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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 11, Number 8 • September 7, 1996 • FREE
States may lose only local
Gunderson exits Congress
for quiet life with his mate
by Bob Roehr
Special to Q-Notes
Coming out is the quintessential gay story.
Perhaps none has had a longer run in the press
than Steve Gunderson, the Republican Con
gressman from Wisconsin. We have been titil
lated and outraged with tabloid escapades of
outings from the left and homophobic rantings
from the right. Now Gunderson and architect
Rob Morris, his life partner of 13 years, take
their turn in House and Home.
Most coming out tales focus on the sexual
and psychological self-discovery of a young
into conversation. A Georgia drawl still charms
from his lips; his dark brown eyes flash. He
seems the natural politician of the two and
when I say so, Steve breaks into a full faced
impish grin and silently, vigorously nods his
head up and down, while Rob protests in vain.
Steve is 45 and even with hair turned silver,
still has a ftesh-faced, best-little-boy-in-Sunday-
school look about him. A warm, soothing voice
has helped him build a reputation in Congress
as a conciliator who can bring people together
to make deals happen.
Their early years together were stormy ones
iii
Rep. Steve Gunderson (R-WI) and his life partner Rob Morris
man. Gunderson and Morris offer a different,
perhaps older take on the process. Theirs is more
a story of building their relationship and an
extended family and of accepting responsibil
ity as a member of the gay community in the
halls of Congress. Their graceful prose on mat
ters great and small moves you with its reveal
ing candor and honesty.
Rob’s office is tucked into the side of an ag
ing strip mall in a Virginia suburb across from
Washington. We are sitting in the conference
room around a drop-leaf table, comfortably
worn, warped and creaking with character. A
sideboard holds shards of polished granite floor
ing and sample faucets, floor plans and photos
of solid homes which echo the past while em
bracing the future.
It is a week after the bloody debate and vote
on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in
the House. Steve is still shaken by the virulence
of that homophobic outburst. He says it is the
first time he has felt “alienated from the insti
tution” of Congress.
He had gone to Speaker Newt Gingrich to
propose adding to the bill certain domestic
partnership protections for same-sex couples.
Gingrich supported the concept, but other con
servatives vetoed it. In floor debate, Gunderson
asked, “Why should members of Congress be
allowed to extend their health insurance and
survivors benefits to their second and third
wives — when I can’t extend it to my partner
of 13 years?” The gasps were audible as it seemed
to click in the minds of Congressmen, but that
did not translate to votes.
Rob, 36, is the exuberant one, diving right
by Gene Poteat
Q-Notes Staff
CHARLOTTE—^The Carolinas are in dan
ger of losing their only chapter ofThe NAMES
Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. “Due to career
and personal life changes. The NAMES Project
steering committee has recently lost several
dedicated volunteers who have
worked many hours displaying
the AIDS Memorial Quilt
throughout the Carolinas,” de
clares Karen Holt, Volunteer Co
ordinator for the Charlotte chap
ter. “If the Quilt is to continue, we
need an immediate response from
our community.”
“In the past several years, the lo
cal chapter...has provided over
100,000 people in the Carolinas with
the opportunity of seeing the loving
creations of friends, lovers and fami
lies touched by this devastating dis
ease,” says Holt. “Last year alone over 27,000
people were able to see the Quilt panels at con
certs, schools, hospitals, a display at Charlotte’s
Founders Hall...all kinds of places.”
The Charlotte chapter, a member ofThe
NAMES Project Foundation, is one of over 40
such groups in the United States, which to
gether form one of the largest grassroots vol
unteer organizations in the country.
Jane Alexander, Chair of the National En
dowment of the Arts says, “The NAMES
Project gives important and impressive testi
mony to a tragic blight. What more poignant
demonstration of the power of art can there
be?”
The seeds of the Foundation began in 1987.
The Quilt itself was conceived in November
1985 by Cleve Jones, a gay activist living in
San Francisco. Each panel of the Quilt, made
to remember the life of someone lost to AIDS,
IS
N D A T ( 0~N
is three-feet by six-feet, the size of a human
grave. The panels, which today number over
32,000 and represent 11 percent of all AIDS
deaths in the US, are created by family mem
bers, friends and neighbors under the direction
of local NAMES Project chapters. Based upon
the American tradition of quilting, panel-mak
ing workshops provide an oppor
tunity for those affected by the
AIDS epidemic to comfort one
another and share their grief.
