Jeff Yarbrough, editor of the Advocate, the most influential publication for gay and lesbian issues, recently told the Los Angeles Times that the Advocate is on the brink of "a sort of major [public relations] disaster." Gonzalo Herrera has filed a male-on-male sexual harassment suit, claiming that while working for the magazine in 1989 and 1990 he was subjected to lewd physical contact by his superior. The magazine's legal response was to file court papers arguing that California laws do not cover same-sex harassment, a curious position for a publication that is supposed to champion homosexual rights. The magazine is also bracing itself for a job discrimination case from a former managing editor, Bryn Austin, who resigned along with two other female employees.

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