Just out., October 06, 2006, Page 21, Image 21

OCTOBERS, 20W JUStQUt 21
for a public figure who has made significant con­
tributions to queer mental health.
Fryer was known as “Dr. H. Anonymous"
when he gave a courageous speech at the 1972
American Psychiatric Association annual meet­
ing, an important spur in the process leading to
the declassification of homosexuality as a men­
tal illness. Gittings and Kameny were on the
same panel as Fryer in 1972 and will be the first
recipients of this award.
Kameny and Gittings are lifelong activists
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., is one of 121
and founding members of the modern gay rights
congressmen supporting a bill that would allow
movement. Both were instrumental in raising
gays to serve openly in the armed forces.
issues that eventually led APA to remove homo­
100 rating for gay-supportive positions from the
sexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical
Human Rights Campaign in its scorecard for the
Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973.
108th Congress.
Kameny had a Ph.D. in astronomy and was fired
from a U.S. civil service position in 1957 when it
CARE Act Moves Forward in House
was discovered that he was gay. He was barred from
The House Committee on Energy and
future government employment. In 1961 he was
Commerce passed a bill Sept. 20 to reauthorize the
one of rhe founders of rhe Mattachine Society, a
Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources
group organized in Washington, D.C., to support
Emergency (CARE) Act. The program provides gay and lesbian civil rights.
critical care and treatment to more than half a mil­
In 1958 Gittings established the first East Coast
lion low-income Americans with HIV and AIDS.
chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian
First passed m 1990, the (.'ARE Act has
civil rights organization in the United States. In
enjoyed wide bipartisan support from Congress and
the mid-1960s she edited its national magazine,
the administration as a tool to address the gaps left
The Ladder: A Lesbian Review.
by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and
Both Gittings and Kameny were openly gay at
other publicly financed health care systems. It is
a time when sodomy laws made homosexuality
the largest source of federal funding devoted exclu­
illegal in all of the United States.
sively to the treatment and care of people living
with HIV/AIDS.
The program’s authorization expired Sept. 30,
Out in America Celebrates
Gay History Month
2005. Funding to provide services to HIV-positive
individuals has continued through the current
Out in America, a city-by-city online destina­
fiscal year, but failure to renew the act by Oct. 1
tion for queer adults, celebrates Gay History Month
would jeopardize continuity of funding for many
this month in partnership with Philadelphia-based
Ryan White programs.
Equality Forum.
“With today’s action, Congress can now move
The Ohio-based Web entity will be home to a
series of 31 video shorts highlighting and celebrating
quickly to pass this must-do legislation. It is a vital
the leaders who have made gay history. A new short
lifeline of services and support for people living
will
be introduced every day for the entire month.
with HIV/AIDS all over the country,” said Joe
Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign president.
“It is our duty to remind people where they
came from,” says CEO Jared Hunnell, “so they will
The group remains deeply concerned about the
inadequate funding authorizations in the bill and
know where they are going.”
The series will highlight famous leaders such as
the failure of Congress to appropriate sufficient
Ellen DeGeneres and Martina Navratilova and will
funds to offset potential losses for communities
introduce some who might not be as well-known to
such as New York and San Francisco. “Congress
must increase funding for the CARE Act so that no’ the public.
“Celebrating Gay History Month will show
community’s system of care is destabilized.
young people who we are as a community,” says
Reauthorization should not result in winners and
COO Michael Reese. "This demonstrates our mis­
losers,” added Solmonese.
sion as a company to always give back.”
HRC singled out for praise the leadership and
Along with the video shorts, Out in America
hard work of Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Edward
will introduce a detailed timeline of queer history
Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas,
from 12,000 B.C. to the present day. This timeline
and John Dingell, D-Mich., and their staff who
will demonstrate the impact and influence of the
worked in a bipartisan, bicameral process to create
sexual minorities community since the dawn of
a compromise bill.
civilization.
The bill now goes to the full Senate and House
The Out in America print division reaches
for their approval before it can go to President
more than 100,000 readers every month with its
Bush’s desk for his signature.
award-winning publication, its 178 city sites span
from New York to Los Angeles as well as across
Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom, all of
Psychiatrists to Honor
which are collectively frequented by millions of
Gay Advocates
visitors monthly, making it the largest city-based
The Association of Gay and Lesbian
queer media network in the United States. For
Psychiatrists (AGLP) and the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) will honor Barbara
more information visit www.outinamerica.com or
www.glbthistorymonth.com. ©
Gittings and Frank Kameny on Oct. 7 in New
York. During the past year, AGLP successfully
raised $50,000 to endow the John E. Fryer Award
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