Judge hears first challenge
to “ don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy
T h e first legal c h a lle n g e to th e “ n e w ” a n ti
gay m ilita ry p o licy o f “ d o n ’t ask , d o n ’t te ll,”
w as b a ck in c o u rt M arch 18. Able vs. USA,
filed M arch 7, cam e b e fo re th e B ro o k ly n
c o u rtro o m o f federal ju d g e E u g e n e N ic k erso n
fo r a rg u m e n ts o n a p re lim in a ry in ju n c tio n to
k e e p th e m ilita ry from b a n n in g six serv ice
m e m b e rs.
T h e six p la in tiffs in th e su it re p re se n t d i
v e rse a c tiv e -d u ty an d re se rv e p e rso n n e l, from
various
b ra n c h e s
o f the m ili
ta r y a n d
re g io n s o f
th e c o u n
try. “ Jan e
A b le ” is a
pseud-
o n y m fo ra
lie u te n a n t
c o lo n el in
th e A rm y
Reserve
w h o fears p ro fessio n al h arm sh o u ld h e r n am e
b e u sed .
N ic k e rs o n lis te n e d to a rg u m e n ts b u t d id
n o t issu e a ru lin g a t th a t tim e . B e a tric e
D o h m , a n a tto rn e y w ith th e L a m b d a L e g a l
D e fe n s e a n d E d u c a tio n F u n d , w as o n ly
m ild ly d is a p p o in te d . T h e v e te ra n ju d g e is
k n o w n fo r n e v e r h a v in g is su e d a n in ju n c tio n
in w ritin g .
M u ch o f th e ju d g e ’s q u e stio n in g c en tered
a ro u n d the sec tio n o f the re g u la tio n s d e alin g
w ith the c o n c e p t o f a “ re b u tta b le p re s u m p
tio n ” to o n e ’s “ p ro p e n s ity ” to e n g a g e in h o
m o sex u a l activ ity . H e q u e stio n e d the c irc u la r
ity o f the g o v e rn m e n t’s a rg u m e n ts, a sk in g
h o w o n e c o u ld d e m o n strate the n e g ativ e — no t
h a v in g su ch a p ro p e n sity . “ It seem s to m e a bit
o f a h o a x ,” N ic k erso n said.
T h e p la in tiff’s case h o ld s as u n c o n stitu
tio n al th e re c e n tly e n ac te d fed eral law and
D e p a rtm e n t o f D efen se re g u la tio n s e x clu d in g
gays and lesbians from the m ilita ry . T h e policy,
c o m m o n ly k n o w n as “ d o n ’t ask, d o n ’t te ll,”
to o k e ffe c t F eb . 28.
“ T h is is th e first p ie c e o f fe d e ra l le g is la
tio n s p e c ific a lly re q u irin g d is c rim in a tio n
a g a in s t le s b ia n s a n d g a y s ,” sa id a tto rn e y
M a rc E lo v itz o f th e A m e ric a n C iv il L ib e r
tie s U n io n . “ T h e d is tin c tio n b e tw e e n w h a t
w e re re g u la tio n s a n d w h a t is n o w fe d e ra l
la w is an im p o rta n t o n e .” O th e r fe d e ra l s ta t
u te s h a v e m e re ly o m itte d o r ig n o re d s e x u a l
m in o ritie s fro m c iv il rig h ts o r o th e r p r o te c
tio n s. T h is o n e a c tiv e ly d is c rim in a te s a g a in s t
th e m .
CDC report shows 111
percent increase in AIDS
cases
The annual report o f the Centers for Disease
Control shows 103,500 new cases o f people with
AIDS in 1993, an 111 percent increase over the
previous year. The increase stems in part from the
relentless progression o f the disease, but it also
reflects a change in the definition of AIDS that went
into effect last January.
Earlicrgovem m cntdefinitionsof AIDS had been
based largely on symptoms most common to gay
men. The new one made long-overdue revisions,
including the addition of symptoms more prevalent
in women. It brought into the pool of those classified
as having AIDS a backlog o f people, disproportion
ately female, who should have been counted in
previous years.
Heterosexually transmitted cases, defined as those
not resulting from direct homosexual or I V-drug-use
experience, account for only 9 percent o f the total.
Approximately two-thirds o f those contracting AIDS
in this manner were women. For the first time since
statistics have been gathered, the gay male case load
dropped below 50 percent o f the total.
Fifty-four percent of cases in 1993 come under
the new definition, 46 percent under the older defini
tion. The latter figure is a 2 percent decrease from the
previous year.
The bulge o f new and old cases in 1993 has
several statistical impacts: for one, decreasing the
percentage of those more traditionally defined people
with AIDS, i.e.,gay men. The 1993 figures showgay
men as 46.6 percent o f the new cases o f AIDS, down
from 66.5 percent in 1985.
CDC anticipates that the gross number of new
cases o f AIDS will decline in 1994— resulting from
incorporation o f the 1993 definitional changes, not a
decline in the actual numbers of new cases. The trend
for gay men will likely reverse for a year in the next
report and show an increase in cases, as a percentage
o f total new cases, before reluming to a slow down
ward trend.
These statistics are a useful guide to keep in mind
when evaluating federal, state, and local claims of
increased resources being directed toward the fight
against AIDS. While actual dollars spent may indeed
be growing, often at impressive percentages, they
seldom keep pace with the burgeoning number of
people with AIDS.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual
local officials organize
The Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Local Officials,
a constituency group of the National League of
Cities, met in Washington on March 13 as part of the
regular NLC meeting.
The group formed last fall at the NLC meeting in
Orlando, Fla., and elected Seattle City Council-
woman Sherry Harris as its interim chair. At that
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meeting the group adopted an agenda focusing on
three priorities: public health and funding issues
surrounding HIV/AIDS, domestic partnership, and
discrimination focusing on sexual orientation.