The entire AIDS Memorial
Quilt, thirty football fields worth
of fabric, will be displayed on the
National Mall in Washington,
DC, beginning October 11.
“Twenty-six new panels made
through the local chapter will be
displayed in Washington,” Holt
says. The panels, dedicated in May,
were created through workshops
which were held twice a month by
The NAMES Project Charlotte. “Unfortu
nately, due to membership changes, the work
shops have been temporarily suspended.”
“We have lost aaive members to moving and
other changes,” Holt explains. “It just kind of
happened quickly.” A variety of volunteer po
sitions are available. A database coordinator is
sought to maintain a computerized mailing list,
administrative and clerical positions need to be
filled, and individuals with fundraising exper
tise are needed as well. Logistic coordinators,
to handle Quilt requests and workshop sessions,
are also vital to the continuation of the chap
ter. “We get a lot of positive response when we
hold displays, and we don’t want that to end....
Help us keep the AIDS Memorial Quilt a real
ity in our communities.” ▼
To volunteer with The NAMES Project
Charlotte, call (704) 376-2637.
marked by brief separations. Steve’s strong
Lutheran upbringing and stoic bearing made
it difficult for him to accept being gay or to
talk about it. Rob needed more communica
tion and reinforcement to make him feel se
cure in the relationship. Their love and trust
were strong and, despite the blow ups, they
slowly worked out those issues.
One of the most poignant episodes occurred
in 1991 when an AP reporter asked Steve if he
was gay. “I’m married to my job,” he replied,
denying his then eight-year relationship with
Rob. It was like Judas denying Jesus. It cut Steve
to his moral core, and he would write that it
was not fair to Rob. “It would take a few more
years for me to realize that I couldn’t...separate
myself as an individual with personal needs and
desires, from the professional public servant.”
It was an anguish, a ftdtering of courage that
surely we all Imow ftom time to time. Steve
lays it out in his own reserved, forthright man
ner, not pulling any punches. It is one of the
many ways we come to understand the human
ity of the man.
“For me the 80s was like a big debutante
party,” says Rob. “Our lives changed when we
realized people were getting sick. First we real
ized we had been remarkably lucky and naive.
Second we realized that the fun times were over
and the serious times were ahead.” His anti
political attitude receded and he began to urge
Steve to take a more active role on AIDS and'
gay issues in Congress.
Pressure also came from activist Michael
Petrelis in a scries of “outing” activities. The
See GUNDERSON on page 19
Hepatitis becoming an epidemic
by Susan Tedder
Q-Notes Staff
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that
is caused by various viruses and is identified by
the letters A, B, C, D and E. Generally, Ameri
cans ignore the potential for acquiring hepati
tis, though estimates indicate that 1.2 million
people in this country have chronic hepatitis
B, and another 3.5 million people have chronic
hepatitis C. A study conducted in 1990 indi-
Thirty-five to eighty
percent of sexually
active gay men have
some indication of
hepatitis B exposure.
cates that gay men are 15.8 times more likely
to contract hepatitis B than others in the popu
lation, and 35 to 80 percent of sexually active
gay men have some indication of hepatitis B,
whether they currently have the infection or
are recovering from it.
Almost everyone is at risk of contracting
hepatitis, primarily because it is so easily spread,
even through activities as innocuous as kissing.
However, sexual transmission is responsible for
at least 50 percent of reported hepatitis B cases.
Chronic hepatitis, a case of hepatitis that the
body cannot eradicate within she months, can
lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.
People with chronic hepatitis usually experience
no symptoms, and may be unaware that they
are carrying the virus and transmitting it to
others. Hepatitis B is 100 times more infec
tious than HIV.
With a potential for infection this high, it is
important to gain as much information as pos
sible about hepatitis, particularly the B and C
strains. Hepatitis B is communicated by in
fected blood and body fluids (including semen,
vaginal secretions and saliva) which transmit
the virus to another person’s bloodstream
through openings in the skin. Sexual contact
is obviously the most common means of trans
mission, but it can also be transmitted via in
travenous drug use, tattooing or body pierc
ing. Blood supplies have been screened for
hepatitis B since 1972 and have drastically'rc-
duced the risk of transmission from transfu
sions. A vaccine has been available in the US
since 1982 and is recommended for all new
borns, children, adolescents and people in high
risk groups such as health care workers, people
with multiple sex parmers and intravenous drug
users. The vaccine lasts for seven years. Any
one who might have reason to believe that they
have been exposed should be tested for hepati
tis B. This is more critical due to the lack of
See HEPATITIS on page 19