9 ▼ « o p tem bor 1 5 . 1 9 0 5 T Just o u t
national news
Portland Center Stage Announces
the G.A.L.A.* Series
Five Spectacular Productions
Our 1995-96
Season Runs October - April
Featuring the world premier of
Comfort and
Joy by Jack Heifner, a comedy about Tony and
Scott, in love and in Los Angeles at the holidays,
and what happens when their families come to
call... and...
From the Mississippi
Delta by Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland, the
story of a remarkable African-American woman's
journey from poverty to personal power...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by
William Shakespeare, the immortal fantasy of
romance in the fairy-enchanted forest; a co
production with choreographer Robert Davidson...
The Road to Mecca by Athol Fugard,
fearful villagers force compromises that may
change Miss Helen’s life as an artist - and as an
independent woman... Private
Lives by Noël
Coward, martinis, cigarette holders, a moonlit
terrace, the South of France...need “oui” say more?
Tuesday nights at 7:00pm, with receptions
following at area restaurants with the cast
and fellow G.A.L.A. members. . .Series tickets
begin at just $49.50 for all five shows and
receptions. . .Call 5 0 3 . 2 7 4 * ^ 5 for
information and reservations
just out
* G a v
a n d
L e s b i a n
A u d i e n c e s
Illinois OKs lesbian
adoptions
NEA funds NAMES
quilt display
A year-long legal battle by two lesbian couples
seeking to adopt their children ended Aug. 24
when a Cook County judge granted their petition.
The judgment order follows an Illinois Appellate
Court ruling in July which held that unmarried
couples, including gay men and lesbians, have the
same adoption rights as married and single par
ents under Illinois law.
One of the couples, Kay and Deb (not their real
names), seeks to adopt jointly their three-year-old
daughter, whom Kay conceived via anonymous
donor insemination. The couple have shared re
sponsibility for the child since her birth. They
want the joint adoption to secure a legal relation
ship between the child and Deb without disturb
ing the parental rights of Kay.
The second couple, Kathy and Mary (not their
real names), are seeking the joint adoption of
Kathy’s two children, one of whom was con
ceived via donor insemination and one of whom
was adopted.
The National Endowment for the Arts has made
the first major contribution toward the October
1996 display of the entire NAMES Project AIDS
Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C. The NEA’s
$20,000 donation kicks off an aggressive fund
raising campaign for the display.
It is estimated the 19% display will be twice as
large as the last showing of the entire quilt four
years ago, and over 23 times larger than the first
display in 1987. Almost 45,000 panels will lie on
the National Mall, stretching from the Capitol to
the Washington Monument. The quilt will weigh
60 tons and will cover an area the size of 27 football
fields.
Keith Haring work to
grace chapel
A large bronze altarpiece, the last major work
completed by Keith Haring before his death in
1990, will be the cornerstone of the AIDS Memo
Queer youth
complete leadership
training
Last month, 25 youth activists from
across the United States completed a
week-long Youth Leadership Train
ing Institute, sponsored by the Na
tional Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The participants were chosen from
among 140 applicants.
The NGLTF Youth Institute was
created to increase the confidence,
skills and leadership abilities of the
participants. Each person attending
the Institute committed to applying
the skills learned at the training to a
specific project back home. Work
shop topics included: alliance build
ing, conflict resolution, hotlines, statewide/rural
networks, youth organizing in the age of HIV/
AIDS, public speaking, Internet activism and
organizing by and for people of color.
Medi-Cal to pay fur
experimental AIDS
treatment
Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program,
now provides full reimbursement coverage for
the human growth hormone Serostim. Used to
combat wasting in people with AIDS, Serostim is
the first product made available through the Food
and Drug Administration’s Treatment Investiga
tional New Drug program to be covered by Medi-
Cal . Impoverished Californians living with AIDS
wasting will now have access to this treatment.
Currently, nine other state Medicaid programs,
and more than 25 private insurers across the
country, authorize reimbursement for Serostim
on a case-by-case basis. Medi-Cal, the second-
largest Medicaid provider in the country, is the
first to authorize full reimbursement across the
board.
Results of phase III clinical studies show that
patients taking Serostim gained an average of 6.6
pounds of lean body mass during the 12-week
protocol. Additionally, patients who gained lean
body mass had improved strength and endurance
as measured by their performance on treadmill
tests.
People interested in accessing Serostim under
the Treatment IND program should call the
Serostim Access Line at 1-800-714-2437.
rial Chapel being built in San Francisco’s Grace
Cathedral.
The chapel will hold approximately 30 people.
It was conceived as a place of solace and medita
tion for people whose lives have been affected by
AIDS. In addition to the Haring altarpiece, the
chapel will house a changing display of panels
from the NAMES Project quilt, a changing display
of work by artists living with AIDS, and a large
hand-bound “Book of Remembrances,” memori
alizing friends and loved ones through donations.
Congress placates
homophobe
Republican members of Congress, making good
on a Newt Gingrich promise, have scheduled a
special hearing so that Lou Sheldon, lobbyist for
the right-wing Traditional Values Coalition, can
air his views on school programs created to address
violence and discrimination against gay and les
bian youth.
Staff of Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chair
of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee
of the House Economic and Educational Opportu
nities Committee, responding to inquiries from the
Human Rights Campaign Fund, confirmed that
Sheldon would get his hearing by Thanksgiving.
Sheldon once called for men, women and chil
dren with HIV/AIDS to be confined in concentra
tion camps. Those remarks appeared in an inter
view published in the Nov. 26, 1989, issue of The
Los Angeles Times. He has also backed a number
of anti-sexual-minority initiatives in California.
_ __________________________ ,__________________________________________
Compiled by Kristine Chatwood
4