| Transcript |
Staqe presence
Houston ranks second only to New
York City in the number of seats for
theater-goers. Our guide to what's
coming to a stage near you.
Page 17
ISSUE 1060 www.houstonvoice.com ALL THE NEWS FOR YOUR LIFE. AND YOUR STYLE. FEBRUARY 16, 2001
INSIDE
Former Major L gue
B seball pla r Biiiy
B an who came out after
he left ba ball, w II
headline the upcoming
Human Rights Campaign
dinner n Hou ton.
Page 2
alhng all pink couch
pot toes. Take a walk in
the park with old friends
thank to a new group
that s arts SaturdaJ
Page 17
President Bush flipflopped
on the fate of
the White House AIDS
office, the same week
sobering statistics about
HIV infedlons were
released.
Page 12
Mayor switches tack in DP debate
With backing from gay leaders, Brown
drops benefits measure for sweeping
anti-bias ban
by D.L. GROOVER
The placards (amed by the protestors m front of HoustoP City
Hall on Tuesday left nothing to the 1magmatton
"Sodomites are reiected by God," "Faggots for the fife ' 'Sex
between t\\ o women 1s sodomy" and 'Sodom and Gomorrah was
destro} ed beca.ise of sodomy" the phrases on the s1\":f\S screamed
The group had g ther,d to shO\\ displeasure 0\ er an 1mpenaing
proposal to allow city emplo} ecs to include same-sex partners m the
ne\\ health insurance contract being hammered out by City Counal
The measure was open for pubhc discuss on at City C.ounc1
T uesdav session before the formal debate Wednesda
This flash-pomt issue IS hghtenini; rod for both Chn t on-srrvah\
E~ and gay ngrts ad\ ocat But the rheton dunn» th
heanng was surpnsmgly tame
Only three p ag.i n t the J m te 1ss;.ie .i A b
au6hn p t r I l B.i t Cht.r~!l Jes.:nbed t n h
minute- 1 ti d p ee other sroke t.iJnl m support t th
mclus on of domeshc partPersh1p bene 1 r gay at} emplo ees
Mayor Lee Brown met with nearly 100 members of the Houston gay
community Saturday to discuss dropping a proposal to grant domestic
partner benefits to city employees in favor of an anti-bias ban.
"I want .i 11\ \Ith d1ver-;1ty and to erance tor d \ers1t Scott
lilhnghast said Seven of this nat10P s 1 largest c1tt offer J me -
he partner benefits as \\el, as non-cl scrmunation poltoe Austin
Dall s, and Fort \\orth ha\e non-ct1scnmmahon pohaes O\er ~
> Continued on Page 11
Trans lobby day aims to educate, empower
by GIP PLASTER
Whill' gay and lesbian acti\'lsts
solidify plans for a March Against Hate
and Texas Gay Lobby Day next month,
as many as I 00 transgender activists are
experted to take to the halls of the state
ccJpitol on Feb. 20 trying to stir up some
support for their cause-a cause they
say gay men and lesbians should be
supporting, too.
"These issues are so interrelated, I
don't think there 1s a way to separate
them," said Sarah DePalma, executive
director of the Texas Gender
Information Network and organizer of
the lobby day.
"We've told anybody who's anybody
that they're more than welcome," she
said. "We'\'e put the hand out. It's up to
them to take it "
And at least one gay group has: The
board of directors of the Houston Gay &
Lesbian Political Caucu~ agreed to particiEate
in the lobby day
ongtime transgender achvbt
Phyllis Frye said 1t makes sense for
transgendered people and gay men and
lesbians to work together, smce m the
eyes of many, the communities are one
"A lot of our detractors do not differentiate
between lesbians, gays, bisexuals
and transgenders," she said
The lobby day also allows a community
that is often hidden in society to
make its presence known in a very public
way.
"It allows the legislators and their
staff as well as the capitol police and
the media and other lobbyists who happen
to be in the building to actually see
and meet transgendered people who
> Continued on Page 10
The Feb. 20 transgender lobby day wiU take a
'low-key' approach, without mcwches or protests,
according to Sarah DePalma. executive director of
the Texas Gender Information Network.
2
INSIDE
NEWS
Notional News . . . . • • . ............. . 5
Police News .....•••.............••. 6
Bush flip-flops on AIDS office •••......•• 12
Gays react lo faith-based proposal . . . . . .13
Quote/ unquote
Health news .
VOICES & ECHOES
. .15
.21
Shellon: Goy hotlines ore lifelines .8
Plant: Feng shur frustrolion .. 9
Ethan Green' .. 9
OUT ON THE BAYOU
The Breakfast Oub •..........•.. 17
Theoter preview, port If . . • •••.•••••. 17
Eating Out at Ginzo . . • • . . •......... 20
On Screen •....................... 2 5
Community Calendar ......•....... 26-27
Occasions ....• .•............... 30
My Stars! . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . .31
ClASSIFIEDS • . . . . . . • . . . • . . • •...... 28· 29
Issue 1060
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cootributors are ava !able upon request
Houston Voice
500 Lovett Blvd , Suite 200
Houston TX 77006
713-529-8490
NEWS FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
HBC gala f ea tu res gay ball player, lesbian comic
Fifth annual Houston
event set for March 3
byKAYDAYUS
The Human Rights Campaign's fifth
annual Houston gala will be held March 3 at
the Westin Galleria, emceed for the second
lime by lesbian comedian Georgia
Ragsdale.
Billy Bean, a former maior league baseball
player who is one of the few profes·
Billy Bean
sional athletes to come out publicly, is slated
to be the guest speaker at the affair. Bean
played baseball from1987 to 1995 with several
different major league teams, leading a
double life while in the league. He came out
after retiring.
"I know all about the self-hatred and the
shame and how hard it is to get to a point
where you feel good about yourself. .. It has
to come out, and it comes out as anger, sadness
and depression, Bean said in a recent
interview with the Advocate. Now in an open
relationshipwith Miami restaurateur Efrain
Veiga, Bean will talk about his struggles dur·
ing his years in professional baseball.
Ragsdale, the first openly gay perfonner
to sign a project development deal with a
major TV studio, for a sitcom with ABC, grew
up in Houston but now Jives in LA. She has
appeared in hundreds of shows throughout
the world and toured with her one-woman
show, "Straight Up, With a Twist!"
Bret Baccus, event co-chair, promises
guests a great evening. "It's more than a fund·
raiser; it's an event beginning when you enter
the Silent auction. It starts when you walk in
the door. There will be a lot of energy."
Baccus said that if guests arc planning a
vacation, they shouldn't do it yet because
there will be lots of great vacations in the
silent auction, which is sponsored by the
Luxury Collection.
Sue Lovell, the state's first open lesbian
appointed to the Democratic National
Convention, will be on hand to receive HRC's
political equality award. The community
service award will go to Gary Teixeira.
The mother of African-American hate
crime victim James Byrd Jr. will attend the
gala for a special recognition to the Byrd
family for their support of hate crimes legis·
latton in Texas.
"Stella Byrd continues to support hates
crimes legislation not only for blacks and
other minorities, but for gays and lesbians,"
said Baccus.
The Human Rights Campaign is the
largest national lesbian and gay political
organizahon.
Houston HRC Gala
March 3, 6:30 pm
Westin Galleria
5060 West Alabama
Tickets: S 125
For tickets:
800-494-8497
For informat ion:
Bret Baccus, 713-807-7408
Houston announces five-year HIV plan
by KAYDAYUS
In an effort to stem the flow of new
HIV I AIDS infections, Houston-area offi·
cials recently released a comprehensive
five-year plan to address prevention and
treatment of the disease.
Spearheaded by the Ryan White
Planning Council and developed by private
and public agencies and individuals, the
plan outlines objectives to be met by specific
deadlines, including coordination of
funding, data collection and public awareness
efforts.
Officials hope the plan provides a blueprint
for decisions about service priorities
and resource allocations.
The ultimate goal is to find a cure for
HIV and "to stop the disease in its tracks,"
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels, coordi·
nator of the plan, said at a recent press conference
at the Names Project, speaking in
front of a backdrop of AIDS memorial
quilts. But until then, he stressed the great
need for collaboration and coordination
among the entities dealing with HIV I AIDS.
"When I look at these quilts, I have
mixed emotions. 1 experience the beauty of
the tapestry. Each tapestry represents the
fabric of each person's life," Eckels said." At
the same time, there's a sadness there
because each represents a life lost to this
disease .... We want to keep as many people
off these quilts as we can."
Also in attendance was Mayor Lee
Brown, who said it is essential to coordinate
a comprehensive system to deal with
HIV I AIDS m prevention and treatment.
"We must bring the resources of our community
together to solve the problem.''
Brov.n said
•we must talk about [HNI AIDS) and we
must talk to our children about it. We must
continually get the message out," he said.
Advocates for the plan say its goals and
objectives are measurable, time-phased recommendations
specific to HIV prevention
and care, public advocacy, outreach and to
the early treatment and prevention of AIDS
progression.
Although Brown declared an HIV I AIDS
state of emergency in Houston's black com·
munity in December 1999, little has been
done since. Activists charged that Brown
was only paying lip service to the problem,
but not doing anything substantial about it.
As a result of the state ofomergency,
Project SOUL, a peer counseling program
and a task force, convened by City Council
member Jew Don Boney, were started.
However, neither exists any longer and the
HIV I AIDS count continues to rise.
Between January 1999 and the end of June
2000, Houston/Harris County reported 2,108
new cases of HN. Of those, a disproportion·
ate 1,237 were among African-Americans,
with 496 whites and 363 Hispanics.
What activists say is more astonishing is
that of the 1,237 new HIV cases among
African-Americans, 537 were black females.
White females accounted for 90 cases and
Hispanic women for99.
Kathy Goode, of Goode Consulting
Associates, a faith-based non-profit
HIV /STD prevention firm, said that
although the plan is a good start, outreach
into the black communities b of the utmost
urgency to slow the rate of new infections
and to get treatment to those who need It.
"The AIDS epidemic is changing colors,"
said Goode. "And the plan is trying to
address that." AIDS is the number one killer
of black men and women between the ages
of 25-44. "That's before heart disease, cancer
or hom1c1de," Goode said.
Blacks also make up 61 percent of all
new infections of HIV I AIDS, yet only 13
percent of the U.S. population, she said
Only 31 percent of funds for HIV I AIDS are
directed at blacks.
A "phenomenon" in black society where
black males refuse to accept being gay or bi·
sexual may be to blame, Goode said. "They
won't admit it because they will be called
sissy; bemg gay is shameful to them."
Instead, "black men go out and have
'freaky' sex with usually a white gay male,"
Goode said. The sex is usually unprotected,
"and because they are not recipien ts of the
sex, they can tell themselves they are still
macho, still male and not gay.'' she added.
Then they go back to their female part·
ners and have sex with them, Goode said.
The females are the unsuspecting victims,
they believe their men when they tell them
they have not slept with anyone else. The
answer, says Goode, is "to blanket the com·
munity with this message and keep it going
until they get the message."
The new plan is a good place to start the
process, she said.
HOUSTON VOICE• FEBRUARY 16, 2001
11ZER11 works tor many
of my friends. I gotta
believe ff can work tor me.
I'm positive.''
3
4
ZERITe(stavudine)
ZERIT (stavudine) Capsules
ZERIT (stavudine) for Oral Solution
&_ONLY
Bnet SummJry of Prescribing lntormJfion 12100. For complete prescribmg
intormJtiOtl, please consutr otfiCiaJ pacb~ cm:u/ar
WARlllHG
lACTIC ACIDOSIS AHO SEVERE HEPATOMEGAlY WITH STEATOSIS, INCLUDING
FATAL CASES. HAVE 8E9I REPOIITTD WITH THE USE Of NUCL£OSIOE AHALOGUES
ALOllE OR Ill COMBINATION. INCLUDING STAVUDINE AND OTHER ANTI·
RETROVllW.S. FATAL LACTIC ACIDOSIS HAS BEEN REPORTED IN PREGNANT
WOMEN WHO RECEIVED THE COMBINATION OF STAVUDINE ANO OIOANOSINE
WITH OTHER ANTIRETROVIRAl AGENTS. THE COMBINATION OF STAVUOINE ANO
OIOAllOSIHE SHOULD BE USED WITH CAUTION DURING PREGNANCY AND IS REC·
OMMENOEO ONl Y If THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT CLEARLY OUTWEIGHS THE POTEN·
TIAl RISK (SEE WARNINGS ANO PRECAUTIONS: PREGNANCY).
