By Karen Ocamb

Ah, to bitch or not to bitch?—that is the question.

Is it nobler to suffer the ignominy of being ignored by an organization that purports to represent you? Or does the perennial slight demand a protest, even if that protest punctures that group's image and effectiveness?

Such was the issue raised by Logo, here! Network, and The Advocate in a series of publicly-swapped letters, a story in The New York Times, and a slew of bloggers about the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's (GLAAD) policy that LGBT content produced by LGBT media is ineligible for awards.

The bad PR hit the fan just before GLAAD's big awards dinner in New York City, which was, by all accounts, exciting.

“On the eve of one of the highest honors awarded by the gay community, the organization that recognizes positive portrayals of gays and lesbians in the mainstream media is facing growing pressure to honor its own,” the Times reported.

“I was flabbergasted,” Stephen F. Macias, the senior vice president, corporate and marketing communications for here! Networks, told the Times. “The organization that is supposed to be clearing the field for us is relegating us to the corners.”

The controversy was even featured on Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show. “I am no fan of targeted gay media,” Colbert said in his tongue-in-cheek fashion. “That's why I was pleased to hear that GLAAD disqualified media outlets aimed primarily at gays and lesbians. That means programming from gay-oriented TV networks like LOGO and MSNBC were not eligible. You see, GLAAD understands that the mainstream media portraying gays now and then is good exposure. But having a whole network of 'gay'—that's a little gay.”

In an e-mail exchange with IN Los Angeles magazine, GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano defended the policy and the organization, which had an operating budget in FY 2006 of $8.3 million.

“Throughout the year, GLAAD focuses on advocating for and creating cultural change by reaching— via the media—the millions of Americans whose attitudes about our right to equality we must work to transform. The important thing to remember with our media advocacy and anti-defamation work is that how our lives are portrayed in the media doesn't make a bit of difference; it makes all the difference. And we work every day to ensure our stories are told in fair, accurate and inclusive ways,” Giuliano wrote.

Last year, Giuliano wrote, “GLAAD trained nearly 3,000 local activists to tell their story in their local/regional media,” as well as providing resources for mainstream media.

GLAAD does not recognize the contributions of the LGBT media, he said, because to “begin evaluating, scrutinizing and judging the LGBT press—which exists for the purpose of telling LGBT stories to the LGBT community—would not represent responsible stewardship of our resources.”

GLAAD's brief acknowledgement of the LGBT media in the late 1990s resulted in “significant tension,” Giuliano wrote because “many of the outlets believed that GLAAD shouldn't be in the business of monitoring, evaluating and judging their work.”

Asked why GLAAD often lags behind Media Matters for America (www.media

matters.org) and bloggers in responding to offensive comments, which Giuliano says is a “critical part” of GLAAD's advocacy work, he points to time and staffing constraints.

GLAAD conducts a “thorough review of the facts” and sometimes works “with producers, editors and reporters with behind the scenes engagement... With blatantly and flagrantly defamatory incidents (Tim Hardaway, Masterfoods USA Snickers and Ann Coulter being recent examples), we typically speak publicly or encourage community action while attempting to address the issue directly and educate those individuals or the media outlet involved. While not the largest with the most resources, [GLAAD] is a strong and vital voice in the broader movement for LGBT equality, with our media advocacy and in standing up to those who defame the LGBT community.”

Giuliano lamented the current controversy stirred up by here!, writing that “no one really wins when we have to deal with such nasty language coming from an LGBT corporation aimed at an LGBT advocacy organization. I am a year and a half into this gig now, almost, and there is more of this kind of thing in the LGBT world than in electoral politics with huge public policy issues of real importance, just my observation anyway—having come to this from having been a mayor for a decade. The rhetoric and negativity should be reserved for our mutual adversaries, which is why we have taken the high ground with this, and said the board always welcomes the views of all stakeholders and appreciates the dialogue, which they do.”

In its story on the controversy, the Times noted that some critics of the GLAAD policy contend that the criteria for award nominees “are outdated at a time when the distinction between mainstream and alternative media has become increasingly blurred.” The here! Networks’ letter to GLAAD, the Times reported, noted, “In the absence of strategic change from GLAAD, the organization's largest event is on the verge of becoming irrelevant.”

No doubt about it: GLAAD throws a whopper of a party. But the recent flap with the gay media also calls into question GLAAD's accountability to the community that supports it, especially when the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association honors its gay media members and is honored in turn by their colleagues in the mainstream media.

And how effective is GLAAD if they fail in their watchdog mission? A March 30 report by Media Matters, for instance, again slammed right-wing talk show host Michael Savage for his offensiveness. During his March 27 show, Savage complained “that Americans currently live in 'post-Christian times' in which 'the churches are emptying out, the bathhouses are filling up, the sex-change operations are speeding up, the lesbian fertility clinics are increasing around the country.'" The 9/11 attacks, he said, were “God speaking” about homosexuality. Media Matters then linked to similar statements by Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev. Fred Phelps.

As IN goes to press, GLAAD has issued no statements on Savage.