Media Trail
© 2008 Philadelphia Gay News

Money rolling in for gay-marriage fight

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that supporters of the effort to ban same-sex marriage already have taken in more than $1.2 million from out-of-state contributors for Proposition 8.

Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs group, has given more than $400,000 to the campaign. The American Family Association, out of Tupelo, Miss., has contributed $500,000. The Knights of Columbus has put $250,000 into the campaign.

In response, Bruce Bastian, a gay Utah resident and co-founder of the WordPerfect software company, recently wrote a $1-million check for the campaign against Proposition 8, which adds to the $1.3 million that gay- and lesbian-rights groups and their supporters from around the country have put into the fight against the initiative.

Another Snickers ad pulled

The Advocate reports that Mars Inc. has pulled its newest television commercial for Snickers candy bars due to concerns from the Human Rights Campaign that it appears homophobic.

The ad depicts a man speed-walking in an effeminate manner and being ridiculed by Mr. T as the former wrestler shoots Snickers bars from a gun, telling him to “be a man.”

In 2007, another offensive Snickers commercial was aired during Super Bowl XLI.

“HRC applauds Mars for taking swift and appropriate action,” HRC workplace director Daryl Herrschaft said. “We are hopeful that Mars will make the necessary changes in their organization to ensure this does not happen yet again.”

Four in 10 gay men don’t tell doctors

The New York Daily News reports four out of 10 gay men in New York City are not out to their doctors about their sexuality — meaning they are far less likely to get tested for HIV.

In addition, black, Hispanic and Asian men are far less likely to tell their doctors that they’re gay as compared to their white counterparts, cited a Health Department survey of 452 gay men.

“It’s a combination of people being less comfortable with the term gay or homosexual, and discrimination they perceive they will experience,” said Dr. Elizabeth Begier, the city’s director of HIV epidemiology.

— Larry Nichols