Outing Heather Jewell
A year and a half ago, I wrote:
A manageress of captioning at a large broadcasting alliance yelled at me for an hour and twenty minutes in a meeting, during which she had the temerity to ask if it were wise for me to post “professional” pages and also pages that dis redheads, particularly since her company is run by one. I guess she didn’t actually read those pages, which in fact venerate redheads, as long as they’re male, not derived from a bottle, and not jailbait. The issue, I guess, is being a bit too openly gay.
Well, I’m available in only one model.
That manageress was Heather Jewell, and the large broadcasting alliance was Alliance Atlantis.
Why is it time to name her? Because Heather Jewell is running for office in the federal election – as the Conservative candidate in Scarborough Southwest in Toronto. She uses her work in captioning as part of her campaign platform. By seeking a seat in the House of Commons, she becomes as public a figure as is possible in Canada; by including her work in captioning, it becomes grounds for fair comment. It’s in the public interest, given that she hopes to become an MP.
Let’s review her campaign literature (capitals in original):
As head of the Condition of Broadcast Licence Closed-Captioning Department at Alliance Atlantis Communications, Heather has helped to redevelop a closed-captioning service for the hearing impaired that greatly enhances their television viewing pleasure. Heather helped to develop an all-new, concise, Canadian style guide for closed captions. She hired and trained expert linguists to execute the style guide in such a way that enabled the hearing impaired to gain maximum viewing experience. That system is now in place at Alliance Atlantis channels like the LIFE Network, HISTORY Television, Showcase, the FOOD Network, BBC Kids and more.
First of all, I have a B.A. in linguistics; I am a linguist. How many of her staff – mostly women in their 20s, based on my observation of their office – are actual linguists? Second, the Canadian style guide is a travesty, with nearly 100 unaddressed issues that I have declined to publicize.
Further, I later wrote Jewell a multi-page letter. I explained that the massive preponderance of evidence holds that captions need not and should not be edited to a low speed. (For many years, Alliance Atlantis edited all captions, even scrollup captions – to 150 words per minute, if memory serves.) It was shocking that the manager of a captioning department could labour under the misapprehension that captioning viewers could not read faster than 150 words per minute with comfort (“viewing pleasure”). It was even more scandalous that she was unaware of the existing research. Jewell virulently defended her department’s practices, often in a loud voice. She demonstrated a willingness to stick up for what’s wrong.
What does the press say about her?
- “Long memories in Scarborough Southwest”
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Jewell, who bills herself as coming from the more “progressive” side of the party, runs the closed captioning department for Alliance Atlantis television.
- “Area federal election aspirants start running”
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Jewell is head of the Condition of Broadcast Licence Closed-Captioning Department at Alliance Atlantis Communications.
Thus, Jewell presents herself as a specialist in captioning on her own site, and the media – including this site – are talking about it.
Now, what’s my problem?
In my experience, she’s vaguely homophobic. What I wrote in December 2002 was completely accurate: She did yell at me in a meeting (held 2002.06.19 – I should have posted this earlier to mark the anniversary). At no time did we discuss keeping the meeting off the record, let alone agree to do so. I yelled right back, and, at the end, asked her how we could improve things after having had such an acrimonious session. She didn’t see anything unusual in what had happened.
But she absolutely did ask me if it was wise to link my professional sites to a site that “disses” redheads. There was also some mention that it might be unwise since I was looking for support from a company run by a redhead – Michael MacMillan, the Alliance Atlantis chair and CEO, who is actually merely blond as of the last time I saw him.
Now, remember, this is someone who runs a captioning department and she can’t actually read a few simple Web pages. (The site does not “dis” redheads.) But it was and is my impression and belief that, had I run a page on my personal site devoted to female redheads (Cate Blanchett? Julianne Moore? Nicole Kidman?), nothing would have been mentioned.
Remember, to apparent homophobes, it’s only “unprofessional” to be gay. You need special dispensation for that. Being straight is always “professional.” But there’s always something disreputable, tawdry, unmentionable, shameful, or impolitic about being queer – in her apparent estimation.
It would almost be amusing to note that the older captioning houses in the U.S. are staffed notably by Jewish women and gay men. I’ve never met a Jewish woman in captioning in Canada, and only one gay man (over ten years ago, and he hated his job and was getting out of the field). A hypothetical homophobe would not be the right person to run a U.S. captioning office, with or without legal protections in place. What I view as Jewell’s homophobia seems to be OK at her job, though – even in a federally-regulated sector and a province that both have strong human-rights protections on the grounds of sexual orientation. I view it as entirely possible that, should she hold homophobic beliefs as I suspect, she does not allow them to create a poisoned work environment and does not engage in any kind of violation of applicable laws. It would be interesting to interview her gay staff, if any.
Am I making a mountain out of a molehill here? No, because Jewell is running as a Conservative candidate. The Conservative party is homophobic in history (at least on the Alliance and Reform sides), by policy (in its opposition to gay marriage), and according to its members’ many foot-in-mouth statements.
Keep in mind that, if elected, she must represent everyone in her riding, including gay constituents. Would she be able to treat those constituents fairly – particularly given that she would likely be required to support Conservative policy?
There are no public statements by Jewell that indicate, or disprove, any anti-gay bias she may hold. EGALE Canada notes that she failed to respond to the questionnaire sent to political candidates. In Xtra (2004.06.24, p. 11), Paul Gallant states that “Jewell didn’t respond to questions about her position on queer rights – who knows?”
An absence of public statements in support of the constitutional and other rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Canadians (and everyone protected under human-rights law) does not constitute homophobia. What it also doesn’t constitute is gay-positivity. It seem reasonable to say that silence indicates approval of Conservative policy. She’s running for them, after all.
I contacted the Conservatives and Alliance Atlantis via E-mail for answers to these questions:
- Is Heather Jewell on a leave of absence from Alliance Atlantis? (Paid or unpaid?) Or is she still, during the election campaign, discharging her responsibilities as head of that department?
- Does Heather Jewell have permission from Alliance Atlantis to cite her job position (and many trademarked network names) in campaign literature…?
Andrew Skaling of the Conservative Party wrote back with “These are questions that are best asked of the Heather Jewell campaign or Alliance Atlantis,” who refused to respond.
If Heather Jewell or her official agent wish to reply, they may; they have their own Web site, after all, and Web publishing is the root of this issue. Certainly they should keep in mind that Jewell is now a public figure.
The Canadian federal election will be held Monday, June 28. If Jewell wins, she will surely resign her position at Alliance Atlantis. There is a good chance her replacement will be better and will improve things. Then, though, suddenly the House of Commons will be home to someone who can claim expertise in captioning. That might or might not be advantageous, given that Jewell can be counted on to defend everything Canadian captioners do, including the mistakes.
If she loses, she goes back to running a captioning department, and all this becomes a part of her documented history.
I certainly don’t hold any malice toward Heather Jewell. I have merely refused to forget what she said and how she said it.
Happy Pride, Heather!
Update (2004.06.29): Heather Jewell lost to Tom Wappel by about 10,000 votes. (I’d link you to the Elections Canada results, but, despite claiming Level A Web accessibility, the page is unlinkable.)
This could be a case of being careful what one asks for. Wappel is a notorious and intransigent right-wing nutbar who is about as anti-gay as is imaginable in a democratic society. He’s worse for my interests than Jewell was. The distinction, which may prove to be historically insignficant, is that he doesn’t work in captioning and was never homophobic to me.
Updated, March 2007
Gee, look who’s back.