herself a lesbian and the mother of a 6-month-
old daughter, says the realization that gay men
can have children to whom they are biological
ly related still comes as a pleasant shock to
many of her clients.
“They really come to it with gratitude and
enthusiasm and excitement that this could
possibly happen to them,” she says, adding she
has received hundreds of inquiries nationwide
since starting her service a little over a year
ago.
California does not regulate surrogate agen
cies. Taylor says her basic fee is $47,000, includ
ing medical screenings, legal costs of terminat
ing the surrogate’s parental rights, adoption by
the nonbiological parent and compensation of
$15,000 that is paid to the surrogate over the
course of the pregnancy.
F rom the S trange - b u t -
true F ile
D
enver’s Lutheran High School seriously
pondered expelling a student who came to
class dressed like a gay boy, the Denver
reports.
“Our dress code states that students can’t
wear clothes in such a way to be in opposition
to the B ib le.... He wasn’t asked to leave
because he is gay. He was asked because of the
gay clothing, the gay jewelry,” said the school’s
director, Kenneth Palmreuter.
An admitted fan of the men’s fashion maga
zine G Q , 18-year-old Jeremy Garza had a 3.3
grade-point average, did well on the college
entrance exam, and was only one semester shy
of graduation.
Garza occasionally wore black leather pants
or went retro in polyester, but his so-called gay
clothes did not include shirts emblazoned with
queer-positive messages. He did, however, sport
a rainbow-hued bracelet and necklace that
earned him a few extra Bible quotes from his
theology teacher.
School officials prayed for Garza and repeat
edly asked him to change clothes.
“We don’t want to remove a student just
P rotease P aun ch ?
M a y b e ...
umps and lumps and things that go
paunch at the waist. Some people living
with HIV and A ID S are noticing a redistribu
tion of fat, and perhaps a lessening of lean body
mass, that is changing the shape of their body.
“Crix belly,” “protease paunch” and “buffalo
hump" are nicknames bestowed on these meta
morphoses. And nobody knows what to make
of them.
Even the extent of the condition is in dis
pute. A G im ell University study found that 7
percent of people on protease inhibitors exhib
ited the syndrome, while an Australian study
concluded it was 64 percent. O ther limited
research has fallen somewhere in between.
“I live in Pittsburgh. 1 won’t speak for more
cosmetically sensitive areas, but in Pittsburgh
there is not a lot of quiche,” said Dr. John
Mellors at the 5th Ginference on Retroviruses
and Opportunistic Infections, held in February
in Chicago. “If your viral load is undetectable,
that is pretty good.”
Reporters challenged that attitude as an
example of physicians perhaps not taking their
patients’ comments seriously and viewing this
as a vanity issue.
Mellors apologized for his “attempt at
humor" and said, “As patients go from wrestling
with having a fatal disease to having a future,
H
because he’s sinful. If we did that, we’d all be
gone,” says Palmreuter. “But we do have a dress
code.”
Ultimately, Garza opted to change schools.
H igh S chool B and D rops
D isney W orld T rip
A
Missouri high school band has dropped
plans to perform at Walt Disney World
after months of wrangling with school officials
over whether the amusement park’s corporate
parent promotes
homosexuality,
T he
Associated Press reported Feb. 20.
The dispute, which had divided the small
fishing resort of Stockton, was resolved when
'
' the school band
:
i leader
Marvin
X Manring canceled
Sib® *
V ’18 thC tn P * S3ylng U
was time to put the
W k [ M ' ■'<-' IT- J f l issue to rest.
“It’s no secret
f f i / 7 7 M X S i what a black spot
Post
this has been on our
community,"
Manring said at a Feb. 18 school board meeting,
which was picketed by religious protesters from
neighboring Kansas.
Board vice president Tom Landers said he
disapproved of Disney-owned A B C ’s sitcom
Ellen, whose star and title character are openly
lesbian, and of Disney’s policy of providing ben
efits to same-sex partners of employees.
According to AP, since the Disney World
trip was proposed in November the board had
repeatedly delayed, approval, asking for more
justification. W hen board members declined to
take a vote after Manring presented a 10-page
report Feb. 18, he withdrew the request.
Members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist
Church of Topeka, Kan., gathered outside the
meeting. Several held signs condemning gay
men and lesbians, including one with a drawing
of Mickey Mouse and the words “Rat Fag."
■ Com piled by CHRISTOPHER D. CUTTONE
then other issues become more prominent.”
He added, “We are in a period of ignorance
about the prevalence of this and the mecha
nisms underlying it. I suspect that subtle abnor
malities of metabolism may be identified in a
larger percentage of patients than we currently
believe. But these may have no long-term clin
ical consequence.”
Some speculate the condition is tied to fat
metabolism by the liver, and believe the abnor
malities may be caused by protease inhibitors.
However, some researchers say they have seen
the syndrome in patients who are not taking
those drugs. Preliminary research has been
inconclusive.
According to Dr. Scott Hammer, a Harvard
researcher, theories currently being tossed about
focus on a possible genetic predisposition to the
condition, as well as the possibility that virus-
encoded proteins can alter fat metabolism with
in an individual.
Researchers say these types of metabolic dis
orders are likely to grow in number as patients
with HIV on powerful combination therapies
live longer. Additionally, because they are
slower-emerging conditions, it will likely take
longer to fully understand their implications.
For now at least, Crix belly and its friends do
not appear to be life-threatening.
■ Reported by B ob R oehr
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you that the transaction is in your best financial interest.
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purchasers to ensure that you receive the highest
possible benefits for your insurance policy.
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