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The Carolinas’ Most Comprehensive Gay & Lesbian Newspaper
Published Every Two Weeks On Recycled Paper • Volume 13, Number S •
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January 23, 1999 • FREE
Advances, losses for gays in ’98
by Dan Van Mourik
Q-Notes Staff
WASHINGTON, DC—Congress grappled
with several gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgen
der (GLBT) measures during 1998 and the re
sults show that the 105th Congress was less than
gay-friendly. No gay-supportive measures were
passed at all. And while some of the anti-gay
legislation was defeated, the mere fact of these
bills and amendments being introduced displays
the ongoing negativity directed at our commu
nity.
In addition to voting on legislation itself,
many measures were and still are stymied in
committee. The two most widely reported
pieces of legislation stuck in this limbo are the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (one
vote short of being able to report the bill out of
committee) and the Hate Crimes Prevention
Act. Similarly, the nomination of openly-gay
philanthropist James Hormel as ambassador to
Luxembourg died when the Senate adjourned
at the end of last year after Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) refused to schedule
a vote on the nomination.
The Congressional record on HIV/AIDS-
related legislation is far more positive. Several
programs received increased funding and most
all measures viewed as detrimental to HIV/
AIDS prevention and patient care were either
defeated or passed and never signed into law.
The states
^ , .A, record number of GLBT and HIV/AIDS-
related measures were introduced in state legis
latures across the country in 1998. The Na
tional Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF)
tracked 258 measures compared to 248 in 1997
and 160 in 1996. A number of these were re
lated to hate crimes and attacks on same-sex
couples and their families.
“Both the right wing and our community
understand that the decisions most potendy and
direcdy affecting the lives of gay, lesbian, bi
sexual and transgender people are those that
occur at the state and local level. It is no sur
prise that we have therefore seen an increase in
gay-related legislation for the third year in a
row,” said NGLTF executive director Kerry
Lobel. “Our community’s challenge for 1999
is to be visible, vigilant and vocal,” she added.
Some of the highlights for 1998 include the
overturning of Missouri’s anti-marriage bill; the
overturning of Georgia’s sodomy law; the re
peal of Rhode Island’s sodomy measure; the
passage of a hate crimes bill in Kentucky; and
the expansion of California’s hate crimes bill to
include transgender as a category.
Some of the lowlights include the veto by
California governor Pete Wilson of a bill that
would have created a statewide HIV tracking
system that did not include the names of those
infected; the repeal of Maine’s civil rights law;
the passage of anti-marriage bills in six states;
the failure of the Wyoming legislature to pass a
hate crimes bill covering sexual orientation fol
lowing Matthew Shepard’s murder; overall in
crease in legislative attacks on GLBT families;
and, of course, the passage of anti-marriage
ballot initiatives in Hawaii and Alaska tliat al- •
low the legislature in each to limit marriage
rights to opposite-sex couples only. ▼
fv-
Newly-elected House Speaker I Dennis Hastert (R-IL) swears in Baldwin
First open lesbian joins Congress
Celebrities sought in AIDS war
by Steven Fisher
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—^AIDS Action, the
nations largest grassroots AIDS advocacy or
ganization, is looking to Hollywood for help
in reinvigorating HIV. prevention efforts. In
letters to President Clinton and four celebrity
AIDS leaders — Sharon Stone {Casino), Tom
Hanks {SavingPrivate Ryart). Madonna {Ray of
Light) and Lauryn Hill {The Miseducation of
Lauryn Hilt) —AIDS Action Executive Direc
tor Daniel Zingale tried to enlist support for a
new era of prevention in a new era of AIDS.
Zingale sent letters to the
four stars urging them to
lead an effort for prevention
education through increased
funding, truthful behavior
education, a national testing
campaign and more respon
sibility in films and television
programs that portray risky
sexual activity.
“These four continue to
demonstrate that real celeb
rity leadership means simply
more than wearing a red rib
bon [to awards shows],”
Zingale said. “The paralysis in prevention is the
epicenter of the new AIDS complacency crisis.
The gaping leadership hole in today’s war
on AIDS is in HIV prevention. The power of
several top celebrities could help turn the tide.
Today’s young people need new role models and
[to] hear new voices about HIV and AIDS.”
AIDS Action is urging the celebrities to use
Its 10-point Virtual Vaccine prevention plan as
a foundation for a Hollywood effort. Among
the proposals are a 25 percent increase in fed
eral prevention spending, condom ads on tele
vision programs rated “S” for sexual content, a
national testing campaign to reach the esti
mated 300,000 HIV-positive Americans who
Sharon Stone
are unaware of their status as well as support
for better substance abuse treatment programs.
“Hollywood has a responsibility to portray
the reality of sex, not just the fantasy,” Zingale
charged. “A central component of any serious
Hollywood war on AIDS must include a more
responsible message about sex.”
