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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1997)
6 ▼ a u g u s t 1, 1 9 9 7 ▼ j u s t o u t IT IS STILL IN OREGON TO OISCRIMINATfVf IN THE WORWLA ä L BASED O N B B BBBBBB U 9 f c i B | SEXUAL R I S J J & r ie n t a t io n m M te u l ARE WE H B READY TO CHANGE THA Come to a Community Meeting to discuss the pros and cons of taking a proac tive stance to put ENDA on the November 1998 ballot. Hands Off Washington’s Jan Bianchi will talk about Washington’s ENDA. national news Clinton meets with gay and lesbian activists President Clinton spent more than an hour with a dozen gay and lesbian activists during a July 22 meeting. The group discussed a range of issues includ ing gay-related adoptions, homeless gay and les bian youth, and problems facing gay men and lesbians in rural areas, such as access to HIV/ AIDS services. The group also discussed Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy on gay men and lesbians in the military. “We made it clear there are a number of instances in which the administration has come down on the wrong side of issues that are impor tant to us, not the least of which is the gays-in-the- military issue,” says Lorri Jean, executive direc tor of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Clinton, however, pledged his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a federal measure which prohibits firing or discriminating against an employee on the basis of sexual orien tation. According to The Associated Press, Clinton also assured the group he has put forth five nomi nations of openly gay people for administration jobs that require Senate confirmation. Maria Echaveste, White House director of public liaison, told the AP the president wants gay and lesbian appointees so that his administration can provide an example of how to reduce anti -gay attitudes in the workplace. New wrinkles in ongoing Hawaii marriage fight Meanwhile, the broadness of the new law, under which registered pairs need not know each other, live together or even be state residents, is causing some confusion, particularly for business operators. The state expects thousands of couples to apply over the next few months, and businesses are worried that their medical insurance costs will rise, reports The Associated Press. That fear moti vated the Hawaii Business Health Council, representing 30 of the state’s largest companies, to lobby for a gubernatorial veto. Furthermore, on July 18, a coalition of five companies filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging the legislation violates the federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act’s provisions governing health coverage. HIV risk from ‘French’ kissing linked to gum disease Federal health officials are reporting the first documented case of HIV transmission by open- mouth kissing. The July 10 report from the Centers for Dis ease Control and Prevention emphasizes that both the woman who contracted the virus and her HIV- positive male partner had gum disease as well as poor oral hygiene and that transmission occurred via the man’s blood, not his saliva. The CDC says the woman ’ s gum di sease weak ened and thinned her gums, making it easier for the virus to enter her blood, and the man's gums often bled when he brushed and flossed his teeth, Gov. Ben Cayetano allowed Hawaii’s pro gressive “reciprocal beneficiaries” legislation to become law July 8 without his signature, as a signal to lawmakers that they should rewrite the bill, reports the Honolulu Advertiser. The new law grants gay and lesbian couples, as well as other pairs of adults who can’t legally marry, about 50 marriage-associated benefits, including health and vehicle insurance coverage, hospital visitation, joint ownership and inherit ance rights. It does not grant child custody rights or the right to file joint income tax returns. Cayetano wants the law to be limited to gay and lesbian couples, and claims lawmakers caved in to pressure from the religious right to include other people who can’t legally wed. Federal researchers told United Press Interna tional that transmission occurred when the woman was exposed to the man’s blood-tainted saliva during regular episodes of passionate kissing be tween July 1994 and July 1995. The couple say they used condoms faithfully with only one known malfunction, and while they engaged in oral sex, the researchers do not believe that was the cause of the woman’s infection. Dr. Scott Holmberg, a CDC epidemiologist, told UPI the exact route of transmission is un clear, but “the most likely possibility is that the woman was infected through her mucous mem brane.” DNA tests prove the virus in the woman’s | blood came from her partner. Since 1986 the CDC has recommended that couples not kiss deeply if one of the partners is HIV-positive. The recommendation is based on the bleeding Part of a two-bill package intended to circum gums scenario, as there are no recorded cases of vent court action to legalize same-gender matri HIV transmission through saliva, or social kiss mony, the legislation was passed along with a ing, according to the CDC. proposed November 1998 ballot initiative re questing a constitutional amendment to confine marriage to opposite-sex couples. Terrance Tom, the state House’s chief nego tiator on the issue, told the Advertiser he felt no pressure from the religious right and that he didn’t After months of correspondence and meet opt to limit the bill to gay men and lesbians, ings, author and activist Larry Kramer has with because that would amount to discrimination drawn his offer to bequeath several million dol against others who cannot marry. lars to Yale University for the endowment of a The Senate’s major player in the negotiations, permanent, tenured professorship in gay and les Matt Matsunaga, however, had attempted to re bian studies. strict the law’s scope to same-sex couples and According to the New York Times, the univer affirmed his willingness to do so via a rewrite. sity was unwilling to submit to Kramer’s stipula The Senate had also proposed a one-year resi tions, favoring instead a series of visiting profes dency requirement and a stipulation that the sors from the many disciplines spanned by gay couples must cohabit. and lesbian studies. Activist butts head with prominent university