FATAL AHO NONFATAL PANCREATITIS HAVE OCCURRED DURING THERAPY
WHEN ZEllT WAS PART OF A COMBINATION REGIMEN TllAT INCLUDED OIOANO·
SllE. WITH OR WITHOUT HYOROXYIJRfA. tN IOTH TllEATMElfHWVE ANO TllEAT •
MENl·EXPERIENCED PATIENTS, REGARDLESS OF DEGREE OF IMMUNOSUP·
PRESSION (SEE WARNINGS~
INDICATIONS AHO USAGE
ZERIT (staYVdinel, In combination wltll otller 1ntiretrov1ral agents. ls lnd1cal1d
lor the &rutment al HIV-1 lnrecliaa (see Clinical Studies). Clinical Sludles:
Camllln1Uo11 TMratTY· The combinatJon use or ZERIT IS based on Ille results or elm·
lcal studies in HIV-tfllected patients 111 double- and tnpfe-comb1nation regimens witll
Cl!hef anlirelroml agents. One al lliese Slud"ies (START 1) - a mulbcenlet randolr1lmd,
Ol)en-label study companng ZERIT (40 mg IWite dally) plus 1am1vud1ne plus llldlnaw
to Zidovudine plus lalnMJdme plUS !lldlnavir m 202 treatme:rt-113M! pabe& Both
~ l1!St:lad ma Slmllar rr:ao'lllude al inh:::;tion of HIV RNA levels and increase::
in C04 ce I counts throU1Jh 48 weeks Monothlrapy· The ett1cacy cf ZERIT was
demonslr3!ed In a rand miZed, do ble-tllind s&Udy Al455-019 condacted 1992·
1994) companng ZERIT with zidovud1ne In 822 paHents with a spect111m cl HIV
l?lat!d symptoms. The outcome teims ~ progresswn ct. ~IV disease an!l llealll -
similar lor both dr.i gs.
COHTRAINDICA TIONS
ZERIT IS contr.Undated fl pa!lents with Cf!IUCal~i SIODllitam hypersensrtivity to stawdine
or to any of the compone!'ts conta ned In the formulation
WARNINGS
1. LactJc Acidosis/Severe Hepalomagaly wll• Sl11tos11/Hepalic Failure. L1c1ic
acldms and severe •epa1om11aly with 1111tosis. including talal casn, bavt
hea reported wltll lhe 1so of 1acleoslde analogun alone or in coml11nallon.
including stavudlna and oilier ••llrt1rmrlls. A m:IjOnty ol lllese cases have bee:l
fl women. Obesity and protonged nucieoside eJll)CSUfe may be nsk tactors. fal.ll lacllC
acidOSIS has been re()Or1ed In preonant women who received Ille combma!IOn of
stz/ud :e and didanosine With otller antlretrovtral agents The combination of sl3vtldine
and dldar.Osine Should be used with cauton dunng pregnarcy arxl IS l!C001ITlel1ded
only I the potenti.11 benefi1 clearly outweighs tile potential risll ,see PRECAllTIONS
Pregnancy In addi!IOll. dea!fls at!Jilluted to hepatolOXIC ty have occumd m patients
receM11Q Ille comblnatlOll ol ZERIT. didanoslne and hydroxyurea. Parllcular cautiOn
Sllculd be exercised when admm!Stenng ZERIT to any patient witll known r1Slc lactors
for liver diseJSe however cases have alsO been reported in pabents with no knOwn
risll lactors Treatment witll ZERrr Sllould be SUS{Jended In any patient wno develops
dime.al or laboratory flndl!!QS suggeS1lVe of lactic acidosis or pronounced hepatotox!
cil'i (which may ll1Clude hepalOmeOaly and S!eatosls even In the absence of marl<ed
transammase elm=) Alt Increased lisle ol llepalJIOJcJCity which may be latll may
OCQJf lnpa!Jen!S trealedWll!lZERITfl~wi!hdidiifllsineand ~oomjl3!
ed lo wllm ZERIT a used alone. Punts trealed W!l!1 tlliS airntlin3lm Shauid be closel't
lllOlll!OFell for signs ol lr<er toxidty 2. Perl(llleral NtllfVtllltly Peripllerat neuropatlly,
manifested by numbness. tlngling. Of pain fl the hands Of lee!. has been repor1ed fl
pa!Jef1ts receMl10 ZERrr lllerapy. Penpheral nelJflllJ3lhY has oa:urred more frequent!y fl
patien!S with~ HIV disease. a hlSIIXY ol lll!llrll(l3tl!y. nr ainwrren1 neurotoXic drug
therallY lncllmlg dldancslne (See ADVERSE REACTIONS' 3. Pancrutilis: flllal and nonfatal
pancreatrtis have occurred dunng therapy wllen Z£RIT was part ol a combination
req1men 111.tt lnduded didanoslne. with or wtthoot hydroxyurea, In both treatment·
11311111 and trealmenl~ pallenls, regardieSs cf degree of lll1l1llB10SUpp
The combinallOn ol ZERIT and didanosine (wtlll or wttl1out hydroxyurea) and any oltler
agents that are loxiC to tne pancreas shoukt bl SIJSlleOded "' patients witll suspected
pancrealJIJ$ RelDStlllJIJOn ol ZERIT after a confirmed dl3QllOSIS of pancreati!JS sllouid
be underl3llen willl !llrliCufar caUllDrl and dose patJent monttonn11 The new reounen
slloUld contain neilllef didanoslne nor l1ydtoxyurea.
PRECAUTIONS
....,_ lar ,,_(See.._.....,_ lnftll fl"' presailJlng ilfon1l3!m ~
PallenlS Should be Informed Ilia! an lmpor1anl toXldty of ZERIT Is peripheral neurcpathy.
Patients should be aware tl1at peripheral neuropathy IS manifested by numbness.
bnghng, or pam In hands or feet.and Iha& tllesa symptoms shook! be reported
to their DhYsiCJans. Patients sllouid bl counseled that penpheral neuropatlly ccxurs
wUn graall!Sl l:eque!icy fl palienls wllo haw adWnced HIV disease oc a history al~
ml neurcpat!ly, and IN! dose modification andfor d1scont1nuatJon of ZERrr may be
,.μred W IDxidty dMqls. ClregNeR al ygurig clildren receMnQ ZERIT lheraov SIWd
be Jnstructed regarding detecOOn and reporting of penpheral neuropatlly. Pa!ients
should be Informed tl1at when ZERIT IS used fl combination with ot.'lef agents with
similar toxic!tles. the ilddeflce ol adverse events may be higher tl1an wllen ZER!T is
used alone. An increased risk o1 pancrea!J'.JS. whicl1 may bl fatll. may occur 1n pallents
lrl3lld witll the combtNllon ol ZERIT and didanoSine, with Of wfthoot hydroxyurea
Patients treated with !Ills combina!JCn Should be dosely morutored for symplOmS of
parmatttJs. Ni lnlnased r1S1< ot hepatduxidly. w!icll mav bl fatal. may OCQJf 1n patients
llUted with ZERIT In combination willl didaoosme and hydroxyurea. Patients trA!ed
with tlllS combtnation shoutd be closely monitored for Signs of liver toxicity. Patients
shook! be Informed tl1at ZERIT is not a cure for HIV 1nl8ctlon, and 111.tt they may continue
to acquire Illnesses asscdatlld witll HIV lntactJon, lnduding opportuniStic inlections.
Patients Should be advised to remain under the care of a physician when using
ZERIT They Should be advised Ill.ti ZERIT therapy has not been Shown to reduce the
nsk of l1allsmlssion of HIV to otl1ers 11110UQh sexual conl3ct or blOod contamination.
Patients should be Informed tn.t the long-letm ellects of ZERIT are unknown 11 lhiS
time Patients shcQld be Informed 11111 ltle Centers for 0-Control and PrMnllon
!COC) recommend t!iat HIV<nfeded mother$ not nurse~ infants to reduce the
nsk al pcslnala! transmisSiOll al HIV inllcllan. llnlg ...,_ 2XkMldine may oompetitively
Inhibit Ille lntracellutar phosphcrytatJon of sta'IUdme. Therefore. use of
zldowdine In combination wttll ZERIT fs no! recommended (See CLINICAL PHAll·
IMCOl.06Y fl fUI prascrllling inlormabon.) &al I 11 1111, .......-.............
of Flltilily: In 2-year caranogemct!y studies In mtee and rats. stavudine was noncarcmogemc
at doses which produced exposures (AUC) 39 and 168 tunes. respecllvefy.
human lllJQSUf8 at !tie recommended Cfmicaf dose. Bentgn and malignan1 liver
tumors In mice and rats and malignant urinary bladder tumors "' male rats occurred
at iMl& al 9lllOSln 2SO (llDJ aid 732 (ralsl lrnes lu!wl ecpo5IR at""' rllCOl1ml'Jded
dll1lcal dose. Sl3vudule - not mullglnlC In Ille Ames. E. coli reverse mutltlOl'I, or
Ille CHOlllGPRT mammaaan cell fonward gene 111t11atlon assays. with and wltllou1
tnelabolle ldi¥allort SlavudJne produc:ad posrtJve results In the 111 ..rro human l'Jmpliocyte
Clallogerme and mouse lilJrolJlast assays, and In lhe ii ,;,.o mouse micttn>-
deus test In the " Wlro assays, stavudme eleYaled Ille frequency of chromosome
aberrations In human i'jmphccytes \concentrations ol 25 to 250 llQfml. withOU1 metal>
Olic acli'lallOll) and &ncreased tile 1equency of transformed loa In moose fibroblast
cells (concentrations ol 25 to 2500 IJW!nl. with and wtthollt metabohc act1"3tion) In
tile In I/Ml m1cronucteus assay. s1avud1ne was daslogenic ID bone marrow cells lo~
lowing oral staVudine admmistrabon lo mice at dosages of 600 10 2000 rng,1<~day for
3 days. No evidence of unpaired fertility was seen m rats wrth exposures (based on
C...,.) up to 216 llmes that observed lo!IOW1ng a chmcal dosage of 1 ma-'k!jlday
Pregnancy· Pregnancy ·caieoory C". Repr0duc11on studies have been performed In
rats and raDbits with e>posures (based on C,,...,J up to 399 and 183 limes, respec&
Jvely, of that seen at 1 clinical dosage ol 1 ~1kg!ll3'/ and haw revealed no evidence
of teratOQtfliclty The lf1Cidence In letuses of a common sketelal vanatien. unossified
or incnrnpfete osslf:cation of stemebra. was Increased In rats at 399 &unes human
exposure while no effect was observed at 216 umes hUman e>posure. A slight post·
mplantation loss was noted at 216 bmes the hur.ian e>posure with no effect noted at
approximately 135 wnes the human e>posure An mcrease fl early rat neonatal morta
ty (birth to 4 dayS of age) occuned at 399 times Ille human exposure wlllle sur
vtval of neonates was unattected at approximatei'j 135 bmes Ille human exposure
A study 111 rats showed lh.:Jt stavudine Is transferred to the fetus through the placenta.
The concentration In fetal tissue was approximately one-half the concentration m
maternal plasma. A'*1'lal ~studies are not alw3'fs predldiW Of human response.
There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of s&avud ne In pregnant women.