More than a dozen elected officials plus their
friends and consorts filled the Washington meeting
room. They spanned the gamut o f cities from Cam
bridge, Mass., to Laguna Beach, Calif., from Dallas,
Texas, to Moscow, Idaho.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force organizer
Betsy Gressler briefed attendees on national issue
priorities. Tim McFecley, executive director o f the
Human Rights Campaign Fund, hosted the reception
that followed.
The formation of GLBLO “caused some ques
tions on the part o f board members," said David J.
Borut, NLC executive director.
Those “questions" prompted a new, more formal
process o f recognizing constituency groups and giv
ing them access to NLC support. What had hereto
fore been at the discretion of the executive director is
now regulated: New groups must have at least 50
members in 10 states and be formally recognized by
the governing board. GLBLO would not have met
those standards but “essentially was grandfathered
in,” Borut said. He had come to the meeting to
express his support for the group.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) stressed two
points to those assembled. One was to support his
efforts to rein in increased military spending. He
argued, “Unless we arc able to turn this back on the
military, the chance o f there being any net increase in
funds available for municipalities is zero.” The tight
budget situation for the next several years means,
according to Frank, that more funding for the military
will come at the direct expense of domestic spending.
Frank’s second point was more immediate. He
urged the local officials, when speaking with their
congressional representatives, to strongly oppose a
discriminatory amendment being proposed by U.S.
Rep. Mel Hancock (R-Mo.). That amendment to the
education bill, HR 6, “would cut off all federal aid to
any school system which promotes or encourages
homosexuality,” said Frank. The ammendment is so
broadly written, it could deny funding to major
school systems such as those in Los Angeles and
New York City. Frank said he believes the amend
ment attempt will be soundly defeated.
Leavitt and publisher admit
to plagiarism
“Publisher kills novel over pilfered plot,” Read
in The Washington Post.
It marked the close o f the legal battle betw een
writer David Leavitt and Stephen Spender, the
octogenarian English poet who first gained n o to
riety in the 1930s.
T h ech arg eo f plagiarism had haunted L eavitt’s
current novel, While England Sleeps, ever since
the U.S. edition cam e o ff the press last fall.
Leavitt tried to dow nplay the controversy while
on tour prom oting the book. He told the Bay Area
Reporter, “T he lesson I ’ve learned is, if y o u ’re
going to write a historical novel, base it on the life
o f som eone w ho is dead!"
Spender sued to prevent publication o f the
British edition. His grounds were that L eavitt had
infringed on the copyright o f S p en d er’s autobiog
raphy, World Within World, and had also violated
his "m oral rig h t” regarding how the m aterial of
his life m ight
b e h a n d le d .
T he latter co n
c e p t w as e n
acted into B rit
ish law r e la
tively recently)
and has little
record o f case
law or trials to
d e lin e a te its
boundaries.
In an out-
of-court settle
m ent L eavitt’s
publisher. V iking, took two extraordinary steps.
O ne was to cancel the British edition, already
printed, in a w arehouse, and now presum ably to
be destroyed. T he second was to cancel the U.S.
paperback edition o f the book, scheduled for
release next fall. V iking and Leavitt will also pay
S pender’s legal fees.
“ I d o n ’t bear [Leavitt) any ill will. I am 85 and
on the brink o f my grave, so I try to be benevo
lent,” said Spender. "The people to criticize are
the publishers. T hey d o n ’t seem to have editors
who save young writers from m aking these bad
m istakes.”
Spender had strenuously objected to the ex
plicit sex in the book earlier, saying: “ I d o n ’t sec
why [Leavitt] should unload all his sexual fanta
sies onto me in my youth. If he w anted to write
about his sexual fantasies, he should write about
them as being his, not m ine.”
Leavitt is believed to have agreed to rework
those portions o f the novel as part o f the agree
ment. The altered novel will likely then be re is
sued.
The original U.S. press run o f 30,(XK) is still in
bookstores and will not be recalled. “ I assume
th ey ’ll quickly becom e collectors’ items, and
people that get them will be happy,” said Deacon
M accubbin, proprietor o f Lamlxla Rising, the
n atio n ’s largest gay and lesbian bookstore.
H ow the story plays out for Leavitt rem ains to
be seen. Som e feel that the author will be judged
by his next w ork. H ow ever, one anonym ous
ed ito r at a m ajor publishing house was quoted in
the Post as saying: “ Literature isn ’t ice skating,
at least not yet. If you pillage som eone c lsc ’s
m em oir for your source m aterial, it tends to
in d icate a th in n ess o f literary im a g in a tio n .
L eav itt’s aura has been dam aged, to stale the
o b v io u s.”
S pender’s autobiography will be reissued in
the fall, as will a collection o f his poem s.
Compiled by Bob Roe hr
featuring The Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé
b y P r o f . I . B . G it t e n d o w n e
[HI, DIVA!
HOW ARE*
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(SEEN ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY ASSIST OTHER YOUNG ,
\ WOMEN IN EXPERIENCING EM0T0NAL DISCHARGE'
[ AT THIS POINT IN THEIR LIVES , WHICH WOULD HAVEj
vCAUSED PSYCHOLOGICAL HANG UPS AS ADULTS^*
NOT e y a c t l y JYES, B u t YOU w o u l d a l s o
MY ID EA ^ N E V E * THINK OF BRINGING
OF F U N . . . .Ì DISCO BACK BY FLYING TO
O.C.TO TEACH MS. CLINTON
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PHOTO BY MAHON FTTLNGER
j u s t o u t ▼ a p r ii 1. 1 0 0 4 T 0