both by the medical establishment and by
minority activists, according to Goldstein.
Unlike the gay community, which early on
banded together in the face of the health
crisis, minority communities have been
slow to admit the crisis in their midst,
perhaps due to unwillingness to identify
themselves with groups conventionally at
risk for AIDS. To draw attention to AIDS
in ethnic communities might be construed
as contributing to that minority’s own op
pression. However, fully one half Hispanic
and black people with AIDS are
heterosexual.
Getting them while they’re
young in the Third World
Advocates in technology are perhaps
enabling “ gender-cide” in cultures that
favor male offspring, according to South
magazine. Because fetuses can now be
tested to determine their sex, parents are
able to abort less valued female fetuses.
India has 23 million fewer women than
men; in cities, laboratories that determine
gender o f unborn babies are often strategi
cally located near abortion clinics, and ad
vertise their proximity. Likewise, South
Korean women frequently choose to abort
female fetuses, and hospitals report that
far more male than female babies are being
bom since the advent of gender-testing.
However, one need not go so far afield
to find indications that traditional attitudes
to children are breaking down. A survey
reported in The New Republic reveals that
drugs are four times as popular a source
o f pleasure or satisfaction than grand
children, according to over 1500 Ameri
cans. Other things more popular than
grandchildren: Food, hobbies, drinking,
“ just taking it easy,” daydreaming, and
clothes. Opines reporter Joe Queenan: “ A
society that loves its clothes 17 times as
much as its grandchildren should certainly
be better dressed than this one.
Court rules on handicap bias
The US Supreme Court ruled March 4
that laws barring discrimination against
handicapped people also protect those
specifically suffering from contagious dis
eases. Although the case that prompted the
decision involved infection with tuber
culosis, the ruling was cited as a major
victory by AIDS activists.
The court’s ruling rejected a Reagan
Justice Department memorandum of last
sum m er which held that contagiousness or
perceptions o f contagiousness were not
“ handicaps” under provisions of 1973
federal handicap protection legislation.
The memo specifically cited AIDS. How
ever, in March the court ruled that the
basic purpose of the law is “ to insure that
handicapped individuals are not denied
jobs or benefits because of the prejudiced
attitudes or ignorance of others” including
discrimination based on “ irrational fear”
o f diseased people. However, Justice W il
liam J. Brennan, Jr., in a footnote, de
clined to rule whether or not the law pro
tects “ carriers” of the AIDS virus who do
not suffer physical symptoms. The court’s
current ruling specifically deals with
handicap bias related to discrimination
based on physical handicap brought on by
contagious disease. Handicap or percep
tions o f handicap must be present to qual
ify for handicap protection. Since some
people infected with HIV are not physi
cally impaired, the court did not decide the
status o f these individuals under the law.
Tax the Gays!
Your Just Out would be taxed for “ de
viant sexuality prom otion” under a bizarre
“ tax-the-im moral” scheme, if a Nebraska
psychologist and major loon has his way.
Paul Cameron, a discredited psychologist
who has made a media living through fit
ful. virulently homophobic pronounce
ments. revealed a new plan to harness
homosexuality: Tax it. According to The
Advocate, Cameron, in the newsletter of
his Institute for the Scientific Investigation
ATT approved fo r use
o f Sexuality, proposes that producers of
sexually explicit material be levied a
“ genital photograph federal stamp tax,”
and other taxes be assessed against litera
ture that promotes or advocates gayness.
Explicit heterosexual erotica would also
be taxed, but at a lower rate: The greater
the transgression, the greater the tax. Con
versely, Cameron proposes tax breaks for
the moral, to “ encourage social virtue”
such as “ chastity before marriage.”
Cameron does not disclose how much
he estimates his immorality tax would gen
erate, nor what he would intend to do with
his “ sin dollars.” I wager the money
would go to the Contras.