Slavud1ne shoU1<1 be used during pregnancy only H tile potential benefit rusl!lies Ille
potential risll. fatal bctJc acidosis has been reported In pregr:ant women wllC received
the combinallOll of stavudlne and didanosme with otller anbretrovfral agents. h IS
unclear 11 pregnancy augments Ille nsk of ladle acidcsisnlepatic steatosis syndrome
rtoorted In non-pregnant 1nd!Viduals receMng nucleoslde analogues (see WARN·
INGS LaclJc Ac1dos~evere Hepatemegaly with Sleatesis,Hepallc Failure The
combinabon of stavudine and didanos1n1 should be aud wt1ll caution during preg·
nancy and Is recommended only 1f Ille polentlal benefit clearly outweighs the
potenlial risll. Health care prewlers canng for HIV~nfected pregnant women recetVing
stavud1ne ShQtJtd be alert for eartv diagnosis of lactic acidoslSlhepatiC steatosls syi>drcme
Antirelrov1ral Pregnancy Reg!ltry: To monttor maternal·fetal outcomes ol
pregnant women e>pcsad 10 stavudine and other antiretroWal agents, an An11retroviral
Pregnancy Reg1S&ry has been eslabhshed Ptws1cians are encouraged to register
patients by calling 1·800-258·4263. Nursing Mothers. The Cenlers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommend !!lat HIV·inlec1ed motflers not breast·leed tlleir
infants to avoid risking poslnatal transmission ol HIV. S&udies m laclatmg rats
demonstrated 11'.JI stl'/UOJ!le IS excte!ed II milk. Altllougll n IS not known whelher stawd
:ie ts excretell m human m lk there ex!Sls the potentl31 for adverse effects from
stavudine in nursing IFlfants Because ol botll lhe potentia' for HIV transnusslOtl and
tile potential tor se:ious adverse reactions In nursing infants mothers should be
1nstrucled not to brust·l11d 11 lhey are rec11v1ng ZERIT (stavudine). Pedlalnc
Use· USe of stavud1ne In pediatric pauems IS supponed by evidence from adequate
and well-Controlled studies of stavudme Ill adults with add Uonal pllarmacok1ne1ic
and safety data fl pediatnc patients Adverse events that were reported lo occur fl 105
pedlalnc patients receMng ZERIT 2 mg/kg/day for a median of 6 4 months m &ludy
ACTG 240 -e generall'/ SJm1lar to those reported m adults Stavudlne pharmacolanetu:
s ~.ave been r.-aluated In 25 HIV-lnfected Pediatnc paUents rang ng In age from
5 weeks to ts years and 1n weight from 2 to 431<Q after Iv 0< oral 1dm1rnstrati0n ol
sinCfe doses and twice daJtv rea mens (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY Table 1 In tuft
prescribing intormaHonl. Geriatric Use CllFllcal stud.es of ZERIT did not include sul·
f!Cienl numbers of p.;:ients aged 65 years and over to determine Wl1elher they respond
d Herentl'/ than younger patients Greater sellSJ!Nlty 0( some Older ndividuals 10 the
eftec1s o1 ZERIT cannot be ruled out In a monotllerapy Expanded AccesS Program
tor pa!:en!S with advanc«f HIV infecllOn, penpfleral neuropatl1'J or ~ neuropatl1ic
symptoms were obsmed Ill 15 of 40 (38%) elderly patients receiving 40 mg tw1te
daily and 8 ol 51 (16%) elderly patients recei\llng 20 mg tw1te dally. Of the approx·
lmately 12 000 pahents enrolled 1n the Expanded Access Program. pertpheral neu·
rcpathy or penplleral neuropath1c symptoms developed In 30% ol pal!ents receiving
40 mg twice daily and 25% ol paltents receMng 20 mg twice dally. Elderly
patJents should be cfose"1 monaorell for S1Q!1S and symptoms of Pe<ioheral neu~
2.ERrr ts known to be substantially e>creted by Ille kidney and &he Fisk of toxic
react ons to this drug may be greater In patients with impaired renal function
Because elderly patients are more hkety to have decreased renal function. n may be
useful to monitor renal functJon Dose ad1ustment IS recommended lor 1>31ients
vr!th renal unpairment {see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION Dosage Adjustment
ADVERSE REACTIONS
Adults: ZERIT lherapy has been assOCTated with peripheral neuropatlly, which can
be severe, is dose related. and occurs more frequently 111 pabents being treated Wi1h
neurctoxic drug therapy. 1ndud1ng didanOS1ne, ., pat:ents with advanced HIV lnlecHon.
or In patients who have previously experienced peripheral neuropathy. Pabents
Should be monttorld for the development of neuropatlly, which ts usually manttested
by numbneSS, bnghng, Of pain In Ille feet or hands Slavud1ne-rebted penpheral neuropaL'ly
may resolve tt therapy is withdrawn promptly In some cases. symptoms
may MJrsen lempCrafily lolowing discontiru!llon of tllerapy If symptcrns resolve completely
pat ents may &olera&e resumplJOn of treatment at one·haH the dOSJ! (see
DOSAGE ANO ADMINISTRATION H neurll(l3tl!yf"t!Cln after resump11on of ZERIT. pe<·
manent d1sconbnuallOll of ZERrr should be COllSldered When ZERIT IS used m com
bination with otller agents witll SJm r toxicities, Ille Incidence of adverse events may
be 119* than when ZERIT IS used alone Pancreatais, peripheral neuropa!hy, and 1ivet
function abnorma bes occur more frequently In pabents treated witll lhe combona!IOll
al ZERIT and did3noslne. '"ilh oc wttholJt hyd<OX'/1Uf3. F2b1 pana?3fJtlS and hepalOIOldClly
may occur more lrequently in patients treated witll ZERIT In combination witll didanoslne
and hydroxyurea (see WARNINGS and PRECALITIONS 1, Sefected chrncal adverse
Ml'lls lhat occurred In adult patients recerwig ZER!T fl a controlled monotnerapy study
(Study A1455--019) are pnMded by percentages as lolJows· ZERIT 40 mg twa dJJJy
(n.412rHeadache t54J, Diarrhea (SOJ, Ptnpherat Neurotogic Symptoms/Neuropathy
(52). Rash {40), Nausea and Vorrubng (39); and ZJdovudiM 200 mg 3 b!MS ddily
(""'402}-Meadache (49), Diarrhea (44J, Penpherat Neurofooie Symptoms/Neuropathy
(391. Rash (35), Nausea and Vomibng (44) Study Al.155-419 had a median duration
al stlVIDne l!lelllpy • 79 wee1;s n a medal tu.mon cl lidoVIJdine ther.ll1f • 53 -'<s.
Pancreatrtis was obseMd In tllree of the 412 adutt pa1len1s ""° received ZERIT In a
controlled mono!herapy 'tudy. Selected dlnJCal adverse events that occurred"' antJretrOV1ral
naive adutl patJents receMng ZERIT from two controlled combination .studies
are provided by percentages as foliOWS: ST ART t-ZERIT .lamivur!iM+lnd1rrmr
(n.fOOJ Wt1h 1durationofSl3vudJMlhmvttor48 _.,..Nausea (43), 01arrflea {34),
Headache (25), Rash (18). Vomrtong (18), Penpheral N«Jrotogic Symptoms/Neuropathy
~; zJdov!Jd1ne+~mMxilt1f+int!itYvlr (n-102r Nausea (63). Olarrllla (16). Headaehe
). Rash (t3). Vomiting (33), Penpheral NeuroloQIC Symptoms/Neuropatlly (7).
ART 2-ZfRIT+didallOSint+indwvir (nz 102) with I dma!JOn of Slmldme thera/1'f
for 48-"9- Nausea (53), Diarrhea {45), HeadaChe (46), Rash (30), VOl!lll1ng (30),
Penpheraf Neurologic Symptoms/Nellropathy (21 ). DrkNrJtliM;/am/vudine+indinJvlr
(nat03}- Nause.i (67), Diarrhea (39), HeadlChe (3n. Rash (t8), Vomlhng (35J,
Penphlral Neorclogic Symptoms/Neuropathy (tO). st ART 2 compared two trlplecombmalJon
'8Q11T1«1S In 205 treatment-naMI patiln!S. Patients receiwd lither ZERIT
( 40 mg tvrice daJJy) plus didanoslne plus indinaw or zldovudine plus lamtvud1ne plus
fnd1navir Pancreatitis r1$Ultlng m death was obSelWd In patienls lreated w1tl1 ZERIT
plus didanosine. wlt11 or wlthOut hydroxyurea 111 controlled clinical studies and "'
postmarl<ebng reports Selected laboratory at>normalitles rtpcrted In a controlled
mono!herapy study (Study A1455--019) are provided bv percentage w1t11 !he lollow1ng
parameters ZERIT 40 mg twice ddily fn.412}-AST (SGOT) >5 0 x ULN (upper 11mtt
of nonnaf}-11 %, Al T (SGP'T) >5 0 x lJl.N-13'4. Amylase ~ 1.4 x UUH 4% and zidovu..
th!» 200 mg3 llme$ dl/lly (n-4D2r AST (SGOT) >5 0 x Ul.H-t0%. ALT (SGPT) >5.0
x ULN-1 t%. Amylase ~1 4 x ULN-t3%. 0ata presented for pa!Jenls of Study Al455-
0t9 for whom laboratory evafuallonS-. petlormed Study Al455-019 had a median
duration of stavudlnt lhe<apy • 79 weel<s and a m«liin duration ol ZJdo\ludine lhetIPY.
53 wtel<s. Selected labofllory ~·toes reported In two conlroled combl-
FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
natiOn stud"ies START 1 and STAR~ 2 are provided Grades 3-4 presented first by
percentage as follows (Grades 3-4) START 1-ZERfT (st.1vudme)+lilmivvd11111+md1-
naw (n-100Hlilirubin >2 6 x UlN (upper lim~ ol nonnai)·7%. SGOT (AST) >5 x ULN·
5%, SGPT (Al.T) >5 x ULN-6%, GGl >5 x ULN-2%, Lipase >2 x ULN-6%. Amylase >2
x ULN-4%; Zidovutfine;famivudine+lnd111i1V1t fnzf02}-B1Urubin >2 6 x ULN·6%, SGOT
(AST) >5 x ULN·2%, SGPT (ALT) >5 x ULN·2%, GGT >5 x UlN·2%, lipase >2 x
Ul.N·3% Amylase >2x ULN·<1%. Pelcen&aoes fnr (Grades 34) STAAT2-ZER/Ttdd;mSlllll+
lnd11li1Vlr (nz102r Blurubln >2.6 x UlN·16%, SGOT (AST~5x ULN-7%. SGPT
(ALT) >5 x ULN-ll'l'o, GGT >5 x ULN·5%, Lipase >2 x ULN-5'1'., se >2 x ULN-8%.
Zidovudme+/amivudllle+llldmvir (n-103}- B1lirubm >2.6 x ULN· %, SGOT (AST) >5
x ULN·7% SGPT (ALT) >5 x ULN·5% GGT >5 x ULN·2%, L,pase >2 x OLN·S'l'o.
Amylase >2 x ULN·2% Percentages for (All Grades) START 1-ZERIT+lilmlvv·
rme+kldinavir /n-100}-Total Blurubln-65%, SGOT (AST)'"'!2%. SGPT (Al TJ-40%. GGT •
15%, Uiase-21'%.Anr/tas&-21%. ~(n-102}-lotllllii!rulJiD.
60% SGOT jAST)-20%, SGPT (ALTJ-20%, GGT-8%, Upase-12%, Amy!Jse-19%
Pettentages or (Al Grades) START 2-ZERIT+dld4nosJne+/fldl113VIT(n-102r Tolal
Bil1111bin-68% SGOT (AST)-S3%. SGPT (ALTl-50%. GGT·28% Upase-26%. Amylase-
31%, Zidovutfine+l.imMJdl1!e+lnd1118W(n:1031-Totll B~ rubin-55'!0. SGOT lASTl-20%.
