Film Stars Decry Sex Harassing : Issues: ‘I always accepted sexual harassment as a part of life,’ actress Christine Lahti told a symposium.

Christine Lahti said that when she turned down the sexual advances of a director considering her for a role early in her career, he told her, “You’re a fool--you’re not gorgeous, you’re not special, you have no connections.”

At the beginning of his career, actor Gregory Harrison remembered, he was propositioned by a female casting director, and since turning her down 15 years ago, has never been offered a role at the network where she still works.

Sexual harassment is a longstanding fact of life in the entertainment industry, according to Lahti, Harrison, “Rambling Rose” director Martha Coolidge and others who related their experiences of harassment during a symposium at the Directors Guild Monday night.

“I always accepted sexual harassment as a part of life,” Lahti said. She is no longer blatantly harassed, but said she sees the problem as part of the industry’s portrayal of women as “two-dimensional objects.”

She said she has turned down a number of movies because they continued the sexual stereotype of women. “I feel it’s important to make movies that don’t exploit women,” she said to applause from the audience.

“I was harassed in the past, when I was younger, prettier and more naive,” Harrison said. “Men being harassed by women or men doesn’t get discussed. It’s different for a man because it’s not macho to admit you’ve been harassed, and it’s often considered demeaning.”

About 250 industry members, many of whom appeared to relate to the panelists’ experiences, attended the symposium, “Sexual Harassment in the Entertainment Industry: What It Is and What to Do About It,” sponsored by the women’s committees of the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America.

“There’s a fine line between when it’s harassment and when it’s acceptable,” said SAG member Lisa Pelikan, who coordinated the event hoping to reach those just starting out in the business.

Pelikan said she talked to a number of prominent people who had been harassed, but who were unwilling to come forward publicly to talk about it. “People are still wary of reporting problems,” she said. “They don’t want to rock the boat.”

Participants included a representative of SAG and the California Department for Fair Employment and Housing, psychotherapist Linnda Durre, producer Carol Polakoff and Sheila James Kuehl, a former “Dobie Gillis” star and a managing director of the California Women’s Law Center.

Since the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings, sexual harassment complaints have exploded, especially within the entertainment industry. In March, The Times reported a former employee at Silver Pictures had filed a complaint with the state claiming the company’s president sexually harassed him. The investigation is reportedly still in progress.

“Harassment in the entertainment industry is a redundancy,” said Durre, who began her career as a writer, and said she was harassed by a prominent television producer.

More than 16% of all complaints filed with the department of Fair Employment and Housing in Los Angeles are sexual harassment cases, double that of 10 years ago, said district administrator Annabella Hwa. Hwa said harassment within the entertainment business seems higher than in other areas, and added that though reporting of harassment has gone up since Anita Hill’s allegations against Thomas, harassment itself has not gone down.

“This is a long-term process,” she said.

Panelists agreed that harassment is likely to increase because men feel threatened by women’s growing power in society.

“It can only get a lot worse,” said Polakoff, who produced the recent television movie “Sexual Advances,” which dealt with sexual harassment.

Panelists fielded written questions from the audience about nudity in auditions, gay harassment, as well as a comment by one who called the discussion “a lot of feminist (garbage) that’s stopping us from having normal conversations.” Though the comment prompted hissing and booing from the audience, it also led to further discussion about changing the way men and women communicate.