Public health officials
back gay rights
Kristine Gebbie, State Health Division
Administrator, and Charles Shade, Mult
nomah County Health Officer and repre-
tentative of the Oregon Public Health As
sociation, on March 14 endorsed House
Bill 2325, which would prohibit discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation.
According to both officials, if equal rights
were to be guaranteed to gays, then ad
dressing the public health problems of
AIDS would be vastly simplified. Accord
ing to Gebbie, “ There are substantial seg
ments o f our society who are fearful of
collaborating with public health officials
and becoming openly involved in combat
ting this epidemic because of their fears
that they are not protected as full-fledged
citizens of our state.” Referring to the
AIDS/HIV Policy Report, Gebbie stated,
“ The report is full of discussions of com
promises and adjustments that are made to
deal with fearful people. I think this bill is
one way of removing [these fears].”
Azidothymidine, or AZT, an anti-viral
drug used in the treatment of AIDS, was
approved March 20 by the Food and Drug
Administration, making the drug avail
able, at least in theory, to a larger popula
tion o f people with AIDS. AZT has been
shown to prolong the lives of some people
with AIDS, although its long-term effect is
not known. It is not a cure for AIDS.
However, availability o f the drug is
problematical, even though it has now
gained governmental approval. AZT was
initially distributed free to those who
satisfied strict experimental criteria. Now,
the drug will be available for a price, and
those who have already benefitted from
AZT may not be able to afford its cost,
estim ated at $10,000 a year by The New
York Times. Medicaid policies will not
pick up the bill until states individually OK
expenditures for the drug. Also, it is not
clear if the manufacturer o f the drug, Bur
roughs Wellcome Company, will be able
to produce sufficient quantities o f the drug
to meet the new demand. Between its cost
and assumed unavailability, AZT treat
ment may be a false hope to many already
infected with HIV.
ACLU funds lobbyist
The American Civil Liberties Union,
using funds from its February Portland
rally and other fundraising efforts, has
hired Laurie Inacy as fulltime lobbyist for
House Bill 2325, Oregon’s gay rights bill.
Inacy, a Bend native, is at work in Salem,
where she assists Stevie Remington,
ACLU Executive Director.
According to Jann Carson, ACLU as
sistant, HB 2325 is tentatively due out of
committee sometime this month.
However, she strongly urges people to
write their legislators in support of the
legislation. Some legislators are receiving
mail 25-1 against the bill. “ The opposition
is getting organized, and we need to re
spond. We need to generate contact to
legislators,” urges Carson. Contact the
ACLU for information, 227-3186 in Port
land, 345-6162 in Eugene.
Entertainment , briefly
The Knife, a musical about a man who
undergoes a sex change operation, is play
ing at The Public Theatre on Broadway.
Harvey Fierstein has a new play, called
Safe Sex, on the New York stage, and has
been to Hollywood looking for a director
for the film version of Torch Song Trilogy.
Marc Christian, Rock Hudson’s final,
ingenue lover, supposedly tells all in his
kiss-and-tell opus. H e’s calling it Between
Rock and a Hard Place.
WEDDING
BANDS*
AIDS risk and race
The general public is not equally at risk
for AIDS, because race is an ignored and
suppressed contour of the AIDS epidemic,
according to Richard Goldstein, writing in
the Village Voice. AIDS is largely a dis
ease o f gay men among whites. However,
the “ general population” that AIDS sup
posedly now threatens is made up largely
of the urban, ethnic poor. A black woman
is 13 times more likely than a white woman
to get AIDS; a Hispanic woman is at 11
times the risk. Hispanics make up 20 per
cent o f the population, but account for 39
percent of all Americans with AIDS.
The fact that AIDS is a crisis for minor
ity communities has largely been ignored,
14k matching hands
by Studio 311.
DISCOVER
T H E F I N E A R T OF A M E R I C A N
CRAFT
The Real Mother Goose
A Shop
and Caller)
Washington Square
620-2243
S.W. 9th & Yamhdl
223-9510
i n n*
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Ju st Out 7 . . April 1087