SGPT (ALT)-18%, GGT-12%, Upase- 9%, Amytas&-17% Observed During Clinical
Practice: The follov.1ng events ha-., been identified dunng pos&-epprw.&I use ol ZERIT
Because &hey are reported volunlanly from a population of unknown size, estimates ol
frequency cannot be made These events have been chosen for mclus1on due 10 their
seriousness. frequency of reoor!Jng. causal conned10n to ZERIT, or a combination ol
lheSe lactors Body u 1 Wholtt- abdonunal 1>31n allergic reactlOll, and ch1Uslfever
0191Sllv1 01ronl1rs- anorexia Ezocrin1 G/1nd Oironlers - pancreat1tis (mdud1ng
blaf cases (set WARNING~~malD/oglC Oisonl.,,. anemia. IP.'.~. and thromboc:
ytoperna Livef-Lldlt andhep.1llcste3!0Sls(seeWARNINGS1 hepatil!Sand
Iver failure. Ml/##losk1/et1~ myalgia. Nl/YOl1$- insomnca. Padia!ric Patients: Adverse
reactiOns and senous laboratory abnorma ties ID Pediatric patients were Sim far "'
type end frequency to those seen "' adull pallents
OVEROOSAGE
Expencnce With~ traated With t2 to 24 bmeS the recommended daily dosage revealed
no acute toxicity Complications ol chronic overdosage include peripheral neuropathy
and hepaHc toxicity Slavudme can be removed by hemodia&ysls. the mean tSO
hem0dialys1s clearance of stavud ne IS 120 • 18 mUmlD. Whether stavud1ne Is et1m·
fl.lied by pentoneal dialysls has not been studied.
DOSAGE ANO ADMINISTRATION
The IFltervaf between doses ol ZERIT should be 12 hOUrs ZERIT may be taken without
regard to meals Adults· The recommended dose based on body we111h1 IS as 101-
lows: 40 mg twtce daily 10< patients~ kg and 30 mg twtce daily lor patienls <60 kQ
Pedlatrfcs: The recommended dose for pedlatrfc 1>3tients weighing less than 30 kg IS
1 ma-'kgldose grven tverv t 2 hours Ped1atnc P3bents we1phmg 30 kg or greater
should recerie the recommended adult dosage Dosage Ad1uslm1nl Patients shoukl
be monl!ored tor Ille development of peripheral neuropathy, which IS usuall'1 mandested
by numbness. Hnglmg or pam 111 the feel or hands. These symptoms may be dlfflcull
to detect in young children (see WARNINGSl If lhese symptoms develop dunng
treatment. stavud1ne therapy Should be interrupted Symptoms may resolve d therapy
IS withdrawn promptly In some cases symptoms may worsen temporarily followtng
d1SCOnUnuauon of therapy. If symptoms resc&w completely, patients may &olerate
reswnptian of trea!menl al~ the recommended 00se 20 mg &'MCI! dailt lnr patients
~ ko and 15 mg IW1Ce daily lor patients <60 ko If neuro1>3thy recurs aher r8'ump!
i0n ol ZERIT._permanent cfiscontlnuatlon ol lERIT should be consldered Renal
lmp1irment ZERIT may be adm nistered to adutt pabents with lmpaued ren.al lune·
1100 with ad1ustment 10 dose b'/ patient weight as follows Creat1mne Clearance
(mUmm) of >50 (?&G kg.4Q mg every 12 heurs and <60 kg 30 mg every 12 hours)
Creat1nlne Clearance (ml.11mn) ot 26-50 (~kg 20 ma every 12 hours and <liO kg ·t5
mg every 12 hours) Cieallnme Clearance (mUmm) of 10-25 (?60 kg·20 mg every 24
hours and <60 kg·15 ma every24 hours) Since urinary e•cre11on IS also a ma1or route
of tlllminatJO!l of stavudine In pediatnc patients. Ille clearance of stavudine may be altered
In children wrth renal 1m1>31rmem Mhough there are Insufficient data 10 recommend
a specific dose ad1ustment of ZERIT In lhis paHent populabon, a reduction m &he dose
and/or an mcreasaln Ille Interval between doses Sllculd be considered Hemodlllysls
P1tlenl• The recommended dose IS 20 mg every 24 hOUrs (~kg) or 15 mg every
24 hours (<60 kg). administered after the cnmplet1on ol hem0diatvs1s ancf at the
same bme ol day on non-dialysis days Melhod of Preparahon lERIT for Oral
So/ofJOll· Prior to d!Spensing. the pharmacist must c:cnstJtute the dry pcw0er wtth purified
water to a conamtrabon ol 1 mg stavud1ne per ml of solution. as follows 1. Add
202 ml of punl•ed water to the con1ainer 2. Shake container Vigoroustv unnl the
powder dissolves completely Cons11tut1on In thlS way prOduces 200 ml (deliverable
volume) ol 1 mg/ml stavuth &ofutltJl. The solullon may appc:1r slightly hall 3. Dispense
solu&oon 1n original conla1ner wrth measuring cup provided lnslruct paflent 10 shake
&he container Yl!IOrously pnor to measunng each dose and to 'lore lhe t1ghlly closed
container 1n a •efngerator, 36" to 46"f (2° to 8°C). Discard any unused portion after
30dayS
HOW SUPPLIED
ZERIT• (Stavudine) Capsules are avait:lblo In the follOWlllll strengths and contigura-llOllS
of lie bottles wtth drild-resislant closures.
Tablt 1'
Product Capsule Martings on Capsule Capsules NOC No.
Strengtll Shelf Color (In Black Ink) per Bottle
15mg Light yeUovr BMS 60 0003· 1964--01
& dart< red 1964 15
20mg L111ht brown BMS 60 0003· 1965·01
1965 20
30mg Light orange BMS 60 0003· 1966-01
& dart< orange t966 30
40mg Oarl<oraDOl! BMS 60 0003-1967--01
t967 40
ZERIT9 (stavudineJ fa< Oral Solution IS a dye-f1ee, fruit-flavored powder &hat provides
1 mg of stavud1ne per ml of aofut1on upon constitution wtth water Directions
for so1ubori p!lpaflllJon are Included on lhe produCt label and In the DOSAGE AND AOMMISTRATION
secllOn of this insert ZERIT for Oral .Solution (NOC No 0003· t 968·01)
IS available m child-resistant containers &hat provide 200 ml of solution after consl1·
Moon witll waler.
US Paten! No. 4.978.655
Star111 ZERIT Capsules should be stored In lightly closed containers at controlled
room temperature. 59" to Wf (15' to 30"CJ. ZERIT fOf Oral Solution Shouk!
be protected trom excesstve moiswre and 'lored 1n bghliy dosed containers at controlled
room temperature. 59' to 86'f (15" to 30"C). After constrtut1on. store tJghtty
closed containers of ZERIT fOf Oral Sohition In a refrigefator 36' to 46"F (2" tn 8-C).
Otscard any unused portion alter 30 days
f9.8001A·1--01
J46738
Prflted USA
··" llKl,lt'i 111 I K' '\ll llll\
:_;::.'~
Bnstol-My.n Sqdiit Compony
-Nf0S54)
Us.A.
Adapted hem I 0998 t 3A2
t96701M·4
Revised December 2000
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 NEWS
around the nation
Clinton caught in flap over lesbian joke overheard at NYC dinner
NEW YORK CITY-A controversy has erupted
over whether former president Bill Clinton told
lesbian jokes at a New York Italian restaurant.
The Washmgton Blade reported that Ointon was
eating with former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey and
several former staffers, including open lesbian chief
of staff Karen Tramontano, and regaled his table
with several "raunchy lesbian jokes." A Feb. 9 report
in the Washington Post's "Reliable Source" column
has Kerrcy saying he was the joke teller, and that he
and Clinton were reminiscing about a controversy
dunng the 1992 presidential campaign when Kerrey
apologized for telling a lesbian joke that was pKked
up by a C-SPAN camera. Kerrey refused to say
whether Clinton was also telling JOkes that evening
"l don't want to nail it down. To me, it's not
sufficiently important to get the facts straight.
I'm feeling .i little like Rhett Butler. Frankly. I don't
give a damn," said Kerrey, who now serves as
president of Manhattan's New School Umversity.
Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerry has
taken the blame for telling a 'r111ndiy
lesbian joke' during a recent dinner with
President Clinton in New York. Kerry
was aiticized during his failed 1991
presidential <ampaign for a similar joke.
IL judicial board criticizes judge for anti-gay bias in decisions
CHICAGO-An Illinois agency filed a complaint Feb. 5 against a Cook County Circuit
Court judge, claiming that her bias against gays "resulted in her making rulings contrary to
Illino1s law and advancing her own personal beliefs," the Chicago Tribune reported. The
Jud1oal Inquiry Board filed the complaint against Judge Susan Mc Dunn stemming from her
handling of two lesbian adoption cases in 1998 and 1999. McDunn, the complaint alleged.
contmucd to ISSUe rulings despite the presiding judge removing her from the cases. McDunn
also "disobeyed the law" by providing confidential information in the cases to a conservative
Washington, D.C., group that opposes adoptions by gays McDunn's handling of the cases
prompll•d a stinging rebuke from the Appellate Court in June 1999, and led to her removal
from courtroom duties. ''This case is an egregious example of a judge putting her political
viewpoint ahc;id of her Judicial obligations," said John Gallo, who is handling the case for the
stall.'. McDunn's attorney. Michael Lavelle, pledged to mount a strong defense.
Cap on straight players fuels controversy in FL gay softball league
FORT LAUDERDALE-South Florida gay groups are threatening to boycott that area's
gay softball league for limiting the number of straights who can play on a team to two, the
Ft i.Jmdcrdale Su11 -Se11lmel reported. The rule has been in place for years locally and nationally
within the North American Gay Amateur Athletes Alliance, enabling gay players to be
more open about displays of affection and preventing teams from trying to win by stacking
the team with straight athletes. But this yl.'ar, the rule incited a boycott of the South Florida
Softball League by Express, a local gay paper, and the Gay & Lesbian Community Center.
"We cannot ~ay don't 1udge us by our sexual orientation and then tum around and judge
olhl•rs by 1t," said Larry Wald, co-owner of Cathode Ray bar, who threatened to pull his
team and "do everything 1 can to make sure [!hi.' kague] falls apart" if the rule remained.
Baltimore housing commish returns after drunken, anti-gay t irade
BALTIMORF-The city's housing commissioner, who took a month-long leave after a
drunken episode during which he allegedly made anti-gay remarks, has apologized and was
slated to ml-et with gay activisl~ this week, the Baltimore 51111 reported. Paul T. Graziano took
paid leave Jan. 4 after admitting to a drinking problem. Gay leaders a~ked Baltimore Mayor
Martin O'Malley to fire Graziano, but O'Mallcy dl'Clined after he apologized for the remarks,
which Graziano said he did not remember making. "I would like to take the opportunity of our
Feb. 13 rneetmg to express my heartfelt apologies for the hurt that I have inflicted and to explain
how this horrible event has prompted me to n.>cognize the presence of and obtain treabnent for
my illness," Graziano said in a statement relea~ through the Gay & Lesbian Community
Centl'f of Baltimore. O'Malley chose Graziano, who had had been general manager of the New
York City Housing Authority until last Yl'ar, to run one of the city's most troubled agencies.
Democrats retain openly gay business writer as top official
WASHINGTON-Terry McAuliffe, newly installed chair of the Democratic National
Committee, asked the committee to re-elect openly gay business writer Andrew Tobias as
the Democratic Party's national treasurer, and the committee did so unanimously, the
Washi11gto11 Blade reported. McAuliffe's decision to retain Tobias, who became party treasurer
in January 1999, is considered significant because of McAuliffe's reputation as an
extraordinary political fund-raiser. Tobias is credited with raising more than $10 million
from gay contributors during his tenure The Gay & Lesbian American Caucus of the
Democratic National Committee also elected new officers Feb. 7, including chair Jeff Soref
from New York, New Mexico delegate Gloria
For more news, visit Nieto as vice chair, and Mandy Carter from North
www.houstonvoice.com Carolina as secretary-treasurer.
-From staff and wire reports
HOUSTON
SUNDAY MARCH 4, 2001
In Partnership With O C HASE
Do the Texas Tvvo Step:
1 Coll for a registration card
2 Raise funds and jcin the walk at:
Sam Houston Parle• March 4, 2001 • 8:00am
To register, call:
(713) 623-6796
or visit us at www.a idshelp.org
Bes ielft '9 ADS Fomdalion Houston and 10 ohr local ADS Q gai lizatia IS
ADS VWJlc Houston is supported in part by:
HOUSTON VOICE One Community! One Voice! ..
