2 ▼ M p to m lw r 5 , 1 9 9 7 T ju s t o u t
just out
out
s in c e 1 9 8 3
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
contents
Renée LaChance
VOL. 14 NO. 21 SEPTEMBER 5,1997
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelly M. Bryan
FEATURES
NEWS EDITOR
Inga Sorensen
REPORTERS
Surely you fest
Boh Roehr
Rex Wockner
I t’s time fo r the annual
pilgrimage to Cinema 21 fo r
Sensory Perceptions
(PP- 19-21)
EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES
Christopher D. Cuttone
Will O’Bryan
DEPARTMENTS
CALENDAR EDITOR
Kristine Chatwood
PHOTOGRAPHER
World news
Linda Kliewer
Algeria’s terrorist group is
killing gays; a Beijing gay
group is targeting Chinese
psychiatrists
(p. 4)
OFFICE MANAGER
Will O’Bryan
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Meg Grace
National news
ADVERTISING REP
Needle-exchange programs
under fire; the APA goes after
conversion therapy; long-term
cancer risk fo r those with HIV
(PP 5-9)
Marty Davis
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
E. Ann Hinds
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Local news
Rupert Kinnard
PRODUCTION
Christopher D. Cuttone
The Portland Area Business Association luncheon in August featured guest speaker Steve Oster, supervising producer o f
Deep Space Nine. Behind him, a scene from a 1995 episode where Jadzia Dax, a primary character, kisses an old flame.
DISTRIBUTION
Trina Altman
Kathy Bethel
Lynette Boatman
Jim Galluzzo
Graphic Oasis
ed itorial
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COLUMNS
Youth
CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Hatton
Paul Harris
Lee Lynch
Gip Plaster
ENDA initiative still pondered;
Bend Christian conference
causes stir; PABA feels
stonewalled by guv
(PP- 1 H 7 )
Genocidal neglect
A young gay man crafts
fatherhood
(P 31)
Stonewall baby
Secretary Donna Do-Nothing needs to lift the ban on federal spending for
needle exchange programs
Will O 'Bryan's curiosity
wins over his fear
V
(P- 32)
by Sean Strubb
f I were the parent of a sexually active teenage girl, 1
would be scared to death and mad as hell at Health and
Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
I
Why? Because her failure to lift the ban on federal
funding of needle-exchange programs has caused thou­
sands of young women (girls, really) to acquire HIV from
older, injection-drug-using male partners.
That’s the underlying cause of the tremendous increase in
HIV among girls 13 to 20. Most of these, along with about half
of the pediatric cases, can be linked to dirty needles and the
cold feet of Donna Shalala.
To many activists, these new HIV cases will be known as
the Shalala Infections until Donna Do-Nothing lifts her ban on
federal funding of needle exchange programs.
Her failure to do so will stand, historically, as an act of
genocidal neglect. Elizabeth Taylor, last summer at the Inter­
national AIDS Conference in Vancouver, called the failure to
fund needle exchange “a measured act of premeditated mur­
der.” Papers with as diverse an editorial viewpoint as The New
York Times and the Chicago Tribune have strongly urged the
Clinton administration to find the political guts to fund needle
exchange.
Secretary Shalala’s record on this issue is pathetic, if not
criminal. First she suppressed a pair of Centers for Disease
Control reports urging the administration to lift the ban. Then
she ignited an international firestorm of criticism from scien­
tists
more than
year ago, and
when
she
lied about
findings
from
controversy
over a research”
that
“experis
disagree”
whether
research
on
needle
exchange.
She
falsely
claimed
there
was
needle exchange reduces new infections or increases use “a
of
Amazon trail
illegal drugs. (In fact, there is unprecedented unanimity among
researchers and public health experts on these two points.)
Shalala granted former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders an
OK to lift the ban, but then quickly rescinded it after the
Republicans swept the 1994 congressional elections. Elders
recently commented about the difference between “commit­
ment” and “concern” when it comes to AIDS. There is no
compromise on commitment, she said, while concern leaves a
lot of leeway.
Secretary Shalala is perhaps concerned. But her commit­
ment is clearly to her own cowardly protection of a president
terrified of taking any action that could be misconstrued by the
right wing as evidence he is soft on drugs—even if the price of
that cowardice is the infection of tens of thousands.
But what about Shalala’s subordinates? Her supporters?
Where are they on needle exchange? Do they offer lip service,
or have they strongly lobbied Secretary Shalala, in writing, to
lift the ban? Are they willing to accept the responsibility that
their silence today truly means death tomorrow for thousands?
Every genocidal atrocity requires “good soldiers” willing to
overlook the impact of their actions...or their silence.
Increasingly, those who went into the Clinton campaign
“committed” to fight AIDS have since been co-opted and can
now only claim the mantle of “concern.”
For those who haven’t spoken up, they ought do so immedi­
ately. And loudly. They can still save their honor—and a place
in history—by acting now. In the process, they can also save
lives.
Reprint rights granted by POZ Publishing, L.L.C.
Still learning that stereotypes
mask exceptions
(p. 33)
View from here
In bareback sex debate
no one is safe
(p. 34)
ARTS
Books
Sittin' pretty in years to come
may depend on this book
(p. 27)
Televison
PBS ’ In the Life celebrates five
years with special episode
(P- 28)
Entertainment
Emmy nominations recognize
gay themes; Cirque Ingenieux
comes to town
(P- 29)