Homeless with AIDS population
mushrooms
f the estimated United States homeless
population of two million, a survey has
revealed that from 28,000 to 32,000 homeless
people have AIDS or AIDS-related complex.
Even worse, it is forecast that this AIDS
group is likely to increase by 87 percent in
just the next year.
Imagine being homeless and having to deal
with AIDS!
The report was issued by the Partnership
B Y____ J__ A C K
R J __ L E Y
for the Homeless, Inc. of New York City. It
was based on questionnaires circulated to
allowed him to use a guidance counselor’s
more than 500 public and private agencies in
office at night to make phone calls to set up
46 cities and localities nationwide.
appointments for his prostitution service.
The Partnership also proposed a national
Dear Abby: thanks for the
agenda for dealing with the issue of home­
lessness and called for an increase in the
opinion
minimum wage, modest increases in the
erhaps you don’t read Dear Abby in The
Earned Income Tax Credit for the working
Oregonian, but millions of other readers
poor, and uniform minimum amounts for
and I find a moment or two every day to catch
welfare benefits, which now vary greatly from
state to state.
up on the little things that bother people in
day-to-day life.
Nearly one-third of the nation's homeless
Just the other day, a woman writing as
people are impaired by alcohol or drug depen­
“Only his Mother” asked Abby to give an
dency, and about one in five suffer severe
opinion on her son’s request that she call him
mental illness, according to that survey.
before visiting his apartment. She explained:
Grade school principal
“I used to drop in any time and was always
welcome. Now he has a roommate and things
“compromised security”
have changed. His roommate is a very nice
fellow. He even offered to take care of me if I
nother man who was involved with the
ever
got sick. (My son is a flight attendant
same prostitute as US Rep. Barney
with a big airline, and he’s out of town a lot.)”
Frank has resigned as principal of Chevy
The writer added that she was bom in
Chase Elementary School in Rockville, Md.
Mexico and she felt it was untraditional for a
The resignation of the principal, Gabriel
mother to make an appointment to visit her
Massaro, was announced by Superintendent
own
son.
Harry Pitt, who said his investigation had
Well, Abby Fielded that problem as if it
found that Massaro had “compromised”
was
just another ordinary letter and advised
school security. He did not elaborate.
her to honor her son’s wishes and his room­
The principal acknowledged that he had a
mate’s privacy and just “call first.”
four-year association with the prostitute,
How refreshing.
Stephen Gobie. Gobie said that Massaro
O
P
3-3724
Hippocrates would have rolled
over in his grave
he critics have all lined up and taken at
least one good potshot at television's
“Chicken Soup” starring longtime standup
comic Jackie Mason. But Mason does get a
few good lines.
This TV sitcom has Jackie still living with
his outspoken mama who frets over her son
courting a gentile. At one point, Rita Karin,
who plays the stereotypical smothering Jewish
mom, cries out to Jackie, “Why can’t you be
gay like other normal men?”
That’s about as close as network television
gets to dealing with 10 percent of the nation’s
population.
here is a plastic surgeon in Seattle — Dr.
Curran Smith — who wanted his fellow
doctors to consider it ethical to require an
HIV test from all patients before elective
surgery. Not only that, in a proposal to the
100th annual meeting of the Washington State
Medical Association in Spokane recently. Dr
Smith asked his fellow doctors to also con­
sider it ethical to refuse to perform elective
surgery if the patient refused to take the test or
if the person is carrying the virus.
It’s a relief to report that the association
handily rejected Dr. Smith’s proposal and
reaffirmed the position “that has been devel­
oped over thousands of years in care of the
ill,” as association President Dr. George
Schneider put it.
“The doctors are saying that, just because
an individual has a disease in which there may
be a risk to the physician or health-care team,
medical care should not be withheld,” Dr.
Schneider added.
T
T
Lawmakers should move against
hate crimes
ccording to The New York Times, the
only thing standing in the way of a New
York State Assembly law aimed at bias
crimes is the unwillingness of some legisla­
tors to include “sexual orientation” as a
protected category.
The racial attack at Howard Beach three
years ago and the recent series of harassments
against Jewish students have attracted all the
headlines. Yet attacks on homosexuals — or
those thought to be homosexual — are said to
be the fastest-growing category of bias-crimes
in the nation.
Congress is also mulling a bias crime bill
that would authorize the United States Justice
Department to gather national statistics on
hate crimes. Incredibly, no such statistics are
being compiled.
New York’s proposed bias-crime bill
would authorize prosecutors to upgrade the
severity of the charge against an assailant in
such crimes.
A
Gay “mayor” to explain title
ortland’s unofficial gay mayor, Sanford
Director, is scheduled to be a guest
November 7 on community access
television’s new gay talk show “Nightscene.”
According to a press release, Sandy will
explain to program host Lanny Swerdlow how
he acquired the mayoral title. In this column
last month, I referred to Director as “self-
appointed.” I apologize for that statement
since it is a fact that Director was given that
title by gay “royalty” at a social function some
time ago.
It just seems that every time I see
Director’s name in print, the “gay mayor” title
is always nearby. See what I mean.
Y
P
Discover the Fine Art of American Craft
Colorful Work in Clay
by Beveriy Jansen -Cooper
Creative ideas for holiday
greeting cards, ornaments
and gift wrap.
^
“Chicken Soup” gets at least one
laugh
'- ''A
The Real Mother Goose
902 S W Yamhill
Portland OR 97205
A Shop and Gallery • Portland, Oregon
Downtown
Westside
Eastside
Downtown
Washington Square
Portland Airport
( 503 ) 223-9510
( 503 ) 620-2243
( 503 ) 284-9929
just out ▼ 5 ▼ November 1989