ju st o u t ▼ so p to m b o r 2 , 1 9 9 4 V 7
Avengers demand lesbian-
oriented HIV/AIDS studies
PHOTO BY E. ANN HINDS AND UNDA
Despite elaborate security and secrecy mea
sures, the Lesbian Avengers found the Bay Area
office of the Centers for Disease Control. What
followed was a demonstration focused on high
lighting the CDC’s neglect of lesbian and bi
sexual women in its HIV/AIDS policies.
Three Lesbian Avengers wore saran wrap
(over clothing) around their pelvises, while others
carried a 20-foot banner which said, “Dykes de
mand the CDC study woman-to-woman AIDS
transmission.” The activists chanted, “CDC, we’re
outraged. You don’t know shit about dykes and
AIDS.”
A crowd of about 200 gathered outside the San
Francisco International Airport customs area
(where the agency’s no-longer secret office is
located) to watch the demonstration. Fifteen po
lice officers gathered at the scene but did not
interfere with the demonstrators.
“I guess they didn’t want to mess with a group
of screaming lesbian and bi women,” said Avenger
Katie Hem. “No one wanted to appear in the
newspaper dragging away a dyke in a pair of saran
wrap panties.”
The Lesbian Avengers have three primary
demands: that the CDC conduct thorough studies
of the possibility of woman-to-woman HIV trans
mission, that it fund outreach efforts directed at
lesbian and bisexual women, and that the agency
revise its definition of "lesbian” so that it more
accurately reflects the lesbian population. Cur
rently the CDC defines a lesbian as "a woman
who hasn’t slept with a man since 1978.”
Although the agency currently claims that the
risk of woman-to-woman transmission is negli
gible, the results of a recent study conducted by
the group Wholistic Health for Women’s Lesbian
Health C linic, in
W est Hollywood,
Calif., tell a differ
ent story. In a survey
of over 6,000
women, the clinic
found that all sexu
ally transmitted dis
eases can be passed
through sex between
women.
“The implication
of these findings is
com pelling,” said
Suzann Gage, R.N.,
C.N .P., executive
director of Wholistic
Health for Women
and the L esbian
Health Clinic. “It
validates our nearly
10 years of clinical
experience in serv
ing and treating les
bians, as well as over
20 years of my own
personal clinic prac
tice in providing
health care for lesbi
ans. Small but sig
nificant numbers of women do become infected
with STDs from unprotected sex with other
wom en. T ransm ission o f STDs betw een
women.. .needs to be taken seriously.”
Gay and lesbian
Republicans meet
Lesbians and gay men met last month in Los
Angeles for the 1994 Log Cabin National Con
vention, the largest political gathering of gay and
lesbian Republican activists ever held. The con
vention drew 150 people from 40 Log Cabin clubs
in 31 states, to report on the progress of the sexual
minority Republican movement.
Messages of support were received from lead
ing Republicans around the country, including
Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, New York
cathartic comics I
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sen. John Chafee (R.I.)
and Oregon’s own Sen. Bob Packwood.
Delegates at the convention elected national
officers. Abner Mason, founding member of the
Massachusetts Black Republican Council, was
elected president; Dr. Evelyn Kotch of Philadel
phia was elected vice-president; and Gregory
Curtis of New Orleans was re-elected secretary.
Resolutions ratified at the convention included
one thanking Republican co-sponsors of the
Em ploym ent Non-
Discrimination Act of
1994 for their recogni
tion that no one in the
United States should
fear for his or her job
because of factors not
related to job perfor
mance. The conven
tion also asked Presi
dent Clinton to direct
the Veterans Administration to establish connec
tions with non-VA hospices in order to provide
services to veterans with HIV/AIDS.
Sen. Barry Gold water (Ariz.) accepted the
Spirit of Lincoln Award, saying, “We are all
Americans, regardless of race, creed or color.
That’s the way we are. That’s the way we want to
live.” Bruce Bawer, author of the book A Place at
the Table: The Gay Individual in American Soci
ety, accepted the Log Cabin Leadership Award.
Job discrimination hits
queers “in the pocketbook”
The University of Maryland at College Park
released in August the results of a study on the
impact of job discrimination targeting lesbians
and gay men. The findings indicate that lesbians
and gay men earn less than their nongay counter
parts of similar education and training, and in
similar occupations. These findings challenge the
stereotype of queers as an “affluent elite.”
“Opponents of equal rights for gay and lesbian
citizens have spread stereotypes and exploited
public misunderstanding about the problem of job
discrimination,” said Oregon Gov. Barbara Rob
erts. “These stereotypes are used to divert atten
tion from the real problem of discrimination and
to oppose equal protection under the law. The
truth is that sexual orientation does not correlate
to income, education or any other class-related
characteristic. Gay and lesbian citizens are found
in every type of workplace and in every commu
nity.”
The study found that gay men earn 11 to 27
percent less than their counterparts, while lesbi
ans earn 5 to 14 percent less. Hearings are being
held currently in Washington, D.C., on the Em
ployment Non-Discrimination Act, which would
prohibit job discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation.
Queer union activists urge
support of ENDA
The Lesbian/Gay Labor Alliance has called
for the support of Senate Bill 2238, the Employ
ment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994. The AFL-
CIO has already endorsed the bill, which was
introduced by Sens. Kennedy and Chafee.
In a statement of support, the AFL-CIO said,
‘T his bill extends the legal protections from em
ployment discrimination provided to those who
have historically been denied equal opportunity
in the workplace. It is a step in the right direction
of providing equal opportunity for all Ameri
cans.”
Nancy Wohlforth, L/GLA co-chair, said, “We
seek support statements from the labor movement
at all levels— union locals, central labor councils,
state federations and the international unions— in
order to bring the full influence of organized labor
upon congressional delegations. This is just one
more statement of labor’s historical support for
the rights of lesbian and gay men in the work
place.”
Two men overcome
four assailants
Andrew Miller of Manhattan and Terrence
Joyette of Brooklyn were attacked early one Sun
day morning as they crossed an intersection in
New York City. Their assailants, four young men,
began by shouting anti-gay insults, then jumped
out of their truck and began a physical assault,
according to The New York Native.
Miller and Joyette responded by fighting back,
beating three of the assailants badly enough that
they required treatment at a local hospital after
their arrest. All four of the attackers were charged
with third degree assault and released on their
own recognizance without bail. Their case was
scheduled to be heard in late August.
“We hope this incident spreads the word that
gay men and lesbians can and will fight back
when attacked,” said Matt Foreman, executive
director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian
Anti-Violence Project. “The reality is that we
fight back all the time, but the odds are usually so
far against us, there’s not much we can do.”
Compiled by Jann Gilbert
featuring The Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé
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