You scream , / scream , we all
scream for testing
“ Military regulations require that a dis
charge be sought whenever there is prob
able cause to believe that a member is
homosexual or bisexual .“
Sources: The Advocate, Washington
Blade, Gay Community News
he US Government is expanding
mandatory HIV antibody testing in
more of its agencies. Beginning
February I, the Job Corps will screen
personnel and applicants for the presence
of antibodies to the AIDS virus. The Job
Corps, started under President Lyndon
Johnson, gives job training to young
people. Between 60-65 percent of the
40,000 full-time students are black.
T
Anonymous testing in
Lane County
n AIDS advocacy group in Eugene
is providing anonymous HIV anti
body testing despite a Lane County
Health Department decision to offer the
test only confidentially. The Midvalley
Action Committee, a Eugene AIDS advo
cacy and education group, has established
an alternative testing program that will of
fer anonymous testing, in which tests are
not recorded by name. Anonymous tests
are offered in a majority of Oregon
counties.
A
The State Department began HIV anti
body testing in January. The Armed Forces
have been testing recruits and personnel
since October, 1985.
Applicants who test positive to the HIV
antibody are rejected by all of the agencies.
The Pentagon recently released figures
detailing the results of the military testing
program. Out of 640,000 recruits tested,
974 (917 men and 57 women) tested posi
tive. The overall positive rate has remained
at 1.5 cases per 1000.
Reponse to the Midvalley VAC plan has
been enormous, according to spokesperson
Scott Seibert. Early publication of plans
for anonymous testing resulted in a flood
of phone calls. Seibert reports that all
available appointments are filled through
mid-February. “ An alternative site is
clearly the answer,” he stated.
In December the State Health Division
authorized the option of anonymous test-
In a related story, the Navy Times re
ported that over half of all enforced dis
charges in the Navy were for homosexual
ity. In 1983, nearly 1800 service personnel
were discharged for being gay. This figure
represents 55 percent of all discharges
issued. According to the magazine.
lust news
Censorship censored
Oregon Supreme Court smashes pro-censorship law.
B Y
N A N C Y
R
W A L S E T H
n an opinion critical of the United
States Supreme Court’s repeated
refusals over the past several decades
to extend First Amendment protection to
obscene materials, the Oregon Supreme
Court, in a case entitled State V. Henry,
has stricken down as unconstitutional an
Oregon law prescribing criminal penalties
for the dissemination of material depicting
or containing “ nudity, sadomasochistic
abuse, sexual conduct or sexual
excitement.”
In the wake of recent United States
Supreme Court civil rights rulings and last
summer’s Report of the Attorney Gener
al’s Commission on Pornography, the
significance of last week’s Oregon
Supreme Court ruling cannot be overstated.
The opinion, written by Justice Robert
E. Jones (former Multnomah County
Circuit Court Judge), looks to the Con
stitution of the State of Oregon, rather than
to the Constitution of the United States, in
describing the parameters of freedom of
expression in Oregon.
This acknowledgment of the power of
the Oregon Constitution points up one of
the most overlooked and profoundly im
portant elements of our federalist form of
government: Any state may, under its own
I
laws and constitution, afford more
protection of fundamental rights than is
required of all states under present inter
pretation of the Bill of Rights of the United
States Constitution.
Theoretically, the highest appellate
court of Georgia could strike down
Georgia’s anti-sodomy law even though
the United States Supreme Court recently
refused to hold it unconstitutional under
the federal Constitution. Unlikely in the
current religious climate, but possible.
The point is, when the United States
Supreme Court refused to recognize any
particular federal constitutional rights, it’s
not necessarily time to pack for Sweden,
as most state constitutions contain their
own civil rights guarantees.
State v. Henry struck only one part of
Oregon’s obscenity laws, that which had
prohibited simple dissemination of obscene
materials even in the absence of an inten
tion to harm other citizens with it. The
Court acknowledged a legitimate state in
terest in protection of “ unwilling viewers,
captive audiences, minors and beleaguered
neighbors . . .” but cautioned that “ (this
form of expression] may not be punished
in the interest of a uniform vision on how
human sexuality should be regarded or
portrayed.”
•
ing. Three Oregon counties, including Lane
County decided to offer confidential test
ing only, in which test results are reported
to the state by name of the testee.
Despite veiled threats of economic re
taliation by the County against the health
facility, White Bird Clinic, on whose pre
mises the testing will be offered after
hours, Seibert says that the plans for
anonymous testing will go ahead. “ We’ve
stopped thining about what the County
thinks and we’re doing what we need to
do.”
Drug may hinder
development of AIDS
ibavirin, an antiviral drug, may
delay the onset of AIDS in those
already infected with the HIV
virus, but who have not developed frank
AIDS. According to information from the
manufacturer, Viratek of Costa Mesa,
California, none of a group of 52 infected
persons taking large doses of ribavirin de
veloped AIDS. During the same 28-week
period, six members of a group taking a
smaller dosage developed AIDS, while out
of a group taking a placebo, 10 developed
AIDS.
R
AIDS patient advocacy groups cautioned
enthusiasm, because of the brevity of the
study and the manufacturer’s refusal to
release important details about the study
and the drug’s side effects, according to
the Washington Post.
ACLU rallies
he ACLU sponsored a rally on
January 22 to raise funds and gamer
support for House Bill 2325, which
would add sexual orientation to existing
civil rights statutes. Over 300 people at
tended the rally at the Metropolitan Com
munity Church.
Keynote speaker, Barbara Roberts,
Oregon Secretary of State, addressed the
enthusiastic crowd. Quoting Susan B.
Anthony, Roberts challenged the audience
not to let ‘ ‘another season of silence” pass
without gaining protection from discrimi
nation for Oregon’s gay citizens.
Speakers from the ACLU, however,
stressed the need for active support for the
bill from all over the state. On Lobby Day
at the Oregon Legislature in Salem, Febru
ary 23, the ACLU needs testimony and
advocacy from gays and gay-rights sup
porters from the length and breadth of Ore
gon. If you are from rural Oregon, or have
supportive friends or family from outside
the Willamette Valley, please see to it that
your legislator is lobbied for support on
HB 2325. Every vote will be important.
IF YOUR DOCTOR
ISN’T HELPING YOU,
MAYBE YOU NEED
ANOTHER KIND OF DOCTOR
If you are suffering from chronic health problems such as
allergy, headache, constipation, arthritis, fatigue, or lower back pain, a
naturopathic doctor may be able to help where others have failed.
Naturopaths are trained in laboratory and clinical diagnosis, botanical
medicine, homeopathy, nutrition, spinal manipulation, massage, coun
seling, and other natural therapies that enhance your body’s own healing
powers (they also feel good.) These therapies often will help when
conventional medical methods do not. They can also be used as preven
tive medicine to enhance your immune system or keep more serious
illnesses from developing.
The P O R T L A N D N A T U R O P A T H IC C LIN IC , located
at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, is known through
out the country as the foremost teaching clinic in natural healing methods,
and specializes in the treatment of chronic or acute illnesses without
surgery or synthetic drugs.
PORTLAND
rWUROPMHC
CLINIC
255-735S# 11231 S.E. Market Street, Portland, Oregon
Just Out 7 February. 1987