The Latest Q^POLL Results
Should property owners have the right to refuse to
rent to gay and lesbian tenants if homosexuality
contradicts their religious beliefs?
Yes
0%
No
94“"“
Undecided
6“"“
The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Vote at www.q-notes.com
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 15, Number 4 • July 8, 2000 • FREE
Rogue ACT-UP chapters shock advocates by Cancer epidemic
calling for an end to federal funding for AIDS facing gay men
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
While national AIDS service and ad
vocacy organizations were commend
ing the US Senate for reautho
rizing the Ryan White
CARE Act — and ^
urging the House
of Representatives \ ~
to quickly follow
their lead — four
rogue ACT-UP chap
ters were jointly issuing
a statement and attempt
ing to place an advertise
ment demanding that Con
gress “Pull the Plug on AIDS
Fraud.” Both the gay weekly The
Washington Blade and the Congres
sional weekly The Hill declined to
run the ads.
In a move that drew immediate fire from
AIDS medical specialists, activists and other
chapters, ACT-UP groups in San Francisco, At
lanta, Hollywood and Toronto called for “the
elimination of all federal AIDS funding admin
istered through the Ryan White CARE Act
and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program” ar
guing that AIDS is “outrageously
overfunded” relative to other diseases.
Packets sent to Congressmembers
from ACT-UP San Francisco claimed
“current services based on the
erronious hypothesis that HIV
causes AIDS are fundamentally
flawed.”
The San Francisco chap
ter, like the others in their
effort, are considered “AIDS
dissidents” — a term used to
describe those who refute the no
tion that HIV causes AIDS, based on the
writings of controversial Berkeley virologist Pe
ter Duesberg.
In addition, he and his adherents propose
that AIDS is not sexually transmitted and that
AIDS-related diseases are the result of AZT and
the use of recreational drugs.
Larry Kramer, founder of ACT-UP and co
founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the nation’s
first AIDS-specific health agency, issued a blis
tering statement June 21 charging that the
ACT-UP chapters behind the defunding cam
paign had been “infiltrated” and “usurped by
people wh6 do not stand for the code of ethics
and beliefs...that motivate the original chap
ters.” [Ed. Note: Kramers full statement can be
found in the “Letters” section on page 6. More
commentary can be found in “Viewpoint" on the
same page^
Amidst this flap, on June 29, AIDS Action,
the nation’s largest AIDS advocacy, organiza
tion representing more than 3200 community
based AIDS service agencies, praised Reps. Tom
Coburn (R-OK) and Henry Waxman (D-CA)
for crafting legislation to reauthorize the Ryan
White CARE Act in the House and ensure con
tinued services for low-income Americans liv
ing with HIV and AIDS. T
doctor says
New guidebook for transgender advocacy released
by Graham Seagroves
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DG—The Policy Insti
tute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF) and the National Genter for Lesbian
Rights (NCLR) released the nation’s first com
prehensive organizing manual designed to edu
cate policymakers about transgender issues and
to provide model strategies for activists seeking
an end to discrimination against transgender
people.
The publication, Transgender Equality: A
Handbookfor Activists and Policymakers, reviews
some 25 years of transgender advocacy and was
co-authored by national leaders in transgender
activism: City University of New York Associ
ate Professor Paisley Currah and NCLR Senior
Staff Attorney Shannon Minter, with an intro
duction by Jamison Green, past president of
FTM International and current board chair of
Gender Education and Advocacy, Inc.
“ Transgender Equality is a powetful educa
tional tool that marks a turning point for the
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender move
ment,” said NGLTF Executive Director Eliza
beth Toledo. “This book works toward break
ing down the barriers that have divided our
movement for decades. It empowers all of us
— not only transgendered people, but also gay,
lesbian, and bisexual people and allies — to ad
vocate effectively for inclusive equality in our
communities and workplaces.”
Through 27 personal stories and case stud
ies, Transgender Equality defines and describes
appropriate terms and issues; discusses the ways
sexual orientation and gender identity overlap
and differ; examines the role of gender vari
ance in homophobia and anti-gay violence;
provides information on efforts to achieve ba
sic legal protections for transgendered people;
and suggests strategies for advancing inclusive
anti-discrimination, safe schools, and hate-
crimes legislation.
Perhaps the most significant contribution of
the book is its demonstration of how the fear
that including transgendered people “will kill
gay anti-discrimination bills” is almost always
exaggerated and based far more on unfounded
speculation than on realistic assessment.
In fact, anti-discrimination laws that include
See TRANSGENDER on page 11
by Alan Klein
Special to Q-Notes
NEW YORK—The gay male community
is on the brink of a new epidemic according to
a groundbreaking study presented last month
at the annual meeting of the American Society
of Colon and Rectal Sutgeons showing a star
tling increase in anal cancer in gay men.
The increase is attributable to the human
Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted
virus that causes cervical cancer in women and
which is found in nearly 100 percent of HIV
positive gay men and in approximately 65 per
cent of HIV-negative gay men.
“The alarming rise in anal cancer in gay men
is a wake up call to the gay community and to
healthcare providers worldwide,” said Dr.
