Past Out: Was Alexander the Great Gay?, p.24
Opinion: Where are ourAllies?r p.14
Identifying
HIV Close
to the Point
of Infection
By Bob Roehr •
Contributing Writer
Very early identification of new
HIV infections can reduce further
transmission of the virus and
offer a unique opportunity to
intervene to protect immune
function.
The initial report on a pilot pro
ject in this area was published in
)AMA, the journal of the American
Medical Association, on May 28.
Primary HIV infection (PHI) is
that brief window of perhaps
eight weeks, from exposure to the
development of antibodies, when
viral load is sky high, generally
into the millions.
Many experts have come to
believe that at least half of all new
transmissions are passed on dur
ing this window.
The North Carolina
Department of Health and
Human Services initiated a
Screening and Tracing Active
Transmission (STAT) program
last November to identify these
new infections.
Over the first six months it
caught 17 people who were nega
tive for the standard antibody
screening for HIV but positive for
the actual RNA of the virus. Four
of them developed flu-like symp
toms of acute HIV infection after
their blood was drawn for the
test, indicating that they had
become infected only days earlier.
In an interview in Raleigh prior
to publication of the article —
during the Gay Men's Health
Summit — STAT cochairs
Christopher Pilcher and Peter
Leone, both doctors and profes
sors of medicine at the University
of North Carolina, discussed the
program at length.
"If we can identify some of [the
newly infected] early on, there
definitely are some health bene
fits," Leone said, pointing to the
work of Harvard researcher
Bruce Walker that showed how
very early intervention can pre
continued on page 19
GenderPAC Unites Theory
and Lobbying for Equality
By Bob Roehr
Contributing Writer
The 3rd National Conference on
Gender, drew more than 1400 people to
Washington, DC on May 17-19 for a
lively mix of academic and practical
discussion, and congressional lobbying.
The number of attendees was "up dra
matically from last year," said Riki
Wilchins, executive director of
GenderPAC, which organized the
event.
American society is "at a juncture
where people are ready to start consid
ering gender as a civil rights issue," she
said. "They are no longer seeing it as
this fringe thing but something that
impacts almost everyone. Gender
stereotyping is something that every
one is familiar with."
"I talk to PTA moms in Georgia who
recognize it's a problem for a six-year
old son who likes books instead of girls.
If we can get those people talking to gay
people, talking to trans people, talking
to teens of color, I think that is a really
powerful coalition to put this issue on
the map."
Congressional lobby days followed
the weekend conference. The visits this
year focused on urging Members to
sign a diversity statement based on
individual gender identity expression
or sexual orientation in their own
employment practices. It is a joint effort
with the Human Rights Campaign.
"We think that is really critical if we
Riki Wilchins, Judith Butler, Ellie Smeal at GenderPAC conference May 17
Photo by Bob Roehr
are going to start to look at gender lan
guage in bills like ENDA [Employment
Non-Discrimination Act] or the hate
crimes bill," said Wilchins.
"And violence against teens is a huge
problem. We've been tracking them,
and five of eight are against teens of
color'' who are poor. "Clearly there is
an intersection between race, and class,
and age, and gender that puts people at
special risk. I don't see this really being
discussed."
Kids are coming out and transition
ing at an earlier age. "Gender is a sub
text in a lot of things that are going on
in teen-on-teen violence." GenderPAC
is starting chapters on a dozen different
continued on page 18
Carmen Vazquez
Ellie Smeal