just news
Health departments offer anonymous
HIV tests
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fter a year of debate between health
officials and gay activists, all but
three county health departments in
Oregon are now offering anonymous tests for
antibodies to HIV. The state health division,
particularly Administrator Kristine Gebbie, had
previously urged the adoption of “ confidential”
testing, for “ epidemiological reasons.”
Reasoning that those in high risk categories
would be more likely to take the test if fear of
discrimination due to breach of confidence
were removed, gay and AIDS activists pressed
for “ anonymous” testing. Anonymous testing
involves numbers rather than names in record
keeping.
Larry Foster, Oregon State Epidemiologist,
advised that people interested in having HIV
antibody tests may call their county health de
partments and request the test. An appointment
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will be made, and to insure that the usual regis
tration processes are circumvented, a number
will be assigned to the individual. A meeting
with a trained counselor will also be arranged.
The counselor will answer questions and dis
cuss the issues of the test. The testee will then
make the choice o f having the test anonymously
or confidentially. If the test is confidential, the
testee will be asked to supply a name and specific
epidemiological information. If the test is
anonymous, a number will be assigned to both
the laboratory sample and the testee.
Results are available about a week after test
ing. Anonymous results are released only in
person (never over the telephone) at which time
counseling and advice are offered. If the test is
positive, the testee will be made aware of further
resources within the community.
Foster reports “ some increase” in HIV test
ing since counties began offering anonymous
tests early in December. •
New procedure stops HIV
n enzyme, peptide-t, which blocks
entry of HIV into the T-4 cell has
been administered to patients with
AIDS and has stabilized their conditions,
according to NPR’s “ All Things Considered”
(Dec. 24).
Recently discovered by a scientist at the Na
tional Institute of Mental Health in Washington,
D .C ., the enzyme was given to AIDS patients at
the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
A spokesperson for the Karolinska Institute said
that the patients, who were given the enzyme in
late November, have shown little or no im
provement. Their conditions have not deteri
orated, however, he said.
The patients were in the last stages of the
disease and were not expected to have survived,
according to the spokesperson. The enzyme,
which shows no signs o f side-effects, will be
experimentally administered to AIDS patients
in the United States within the next few months. •
AIDS vaccine ready for human testing.
n AIDS vaccine is ready for human
trials, the National Cancer Institute
announced in late December,
according to the Village Voice, 12/30/86.
Dr. Allan Goldstein, of George Washington
University, has isolated HGP-30, a synthetic
protein that Goldstein and his colleagues claim
can neutralize HIV, the AIDS virus.
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Previously, a vaccine for AIDS was not
thought imminent, since vaccines normally
work by making antibodies to proteins located
on the outside surface of a virus. The outside
envelope o f HIV, however, changes constantly.
HPG-30 works by making antibodies against a
stable protein, p i 7, located just underneath the
HIV virus’ shifting surface. Antibodies to p i 7
have neutralized HIV in human blood in test
tubes. HPG-30 contains no virus, unlike a live
vaccine, and won’t itself cause infection.
Goldstein hopes to begin the tests (he will be
amongst the first injected) within the month. •
Minnesota governor signs executive order
S
ince November 19, Minnesota lesbian
and gay state employees have been
protected from discrimination based
on sexual orientation; on that date Governor
Rudy Perpich, a Democrat, signed an executive
order protecting gays and lesbians in state
employment, according to the Washington Blade.
Perpich, a Roman Catholic, was re-elected to
his second full term in November. He is the only
governor to sign an executive order protecting
gays and lesbians in 1986, and the eighth since
1975 when Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania
signed the first. The other states whose gover
nors have signed executive orders are California
(Jerry Brown, 1979), New York (Mario Cuomo,
1983), Ohio (Richard Celeste, 1983), New
Mexico (Tony Anaya, 1985), Washington
(Booth Gardner, 1985) and Rhode Island (Ed
ward DiPrete, 1985). All executive orders,
except Rhode Island's, have been signed by
Democratic governors.
The Minnesota order also contains language
which specifically protects employees against
discrimination based on “ AIDS status, includ
ing testing . . . ” •
Privacy appeal denied review
he Washington Supreme Court
notified the Freedom Socialist Party
(FSP) on December 9, 1986, that it
has decided not to hear the party’s appeal of a
lower court order to disclose internal meeting
minutes. The court gave no reason for its refusal
to consider the radical party’s arguments against
revealing confidential records demanded by a
hostile ex-member suing the FSP.
In response to the decision, defendant and
Seattle FSP Organizer Doug Barnes charged the
Supreme Court with “ ducking its responsibility
to protect the rights of the FSP and of any group
to get together and speak openly on matters of
mutual concern.
