Social Work with People Practicing Same-Sex ... - ILGA Europe

Venue of the meeting with the journalist
You have to carefully select the venue for the meeting and take decision with regard
to the presence of others. First and foremost, the venue should be convenient for you.
Think carefully, before inviting the journalist/ or camera crew to your place — this may
lead to unnecessary details getting into the frame. The meeting may be set in an office,
cafe or park. When agreeing on the meeting, you should define how much time do you
have and, depending on that the journalist will plan the interview.
Psychological preparation: several pieces of advice
Useful hints:
• A perfect knowledge of the subject of discussion, political correctness and the
absence of stereotypes are demonstrated only by you.
• The journalist may have a pathological bias against LGBT or certain social
expectations. If you stumble upon a journalist like this and would feel that your
explanations do not change anything and the situation is getting worse, you may
abandon the interview or retract your story/statement after the interview, i.e.
forbid the use of it for publication/broadcasting. This is your legal right and it is
guaranteed by the Ukrainian legislation.
• Do not be afraid to say “No“. You must know that you have the right to answer to
any inappropriate question, including a private one, buy saying: “I AM NOT READY
TO PUBLICLY DISCUSS THIS“. Save your nerves, do not talk with journalists about
intimate things and to not try to befriend them.
• Foreseeing possible answers of your interlocutor and posing next questions in
response to them — this is the demonstration of the journalist's professional level.
Nevertheless, always conclude your argument, do not let the journalist change the
subject of discussion. Construct your story in such a manner that you would be
able to lead the journalist in the direction that you need.
• There is no guarantee that the interview with you will appear to be correct or even
that it will at all be published or broadcast.
• Keep records of your contacts with the journalists. Mark journalists
who provide a tolerant and impartial coverage on the issues of
LGBT as well as those ones with whom you'd better not have any
business again.
The right to confidentiality
Having discussed the goals of the interview and the list of questions, you should
at once agree with the journalist on issues of confidential nature, if you have not
yet come out: changing name, private history, blur face and change voice.
Agree with the journalist on proofreading your story/interview before publication,
your right is guaranteed under the Ukrainian legislation on neighbouring rights and
copyright. In order to avoid accidents with the disclosure of your homosexual status,
it is advisable to conclude an agreement with the journalist which would specify the
entire foregoing requirement to confidentiality and guarantee the proofreading of your
material.
In order to plan the technical preparation to the press conference correctly, you need
to know what you have and what remains to be done. To this end, you could make up
a list and mark with “√” sign all the necessary points and also comment on the terms
and work progress. Try to distribute responsibilities among the team members and enrol
volunteers. Otherwise, you risk spending several weeks on sending faxes and touring
editorial offices.
And finally, let me remark that the response to homophobia, stigma and discrimination,
as well as fostering a tolerant attitude to LGBT are made possible by building public
relations through regular and well-planned work with the mass media.
Picket, IAPM, 2005
Homophobes are the real
pederasts. In contrast to gays,
who have the power to remain
themselves and uphold their
right to their own freedom.
Irena Karpa, author, TV host,
lead singer of Qarpa band 1
1 http://www.jeyart.com.ua/kava/
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