5
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THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP IS EVERYTHING~
NEWS FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
police beat
Gay man charged in WA slaying of partner's mail-order bride
~10lJ.:\TLAKE TFRRACF., Wash. (AP)-A woman who armed from the former Sov1t:t
Lmon to marry an Americafl was murdert.>d last year, allegedly by a m.m \\ho claims to be
tlie male partner of th!Ywoman's husband. /\n.istasia Solo1•1eva, 20 at the time of her death,
was found in a shallow grave not far from her suburban Seattle home. I !er husband, Indle
King, Jr., 39, who:-.e first marriage to another mail-order bnde ended m divorce after she
accused him of abuse, 1s 1a1led on perJury charges refoted to his wife's disappearance.
Daniel Larson, 20, a former tenant at their house who claims he 1s King's gay partner, has
been charged with Solov1eva's death. Police say Kmg led inl'estigators to Larson, whom he
had visited in pil where Larson was awaiting tnal on unrelated charges of molesting a
teen-age girl. Under police questioning, Larson allegedly said he strangled Solovie1•a with
a necktie at King's request last September while King pinned her down. King denied playing
a role in his wife's death.
Two lesbians included in pardon flurry during Clinton's last days
\\'/\SI 11:\GTON-Two lesbian.-; who had been convicted of planting a bomb m the lJ.S.
capital u1 1983 to protest the U.S. mvas1on of
Grenada were among the 176 people who were
issued pardon.-; or clemency from Bill Ointon
dunng his finJI days in off1Ce, the Wasl11ngton
Blade reported. Linda Evans and Susan
Rosenberg. each of whom had been m pnson for
O\'er a decade, were granted clemency by the
president. A third lesbian in1·olved in the bomb
planting, Laura Whitehorn, had completed her
sentence m 1999. Since her release, \.\'hitehorn
has worked as an assistant editor at POZ maga·
zme. Evans, who lives in 5Jn Francisco, said she
i.s excited about workmg again as an activist.
Asked how the gay movement seems after more
than a decade in prison, Evans said it was hard
to tell. ''1 think too many gay people are 1dentifymg
with the values that are ag.iinst us or
agamst life," she told the newspaper.
Linda Evans (left} and Susan Rosenberg,
lesbians convicted of planting a bomb in
Washington, D.C., were among the 176
people who received pardons in the final
days of President Ointon's administration.
Protests over alleged bias don't delay execution of gay MO killer
POTOSI, Mo.-A gay man convicted of brutally murdering a teenage boy was put to
death m ~fo;soun on Feb. 7 de-pile protests by gay-rights and human rights organizations,
Reuters reported Stanley Dewaine Ungar, 37, died from legal injection while about 40
demonstrators protested outside the Potosi Correction Center, said prison spokesperson
lim Knie.st. Lmgar was sentenced to die for the January 1985 murder of Thomas Allen, 16,
a hi~h school student who was offered a lift by l.ingar and Lingar's friend, David Smith.
Ungar and Smith abducted Allen and killed him when he resisted orders to strip and masturbate
m front of the men. Smith, who testified against Lingar, served a 10-year sentence.
"The state of Missouri used Lingar's sexual orientation as a reason to give him a death sentence."
said Queer Watch spokesperson William Dobbs
Houston man arrested in strangulation death of popular drag queen
HOUSTOl\-A man accused m the dl'ath of Orin Shane Honeycutt, also known as popular
female imp~sonator Brandi Houston, was arrested last week in Florida. Richard Masterson
will face murder charges in Texas, saJd Sgt. R. G. Parish of the Houston Police Department.
Parish declined to say where in Florida Masterson was picked up. Honeycutt, 35, was found
dead in his apartment Jan. 27 There were "no visible wounds to his body," according to initial
pohce reports, but police :;aid Masterson allegedly strangled Honeycutt after the two met in a
Houston gay bar. Honeycutt's car was m1SSing, and police are considering robbery as a possi·
ble motive. They do not consider the murder to be a hate crime, Parish said. Honeycutt often
raised funds for AIDS benefits and was popular in the Houston gay community. "Brandt was
a big, big part of our community," said Don Gill, board chair for PWA Holiday Charities, which
had recently named Honeycutt the group's "volunteer of the year" for 2000.
Lesbian couple sentenced in U.K. scheme to defraud investors
LON00:\1-A former brothel madam who rubo. d ~houlders with Queen Elizabeth II while
ddraudmg wealthy investors was sentenced to five yrors m jail, the Scotsnum n.'ported. Au~tralian
Evelyn Burton, 57, together with her lesbi.m pJrtner Lyla Andre, 50-who was scntencL'd to nearI}'
four yeJrs m prison-used other in\'l>;.tors' money to create the appearance of wealth and success,
dri\ing around in Rol.ls-Royces and staying at five-star hotels. An attorney told the court
#that even profcs..,ional men who otherwtSC arc hard-he.1ded and skilled in the m.1tters of finance"
were fooled by the women. Burton plc.1dt.>d guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud between
O' ' • ·1<l6 and :vfarch 1998. Andre admittl'<i to one count of dishonestly retaining a wrongful
For more news, visit
www.houstonvoice.com
m..J1t card and two chJrges of evJding a liability by
dl'Ct'ption. The two were once prostitutes \.\-ho ran a
massage parlor m Australia.
-From staff and wire reports
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001
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7
8
l~~i~~I
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GREATER HOUSTON
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Contents copynght 2000
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VOICES & ECHOES FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
EDITORIAL
Hotlines provide lifelines for gays
by YIELl'.\'DA SI fE!.TON
NEW ORLEANSFor
many of us vi!.1ble U\
the gay community, com·
ing to terms with our sexual
orientation and its
myriad personal and
social issues is something
talked about in the past
tense.
Underuably, being out
al'-0 places us at risk.
We arc visible targets for homophobes.
Our famihes and associates may-and
often do-reiect us. Employers can exercise
silent dLscrimination, without openly having
to say we' re demed a promotion or a
raise because we're gay
But by coming out, we have chosen to
confront our fears and conquC'r as many as
possible Being out builds sclf"6teem and
forges alliances and friendships.
Coming out of the closet and going public
about such an intimate, private aspect of
one's self takes incredible courage.
lmagme a 15-year-old in Tupelo, MISS.,
struggling with hIS sexual orientation. Or a
20-year-0ld lesbian in &!ton Rouge who
was raped at a fr.1termty party. Or
a woman or man in Atlanta, who has
gender identity ISSUCS, but doesn't know
where to tum for information.
For countless pt."Ople like these, informa·
lion and support are \1rtual lifelines for sur-
Gay & Lesbian
National Hotline
phone: 1-888-8434 564
Mon.-Fri., 4 p.m.·midnight
(Eastern Time)
Saturday, noon·5 p.m. (En
e-mail: glnh@glnh.org
Web site: www.glnh.org
\1VaJ.
Four years ago, a group of commuruty
activ1Sts m New York decided to establish a
national hotline to help people with sexual
orientation or gl'!lder identity i&>ucs.
The Gav & Lesbian National Hotlme
first opened a volunteer-run office in New
York, and today there is a second office in
San Franmco.
To say there is a demand for
the Gay & Lesbian National
Hotline is an understatement:
It receives more than
100,000 calls every year,
primarily from troubled teens
and young adults.
To say there IS a demand for the hotline
IS an understatement The hotline reo.wes
more than 100.(XXJ calls e\·ery year, pnmarily
from troubled teens and young adults.
The Gl ..\ ;ll is a volunteer-based pm·
gram \\;th 75 volunteers, v.iio work an
average of six to eight hours a month at
either of the two offices, said Brad Becker,
GL'\;H's execuhve director. IL~ annual
$75,000 budget largely comes from private
donations and foundation grants, and the
bulk of the money is used to pay the telephone
bills and office rent.
Volunteers are trained to prO\·;de crisis
intervention and make referrab from the
organi1.ation's national database of more
than 18,CXXJ listings.
Counselqrs also provide health informa·
lion, particularly on ways to avoid transmitting
or contracting sexually traru;m1tted
Click and ~reaa
'Stan' by Eminem?
Popular rapper Eminern has been roundly criticized for his nusogyrust and anti.gay
lyrics. Despite the controversy, he could receive up to four Grammys during the Ft?b.
21 awards show on CBS. Now Elton John, singer and gay icon, has accepted an invita·
lion to perform the rapper's song 'Stan' in a duet with Eminem during the show.
Should gay men and lesbians even care?
•Gay rights groups like GLAAD were right to express 'disgust' with Elton.
• Elton should snap Eminem's 'olive branch' in two and feed it back to the repulsive
rapper, washing it down with a dry Merlo!.
• Eminem's lyrics have a direct effect on the lives of gays and he should be banned
from the awards show.
• I'm gay, Eminem is hot, and I don't care what he raps about.
houstonvoice.com
d;seases and I !IV.
For many of the callers, speaking to a
GL\JH volunteer 1s the first time the\'ve
ever had personal contact \\1th someone
from the gay community.
Comforting words can mean the differ·
ence between life and death, as those of us
who have done crisis lme work, or who
have made calls ourselves, know.
For many of the callers, it's also the first
time they have ever been told their homosexual
feelings are normal and are not to be
feared. This validation, Becker said, is
essential to building strong self-esk'Cm.
"For a young person in a rural, isolated
town, or whose family makes gay jokes, or
whose teacher makes homophobic com·
menb, or who gcx>s to church and has to listen
to anti-gay fire and brimstone preach·
mg-actually talking to someone who's gay
means they no longer feel like they'rc
alone," Becker said.
Counselors do not give advice on what
the person should do, but rather ask questions
about what the person is frcling. what
she or he wants to do, and how she or he
thinks can solve thC'lr own problems, Becker
said.
For many callers, simply talking to
soml'One, expressing themsdvt~ ilbout their
scxuJI orientation and related issu\'s and
problems 1s an important first step.
"Some of the callers are too nervous to
talk to anyone else but us," Becker said,
"and they're not ready to take any sll'p at all
other than talking. It's our job to let them
know what's there for them when tl1ey're
ready."
Many of the callers, particularly the
young ones, are reluctant to discu~ their
:.cxual activitie:;, so voluntl'ers are trained to
broach the subjl'ct dunng the course of the
conver.;ation.
"The truth is, tl'Cns are the fastt'Stgrowing
age group with new HIV infoc·
lions, but a 15-year-old doesn't think he'll
catch it by having sex with another
15-year-old," Becker said.
Education is yet another lifeline the
counselors throw.
The GLNH database contains mforma·
hon on community centers and hotlines,
doctors, lawyers, counselors, service agen·
cies, health resources, gay-friendly businesses
and gay-supportive groups in cihe:;
and commuruties across the n.ihon.
The list, Becker says, is the largest of its
kind in the world.
For the counties.~ thousands of those
who are invisible, the hotline-and others
like it-provides a vital link to our commu·
nity. and a greater sense of St>!f-acceptance.
Melmda Size/ton 1s tlze editor of Sou them
Voice, a s1~ter paper ta llze Houston Voice
The Houston Gar & Lesbian
Switchboard operates 24 hour a
dJY, 7 days a week 713-529·3211
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 VOICES & ECHOES 9
PLANT LIFE
Enough of 'Jeng shui by day'-and gay
by DREW PLANT
ls the feng shui craze
over yet?
I mean, I am happier
than a bear in a campground that people
have gotten water features, mirrors and
big hunks of rock in the right places in
their homes. but it has just gone too far.
1 do not want anyone else to tell me to
cut down the single pine tree in front of
my house (bad luck). Or to reroute the
storm drain next to my house (it'll carry
away my dreams, fertility or wealth,
depending on who you ask-or don't
ask).
Surely you have heard of feng shui
(pronounced "fung schway"). If not, you
must have spent recent years on the cast
of a television show that deposits you in
a remote area from which you can only
return naked, nch and inexplicably
famous.
No, as many Web sites, books and
"feng shui by day" calendars will tell
you, this "science" tl•aches "how to
manipulate your surroundings to make
,111 impact on your finances, health and
emotions."
My feng shui frustration came to a
head recently when some fool called me
at work with a proposition that he come
"balance" my office to further productivity
and enhance my "professional well
being." 1 had a hard time being polite.