“ The Washington Constitution has even
stronger privacy provisions than the U.S. Con
stitution,” noted Barnes. “ But,” he added,
“ our state’s justices, elected to uphold our
rights, are instead lining up with the federal
administration’s program of forced drug testing
and bedroom snooping.”
The order to disclose minutes was issued in
Superior Court in October of 1985 as part of
pre-trial discovery in Snedigar v. Hoddersen, et
al. Former member Richard Snedigar brought
this suit against the FSP and nine prominent
community activists in an attempt to recover a
donation made to a party fund. Snedigar and his
attorneys have also demanded membership
lists, names o f contributors, and other constitu
tionally privileged records. •
C A S C A D E
A I D S
PROJ ECT
Gay $ withdrawn
espite an order from United
States Attorney Anton Valukas to
“ cease and desist,” organizers
Frank Kellas and Marge Summitt say they wiii
continue stamping “ Gay $ ” on the money
handled by their businesses according to Gay
Chicago Magazine. Kellas and Summit began
stam ping4 ‘Gay $ ” on currency in protest of the
Chicago City Council’s failure to pass a gay
rights ordinance in July.
The US Attorney acted at the request of
Lakeview Bank officials, who refused to re
circulate currency stamped “ Gay $” and had
asked the government to rule on the legality of
marking the currency. (Title 18, U S. Code,
Section 475 prohibits marking any “ notice or
advertisement whatsoever” on any “ instru
ment, obligation or security” o f the United
States.)
In the weeks following the US Attorney’s
order, hundreds o f thousands of dollars already
have been withdrawn from the Lakeview Bank;
total withdrawals are expected to reach into the
millions of dollars.
Summitt and Kellas commented on the gov
ernm ent’s actions by issuing a prepared state
ment which says (in part): “ Somehow an ad-
ministraton which cannot seem to find 30 mil
lion CIA dollars has discovered GAY dollars,
and decided that gays and lesbians should be
prohibited from expressing their desire for
justice on US currency.” •
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Attend our next workshop and discover
how you can be a volunteer in one of
these areas:
• Office Procedures • New Attitudes
• Speakers Bureau • Publications
• Practical Support • PAL Project
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Saturday workshops 10 a m.-4 p.m.
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January 10
February 7
Workshop date:
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Insurance
commissioners
approve guidelines
he National Association of Insurance
Commissioners approved guidelines
last month that would prohibit insur
ance companies from denying insurance cover
age to individuals on the basis o f sexual orienta
tion. The approved guidelines, however, do
allow insurance companies to use AIDS anti
body tests with the consent of the applicant.
The guidelines were adopted after represen
tatives o f the Association met with officials of
the National Gay Task Force (NGLTF) and the
National Gay Rights Advocates. The NAIC
sexual orientation guidelines specifically pro
hibit health insurers, life insurers and investiga
tive agencies from using gender, marital status,
living arrangements, occupation, medical
history, beneficiary and zip code as proxies in
determining sexual orientation.
Also prohibited for use in underwriting deci
sions are “ medical records or a report from an
insurance support organization (which] show
that the applicant has demonstrated AIDS-
related concerns by seeking counseling from
health care professionals.”
“ It’s the first time that a national body of
state officials has voted to outlaw discrimina
tion based on sexual orientation,” said Benja
min Schatz, Director of the NGRA AIDS Civil
Rights Project. “ And AIDS related discrimina
tion, when directed toward the gay and lesbian
community, is immoral, illegal, and medically
counterproductive,” he added.
Schatz and Jeff Levi of NGLTF were instru
mental in developing NAIC’s sexual orientation
guidelines. The guidelines have been endorsed
by the American Counsel of Life Insurers and
the Health Insurance Association of America.
The NAIC adopts model laws, model “ bulle
tins,” and insurance guidelines that assist in
establishing industry standards and policies.
NAIC’s sexual orientation guidlines are in the
form o f a “ bulletin” to be sent out by state
insurance commissioners to insurance compa
nies doing business in their state.
Day Phone___
Eve. Phone__
□ Enclosed is $3.50 for a box lunch.
T
(Ed. note: The Oregonian [ 12/12/86; page
A22 J covered the story above and ran it with the
headline: ‘ ‘Rules to bar AIDS bias! ’ Think
about it.) m
mr
ABOUT LIVING,
LOVING,
SEX AND
AIDS
is a four-hour AIDS and Safer Sex
Awareness workshop offered by the
Cascade AIDS Project. NEW ATTITU
DES is for all gay men, especially men
who:
• are still practicing unsafe sex
(even part of the time),
• know what is not safe but want to
know more about what IS safe,
• want support from other men for
making changes towards safer sex and
just want to TALK about it!!
NEW ATTITUDES IS FOR YOU
Training
Schedule
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PSU Smith Hall, Rm. 230
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223-5907
dust.Qui, 7 JänUfUy, 1987