Defamation

New York City: Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, 1990. Very good. Audio cassette with around 30 minutes of playing time. Cassette is very good with light dust soiling, tape plays clearly.

This is a promotional for GLAAD narrated by Harvey Fierstein and filled with recordings from radio and television that are exceedingly awful. At the start of the tape, Fierstein explained, "many of these statements may offend and disturb you but it's important that we listen to them together, just as it's important that we do something about them." He also said that "no minority is subjected to media sanctioned defamation than gay men and lesbians," and that the tape's purpose was to learn why "this hateful talk is so dangerous and learn what it is you can do about it."

That's followed by short segments from unidentified voices played over foreboding background music and saying such things as "[homosexuality is the] worst possible sin or socially disruptive act that a person can commit." A radio call in host, in describing the gay community, said, "we call them 'SADS', which means 'sexual AIDS distributors.'" Another "expert" stated that "all over the United States, homosexual males" were torturing small animals by defanging and declawing them for sex acts.

Interspersed is Fierstein's angry narration where he regularly called the speakers "bigots." He also decried the use of "experts" and shock jocks while directly referencing ABC talk radio, Howard Stern and several others. The tape ends with Fierstein's appeal for action and/or funds, followed by another revolting talk segment.

OCLC locates copies at five institutions and reveals the tape was issued with an insert which is not included here.