Father’s Day Profile
Cristopher has two dads
page 27
Interiors
Meet designer Beth Huntley
page 29
Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Vol. 21 . Number 03 www.q-notes.com June 17.2006
Bush lip service moot
‘Federal Marriage Amendment’
fails again — though supporters
vow to keep pushing constitutional
intolerance
by Donald Miller
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was reminiscent
of a scene that should have made its way into
the film “Wag the Dog” — a 1997 comedy
about an American president’s attempt to
divert attention from scandal by conjuring up
some positive spin.
Initial invitations to the press conference
President George W. Bush held on Monday,
May 5, indicated his proclamation of support
for the anti-gay “Federal Marriage
Amendment” (FMA) was to be held in the
White House Rose Garden.
Some of the supporters of the FMA —
namely Focus on the Family’s James Dobson
and Matt Daniels from Alliance for Marriage
— were reportedly going to stand side by side
with Bush.
In what was apparently a last-minute dust
up of the plans — possibly an effort to soften
the impact of Bush’s support for the divisive
FMA, the conference was moved from the his
toric Rose Garden to the more austere
Roosevelt Room in the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building. When he appeared before the
camera. President Bush stood alone.
White House spokesman Tony Snow
claimed that no one else was scheduled to
appear with the president and the event was
never scheduled for the Rose Garden, despite
the previously released announcement.
“It wasn’t moved is the answer,” said Snow,
explaining that some of the invitations were
sent out “preUminarily before the president
had an opportunity to examine the schedule
and before people had signed off on it.”
Originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m., the
conference began more than 15 minutes past
its scheduled time, giving even more credence
to the last-minute shuffle.
Political insiders are speculating that the
move was in reaction to Democrats, who days
earlier had cried foul over the usage of the
Rose Garden for such an announcement.
Additional speculation
indicated that presidential
advisers privately
expressed concern for Bush
to be seen appearing with
individuals that are regard
ed as extremists by a
majority of Americans. •
When Bush finally did
speak, he seemed some
what ill-at-ease and half-’
hearted with his pro
nouncement.
“You come from many
backgrounds and faith tra
ditions, yet united in this
common belief — mar
riage is the most funda
mental institution of civi
lization and it should not
be redefined by activist
judges,” said Bush. “You are
here because you strongly
support a constitutional amendment that
defines marriage as a union of a man and a
‘An amendment to the
Constitution is necessary
because activist courts have
left our nation with no other
choice.’
— President Bush in a con
ference endorsing the ‘federal
marriage amendment’
woman and I am proud to
stand with you.”
Repeatedly using the
phrase “activist judges,” Bush
talked about the need for the
amendment on a national level
to “fully protect marriage.”
“Some argue that defining
marriage should be left to the
states,” Bush continued. “The
fact is, state legislatures are try
ing to address this issue, but
across the country, they are
being thwarted by activist
judges who are overturning the
expressed will of their people.
“This national question
requires a national solution.
And on an issue of such pro
found importance, that solu
tion should come not from the
courts, but from the people of
the United States. An amend-
see marriage on 12
25 years and counting
A look back at the history of the
AIDS pandemic
by Bob Adams and Michael Edwards
The first human known
to be infected with HIV was
a man from Kinshasa,
Congo who had his blood
stored in 1959 as part of a
medical study, decades
before scientists knew the
AIDS virus existed.
Presumably, someone in
rural Cameroon was bitten
by a chimp or was cut while
butchering one and became
infected with the ape virus.
That person passed it to
someone else, who, in turn,
passed it to another.
Twenty-one years would
pass before the virus showed
up in the United States. The
path that the virus took
from Africa to the gay community in Los
Angeles will — in all likelihood —remain a
mystery forever.
The phrase that epitomized
the early years of the AIDS
crisis; Silence=Death.
On American shores, it started as only five
cases of a disease in a city of 3 million people
— at three separate hospitals — over a seven-
month period. It might have gone unnoticed
but for the fact that five gay
men turning up with
Pneumocystis pneumonia in
Los Angeles between October
1980 and May 1981 was hard to
ignore.
Physicians got to work try
ing to diagnose the accompany
ing illnesses and to save the
lives of the men, women and
children who began showing up
in epidemic numbers.
Researchers puzzled over just
what was happening. “It,” of
course, was HIV.
Those earliest cases were
described in a profoundly
prophetic editorial note in the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s “Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report” on
June 5,1981; “Pneumocystis pneumonia in the
see devastation on
Myrtle Beach Center opens
page 10
A soldier’s story
A letter from Iraq
Editor’s Note: These are the thoughts
of a gay soldier — a North Carolina
native — who has been deployed to
Iraq. Because of the military’s “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell’’ policy, he must remain
anonymous.
Man is it hot here. We haven’t seen a day
under 115 for a few weeks. It feels like a blow
dryer on high constantly aimed right at you.
The ongoing barrage of heat leaves me
drenched in sweat and frequently on the verge
of exhaustion. It’s not hard to remember to
drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.
Believe me — I can’t wait for some cold
weather.
Since the last time I wrote to you there
have been two very close calls for me — one
closer than anything ever.
On both occasions it was indirect enemy
mortar fire — the closest being two pieces of
shrapnel over 13 inches long and three inch
es wide, which flew over my head not more
than three feet away. If 1 had not done the
drills for this sort of thing that I learned ear
lier on, I could have been hit and
killed. I can still remember my heart racing
both times it happened.
When you hear a moUar hit the first thing
you do is drop to the ground, cover your head
and face and lay as flat as possible. Even now I
can hear the sound of the steel flying through
the air from the 120 mortars that hit.
That’s one of the most knuckle-whitening
things that’s happened since I’ve been back
here — and trust me, Tm not downplaying it.
Physically I’m okay, but mentally it takes a
toll. Training pays off when you do things
right but I’m still keeping a lower profile and
staying inside buildings a lot more.
1 feel like the prayers and support from
home have built a wall of protection around
see soldier’s on 12
Joan Jett speaks
page 29