The Institute for the Humanities at UIC organized a series of talks under the banner Pop Out World: Popular Culture & LGBT Media Studies. Their purpose was to examine and contrast how the mainstream media deal with issues relating to homosexuality.
On March 12, three speakers from very different backgrounds addressed the audience. The first two, Amit Kama from the Open University of Israel, and John Nguyet Erni from the City University of Hong Kong, appeared via real-time video conference and discussed their respective country's gay community and culture. Canadian Vincent Doyle then did a live presentation based on his internship at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) during the infamous Dr. Laura controversy.
Kama, the author of The Newspaper and Closet: Israeli Gay Men's Communication Patterns (in Hebrew), stressed how Israeli society is extremely close-knit. 'In a big city like Tel Aviv,' he said, 'you are bound to come across somebody who knows somebody who knows you or your parents.' He spoke of tight family relationships where keeping in touch is crucial, especially in view of the volatility of the current political climate. In such an environment anonymity is virtually impossible. Coming out to friends only is not a true option either as interpersonal networks quickly turn new information into general knowledge.
Fundamentalism still has a strong hold on Israeli politics since, as Kama pointed out, there is no real separation of church (or synagogue) and state. Although there have been some legal advances over the last decade, religious ideology has been largely responsible for discouraging changes in personal attitudes. Furthermore, portrayals of openly gay individuals remain rare in mainstream entertainment, and coverage of gay-related issues is practically absent from news reporting.
The case of Dana International, the transgender diva who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998, constitutes a surprising exception. While it was generally anticipated that her sexuality would earn her the scorn of the political class, she has been officially accepted as a success story for all Jews to be proud of and celebrate. Kama offered the following explanation: 'Dana always talks about God, gives him credit for her good fortune, so even orthodox members of government were receptive.'
As unexpected as such approval may seem, it could be argued that it is preferable to avoidance or denial. Many countries in Asia continue to ignore their gay citizens. John Nguyet Erni has now gone back to Hong Kong after spending 10 years in the United States, where he worked at the University of New Hampshire. He is the author of Unstable Frontiers: Technomedicine and the Cultural Politics of 'Curing' AIDS, and his presentation focused on the concepts of institutional acceptance and popular visibility.
In Hong Kong, as in China, homosexuality has not been encoded into law, which means gay people are granted neither benefits nor protections. 'There is a rhetoric of liberal openness,' Erni said, 'but queer is still seen as westernized, depravation, pathology.' He fears in this new era of Asian decolonization, which some historians are calling the second epoch, minority politics are losing out. Citing the examples of SARS and the avian flu, he demonstrated how authoritarian regimes can manipulate the flow of information in a way that endangers their own people. 'The rise of minority rights will bring more state repression,' he predicted.
The Asian entertainment industry does not seem any more ready to act as the vanguard of the gay movement. For instance, AIDS still is not referred to explicitly in films. Astute gay viewers have become skilled in the art of decoding. But increasingly, this ability is one that characterizes general audiences as well. As a result of technological developments Asian consumers are gradually being exposed to the images and trends of Western culture. Speaking of Hong Kong and Taiwan in particular, Erni said, 'People are used to distilling larger cultural influences because they have been doing it for years in relation to Japan.'
Erni is hopeful that the ongoing social changes in Asia will bring about a shift toward more overt and positive representations of homosexuality. According to him, in order to remain relevant new productions will have to stop relying on the device of ambiguity and start catering to the new generation of informed and bilingual gays.
Back in the U.S., the late '90s produced their fair share of controversy around gay issues. It is the fierce debate over Dr. Laura Schlessinger's radio and television talk-shows that Vincent Doyle explored. More specifically, he recounted how GLAAD and a group called StopDrLaura.com mounted their opposition to the vitriolic anti-gay show host.
In 1999, after the success of her radio show, Dr. Laura signed a contract with Paramount for a TV talk show. Outraged gay activists quickly mobilized to try to prevent the program from getting on the air.
While many in the gay press have described the interaction between GLAAD and SDL.com as an opposition of insiders and outsiders, Doyle views it 'not a dichotomy but as a contest for cultural authority among professionalized activists.' He believes there was a dynamic process at play, which proved instrumental in tuning off Schlessinger.
Founded in the '80s in reaction to the negative media coverage of the AIDS epidemic, GLAAD began as a grassroots organization. But by the time Dr. Laura came on the scene, it had a paid staff of roughly 40 and it was used to working from within the system. Their incremental approach fostered compromise and negotiation. It included PR campaigns, meetings with Dr. Laura, and with Paramount. This strategy was openly criticized by many in the gay press for being elitist and not involving the LGBT community.
SDL.com was driven by the single cause of getting Dr. Laura's show cancelled. They set up a Web site calling on people to take a stand and got over a million hits in the first three days. The site posted phone numbers and personal e-mail addresses of Paramount executives. It listed the names of companies that were advertising on Dr. Laura's radio show and encouraged people to boycott their products. Their approach was more confrontational, less concerned with preserving their own position within the industry.
Through its hugely popular site SDL.com built an elaborate network of activists and organized public protests in 37 cities. Members of GLAAD's senior staff eventually spoke at some of them. This was the first sign of cooperation between the two groups. GLAAD subsequently launched its own expensive advertising campaign to alert potential sponsors of Dr. Laura's television show that they would be associating themselves with a rather unsavory and alienating character. The net result of these and other joint initiatives by GLAAD and SDL.com was that 170 companies removed their ads from the program. Poor reviews and ratings well below expectations further weakened the show's viability. Paramount finally dropped it after the first year.
Doyle illustrated how shared interests can temporarily gel movements together to hasten the implementation of meaningful change. But in closing, he also pointed to a number of individuals who now hold cushy jobs in the entertainment business as a result of their role in the anti-Dr. Laura crusade. 'A lot of media activism is self-serving,' he concluded.
