Barabara Walters accepts her award from GLAAD

Barbara Walters won an award from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation March 17 at the New York edition of the media-watchdog group’s annual ceremonies. Walters was honored for her 20/20 story “My Secret Self: A Story of Transgender Children.” She said the award meant more to her than “all the Emmys” she has received.

Other winners included Matthew Shepard’s mother, Judy; the TV shows Boston Legal, 60 Minutes and Anderson Cooper 360; the soap opera As the World Turns; The New York Times; GQ; AfterElton.com; and singer Rufus Wainwright.

“I’m just a mom who does what a mom does when something really means a lot to them,” Shepard said. “They try to engage their friends and their community and everyone in the same fight.  That’s what I did. I appreciate this award so much [but] I’m no different than anyone else here tonight, or out there in the world, trying to make a difference.”

This was the first time in several years that GLAAD considered gay media to be eligible for its awards, following a controversy that flared up last year over exclusion of all gay media outlets. GLAAD also holds annual award ceremonies in Los Angeles, San Francisco and southeastern Florida.

HRC Addresses Web Glitch That Displays Users’ Contact Info
The Human Rights Campaign on March 19 addressed a problem with its Web site that reveals the full contact information of people who forward HRC’s e-mailed action alerts to friends, send them to mailing lists, or paste them into blogs or Web sites. The problem occurs only when the original e-mail recipient does not go to HRC’s Web site and act on an alert before sharing the e-mailed alert with others. In that scenario, when others click over to HRC’s site from the shared alert, they see the original recipient’s full contact information.

In addition, in that scenario, when another person takes action at HRC’s site after clicking from the shared e-mail, HRC’s database seems to pair the original recipient’s e-mail address with the second person’s name and additional contact information. Thereafter, the original recipient receives HRC e-mails addressed to the second person by name. The misidentification apparently can happen more than once to the same person. The name associated with this reporter’s e-mail address has changed from Rex to Robert to, currently, Boris.

In the past week, other recipients of HRC’s e-mail alerts - and recipients of alerts from other organizations using similar software - reported the same experience.

In response to the situation, HRC will add a disclaimer to its e-mail alerts. “When they [people] help spread the word by clicking the ‘Tell a Friend’ option, an individual’s contact information is protected by the system,” said spokesman Trevor Thomas. “[But] because there are those who forward our emails without using the ‘Tell a Friend’ option, HRC will be including the following disclaimer on all future actions: ‘This link is specific to you, so please take action on this campaign before you forward to your friends.’”

Taking heed of HRC’s disclaimer before forwarding or posting an e-mailed alert will protect one’s contact information, though not one’s name, from being seen by people the alert was shared with.

Mcgreevey Manage a Trois: Did They Or Didn’t They?
A former driver for gay former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey said March 16 that he, the governor and the governor’s wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, engaged in three-way sex multiple times from 1999 to 2001. “We called it the Friday Night Special ... a hard-core consensual sex orgy,” Teddy Pedersen, 29, told the New York Post. “He liked watching me, and she would watch me while she was [performing sex acts] with Jim. In my opinion, me being a part of their sexual relationship enhanced it for both of them.”

Ex-Gov. McGreevey issued a statement saying Pedersen is telling the truth. Mrs. McGreevey issued a statement saying both men are lying. The McGreeveys are engaged in an acrimonious divorce battle.

“This happened, this happened in the past, and now we need to move on with our lives,” ex-Gov. McGreevey said March 17. “For all of our sakes, particularly our daughter, we need to close this chapter and look toward the future. This was referenced in an earlier draft of my book, and I had it removed. I still hope Dina and I can resolve our issues privately.”

Mrs. McGreevey countered: “Theodore Pedersen’s claims ... are completely false and were prompted by Jim McGreevey. This all has to do with the publicity I have received since Gov. [Eliot] Spitzer resigned. Jim has enlisted one of his cronies in trying to distinguish that situation from his own, and to discredit me in the media. He cannot stand it when I am receiving attention in the media rather than him.”

Gov. McGreevey came out on Aug. 12, 2004, in his now-infamous “I am a gay American” speech. He then resigned the governorship on Nov. 15, 2004. Mrs. McGreevey has said she didn’t know her husband was gay prior to August 2004.

Michael Stipe Comes Out
R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe officially came out March 18 in an interview with Spin magazine. “It was super complicated for me in the ‘80s,” Stipe said. “I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious. ... I’d just never felt strongly enough about a particular relationship to say, ‘Yeah, he’s my boyfriend, that is what it is.’

“Now I recognize that for public figures, to be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere,” he said.

-Assistance: Bill Kelley