1 can tell you for absolutely no consulting
fee whatsoever that my workday
mood would be improved by shorter
days, long lunches and a bottle in my
desk, not to mention the cessation of
inam• phone calls from someone who is
going to move a tree to the other side of
my filing cabinet (a by-phone example
this faux consultant gave me!).
Literally, feng shui means wind and
water, and it's purported to be the
ancient Chinese study of how to position
yourself in the natural order of the universe.
Key components: the year you
were born, the environment surrounding
you and movements of the solar system.
I'm sure it started out legitimate enough,
but then kooks and bad interior decorators
got a hold of it.
Still, feng shui's defenders protest a
bit too much that it is a scientific discipline
(based on the analysis of energy).
Well, someone who uses a compass in my
house to tell me the whole damn place
· faces the wrong direction just doesn't
seem too scientific to me.
By the way, a Feng Shui Master's
compass is called a "J..o..Pan." The feng
shui office balancer who called me felt it
was important for me to know that he
had his own and started every job with it.
1 didn't know what a J..o..Pan was, but I
do love a man who brings his own equipment.
Espeoally after my et-based
research indicated that feng shui involves
balls and more balls. Specifically, therapy
balls. Sometimes Chinese therapy balls.
Other times iron balls. And, get this, the
advice that you should select small balls
and gradually increa~e to larger balls as
you become more comfortable with your
work'
My Feng Shui Quest (also the title of
my next romance novel) turned up an
article on "sacred smells for your sacred
spaces." , o comment. Another feng shut
tome proposes that a really thorough
house cleaning can get rid of bad karmic
energy. Hey, my great-grandmother
knew this and would have considered
feng shui to be witchcraft at the very
least
Then there seems to be a whole debate
over wind chimes-what they have to be
made of, where they have to be placed,
when they have to be moved and
whether they really have any feng shui
zing at all. I won't even go into the fact
that there is apparently an entire school
of thought around feng shui being kosher
(or not). Oy Vey!
I have most enjoyed learning and
hearing about how to spot feng shu1
fakes and "feng shui charlatans." Even
these feng shui consumer advocates
The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green ...
f resh Guy is snickering because ..
Tired Guy
versus
Fresh Guy
Tired Guy doesn't know how to
work the phone.
seem to be out for a buck. They ultimately
sell you feng shui-zines (magazines for
the devotee) and have Web sites full of
stuff-mainly ducks and flutes and
amulets that look like Angie Dickinson's
earrings.
Then again, that may be exactly what
this craze has going for it.
Drew Plant zs an Atlanta-based writer
who is, at this moment, concerned that the lack
of a fire element m his home is a harbinger of
bad resale tialue Write Drewbob@mind·
spring.com and tell him how you c/wse to Jumg
your u•ind chimes
Tired Guy has had enuff of Fresh
Guy's crap. He knows how to work a
cell phone, OK? He's iust never used
one of these flip phones before.
Tired Guy thinks maybe it's time to
send Fresh Guy away. How:r:about a
time & place with weird phones.
Like, big deal.
10 NEWS
Lobby Day attendance
has increased
- Continued from Page 1
are out and proud, so when they go back to
their particular home~ or neighborhoods, they
don't carry the stereotype," Frye ~aid
She said she 1s glad to see De Palma and others
leading the lobby day.
"It ha:. allowed me to kind of sit back and
be m an emeritus kind of a role," she 'aid
DePalma said the lobby day, held three
times m the past, has seen a 1ump in attendance
through the years The first year, only
seven people participated Twenty people took
to the marble the next time; 50 people showed
up for the third event
As many as 100 are expected this year.
They intend to speak out in favor of repeal·
ing the sodomy law and in favor of proposed
nondiscrimination in education bills.
The group has not taken a pos1t10n on the
hate crimes bill, DePalma ~aid.
"I polled our member-hip and we really
could not reach a con,ensus on whether to
support 11," she said.
ome members believe 1t would make for
bad law while others ob1ect that gender 1dent1-
ty 1 not included m the bill Still others say a
toughened hJte cnmes law i a good ~ymbol
even 1f does not directly benefit transgendered
people
"Rather than fracture the communit} over
an 1 sue we decided to take a non-pos1hon"
DePaima ~JI
The activists will al~o lobby in f.ivor of
Hou e 8111 15 7 introduced by State Rep
Debra Danburg. D-Houston which IS aimed at
s1mphh mg the process of getting name and
gender changed if a 1udge 1s presented with .m
affidavit from a doctor ~tatmg that a pahent
1dent1f1es as a gender d1fterent than the one on
his or her official documents.
S1mphrvmg that proce:.s 1s JU't one of number
of things that needs to be happen to give
transgender people less of a d1sadvant.1ge in
oc1ety, according to Brenda Thomas who runs
a transgender support group and works for the
c1t\ ot Houston on a proi:;ram targetmg trans·
gendered people with HIV I AID~ educahon
mformahon
"Theres a really large gap m protechon of
any size, form, shape or d1menswn for our
commumt} " Thomas said "Especially once
they have trans1honed, it's hke they re a nonper
on Tne state ~ays they're neither male nor
female
DePalma said that unlike the gay lobbying
event planned for March 18-19, there will be no
march or protest as part of the tr.rn~gender
event '
uwe feel like we would be better taking a
low-key approach," she said "We don't want
to attract the media to a 'Jerry Springer Shov. '.
hke event'
Jnstead, they mtend to gather the day
before their event m space donated by a transgender
clothmg shop called the Cheshire Cat
and tram on how to be better lobtiyists.
State Rep. Glen Maxey (D- Austin),
Danburg and Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of
Texas Executive Director Dianne Hardy-Garcia
are expected to help lead the · training,
DePalma said.
"It's not a simple matter of showing up. It's
a matter of knowing what you're doing. We
don't want anvone to be embarrassed in front
of a legislator/' she said.
On Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., the lobbyists will
gather on the steps of the capitol for a photo,
then go to the legislators to whom they were
assigned at the training. Late arrivals will be
whisked into space donated by Danburg
where they will be given a crash course on lobbying,
then released to visit a legislator.
DePalma said there is still much work to be
done before legislators are likely to pay atten·
lion to the transgender community, but the
gathenng m Austin helps lay the groundwork
for a network of activbt who someday could
make a d1fterence.
uThe truth of the matter 1s that this is largeIv
an issue ror us of community building," she
said
DePalma expresst>d that sentiment in a let·
ter sent to activists by email
"If you get nothing ebe from our lobby day,
I hope vou will leave feeling a sense of hope
and empowerment," she said.
"We want you to go home with the knowledge
that your voice mattered and your attendance
made a difference. ~
Delira Dallburg
FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
Trans pioneer
launches Website
by GIP PLASTER
Houston's longtime transgender activist Phyllis Frye has
launched a new Web site aimed at sharing the wealth of legal information
on transgender issues the attorney has written, helped write
or simply collected through the years.
And while the site, transgenderlegal.com, already includes a
complete book chapter by Frye, a partial archive of her
"Phyllabuster" newsletter and plenty of other documents and links,
Frye said it is nowhere near finished.
"There's about 85 percent more coming," she said.
The site is intended as a resource for lawyers, activists and any
transgendered person who wants to know about struggles that have
gone before.
"What's there and what's coming is a resource for lawyers who
have transgendered clients but don't understand the nuances of the
transgender issue and transgendered people themselves who want
to hire an attorne\' and educate them," she said.
Frye has been a recognized leader in the struggle for transgender
rights for more than 20 years. She challenged Houston's law against
cross-dressing in 1981 and founded the International Conference on
Transgender Law & Employment Policy in 1992.
The site features Chapter 22 from the book "Creating Change·
Sexuality, Public Policy and Civil Rights." The chapter, entitled
"Facing Discrimination, Organizing for Freedom: the Transgender
Community," 1s an overview of the cause written br Frye.
Also already on the sill' are some of the most important documents
in the short history of the transgender righb movement,
mcluding the International Bill of Gender Rights, Health Law
Standards of C.ire and a document detatlmg standards for dealmg
with transgendered people m prisons
Frye said she eventually plans to have much more of the infor·
mahon generated at the confonmce she started available on the site
The site also includes a link to information and documents rela ted
to one of Frye\ recent chents, Christie Littlefield The transgendered
woman was deemed legally a man after the death of husband
and therefore left with no standing to sue her husband's doctor ior
malpractice.
There might be something there to help other lawyers, Frye said.
"It should give lawyers who are handling the:.c case:; a starting
point, a jumping off point,'' she said
The resource will ;ilso continue to grow as new works are produced
Within a few weeks, an article Pryl' wrote for an upcoming issue
of the College of Wilham & Mary's "journal of Women and the Law"
will be added to the site •
'1"hat is going to present an awful lot," she said. "lt'l> a legitimate
law re\·iew article m a legitimate law review journal.''
Frye said she feels 11 is her responsibility to make this information
available to others.
"Without patting myself on the back or bl~wmg my own homwh1ch
I'm not opposed to domg-I am the pioneer of national legal
transgender actl\1sm," she said." And I have either generated myself
or produced in concert with other people a boatload of information."
But that information is often hard for others to obtain, she said.
"Unfortunately. a lot of this informahon has not been very avail·
able, but now it will be very available," she said.
"And the way you fight is to give people information"
transgender1egal.com
tglegal com
Phyllis Frye
e-mail: PRFryeOaol com
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 NEWS 11
Censervatives to battle anti-bias ban
.- Continued from Page 1
C1t1es oll ross the country do."
But the pnhl!t,11 climate ms1dl• thl• hl•ar·
mg and the hl'oltt•d rhetoric on the strl'l'ls
below w.1s .inh·cl1m,1hc.
A day e.irhcr, Houston Mayor Lee
Brown-with the blessing of gay communi·
ty lcadt.'rs-put domestic partner benefib
on hold. opting mstcad to support a moreswel'pmg
ordinance banning discrimination
against gays and lesbians who work for the
citv
· ,\ similar 1 louston anh·discrimmation
order was passed bv City Council m 1985,
but soundly rebuffed bv voters in a refcren·
dum noted tor its rancor.
Fulfilling a campaign promise, in March
1998, Brown signed an executive order
which bannl'd discnmmation in city go\·emment
on thl' basis of sexual orientation,
Although the mayor's authonty to issue
such ::m order did not require a \'ote from
City C.ouncal, Coun<il member Rob Todd
and consen·ati\'(;• businessman Richard
Hotze hll•d an injunction against it, saying
that thl' action contradicted the public \'Ole
ofl985
SubSl'quently, I lotze was dropped from
the sUlt by State Dbtnct Judge Patnck W.
1'.1ilell. who said Hotze lacked standing to
make a claim, but Todd carried on as the
lom· plaintiff
,\ ruling from the Texas Supreme Court
1s e'pected m October
By all accounts, Brown had the majonty
ot Council \'oles needed to pass the insur·
ance benefits question, but he switched
strategy O\'Cr the weekend and came out
strongly for passage of the anh-d1scnmina·
tion ordinance.
Accompanied by City Council member
Annise Parker, the panel's only openl}' gay
member, supports both domestic partnership
benefits and the anti-bias proposal,
Brown met with 90 gay men and lesbians on
Saturd,1y to talk strategy.
In an informative meeting called together
by his newly-appointed liaison to our
community, Janine Brunjes, most of the people
at the meeting wanted to delay the
health contract issue and vigorously press
forward with the anti-discrimination ordinance.
"They [the council members) either
have to 'ay I'm in fo\'or of discrimination or
I'm not. That 1s a better place to start than
one particular area of benefits," said
Mitchell Katine, a gay attorney who has
taken on gay civil rights cases.
"This is the proper precur:;or to extending
insurance coverage to domestic part·
ncrs, so that the city employees will be protected
against discrimination when they
access insurance coverage," Parker said at a
Selling your life insurance
is a maior decision.
Whet' you re gay.1mg w :ti Hl'I ond 1triJlg ol selirlg YoS
~le inil.<cnce. shol.'dn 1 you beg-en o foc1Ho-foce
conslAto!lon., o nc>prem.<e. nc><tiigol!on envir0mlenl1
lried V.aficol Beneftf\ ~proud to be the otty gay o-.ned
ond cperotect V10tical brol:e< with o local office"' HOOJSton.
Atter al we bele•e.., prol'idrig yov !tie
pellOOOf Oltet'l!on you dese<>e ond getting y()J Ille
mo1t money ., the !hcil'e\t lime!
Experience.
Professionalism.
Courteous Service!
For Home, Health
LOCALoma
LINKED VIATICAl BENEFITS
news c0nfcrcnce ~londa\'
In a written ~tatemrnt, Brown<igreed
"The non·dL'Cnmmation ordmancc \\111
gwe current gay and lesbian aty employees,
and future city employees, comfort know·
mg th.it they will not lose thcu JObs 1f they
select domestic partner benefits m the
future," the mayor said.
But battle lines arc bemg drawn.
A new, conservati\·e group, Houstonians
for Family Values, is forming and pushing J
petition drive to place the issue before vol·
ers in November. The political action committl'l'
is led by Dave Wilson, a conservative
activist and former mavoral candidate.
The language of ihe group's petition
would bar the city from providing benefits
to anyone but employees, their spouses, and
their dependent children, ;is well as prcn•nt
"an) pnvill'ge in promotion, hiring, or contractingion
the basis of se\ual prefr•rcncc."
Some 20,000 signatures are required to
add a rl'f Prcndum to Houst0n's ballot
Calling samc-Sl'X benefits a moral issue,
Wilson said, "Homosexual beha\10r 1s a
~In."
Brown, who has a track record of attend·
ing Gay Pride parades and speaking toga}
groups, said the anti-bias measure 1s the
right move to make.
"I just don't thmk we should discriminate
against anyone," he said.
When you have
issues to deal with,
being gay shouldn't
be one of them.
If you're struggling with addiction o
depression, you need a treatment
center where you can
be yourself....
Where you can talk frankly and
safely to people who understand
you.
We're Pride Institute, the nation's
leader In providing treatment for
the gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered communities. We
have programs offering residential,
outpatient and halfway house
services. You have the power.
Call us today.
Tl.,1{11 JE
INS'l'I'l'U1l'E
800-54-PRIDE
Gty Counc~ member Annise Parker said an
anti-bias ban would prote<t gay city employees
who come out and ask for domestic partner
benefits.
-
Medicare and most insurance plans cover our programs
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12 NEWS FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
HIV prevention efforts face uncertain future
A prominent gay activist challenges San Francisco AIDS
stats, as the CDC announces a new prevention effort
and the Bush administration waffles on AIDS office
by ERi, O'BRIANT
A study shO\\lng rates of new HIV
infeclions among gay men in San Francisco
have doubled since 1997 came from "weak"
rese<irch using uneven samples a prominent
g.iy .iuthor ch.irged 1.ist week.
G.iy pundit Andrew, ull van took issue
with statements issued by the San Francisco
HIV Consensus Meeting, which said the
rate of new HIV infection~ m SJn Francisco
could re<ic.h 2.2 percent this ye;ir, up from
the I 04 percent rate I.isl year
Me<inwh1le, Centers for Disc;ise Control
& Prev4!ntion ofllc1als announced a new HIV
prevention 1mtallve at the th Conference
on Retrovuuses & Opportumstic Infections
in Ch1c;igo Feb. 4-8, and the Bush admims·
trahon waffled on whether the Office of
N.ibon.il AIDS Policy would remain open.
SF studies flawed?
The San Francisco researth indicated a
doubling of the rates of new HIV infect10n~
since 1997 in the City.
But according to Sullivan, those numbers
can be expl.iined by fluctuations m sample
size Only one of the studies in the body of
research has "a reasonJbly representativ~
sample of young gay men," he said
Even that study came under fire from
Sullivan. who daimL>d that fluctuabons m s.nnple
SJZe undcrmmcd resean:hers' conclusions.
Thomas Coates, director of the AIDS
Research Institute & Center for AIDS
Prevention Studies at the Uruvers1ty of
California, San Franasco, re.pondl>d by saymg
the study Sullivan spt.'Cifically critidu'l:i has
"bL't'll published m pa>r reV1ewed journals
and has withstood the peer review system."
Sullivan descnbed the other studies m
the report as "equally weak"
"No single study is without limitation,"
AIDS experts fe« 'an ileffective federal response
to AIDS in this country en! abroad' if the Bush
admilistration doesn't fuly support its AIDS
office, said Terje AndersOI\. executive mre<tor of
the National Association of People with AIDS.
A spokesperson for President Bush first said
the new president would cancel the Office of
National AIDS Policy, but Bush's chief of staff
later called the statement a 'mistake.'
countered Coates. "But when such a large
array of indicators, data, trends, numbers, community
input and even actual clinic and health
care vio;its indicate that sometlung is shifting m
the wrong direction, we would do best to not
argue with the data but address the LSSUe."
Focus on knowing HIV status
The COC hopes to address the problem of
new infections with it.> new HIV prevention
program, the Serostatus Approach to
Fighting the HIV Epidemic (SAFE). The initiative
focuses on expanding voluntary counseling
and testing programs to reach everyone
living with HIV infection, including the
estimated 200,000-275,000 Amencans who
are not aware that they are infected.
Officials hope SAFE will cut new HIV
infections in half nationwide by 2005.
According to Robert Janssen, director of
the COC's d1V1Sion of HIV/ AIDS preven·
hon, studies show that people who know
they are infected with HIV take steps to
protect theu pJrtners Also, new HIV therapies,
by lowering viral load, may reduce an
HIV.positive person's degree of mfectiousness.
CDC officials said th!? organization
needs .in additional $200 million m funding
to pursue the proiect full}
uFunding will have to be from both public
a'ld pm.ite sourlCS, leveragmg the special
skills the pnvate sec.tor has that we
don't have/ said J.inssen
Fate of national AIDS office
The COC ma} rdy more hea\'ily than
before on pnvate funds for HIV prevention
dunng President Bush's tenure
HIV confab vields troubling
stats, new guidelines
by ERIN O'BRIAt\'T
The 8th Conference on RetroV!ruses
and Opportunistic Infections took place
in Chicago Feb. 4-8. Conference papers
and presentations outlined important
information for people affected by HIV
and AIDS, including:
• A study presented at the conference by
Susan J Little of the University of
California at SJn Diego showed that the
incidence of drug·resL-;tant strains of new
HIV infection has risen to 14 percent.
Partiapants in the study were from
Birmingham, Ala., and other cities m North
Amenca, a,·rording to the Nrw York Times.
Robert Janssen, director of the di\'ision
of HIV I AIDS prevention at the Centers
for Disease Control, suggested that
researchers aren't :;ure whether Little i~
comparing numbers among people in the
same population.
• The Department of Health & Human
USA Today and other news organizations
reported last week that the Bush
administration would close both the White
House Office of National AIDS Policy and
the President's Initiative for One Arnenca,
after White House Chief of Staff Andrew
Card made a statement to that effect.
But after the story broke, White House
spokesperson Ari Fleischer denied plans to
close the AIDS office, saying Card's statement
was "a mistake."
In a press briefing Feb. 7, Fleischer said
President Bush will continue to have an
office dedicated to "fight(ing] the scourge
of AIDS." The Department of Health &:
Human Services will "be detailing people
to the White House," he said.
"In addition, at our Domestic Pohcy
Council we will have a White House
employee who is dedicated to fighting
AIDS and developing poliCJe. that can help
us fight AIDS. l'here is also a task force in
place that will remain m place that also is
concerned with the battle agamst AIDS,"
Aeischer said.
AIDS activists said they fear the Bush
administration's waffling could bode ill for
the campaign against the ep1dcm1c
"Nothing I have heard from President
Bush or An Fleischer clarifies the simple
question, 'Arc you gomg to have an AIDS
czar whose exclusive responsibility is to be
..a national and mternalional leader on AIDS
1SSues?"' said Alexis Schuler, spokesperson
for AIDS Action
Fleischer av01ded specific ment10ns of
and plans for 0 'AP, the President's
Advisory Council on HIV I AIDS, and the
p0S1hon of national AIDS policy director,
Services and the Hemy J. Kaiser Family
Foundation issued an updated version of
the "Guidelines for thr U~e of
Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-Infected
Adults and Adolescents" Feb. 5. The new
gwdelines recommend that doctors begin
treatment when patients have a higher \'iral
load and lower CD4 count than before.
• An ongoing study by a COC epidemiologist
showed that urban gay and bisexual
men ages 23-29 have an overall HIV prevalence
of 12.3 percent. The study, which
mcludl>d surveys of more than 2,400 men,
sampled participants at pubhc venues m
Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New
York City and Seattle. Thirty percent of
young Afric.m-Amerimn gay and bisexual
men, 15 percent of Hispani~ and 7 percent
of whites were diagnosed with the virus.
"We're very concerned about the high
rates of HIV among gay men of color and
are looking at our best response to that,"
Janssen said.
Schuler said.
Terje Anderson, executive director of the
National Association of People with AIDS,
expressed similar concerns.
"There are a lot of federal programs that
affect people with AIDS and having one
person in one office coordinating them and
providing a voice in the White House 1s
mcredibly important," Anderson said. "The
fear that we have is that we will have an
ineffective federal response to AIDS in this
country and abroad."
White House representatives aid not
return phone calls by press time.
President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
wa1h1ngton, DC 20500
phone: 202-456 1414
fax: 202 456-2461
e-mail: presodentOwhltehouse.gov
Web; http:/fwww.wh1tehouse.gov
UCSF AIDS Research
Institute
74 New MontgoMery, Ste. 600
San Francisco, CA 94105
plione: 415-597 9203
fax· 415-597·9213
e mail: eriOpsg.ucsf edu
Web· http://111v1nslte ucsf .edu
Andrew Sullivan
e-maJl:andrewCandrewsull1van.com
Web: www.al'drewsullivan.com
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 NEWS 13
Gays want meeting with Bush's faith-based office
Pro-gay groups worry granting federal money to
religious-based social service organizations could
institutionalize homophobia
order to be fed or am I going to be prayed
O\'Cr? . We haw verv fundamental concerns
that his proposal poses a threat to
both GLBT social sen·ice worker~ and
by ERIC ERIC KSO:'\ sooal sen·ice recipients."
A co,11ition of pro-gay relig10us and
secular groups IS c,1lhng for a mL'eting
with john Diiulio, the tJninrsity of
Penn:;yl\'ania professor tapped to he,1d the
' new White House Office of Fa1th-b,1sed
& Commumtv lnitlatl\'es.
Cay rights ,1d\'oc,1tl's and othl•r rntKs
of the recently announced offin• say they
fear 1t will \'iolate the Constitution's guarantee
ol sl'p.u.1t1on of church ,rnd state,
and put gay mL•n and lesbians at nsk of
President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington. DC 20500
phone: 202 456 1414
e-mail: presidentOwh1tehouse.gov
Equal Pa rtners in Fa ith
2026 P St. NW Suite 3
Washington D.C 20036-5914
phone: 202-332·6483
e-mail: uuawoOao .com
National Gay & Lesbian
Task Force
1700 Kai ·ama Rd. NW
Saturday
March 3, 2001
6:30pm
THE WESTIN GALLERIA
Featuring a globe trotting s1fent auction
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discriminatory treatment from relig10us
groups that oppose homosexuality
The new White House office, and similar
offices created by Bush in fi\'e go\'emment
departments, topped the agenda last
week when the National Gay & Lesbian
T,1Sk Force and Equal Partners m Faith conn•
ned the semi-annual meeting of the
l\attonal Rehg10us Leadership
ROLmdtable, an interfaith network of 40
rdig1ous leader~ who ad\'ocate for pro-gay
n:ligious perspectives.
The NRLR concluded its meetmg with
calls for a discussion with the man who
will head the new faith-based oftice, and a
message for thl• new president.
"We want Bush to know there are progressive
people of faith in the LGBT commlmity
and that our voices are going to be
heard by media and society," said Rev.
Ste\'en Baines, executive coordmator of
Equal Partners m Faith.
The new offh'S will promote competition
for $10 billion in federal grants, pre\'iously
unavailable to religious organizations.
