Blog #3 Lenora Muhm

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (www.glaad.org) is a website devoted to media coverage, as well as news and training guides, associated with the gay and lesbian community. Websites like these are so important because, unlike a difference in skin color or age, homosexuality is not a characteristic you can see by looking at someone. I think this is where a lot of the prejudice and fear comes from (Can you imagine "don't ask, don't tell" for minorities? Or for women?). Organizations like these help the public, who may not to familiar with the gay and lesbian communities, see that they are no different than anyone else. They have even have t-shirts. What's more normal than a t-shirt?! Some people argue that if homosexuals just kept their sexuality to themselves, there would be no problem. But that is precisely where the problem comes from, fear of anything that deviates from "normal". This website is particularly important to those working in mass media because it is gear toward the things we already concern ourselves with. And if we want a change in our society and in our mindset as a whole, mass media is where to start.