AOL (and therefore GLBT) Money Goes to Anti-Gay Cause
Are They Trying to Tell Us Something?|
SIDE NOTE: The product of Westminster Academy's religious education, Jean Case is the former Jean Villenueva who at one time was AOL's VP of corporate communications. At that time Steve Case was married to somebody else. As noted in one feature article: "...The move comes too late, however, to save his 11-year marriage to his college girlfriend. The couple has three children. Case notified his directors in early March that he now has a 'personal relationship' with his vice-president of corporate communications, Jean Villenueva."
I almost forgot. Jean was married to somebody else at the time as well.
|
Jean Case, wife of Steve Case (AOL founder and CEO and now power-player in the soon to be formalized AOL/Time-Warner corporation), just gave $8.35 million to Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Do we care?
The answer is a resounding yes.
The crux of the matter is that Westminster Academy, Jean Case's alma mater, is also an arm of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, one of the most virulent anti-gay entities in the nation.
Ironically, Westminster Academy preaches that it "...help[s] each student identify and accept his unique course in life." But apparently that is only if the student is not gay or lesbian, because, in addition to Westminster Academy, Coral Ridge Ministries also runs Worthy Creations, which includes "ex-gay" programs.
Worthy Creations (which web site currently is mysteriously void of content) believes:
... homosexuality is not God’s original intent for mankind, Worthy Creations exists to provide a way out of the gay lifestyle for those who desire to change. Our three-fold mission is to:
- To help men and women seeking to overcome homosexuality
- To help families and loved ones of people involved in homosexuality
- To help the church deal with homosexuality in a compassionate and biblical way
In 1999, another Coral Ridge arm, the Coral Ridge Center for Reclaiming America, was a major player in producing the "Truth in Love" national ad campaign which included the unsupportable assertions regarding the success of "ex-gay" programs.
Its online literature provides "medical facts" about "homosexuals" (which apparently only includes gay men!) and its very own copy of the Gay Agenda.
Although the $8.35 million has been identified as Jean Case claims the money is "personal money" meaning that it does not come from the Stephen Case Foundation or the AOL Foundation.
But the fact is that Jean Case would not have $8.35 million to donate but for Steve Case and the wealth he made from America Online.
One might say, "But they can spend their money however they want!" and in many circumstances be making a valid argument.
However, the vast majority of AOL's success, and therefore Steve Case's wealth, came from its early success with the online gay and lesbian population, which at times accounted for up to 30% of its revenue.
However, even thought AOL has, over the years, seemed to be supportive of gay and lesbian people and causes (providing financial support to GLBT organizations and being a founding partner of Planet Out) their GLBT history is not as clean as one might think.
GLAAD has issued a call to arms, but as with the Paramount/Dr. Laura situation is seemingly afraid to offend anybody, calling Steve Case "an integral part of encouraging the LGBT community's online presence." That statement cannot and should not be accepted at face value, especially in light of AOL's suspect history with GLBT people and issues.
GLAAD does risk noting that Jean Case's statement on the gift fails in its attempt to distance the school from Coral Ridge Ministries, citing the examples that all full-time teachers at Westminster are also members of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and that church members are given priority admission status to the school.
Furthermore, it should be remembered that even if the funds came from sales of Jean's own pool of AOL stock options, the value of those options was also built on the back of AOL's gay and lesbian communities.
This type of gift adds to concerns over the looming AOL Time-Warner merger.
We need to let Mr. and Mrs. Case know what we think of Jean Case's gift.
We need to let AOL's Board of Directors know what we think of Jean Case's gift.
We need to let Time-Warner know what we think of Jean Case's gift.
Perhaps most importantly we need to let the FCC know what we think about the proposed AOL Time-Warner merger in light of this most recent event, else it may be "Next Up: Jean Case's private Time-Warner money goes to fund Rev. Phelps Westboro Church."
In Pride,
Deborah
| For More Information |
• The AOL Time-Warner Merger: Do We Care?
• Worthy Creations
• Truth in Love Campaign
• Steve Case's Marriage (and Other) Moves
• Jean's Pre-New-Marriage "Pressing Concerns"
• Reverend Phelps
• AOL Time-Warner Merger Updates
| Take Action: |
Contact Jean Case:
c/o the Stephen Case Foundation
1650 Tyson Boulevard, Suite 610
McLean, Virginia 22102
or by fax
703-748-5152.
Contact Steve Case:
via email: stevecase@aol.com
Contact Gerald Levin, CEO Time-Warner:
Time Warner Inc.
Time Warner Building
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212.484.8000
FCC Contact Information
Contribute to G/L Issues
to help with our expenses