Stephen Goldstone, co-founder and medical
director of GayHealth.com, the study’s spon
sor. “We cannot afford to ignore the signs of
this impending epidemic nor can gay men or
their physicians ignore even the slightest anal
abnormality simply because they may be too
embarrassed to discuss it.”
Dr. Goldstone studied more than 200 men
referred to his New York City surgical practice
for presumed benign anorectal diseases includ
ing anal warts, hemorrhoids, fissures, fistulas
and anal itch. Patients received general physi
cals followed by thorough anorectal examina
tions, including the administering of anal Pap
smears. Dr. Goldstone found that 68 percent
of HIV-positive men had abnormal and some
times pre-cancerous growth of cells, as did 45
percent of HIV-negative men.
Overall, 60 percent of all patients referred
for benign anorectal disease exhibited signs of
abnormal cell-growth. Three percent of gay men
examined had invasive anal cancer. For HIV-
infected gay men, the likelihood of developing
anal cancer increases 34-fold, according to data
reported to the National Institutes of Health
See CANCER on page 11
Supreme Court holds that Boy Scouts can discriminate against gays
by Clay Ollis
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—A divided United
States Supreme Court ruled June 28 that the
Boy Scouts of America is exempt from state laws
that bar discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation because such constraints would in
hibit their right of free expression.
“[The Boy Scouts] have won for themselves
the dubious right to be bigoted and exclusion
ary. They have convinced the highest court in
the land, and have shown the rest of the coun
try, that they stand for discrimination,” said
Evan Wolfson, Senior Staff Attorney for the
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund,
who argued the case in April.
He added, “The Supreme Court said BSA
has a right to discriminate, but didn’t say that
anti-gay discrimination is right. And thanks to
this case, there is now awareness that gay kids,
like all kids, deserve programs that offer inclu
sion and support.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which
filed a brief in the case, called the decision “dam
aging but limited,” saying it will not reach far
beyond groups like the Boy Scouts, and will
not broadly overturn state and local laws ban
ning discrimination based on sexual orienta
tion. Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU Les
bian and Gay Rights Project, commented,
“Anti-gay groups did not get the ‘free pass’ they
were looking for to dismantle civil rights laws
that provide equal protection to lesbians and
gay men. This ruling is limited to groups that
exist for the purpose of expressing views and
ideas.”
While they did not endorse BSA’s discrimi
nation, the Justices, by a 5-4 vote, nonetheless
held that the application of the New Jersey Law
“Until today, we have
never once found a
claimed right to associate
in the selection of
members to prevail in the
face of a State's anti-
discrimination law.”
— Justice Stevens
Against Discrimination to BSA’s ban on gay
scouts violated the group’s first amendment
rights. The majority, led by Chief Justice Will
iam Rehnquist, wrote that reinstating Dale
“would significantly affect” BSA’s expression.
Chief Justice Rehnquist’s opinion was joined
by Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin
Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence
Thomas.
Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissenting opin
ion declared, “Until today, we have never once
found a claimed right to associate in the selec
tion of members to prevail in thq face of a State’s
anti-discrimination law. To the contrary, we ,
have squarely held that a State’s anti-discrimi
nation law does not violate a group’s right to
associate simply because the law conflicts with
that group’s exclusionary policies.”
Justice Stevens’ opinion was joined by Jus
tices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Sourer, and
Stephen Breyer. Justice Sourer issued another
dissenting opinion joined by Justices Ginsburg
and Breyer.
The Justices’ decision in Boy Scouts of
America v. Dale overturns a ruling by the New
Jersey Supreme Court, which last August unani
mously rejected similar first amendment claims
by BSA’s attorneys. Reviewing the abundant
evidentiary record in the case, that court noted
the conspicuous absence of any mention of gay
people “or any discussion of sexuality whatso
ever” in any of BSA’s official materials, includ
ing its mission statement, the “Scout Oath” and
the “Scout Law,” and the Boy Scout Handbook.
The New Jersey court, in a 7-0 opinion writ
ten by Chief Justice Deborah T. Portiz, con
cluded that because BSA had no avowed anti
gay message, its first amendment rights were
not significantly burdened by the application
of the state civil rights law.
See SCOUTS on page 5
Talking heads
“Parents and troop sponsors, including
public schools, will now look to find other
programs that serve all youth in an affirm
ing way.” — David S. Buckel, Staff Attor
ney, Lambda Legal Defense and Education
Fund
“Freedom does not belong only to those
with whom we agree. A Supreme Court rul
ing against the Boy Scouts would have had
the perverse effect of hurting gay and les
bian Americans.” — Richard Sincere, Presi
dent, Gays & Lesbians for Individual Liberty
“The gay and lesbian community, now
more than ever, should understand the kind
of balance of power that is at stake in this
presidential election.” — Mike Colby, Ex
ecutive Director, Stonewall Democrats
“Mr. Dale deserves our community’s
gratitude.” — Elizabeth Toledo, Executive
Director, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
“This is a hollow victory for the Boy
Scouts of America. Is this any way to teach
youth about fairness, honesty and justice?”
— Tony Varona, Legal Director, Human
Rights Campaign