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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, SEPTEMBER 28, 1984
PAGE 13
Yes, watch out for those "gays in positive roles" on television. There'll
be more of them this year, according to an article entitled "Prime time
comes to terms with gay roles in fall series" in the May 30, 1984 USA TODAY:
Gay characters finally may be coming out of the closet in the
coming TV season, and coming out in a way that won't send gay ac
tivists into the streets in protest. Not only will an old woman
izing pal of the Doc on "The Love Boat" admit to his friend that
he's homosexual, but there also will be a "reverting" gay charac
ter in a hit· prime-time soap, continuing gay parts in proposed
network series and a key gay role in a Showtime [cable TV] sit
com.
"In 1984," says John Pike, vice president of programming for Par
amount Video, producing the Showtime series, "gayness is � fact
of life--nothing to be ashamed of•.•. TV has definitely��
long way."
But for gays, says Newton Deiter, consultant to the networks for
the Gay Media Task Force, "it has been a slow progression to this
point•... Basically, what you've seen on TV has been reactive
cha,acterizations, (where) someone reacts to the fact that a per
son is gay or lesbian," says Deiter. "This is the first year you
will see...where we're not a problem, but are (treated as) whole
people."
As mentioned in the introduction, the same rot in varying degrees extends
to the other modern-day descendants of Joseph. Here 1s a report from the
August 3, 1984 issue of THE AUSTRALIAN titled "ABC to Give Gays 'Equal
Rights'":
The homosexual lovers of people working for the Australian Broad
casting Corporation can claim a series of benefits at the tax
payers' expense under an initiative revealed by the ABC••.• Aus
tralia's homosexual community yesterday applauded as historic the
decision of the ABC board to officially recognise de facto homo
sexual relationships and to give them all the entitlements of
their heterosexual counterparts•.••
The ABC said it would recognise de facto homosexual relationships
for the purposes of staff entitlements to cover items such as be
reavement leave, removal costs and accommodation in remote
areas•.•• The head of equal opportunity at the ABC, Ms. Elsa At
kin, said: "It's been a subjective area where we've had no uni
form policy••.. I don't believe the ABC should set itself up as a
moralist. We are an equal opportunity organisation that doesn't
discriminate against people because of irrelevant characteris
tics like their sexual preference."
Back in the United States, it is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold
moral standards against the activists pushing an end to so-called anti-gay
discrimination.
One high class restaurant in Los Angeles, reported the
July 24 LOS ANGELES TIMES in the article "Women Win $250 Each in Restaurant
Bias Case," found out how expensive it was just to try to defend itself
against "gay rights."