David Bohnett Speeches

David Bohnett Comments at the 2003 Convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association

Thank you, Roy; not just for those warm words but for your vision, commitment and leadership in bringing the Sexual Orientation in the News program to my alma mater, USC. The Bohnett Foundation is honored to lend our support to this groundbreaking program.

I also thank Geoff Cowan for having the foresight to welcome this innovative project into the curriculum at the Annenberg School. Geoff is a true ally and a good friend.

Thank you as well to Pam Strother and the men and women of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. The success of this convention is a testament to your pivotal place in newsrooms across this country.

My career in media activism began 20 years ago when I started to volunteer with GLAAD: the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. At that time, I was part of what was called the “Monitor and Response” team.

We would monitor news programs, television shows, newspaper articles, and respond with letters and protests to negative and unbalanced portrayals of lesbians and gay men. At that time, it wasn’t hard to pick up a newspaper or magazine and read a story that depicted us, and our “lifestyle,” in a negative and stereotypical manner.

Whether it was to protest the nightly news coverage of raids on gay bars or a movie that portrayed lesbians as deranged murderers, we mobilized and responded. We wrote letters to studio executives, demanded meetings with editors and demonstrated outside local TV stations. And the most exciting part was — after a bit of time, things started to change.

Because of our efforts, and those of countless others, over the past twenty years Americans have undergone a significant evolution in their understanding of lesbian and gay lives. Media coverage of lesbian and gay life has moved beyond simplistic — and often offensive images and phrases — and toward more accurate representations of our diverse community and our presence in every aspect of American society.

As a mirror of our cultural values and institutions, the media have increasingly recognized the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender stories, struggles and lives, and have moved toward telling those stories in the same way that they endeavor to tell all others — with fairness, integrity and respect.

Today, thanks to the work of the SOIN program, USC’s aspiring journalists will begin their careers knowing how to cover honestly and accurately all communities — and not just the LGBT community. With apologies to Fox News, these students will know what “fair and balanced” reporting really means. They will also be called on to teach — to share what they have learned in the SOIN program with their new colleagues and other associates who perhaps weren’t so lucky to attend USC.

Geoff, Roy, Pam. I am inspired by the work that you do everyday to ensure that the images we see: on the big screen and the small; in the morning paper and the weekly magazine; reflect our lives in an honest, informative and revealing light. Thank you very much.