Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1997)
10 ▼ June 2 0 . 1 9 9 7 ▼ ju s t o u t national news You'« found the perfect house... Is there anything you've overlooked? Mansion by the sea, rent a lifestyle at the 'EnchantedrB[ue 'Wave Guest House Back in time to Victorian elegance Awaken to ocean views Private oceanfront acreage Sleeps 10+ Whole house rental Baldwin Concert Grand Piano Italian Marble Fireplace Private 8x8 octagonal spa Game room: pool, pinball, sega, Big screen TV & VCR Semi-stocked kitchen $400/night Reservations a must 360 642-3471 From roof to foundation, Landmark Home Inspection professionally inspects for whole-house defects and pest and dry-rot problems. - Travel the world, but call us first. Don’t let today’s dream become tomorrow’s nightmare. Call an expert. You'll sleep better tonight! Tim Atkinson Property Inspector Licensed Bonded Insured J*HA IVA Inspections ‘ of Home Inspectors Ore|pa State CCB #110468 mentofAgf!« M reCPO #140432 232-5944 1 - 800 - 232-5944 Londm ork Home Inspection R O . B O X 4-701 PO RTLAN D . O R E G O N 0 7 2 O B ( 5 0 3 ) 3 1 0 -1 2 4 -4 - V O I C E (5 0 3 ) 2 3 0 -4 0 0 0 FAX 1939 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, Oregon PABA makes Networking easy-and fun . The Portland Area Business Association is here to help you make your business successful. We provide excellent opportu nities for you to promote your business to gay men, lesbians and their friends in business. Our monthly luncheons offer a forum to meet dynamic and influential people in politics, business and the arts. We offer dozens of social activ ities, from plays to parties to picnics. Our monthly After Hours gatherings allow socializing in fun and relaxed settings. Attend some of our upcoming events. Before you know it, you'll form valuable business relation ships— and good friends. For more info, call 241-2222, or visit our Website at www.paba.com. STOP BY THE PABA TENT AT PRIDE ON JUNE 21! JU LY PABA EVENTS A U G U ST PABA EVENTS July 14 Evening River Cruise July 20 Picnic at Blue Lake July 29 After Hours Networking August August August August P O R T IA M O A » t A 7 9 11 21 Zoo Jazz Outing Whitewater Rafting Monthly Luncheon After Hours Networking .VÂ PORTLAND AREA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION 5 0 3 . 241 . 2 22 2 w w w . p a b a . c o m False assum ptions hinder lesbian health care Two original research articles published in the first issue of the Journal o f the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association reveal the need for greater understanding among health care workers of les bian sexual practices, and increased awareness among lesbians of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and gynecological infections. ‘These studies make it clear that the assump tions commonly held within the lesbian commu nity and by health care providers—that lesbians don’t sleep with men and that female-to-female transmission of STDs can’t occur—are faulty,” said GLMA’s public policy director Marj Plumb. “HIV Risk Among Lesbians and Bisexual Women,” to date the largest qualitative study of HIV risk-taking among queer women, found that many lesbians and bisexual women do not believe they are at risk for contracting HIV when having unprotected sex with other women. Through more than 500 peer interviews conducted at women’s clubs and events in San Francisco, researchers learned that women often think it is riskier to have sex with women who identify as bisexual than with women who identify as lesbian. However, the study shows that women who identify as lesbian also have sex with men, and when they do are less likely than bisexual women to use a condom. Twenty percent of the women surveyed said they have had unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sex with men. Co-authors Patricia E. Stevens, R.N., Ph.D., and Joanne M. Hall, R.N., Ph.D., say this is evi dence that women's decisions in this arena are based on their emotions and social needs, and educational programs need to reflect that. The second study emphasizes the need for regular STD screening for lesbians. A survey of 421 women in eastern Massachusetts found that STDs such as gon orrhea, chlam ydia, genital herpes and trichomonas are more common among les bians who have had sex with men in the past (more than 80 percent of lesbian respondents). Researchers still found clear evidence of female-to-female trans mission, however, and warn that lesbians, be cause they typically are not screened for STDs, may be unknowingly transmitting STDs and gy necological infections to their partners. Morning-after HIV treatment gains attention of the method. Many people working in the pre vention field are uneasy about the potential im pact on sexual practices and decisions of wide spread availability of the treatment, but also worry about withholding a treatment that could stop the infection. Other concerns are timing and the cost o f post-exposure therapy, estimated at nearly $1,000 for one month of three-drug treatment on a very strict regimen. Failure to complete the course of treatment or to fol low the prescribed regimen could result in the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the virus, an especially ominous possibility among people engaging in high-risk sex. Law students’ suit threatens to topple activity fee system When three Republican Christian law stu dents sued the University of Wisconsin last year, charging that forcing them to pay for gay-rights groups and a campus women’s center violated their First Amendment rights, few at the generally liberal campus expected the case would get very far. Now, pending an appeal before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court in Chicago, public universities in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana might have to revise their system for funding student activities. According to a Chicago Tribune report, although the issue of student activity fees has shaken col lege campuses in the past, and made it as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, this is the first time a federal appeals court has examined a challenge to the entire system of funding student groups on First Amendment grounds. In 1995, the nation’s high court ruled that the University of Virginia could not deny funding for a religious group. That ruling did not specifically address the potential violation of the First Amend ment, but a concurring opinion written by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor suggested that the manda tory fee system could be susceptible to such a challenge. The California Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that students could not be forced to pay for groups they opposed; an appeal of that case was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The plaintiffs in the Wisconsin case recognize the right of advocacy groups to be on campus, but say they should raise their own funds. Without university support, however, many of those groups would be unable to offer the activities they do. In the case of the gay and lesbian organizations and women’s center specifically mentioned in the plaintiff s complaint, they could not provide coun seling services and support groups. “This will disproportionately disadvantage controversial groups or ones that are small in number, the groups that need supported access to get their ideas out,” said Ruth Harlow of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Health care providers and policymakers are debating whether to make anti-HIV drug therapies widely available as a morning-after treatment for people recently exposed to the virus through un safe sex. According to a story in the Boston Globe, a meeting to discuss the proposal, which is mod eled after preventive treatment routinely offered to health care workers who have been exposed to Open letter attacks HIV, is scheduled for July at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. gay-positive airline Prompt antiviral treatment following acciden tal exposure in a medical setting has proven highly An ad campaign aimed at American Airlines effective. Little research has been done, however, and its gay-friendly policies began May 28 with on the usefulness of post-exposure treatment in an open letter to company CEO Robert Crandall volving unprotected sex with an HIV-positive part that appeared in the Washington Times and other ner. Some studies have suggested that the risk of papers, according to a news release on the HIV transmission depends on the type of exposure PRNewswire. The letter, signed by leaders of the and therefore could be substantially higher for Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, sexual encounters than in cases of occupational the American Family Association, Concerned exposure. Women for America and other right-wing activist While the public debate regarding this treat groups, criticizes the airline for offering discount ment method is only just beginning, the morning- j fares to homosexual partners, sponsoring pride after approach is already being quietly used in events and making donations to queer activist Boston and other cities. Researchers in San Fran groups. Human Rights Campaign and Parents, cisco, meanwhile, are planning a large-scale test Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays were