June 4, 2004
Serving the Carolinas1 Gay & Lesbian Communities Since 1979
Volume 25. Number 12
Onward Christian
Soldiers...
By Ann Rostow
Texas Triangle
Marriage news this week includes develop
ments in Massachusetts, where the governor
continues to oppose marriage for out-of-state
same-sex couples. Then, the California
Supreme Court heard arguments on the ques
tion of whether San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom had the right to issue marriage
licenses to gay and lesbian
couples last February. And
there is more marriage
news out of Washington
and Bucks County,
Pennsylvania.
But first, listen to this.
The onset of legal mar
riages was the final out
rage tor a lexas-based group called
ChristianExodus.org, which is agitating for a
mass exodus of Christians to South Carolina.
Once the Palmetto State is overwhelmingly
inhabited by fundamentalist Christians, they
will vote to hold a constitutional convention
and secede from the United States. The plan,
says founder Cory Burnell, calls for the con
vention to be held in 2014, and the new
Christian nation to be organized by 2016.
According to the Christian wire service,
Worldnet, Burnell has a staff of twelve at his
headquarters in Tyler, and has received sup
portive emails from over 1,500 people.
"Christians have actively tried to return our
entire land to its moral foundation for over 20
years," says the ChristianExodus website.
"We can categorically say that absolutely
nothing has been achieved." Among the set
backs listed, Burnell and company bemoan
the fact that "sodomy is now legal and cele
brated as 'diversity7 rather than perversion."
Kids these days.
The Out of Towners
In Massachusetts, Governor Mitt Romney
has asked Attorney General Tom Reilly to
enforce a 1913 law that renders void the mar
riage of a couple who live in a state where
their marriage would not be legal. Reilly has
not always been on the same page with
Romney throughout the dramatic plot twists
of the same-sex marriage story, but he agreed
this time, and has ordered four renegade
municipalities to stop letting out of state cou
ples tie the knot.
Three of the four towns reluctantly agreed
to limit marriages to state residents, but
Provincetown officials hesitated, holding a
meeting Tuesday night of the city board of
selectmen. On Wednesday, town officials
continued on page 14
AIDS Protests Return to D.C.
TTTWT
AIDS'activists and supporters march on the Capitol on May 20.
Photo by Bob Roehr
By Bob Roehr
Contributing Writer
Hundreds of AIDS activists
streamed through the streets sur
rounding the US Capitol on May 20
in a demonstration the size and
spirit of which hasn't been seen for
years.
They demanded increased fund
ing for ADAP an other programs, as
well as the removal of moralistic
restrictions put on those programs.
The most noteworthy aspects of
the demonstration were its
increased bipartisan tone - unhap
piness with both political parties -
and the arrest of 98 people when
they lay down in an area of the
Capitol normally used to unload
tour busses.
Processing those arrests contin
ued well into the night, where each
paid a fifty dollar fine.
AIDSWatch filled the days lead
ing up to the demonstration.
The National Association of
People With AIDS (NAPWA) coor
dinates the annual grassroots con
gressional lobbying effort conduct
ed by national and local organiza
tions.
NAPWA spokesman Paul
continued on page 10
CDC Radically Shifts HIV Prevention Funding
By Bob Roehr
Contributing Writer
CDC funding will end on June 30
for two-thirds of the community
based HTV prevention programs
currently receiving that support.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) announced
its latest round of grant decisions
on May 21, the grants are renew
able for up to five years.
The controversial Stop AIDS
Project in San Francisco is among
those that will lose their funding. In
fact, no program providing preven
tion programs aimed at gay white
men will be funded in that city.
When asked to comment on that
fact, National Association of People
With AIDS (NAPWA) executive
director Terje Anderson replied
with the cynical question, "Is that
part of their epidemic?"
In a telephone news conference
announcing the awards, Robert
Janssen, the director of CDC's HIV
prevention programs, said, "CDC's
longstanding partnerships with
community groups are key in
reducing the estimated 40,000 new
HIV infections that occur each year
in the United States."
The agency will distribute $49
million to 142 organizations across
the country, with the typical grant
averaging $345,000. The number of
grants is down from 189 in the last
cycle while their average size is up
from about $200,000.
Programs directed toward peo
ple living with HIV and their part
ners, and those at very high risk for
infection will receive $23 million;
voluntary counseling and testing
with referral to medical care will
receive $14 million; while $12 mil
lion will go to targeted outreach,
health education and risk reduc
tion.
Janssen said the new programs
"focus especially on the HTV pre
vention needs of communities of
color," which will receive 82% of
the total dollars.
He outlined the procedures used
to insure that the process was
"objective and open." Communitv
based organizations (CBOs) were
evaluated on the quality of the
application; a proven track record
at providing HIV prevention ser
vices; capacity to carry out the pro
continued on page 17
North Carolina Pride 2004: www.ncpride.org