j u s t o u t ▼ July 7. 1 0 9 5 ▼ 7
We are everywhere.
v \
Presidential HiV/AIDS
council created
The Clinton administration announced a Presi
dential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS on June
15, and nobody cared. Not the White House,
which did not schedule a meet-and-greet photo
opportunity— standard for such bodies. Not the
president, who was on his way to an international
summit. Not AIDS activists, who, more than two
years ago, greeted the suggestion of such a group
with everything from a yawn to outright hostility.
The chairman is R. Scott Hitt, a gay Los
Angeles physician with one of the largest HIV
practices in the nation. He is also on the boards of
the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and AIDS
Project Los Angeles.
Other members include Bob Hattoy, openly
gay member of the Clinton administration, and
Alexander Robinson, longtime lobbyist on AIDS
issues with the American Civil Liberties Union.
Seven members of the 30-member panel have yet
to be named.
In May of last year John Gurrola, spokesman
for then AIDS czar Kristine Gebbie, said that 17
people had been cleared by the White House for
the commission and that he expected the full
compliment “soon.”
That was before Gebbie was fired and the
office on AIDS policy was reduced from about 25
to only 4 employees.
Mark Barnes, executive director of the AIDS
Action Council, cautioned, “Our community is
looking to the president for leadership and action,
not for more open-ended study.”
“It’s worse than useless,” said Steve Michael
of ACT UP-Washington, “because it gives some
people the sense that Clinton is doing something
on AIDS when, in fact, he is not.”
“The question for us now is not only does the
president have the courage, but does he have the
relevance? Or, is he on the fringe?” said Bill
Freeman, executive director of the National As
sociation of People With AIDS. ‘T he question
right now is whether or not this administration
can deliver on anything.”
Robinson held little optimism that the council
would have a significant impact. But for him the
options were “to say no, or say yes and hope you
will make a difference.”
Cynics note the pattern of the Clinton White
House on AIDS issues: Some son of “activity” is
stage-managed around the time of lesbian and
gay pride activities at the start of summer and
again for World AIDS Day in December. The rest
of the year it’s silence, as the plague continues its
killing ways.
Bob Roehr
Gay series premieres
on PBS
Denver Public Broadcasting System station
KBDI made broadcast history last month when it
premiered Network Q: Out Across America, the
first weekly gay and lesbian television series.
Thirteen one-hour episodes of the show are being
distributed via satellite to PBS stations nation
wide.
A handful of stations have confirmed they
will carry the series. Those stations include WNET
in New York; WLRN in Miami; WYBE in Phila
d e lp h ia ;
and
KBDI in Denver.
The program is
d is trib u te d by
Continental Pro
gram Marketing,
a service of the
C entral Educa
tional Network.
O regon Public
Broadcasting currently has no plans to air the
series.
Out Across America has a format similar to
the On the Road series. The show travels to
different regions, profiling the people, issues and
events in the gay and lesbian community. Loca
tions visited by the series include New York; Los
Angeles; Seattle; Denver; Atlanta; Ovett, Miss.;
Boston; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; New Orleans;
Salt Lake City; Austin, Texas; and Sydney, Aus
tralia.
The series is an independent production of the
Southeastern Arts, Media and Education Project,
a 501 (c3) organization in Atlanta, Ga. Out Across
America is funded entirely through private dona
tions. It is not underwritten by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting, and is provided to PBS
member stations at no cost.
Kristine Chatwood
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Ithaca mayor supports
same-sex marriage
The Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal reports that Mayor
Benjamin Nichols wants to issue a marriage
license to a gay male couple who recently applied
for one. “It is my belief that it is appropriate for
same-sex marriages to take place,” Nichols told
the Ithaca Common Council.
City Attorney Charles Guttman also favors
issuing the marriage license to Toshav Greene
and
P h illip
Storrs. Others,
including some
gay- and le s
bian-rights ac
tivists, are con
cerned the tim
ing may not be
right.
A sim ila r
case is currently
before the Hawaii Supreme Court. Some advo
cates are concerned that if Ithaca issues a license
to Greene and Storrs which is then challenged in
New York’s courts the outcome could adversely
affect the Hawaii decision. If New York courts
did not uphold same-sex marriages, that could
establish a precedent that Hawaii’s court would
follow.
Kristine Chatwood
Training for now Lino Advocates
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Tuesday, July 18, 7-9 pm
The Lesbian Forum presents
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Jury awards $10.5 million
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One of 10 youths convicted in the 1991 gay
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Six more young men are scheduled to go to
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Kristine Chatwood
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