In a recent interview, Gay and Lesbian
Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President Neil Giuliano said the
group's greatest achievement was eradication of the 'f' word in the
media. He also discussed plans to reach out to the sports world.
Speaking to Charlotte Robinson at
OUTTAKEonline.com, Giuliano was asked what was his group's greatest
achievement. The fifty-one year old, former mayor of Tempe, Arizona,
answered that it was the eradication of the 'f' word in the media.
“I'm very proud of the cultural
change around the use of the 'f' word and I think that very
concretely can be tied to the strong stance we took with regard to
the use of the word,” Giuliano said.
He said he told critics of his campaign
that the word had to go, because “it's a word that is defaming and
demeaning and is often the last word that kids hear when they are
pushed to the ground and beaten up.”
“Journalist now refer to it as the
'f' word or an anti-gay slur – they no longer repeat it,”
Giuliano said.
Giuliano also discussed plans by the
group to reach out to the sports world. He said he wanted to talk
with coaches and team administrators, athletes, and journalists that
cover sports about gay and lesbians issues.
“We know that there's still an
amazing amount of defamation against the LGBT community in the world
of sports,” he said. “We have to be willing to start to build
and create and find those allies within the sports media world the
same way we had to go and build and create those allies in the
entertainment world.”
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