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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1989)
Nationalize the production of AZT It’s going to be a nightscene, all right T regular television talk show aimed at Portland’s gay and lesbian community airs November 7 on Channel 11, the community access channel shared by all the major cable companies in the area. Any program that can promote a little meaningful dialogue in this community will certainly be welcome, but I’m a little skeptical that host Lanny Swerdlow (owner of the City Nightclub) can pull it off without embarras sing himself and the community. Swerdlow says the program will have a Tonight Show format with guest interviews and entertainment. One of his first guests will be self-appointed gay mayor Sandy Director, and part of the “entertainment” will be a dating segment modeled after Love Connection. Enough said. he fact that the Burroughs Wellcome Company bowed to growing pressure from AIDS activists and lowered the price of AZT is proof enough for the federal government to step in and prevent further profiteering in life-saving drugs. AZT was developed by scientists who were aided by taxpayer scholarships and who worked in public-supported laboratories. It is a genuine crime that this private company can reap such a harvest sown with public monies. The government should suspend patent rights on any drug proven to be as important to the public welfare as AZT. As in the case of supplying the government with planes and guns, drug companies should be forced to bid for production rights, with the award going to the lowest bidder. Under those circumstances, I have a hunch that the cost of these drugs would drop like a stone. Even with the recent 20 percent reduction, it will still cost an AIDS patient $8,000 a year for full treatment This is a national disgrace. Your Central Oregon REAL ESTATE Connection A Gail Witte Vacation Rentals • Farm • Acreage • Residential B achelor R ea lty INC. Located In “Downtown Bend” • P.O. Box 5324 • Bend, Oregon 97708 3731 SE H awthorne Portland, Oregon 97214 (503)232-1010 The Oregonian: homosexuality is a weakness? mmmm mm® MM • mmmrnm . • Between the L i n e s . .. B Y J A C K R I L E Y Navy scapegoats a dead sailor A t least that’s what I read in a recent editorial about Rep. Barney Frank and the flap over his relationship with a male prostitute. “But Frank’s lapse also needs a bit of perspective,” the Oregonian said. “He was, as Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., noted, ‘human and vulnerable — not corrupt.’ Human vul nerability needs understanding and sympathy, not merely condemnation. It would be a cruel irony if the nation’s weak and unfortunate lost one of their most articulate champions because of his own weakness." Since when did Barney Frank become the champion of Johns in this country? M ilitary investigators did their damnedest to prove that a “wrongful intentional act...most probably committed” by Gunner’s Call me anything, but don’t call Mate Clayton Hartwig caused a turret explosion that killed 47 seamen aboard the me a faggot U.S.S. Iowa last April. In short the military thinks that Hartwig ome jerk was out on the fire escape the was a jilted homosexual who grew despondent other night, adding his two bits to a small and suicidal enough to slip a detonator misunderstanding between a gay couple between two of five powder bags rammed into several floors up. the barrel of the middle gun. “Faggots!” the guy shouted. Not once, but Of course, there was little evidence left several times in the direction of the two guys The Navy could not prove Hartwig to be who were probably arguing over what to eat homosexual. A psychological profile could for dinner. “Faggots!” he repeated and at not even point to Hartwig being under mental about that moment my blood pressure began or emotional stress. to rise and I leaned out the window to shout Hartwig’s family has asked Congress to something myself. Then I reminded myself take a fresh look at the Iowa disaster. why I do not keep a gun in my apartment. Homophobia, a real problem in the U.S. The word faggot gets kicked around a lot Armed Forces, seems to have reared its ugly more these days than it used to. Fear of AIDS head again. and growing bigotry in pop culture keep the word very much alive. The heavy metal band Guns N* Roses sold nine million albums which highlighted the song “One in a Drug abuse and AIDS lead Million.” Check the verses: business concerns “Immigrants and faggots/ They make no sense to me/ They come to our country/ And think they’ll do as they please/ Like start some t’s not surprising that a new study of mini-Iran/ or spread some fuckin’ disease,” United States business executives found And if you happen to be both gay and they believe substance abuse to be the black, this band just loves the word “niggers.” nation’s primary labor and employment problem. AIDS ranks number two in concern, The verse continues: “get outta my way/ Don’t need to buy followed by wages and benefits. none/ Of your gold chains today.” Part of the problem is that most business leaders have not taken time to understand These racist and homophobic attitudes among young people, especially in the AIDS and how the virus is transmitted. Too many employers and employees fear working working classes, are very real. These attitudes will always stand in the way of any civil and around someone infected with HIV, even homosexual rights movement. though contracting the disease in the The words hurt, because you know what is workplace under normal conditions is really behind them. _ virtually impossible. S I 503 - 389-5516 i t ' s casta ty /rH rtA w u ' QUICK ! CALL CA$TAW0KJ<¿! fresh pasta and sauces salads— prepared foods cheeses fine oils and vinegars great values in imported and domestic wines FALL SCHEDULE WORKSHOPS Making Friends With Your Body October 14 Ending A Relationship Or 60 Ways to taave Your Lover? October 19 So You Think Your Lover Drinks Too Much? October! 8 FINANCIAL WORKSHOPS I Don’t Think It Will Do Any Good September 27 I Have Tried But It Just Doesn't Work October 4 I Have Enough Money, But Not Enough To Be An Investor October 11 GROUPS Adult Children of Alcoholics September 28 Partners of Sexual Abuse Survivors October 2 Tuesday Night Live September 26 Gay Men’s Support Group October 4 CALL PHOENIX RISING AT 223-8299 FOR MORE INFORMATION Advance registration is necessary for all services and programs; some require a non-refundaWe deposit or payment of fees in advance. ju s t o u t y 5 T O c to b e r 1989