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Omar Sharif Jr. talks LGBT acceptance in Egypt after anti-LGBT raid
GLAAD's Director of Foundation Relations, Omar Sharif, Jr., was the featured guest on MSNBC's new online format, Shift, for the segment on the Egyptian acquittal of 26 men accused of “debauchery” amid national rallying for a freer, more equal Egyptian community. Sharif, Jr. began by explaining how he came out in Egypt before emphasizing the danger journalist Mona Iraqi caused after she corroborated with police and filmed men before they were raided by police. "She fabricated a story. This is dangerous, irresponsible, malicious, factitious reporting, and as a journalist with integrity (pointing to host Seema Iyer), this is a crime against the journalistic community," Sharif, Jr. said. Sharif, Jr. called the incident a "fabricated case" and "rushed trial" but was more circumspect about whether this meant a change in anti-LGBT sentiment in Egypt. Sharif, Jr.'s appearance educated audiences about what it's like to identify as LGBT in Egypt and emphasized the need for accurate media coverage to portray the LGBT community fairly. Watch the interview here.
Chile prepares for reality show about LGBT couples
GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media, Monica Trasandes, met with Chilean LGBT advocates Juan Pablo Fuentealba and Julio Cezar Dantas, who will be the stars of an upcoming reality show, “Happy Together” in Chile. The reality show will focus on LGBT couples in Chile, and Trasandes specifically met with them to discuss how to answer the media's questions about being an LGBT couple in Chile. Trasandes had worked with the couple before for several months as they prepared to film the reel for the reality show, which starts taping this week. Juan Pablo and Julio have both led and are now part of the foundation for the group Todo Mejora Chile, or It Gets Better in Chile, which aims to stop LGBT suicide and anti-LGBT bullying. In the show, their goal is to help audiences understand LGBT life in Chile beyond the marriage debates of the past few years. They’re considering having kids, which will be one of the show’s themes. Trasandes' meeting with them helps them articulate to the media what it's like to be an LGBT couple to further debunk stereotypes. Watch the trailer for the program here.
GLAAD speaks about harms of speculating on gender identity
GLAAD CEO & President, Sarah Kate Ellis, responded to recent media coverage speculating about former Olympic athlete and reality TV star Bruce Jenner's gender identity. "This nonsense has to end," Ellis said. "Speculating about a person’s gender identity only inflames the invasive and gross scrutiny that transgender people face every day at school, at work, or even when just walking down the street. It’s long past time that media outlets stop gossiping about Bruce Jenner’s gender." Ellis' statement, which was picked up by numerous outlets including The Washington Post and USA Today, emphasizes the importance of fair and accurate reporting about transgender people. Read more here.
Hello Mr. magazine editor says print journalism still matters
GLAAD's Video & News Strategist, Claire Pires, interviewed Ryan Fitzgibbon, the founder and creative director of Hello Mr. magazine, a print publication that is issued semi-annually and contains personal essays, poems, and fictional pieces for the LGBT community. Fitzgibbon says that despite the ubiquitous new websites and apps, print publications still matter. "It's easy to get lost in the space like the Internet because it's so saturated and so loud, but there's something really quiet and nice and matter of fact about the way Hello Mr. covers come together and live on a newsstand," Fitzgibbon said. He shared that as he was growing up, he always tried to find print publications with articles of people he could identify with, which is a main reason he started the publication. The interview emphasizes the need for LGBT people to document their personal stories in print to keep a history for a fair and accurate portrayal of their lives. Watch the interview here.
Marriage equality topic gains viewers in Spanish-speaking communities
GLAAD's Director of Spanish-Language Media, Monica Trasandes, worked with the Spanish-Language cable news network, NTN24, which reaches 40 million viewers in North and South America, and San Francisco's radio station KIQI 1010 to find and book guests that could discuss the legal questions related to marriage equality and the Supreme Court. Finding LGBT Spanish-speaking people to discuss marriage equality educates audiences and personalizes the efforts for equality, which further humanizes the movement.
Openly gay Cuban editor of People en Espanol magazine talks about experience
GLAAD's Video & News Strategist, Claire Pires, interviewed Armando Correa, openly gay Cuban editor of People en Espanol magazine, the Spanish-Language magazine with the largest readership in the United States. Correa spoke on camera for the first time about raising children with his partner of twenty-nine years and what it's like to be openly gay and in a high-profile position in the Latino community. "It's very emotional every time someone says 'You're inspiring me. You are in a position that I never think, because I am gay, I am going to get," Correa said. Correa answered questions in English and Spanish, and the Spanish version was published on The Huffington Post Voces. The interview humanizes the experience of an LGBT person in the Latino community and allows both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking audiences to be culturally educated. Watch the English-version and Spanish-version.
Floridians hear from kids of LGBT parents
GLAAD's Spanish-Language Media team, Monica Trasandes and Janet Quezada, worked with Telemundo's Florida affiliate, Telemundo 51, to find and book lesbian and gay families on a segment to air in the following weeks about what it is like to be raised by LGBT parents. Since marriage equality began in Florida at the beginning of the year, the department has fielded multiple requests as shows seek to provide their audiences with people impacted by these decisions. The department's efforts to book kids of LGBT parents helps Florida's Latino population, which makes up 23% of the state, understand what it's like to be a Latino kid of LGBT parents and allows the media to portray families accurately.
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