In his letter to the White House, Zingale
also urged President Clinton to increase pre
vention and substance abuse treatment fund
ing in his Fiscal Year 2000 budget expected to
be released by the end of this month. For the
pastiseveral years, prevention funding has been
flat while HIV infection
rates have increased. -
“Reinvigorated preven
tion is the missing piece of
the Clinton battle plan,”
Zingale said. “While our in-
vestment in AIDS care and
I research is paying off
^ through lower death rates,
I our divestment from HIV
y prevention is creating a new
^ epidemic for a new genera-
tion of Americans.”
Recent epidemiological
and anecdotal evidence
points to a disturbing increase in unsafe activ
ity among at-risk populations, particularly
young people and minorities. Indeed, half of
the 40,000 new HIV infections every year are
among people under 25. In addition to the flat
prevention funding during the last several years,
the Clinton Administration and Congress have
proposed no new major prevention initiatives.
AIDS Action is concerned about the mis
perception that new life-prolonging AIDS
drugs are somehow a cure. The fact is that the
current generation of AIDS drugs have debili
tating side effects, require strict adherence to
an oppressive regimen and, most disturbing,
their long-term effectiveness is a mystery. T
by Wanda Pico
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—Tammy Baldwin
made American political history on January 6
when she was sworn into office as the United
States Repiesentative from Wisconsin’s 2nd-
Congressional District. She is the first openly-
gay non-incumbent ever to serve in the US
Congress.
“Tammy Baldwin’s very presence on the
floor of the House will have a phenomenal im
pact on breaking down antigay barriers across
the country,” said Brian K. Bond, executive di
rector of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund,
the only national organization whose sole mis
sion is to increase the number of qualified
openly gay and lesbi^ public officials. “Thanks
to live televised coverage of Congress, millions
of Americans will now see an extraordinary
Congresswoman — who happens to be a les
bian — fighting for things they care about, like
health care and education. And they, like the
fair-minded Wisconsinites who sent Tammy to
Washington, will be able to move beyond the
issue of sexual orientation and realize that good
government comes from good leadeisiiip —
which is exaedy what Congresswoman Baldwin
brings to the House.”
The Viaory Fund also hailed Tammy’s place
in history as an exceptional role model for
GLBT youth. “Like all young people, gay kids
need someone to look up to, something to as
pire to and someplace they can feel safe,” said
Victory Fund Political Director Kathleen
DeBold. “The opening of Tammy Baldwin’s
congressiopal office has given them all three.”
In related news, Mark Pocan, the openly-
gay Victory Fund-supported candidate who
won the Wisconsin State Assembly seat vacated
by Baldwin, was sworn into office January 4. ▼
Report focuses on lesbian health
by David M. Smith
Special to Q-Notes
WASHINGTON, DC—A long-awaited
report on lesbian health by the Institute of
Medicine illustrates the need for more research
even as it details the many barriers to conduct
ing this important work.
“This report is as important for what it
doesn’t say as for what it does say,” observed
Kim I. Mills, direaor of education at the Hu
man Rights Campaign (HRC). “It reveals how
little is really known about lesbian health is
sues and points up the need for much more
research. We hope it will break down some of
the barriers to more and better research into
lesbian health, and that it will send a signal to
private and public funding sources that this
work is needed and valuable.”
The report, entitled “Lesbian Health: Cur
rent Assessment and Directions for the Future,”
is the federal government’s first comprehensive
assessment of the research related to the physi
cal and mental health of lesbians and examines
what is known about lesbians’ risks for condi
tions including cancer, mental illness, HIV in
fection, substance abuse and sexually transmit
ted diseases. The report also explains the diffi
culty in defining the term “lesbian” ahd thus
finding representative sample populations to
study, and it discusses reasons why lesbians
might not be obtaining the care they need.
“It is historic that the nonpartisan Institute
of Medicine has recognized the importance of
setting a lesbian health agenda within the con
text of women’s and gay men’s health,” Mills
added. “This publication establishes that lesbi
ans have unique health needs and challenges
the scientific community to learn about them.”
Many lesbians may be at greater risk for cer
tain conditions, such as breast or cervical can
cer, because it is believed they don’t bear chil
dren at the same rate as heterosexual women,
or because they may use more tobacco or alco
hol, according to the report. “However, we still
don’t have sufficient data on any of these ques
tions, which means the health care system is
not meeting lesbians’ needs because it has al
most no idea what they are,” Mills observed.
Plus, the report notes, researchers believe
that lesbians are less likely to access the health
care system for a variety of reasons, including
lack of insurance, insensitivity and/or ho
mophobia by health care providers, and the
growth of managed care systems that may limit
lesbians’ access to lesbian-friendly providers. In
addition, the report notes that there is a stigma
associated with conducting lesbian research.
“It is a disgrace that in 1999, researchers are
afraid that their careers will be wrecked by
studying lesbian health,” Mills said. “We hope
that this study will help change those attitudes
and that the government and other funding
sources will heed this report’s recommendations
and actively solicit the research it suggests.” T