. "Despite or because of their rising profile in popular culture," said People For the American Way (PFAW) President Carole Shields, "gay Americans are the targets of rampant institutional contempt at work, church, and in the halls of government. While gay people may be increasingly popular in Hollywood, they are increasingly targeted for discrimination throughout America" Hostile Climate documents anti-gay activity from 45 states and the District of Columbia, all from 1996. Gay rights activist David Mixner called the report "a powerful and insightful study on how the battle for tolerance is far from over. A must-read for those who wish to understand how the extreme Right has distorted the political process." In a special foreword to the report, actor Alec Baldwin writes that the challenge "is to make anti-gay prejudice and bigotry as appalling to Americans as racism; to make discrimination against gay men, lesbians and bisexuals just as illegal as discrimination against African Americans and other minorities; and finally, to make diversity something we celebrate as a people, not just tolerate. It's a challenge that must not be borne by the gay community alone. Such injustices are a blight on American democracy, and such persistent prejudice is a stain on our national community." The report focuses on incidents involving institutional prejudice or discrimination, and includes brief case studies for each of its 228 documented incidents. (Last year's report featured 180 incidents.) It demonstrates that while this year's pivotal TV episode of "Ellen" marked an important milestone in societal acceptance of gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, an enormous amount of progress remains. Indeed, such advances in 1996 were commonly followed quickly by setbacks. For example, while Hawaii moved forward on the question of same-sex marriage, more than a dozen states moved to pass anti-gay legislation aimed at forestalling equal marriage rights. Additional discrimination followed when other such issues were discussed at schools, churches and at work. "It's a two-steps-forward, one-step-back syndrome," said Matthew Freeman, senior vice president of People For the American Way. "Last year saw the Employment Non-Discrimination Act come within a single vote of passage in the U.S. Senate. But it also saw an outpouring of anti-gay hostility around the marriage issue. And while the Supreme Court handed down a critical victory in the battle against legalized discrimination, the fact remains that the laws of the vast majority of states still countenance such bigotry when it comes to such basic matters as holding a job or renting an apartment." A vast majority of employers have no policy against anti-gay harassment, and it remains legal in 41 states for an employer to fire or otherwise punish employees based on their sexual orientation. In analyzing anti-gay activity, Hostile Climate found a pattern of bigotry fostered directly by national conservative groups claiming to act in the name of religion. The groups are often the architects of "local" controversies over gay issues or provide enormous support to those battles once they are under way, the report found. "On a daily basis," says Shields, "Religious Right leaders go on television and radio and hammer gay men and lesbians. They accuse them of 'recruiting' children to homosexuality in the public schools, and they charge them with trying to undermine the American family. And they say these outrageous things in the name of God Almighty. It's offensive to my own Baptist upbringing, and offensive to millions of other Americans who think it's wrong to use faith as a tool to divide our society" In addition to legal and legislative battles, the report looks at incidents in schools, in the workplace, in the arts and media, in houses of worship, in the health care industry and in public discourse. Incidents include: In Florida, a judge awarded custody of an 11-year-old girl to her father, the convicted murderer of his first wife, rather than grant custody to the child's mother, a lesbian. The judge stated that the child should have"the opportunity and the option to live in a non-lesbian world" In Ceres, California, a school principal reacted to an incident of gay-bashing by suspending the victim (along with the attacker), and blaming the victim for bringing the attack on himself by being openly gay. Said the principal, "Wearing a T-shirt that advertises your sexual preference -- to me that is no different than a gang member who wears a shirt that says 'I'm a Norteno or Sureno'...It's inflammatory, and I wouldn't allow it" In Davenport, Iowa, an administrator at a taxpayer-funded nursing home fired employees he claimed lacked "good moral character," including gay men and lesbians -- who, he said, were "not part of the Bible" and "not part of society." In an interview, he commented, "When I first came here, there [were] probably at least three, excuse my French, faggots working here, and I had at least three dykes working here... This isn't the kind of atmosphere that I want to project when a client or a family member comes to my nurses' station and sees a 45-year-old faggot that has got better skin than you and I, and is a man but presents itself more like a woman" The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, after learning that the openly gay editor of the paper's children's section had contributed cartoons to a gay newspaper, reassigned the editor to another post. Religious Right groups attacked broadcasters around the nation for airing television programs, including ABC's Ellen and NBC's hit series Friends, that featured positive portrayals of gay characters. In Des Moines, Iowa, eight Religious Right political organizations joined together to announce support for a "National Campaign to Protect Marriage." Republican presidential candidates Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes and Phil Gramm attended a rally sponsored by the Christian Coalition and other groups, and signed the "Marriage Protection Resolution." The resolution read, "Whereas marriage is an essential element in the foundation of a healthy society, and whereas government has a duty to protect the foundation, resolved, the state should not legitimize homosexual relationships by legalizing same-sex 'marriage' but should continue to reserve the special sanction of civil marriage for one man and one woman, husband and wife" The report concludes that as disturbing as its 228 incidents are, "reason for hope persists. That is because every anti-gay incident also provides a moment of learning. Just as the television images of Bull Connors' dogs and fire hoses let loose on civil rights protesters helped turn the tide during the 1960s, so, too, does the public often react with compassion to instances of anti-gay bigotry. And with each passing day, with each victory, indeed, with each defeat, Americans move closer to confronting the prejudice that our society has come to take for granted -- a prejudice that tells some members of our community that they are unwelcome." Ordering Information: Hostile Climate is available for purchase from People For the American Way. To order, send $12.95 (checks only) to: Hostile Climate Book Sales; People For the American Way; 2000 M St., NW, Suite 400; Washington, DC 20036. *Resources: Orders for Hostile Climate can also be made through the People for the American Way website at http://pfaw.org/hc.htm |
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