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Episcopal bishop cleared
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By a vote of 7-1, a special Episcopal Church
court panel ruled that church doctrine does not
forbid the ordination of practicing gay men and
lesbians, according to a Reuter report. The deci­
sion means that retired Bishop Walter Righter,
accused of heresy for o^aining Barry Stopfel as.
a deacon in 1990,
will not face a
church heresy trial.
This is the first
heresy
charge
brought by the
Episcopal Church
since 1924. The
church court panel
of bishops began
deliberation in Feb­
ruary, focusing on
w hether church
doctrine banned the
ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, and
whether Bishop Righter violated his vows when
he ordained Stopfel.
The decision can be appealed. It is expected
that conservatives will push for a formal prohibi­
tion in church law against the ordination of gay
men and lesbians. The soonest such measures can
be considered is at the July 1997 general conven­
tion of the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church has no celibacy re­
quirement for heterosexual priests and allows
them to marry.
discovery of fusin opens up important possibili­
ties: It may yield an explanation of exactly how
HIV infects the CD4 cells of the immune system,
and how, if other variants of fusin are discovered,
the virus invades other white blood cells called
macrophages that act as long-term reservoirs for
HIV. In addition, fusin molecules could help lead
to a new class of AIDS drugs and, perhaps, a
vaccine, that would block the fusins and prevent
HIV from invading the cells.
At least two other laboratories have confirmed
Berger’s discovery.
Routine vaccinations spark
jump in HIV production
According to a study published in May’s New
England Journal o f Medicine, tetanus shots can
cause a dramatic surge in the amount of HIV
produced in people infected with the virus. Ac­
cording to a Reuter report, the research, conducted
by Dr. Sharilyn K. Stanley and other researchers at
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, may explain why frequent illness seems
to make HIV more aggressive, especially in coun­
tries where people are frequently exposed to vi­
ruses, bacteria and parasites.
The study involved giving tetanus boosters to
23 people, 13 of whom were infected with HIV but
were asymptomatic. Those infected with HIV
started producing between two and 36 times more
copies of the virus. Blood samples from the 10
uninfected participants also were studied. The blood
cells of seven of those 10 became easier to infect
with HIV after the tetanus shot.
HIV home test kit
approved by FDA
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The first home test kit for detecting HIV won
approval May 14 from the Federal Food and Drug
Administration. The FDA based its approval on
data showing that each of the components of the
test system, as well as the complete system, was
safe and effective, according to a Reuter report.
The test kit system, called the Confide HIV
Testing Service, was developed and will be mar­
keted by Direct Access Diagnostics, a subsidiary
of Johnson & Johnson.
The system consists of three integrated com­
ponents: an over-the-counter home blood collec­
tion kit; HIV-1 antibody testing at a certified lab;
and a test result center that provides the test
results, counseling and anonymous referral.
For now, the kit will be available for over-the-
counter purchase in Texas only. People living in
Texas and Florida will be able to purchase kits
through a toll-free number. Kits purchased by
phone will be mailed confidentially to purchasers.
The cost of the test kit has not yet been
announced.
Protein that helps HIV
infect blood cells found
An article published May 10 in the journal
Science reports that Edward A. Berger and a team
of AIDS researchers at the National Institutes of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases have identified a
specialized protein that is thought to be crucial for
HIV to infect the white blood cells of the immune
system. This discovery is the result of a decadelong
search for the “co-factors” that scientists believe
must exist for HIV to fuse with the specialized
cells it invades.
The protein, named “fusin,” is thought to be
the first detected of a number of molecules that
enable HIV to invade other immune system cells
and cells in the brain and intestines.
According to Dr. Warner C. Greene, director
of the Gladstone Institute of Virology at the
University of California at San Francisco, the
Stanley and her team emphasized that these
findings do not mean that people infected with
HIV should stop receiving immunizations, say­
ing the protection provided by vaccinations far
outweighs the short-term increase in HIV produc­
tion in the body.
The increase in HIV in the bodies of those
vaccinated peaked after about 13 days and disap­
peared after six weeks.
Gay center’s ad in school
newspaper draws flak
The Billy DeFrank Lesbian and Gay Commu­
nity Center in San Jose, Calif., offers a safe place
for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual youth or
those who are questioning their sexuality to talk
with other teens or to receive referrals to profes­
sionals. Ads for the center run in most of the high
school newspapers in Santa Clara County.
After refusing for two years to run the center’s
ad, Gilroy High School’s newspaper, The Free
Press, reversed its policy, reports the San Jose
Mercury News. The ad lists discussion groups and
support groups available to youth aged 14 to 17.
Gilroy High School Principal Ernie Zermeno
said he agreed to publish the ad this year because
teachers, school graduates and the district’s health
official convinced him the services were needed
by some of the students.
Patty Rink, a Gilroy mother who opposes
homosexuality on moral grounds, and Pastor Eric
Smith of Gilroy’s South Valley Community
Church, have both been public about their disap­
proval of the ad. Rink plans to take the issue to the
school board.
Compiled by Kristine Chatwood