Under Bush's proposal, any religious
group providing soCJal scr\'ices may apply for
kdcral funding
"If I'm homeless," asked NGLTF
spokesperson David Elliot, "and I go to a
soup kitchen, am I going to have to pray in
Elliot ~ud NGLTF and oU1l~r gay organizations
fear thl':<e rdig1ous groups could ll"l'
federal money to promote their 0\\11 con..«er\'
ah\·e agenda. "It's an attack on our commurul);"
he said. 'Tw come not to expect much
from this adnurustration. Tht> unportant tlung
to keep in mind is that if thrse propostl.s go
through we will face discnrrunation."
Bush has ms1Sted that bias will not
occur his proposal. While religious groups
will be able to kl'l'P their rehgtott' sym·
bols, character and internal gm ernmg
structure during and after the grant application
process, they cannot w•e the funds
for actual worship, religiott~ education or
conwrsion. In fact, under the plan. any
congregation, including primarily gay
congregations like Metropolitan
Community Churches, would be eligible
for funding.
Yet Elliot said he rcmam.s skeptical.
''Do you reallv thmk the Bush admm1stration
is going to farnr our churches O\W the
conser\'ative Baptist church-es''' he asked.
Baines said he shares thosl' concerns.
"We know from ewrythmg we see the
Bush administration has done, [the funds
are) going to go to groups that support his
conservative theological viewpoints," he
said.
Honortnr. To purchase tickets:
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CORPORATE EQUALITY AWARD
Sue Lovell
POLITICAL EQUALITY AWARD
Gary Teixeira
COMMUMITY SERVICE AWARD
Special Recognition:
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Co-ehns
Bret Baccus 713.807 7408
and Dalia Stokes 7 IS.522.2224
Table 1~lormat ion:
David Muck 713.522 1115
Tm Llwin CGlucnoJt
Gay activists say they want to meet with John
Diiulio, tapped to head the new White House
OffKe of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives.
Bccatt.;e many ,\ml'rJCan.-. doubt the qual·
1ty of ~mces cunmtly available from government
s-xial sen·1ce agencies, Bush has
sud he wants money to go to local religiott'
group and ch 1c orgaruz.a hons. Bush said
these group can ll'C contacts in their own
community to better work \\1th needy people.
Baml's said he recognizes religiou~
groups can admm1ster quality services,
and he would be in favor of funding them
with federal dollars, but only if they set up
separate entitie~ to deli\'er 5ervices. '
The Office oi Faith-Ba~d and
Community Inihati\'es is scheduled to open
Feb. 20.
MC: Georgia Ragsdale
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HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 OUT ON THE BAYOU
11@JCill@'Cs@/unquote"
compiled by REX WOCHNER and STAFF REPORTS
"Don't Fear It, Don't Flaunt It."
Christopher Dandeker, who heads the war studies department at Kings College
London, to the New York Times, Feb 10. Dandeker was comparing the approach of
the Bflt1sh rP htary to qays serving openly to the US. military policy of "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell • Brotain removed its ban on openly gay service members last year.
"I am telling you, you're gonna blink and
you'll be 80 and alone in a caftan with a lap
full of catnip saying, 'Here kitty kitty kitty.' It's
time to put the sex back in homosexual, Will."
-Jack (Sean Hayes, left) to Will (Eric McCormack)
on NBC's "Will & Grace,• Feb 1
"The most significant social change in
the United States during the Clinton presidency
was the social mainstreaming of
gay Americans and the ebbing of anti-gay
prejudice."
-Author Bruce 8dwer writing in the New York
Times, Jon 26, about the impact of President
Clinton's adm1rnstrat Of" on gay men and lesbians
"I get all kinds of e-mails telling me I'm working with the Nazis.
But we're optimistic that President Bush will keep a dialogue going
with the community."
-Kevin Ivers of the Log Cabin Republicans to the New York Times, Jan. 26.
LCR has been cnt1c1zed by some gay civil rights groups for not opposi!'lg
conservative appointments to the Bush administration, like Attorney General
John Ashcroft, who has made anti-gay statements as an elected official.
"Ronan threw me out of Boyzone because
I wasn't gay enough-it's as simple as that."
-Ex-Boyzone member Shane Lynch (right)
cnt1c1Z1ng former band mate Roman Keating for
wanting him to be like Stephen Gately, the former
Boyzone merrber who came out wt>1le still m the
band, in the Mirror's "3am" column.
"I hope no young gay man somewhere out
there watches the show [Showtime's 'Queer
As Folk'], packs his U-Haul, and moves to
Pittsburgh, thinking he's going to a gay
mecca. That would be kind of sad for him."
-Pittsburgh advertising executive Robert Handley
to USA Today, Jan 2 5
"It was my publicist, Stan, and he didn't
dress well."
-Actor George Clooney (left) when asked
by reporters at the Golden Globe awards Jan 21
who his date was for the evening.
"Stuart grins when he's fucking; you know
he's having a good time. Brian looks grim and
angry. Stuart has a heart; Brian is soulless. Stuart
flirts with an attractive medical worker in
the hospital; Brian fucks an attractive medical
worker in the room where his friend is lying in a
coma. Watching Stuart have sex, I want to join in.
Watching Brian have sex, I want to scrub myself
off with Lysol. If I'm going to watch sex, anonymous or otherwise, I'd like it to
feature at least some minimal sense of delight at the touch of another human
being. Otherwise I could just jerk off to 'On Golden Blond' or 'Guess Who's
Coming at Dinner' or whatever this week's porno hit is called."
-Dave Tuller comparing the protagonist of the British "Queer As Folk" (Stuart)
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HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001
' wit amil
Just in time for better weather, a new gay walking group u kicking up dust of /t\emarial Par
by D.L. GROOVER
How would you like to take a brisk morning constitutional
in Memorial Park? How about taking your
walk with some new friends? How about having
breakfast after your hour's stroll with your new
friends?
Then the Gay & Lesbian Breakfast Club is for you.
This new social group is the brainchild of Jimmy
Brown, who masterminded the Movie Club a few
years back, a gay and lesbian group that combined
dinner and a movie. It stayed in operation for about 18
months, but the scheduling hassles finally were too
much for him.
"It got real exhausting: picking the movie, leaving
everyone messages. I had to plan a restaurant near the
movie. But after all the obstacles they'd still come," he
said.
Wanting some exercise after sitting through all
those movies, Brown started walking.
''I've been walking for about two years now," he
said."! do it every week anyway, and this way I'll have
other people to talk to and keep my mind off how hot
by D.L GROOVER
Houston ranks second only to New York Oty m the
number of theater seats located in a downtown areaand
th15 spnng's schcdu!C' illustrates the wide variety of
shows available with so many venues to choose from.
l louston's Theater District Association has calculat·
ed that our aty on the bayou cushions 14,428 overstuffed
posteriors for the performing arts. That impressive
number, however, encompasses only those theaters
facing the tom-up streets of dmmtown and doesn't
include the restroom-friendly Hobby Center now
under construction.
We are a theater-mad city, and insplIII1g work goes
on all over town, all the time. Whatever your taste, it \\ill
it is outside:'
The group kicks off Saturday at 8 a.m.
The course is 2.9 miles, and Brown said it takes an
hour to walk it.
'Tm very much a coach potato-type person, and
the first time I did it, it was a little challenging. They
have a running group out there, but I tried that and I
just can't run. I've had people call and saj; I don't
know 1f I can make it around that track. But if you can
walk a shopping mall from front to back, you can walk
around this track," he said.
The club has no dues and no rules, except for the
starting time. If you don't want to exercise, stay at
home until it's time to meet the group for breakfast at
Java Java Cafe, 911 W. 11th Street in the Heights.
To get the word out to as many prospective walkers
as possible \~;thout spending bags of cash, Brown left
fliers at the l louston Lesbian & Gay Community
Center, and a few gay and gay-friendly churches like
Bering, St. Steven's and MCCR.
"I'm pretty sure it's going to start off slow," he said
"But over time, it'll get bigger and bigger. I think after
::..- Continued on Page 22
be sated There's so much, m fact, that our Spnng
Theater l'J"C\icw had to be split m two to adequate!)
co\·er all that's about to happen. Go to the theater,"" hat·
C\·er art form turns you on; it just might change your Ille
Biem·enue I11eater
3722 Washington Ave
713-426-2626
NAKED BOYS SI~GI~G. dates not ~t
Although no dates have been set as of press time,
Chri.~tian DeVnes continues the fantastically succe;sful
franchise of "Naked Boys Singing "This deverly directed
ca~h cow doesn't have a thought in its head, but the
herds of gffitlemen lirung up to view the ur\Clothed
,.... Continued on Page 23
18 OUT ON THE BAYOU FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
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Eating Out RESTAURANTREVIEW
Sushi as it should be
Ginza offers outstanding
food, unassuming style
by TRACE DISKIN
If there's one thing Houston restaurants
do well, it's the art of transformation. Leave
it to Houston's chefs to redefine, rev.ork, or
fuse a cuisine, menu or duung space until
it's stylishly, and often deliciously, deviant
Until a friend and I stepped mto
GI~ZA. a popular but unassuming sushi
bar m the Tanglewood neighborhood, 1
barely noticed how iazzed up the rest of our
Japanese restaurants really are.
Unlike the brightly-lit, tightly-packed,
urban sushi dens of New York, 5an Francisco,
O.C and Boston, most Houston Japanese
l'l'Staurants seem to follow the trend of dimly
lit, swanky est,1bhshments where authentioty
falls second to ambiance and innovation.
That's whv Gmza trulv makes a , orthem
sushi lovd fed like she's home again.
With pale bamboo light fixtures, wall
hangings and simple, blonde wood fumi·
ture, Gmza sets a tone that's more cafe than
hip nightspot. One royal blue w.111 and the
blue and white patterned carpet lend a col·
orful, if understated touch, and make the
rather large space feel intimate and local.
Although the tables and booths are closely
placed to one another, and families with
kids chat about warmly in the open space,
it's never too loud or encroaching.
The eel is particularly
prodigious and succulent, and
since it's the only sushi that's
actually cooked, it's a must for
raw fish eaters and skeptics alike.
When tt comes to authentiaty, though, one
only has to open the menu. A vutual phone
book of appetizers covers an entire page, with
nearly SO Japanese staples listed alphabetically
The Edamame (53.50), which are hard to
come by at other, more upscale sushi
haunts, appear on practically every customer's
table. Edamame, for the uninihat·
ed, are steamed green soybeans still m the
pod, and sprinkled coarse salt. ~rved hot
or cold, they pack a deep, nutritious flavor,
and make great nibbling food while wall·
mg for other, more substantial dishes.
Although I predict it won't be long
before you cnn grab them from the freezer
section at your nearest Kroger or Randalls,
nght now they're only available at Asian
speoalty grocers Fortunately, Gmza serves
them hot and in abundance, with each bean
nearly bursting out of its grassy, salty skin.
The Seaweed Salad ($4.50) 1s another find,
with dark, gelatinous stnps of seaweed tn a
piquant vinegar and soy ginger dressing.
But when 11 comes to sushi bars, the rule IS
;udgc stnctlv by .sushi, and hero IS \\'here law-
Ginza
5868 San Felipe
713.785.0332
Food: tptptptp'
Service: tptptptp
Value: tptptp'
scene: •vtf Vtf
tJ-Opt for bread, water at ho!T'e
'lf11f'OK, 1f you really rr1.ost
tJIVV F ne for most
V1'tVtf Worth the dr ve, so hve a httle
tpif tfv(;. As good as It gets
key Ginza dearly shines. The fish is mcred1bly
fresh and beautifully handled and presented,
but most of all huge. A piece of nigin sushi,
that's one piece of sushi on a bed a nee, is
$3.95 for 2 pieces and easily three times the
size of that of other restaurants.
The eel is particularly prodigious and succulent,
and smce it's the only sushi that's actu·
ally cooked, it's a must for raw fish eaters and
skeptics alike. The salmon and mackerel were
also impressive in size and quality.
Although Ginza doesn't go O\'erboard
on cleverly named rolls as much as other
places, the rolls they do serve are artful and
frighteningly good Do not pass up the
Caterpillar Roll ($8.50), with cooked eel
rolled m marinated rice and slathered in
thin stnps of avocado. Not only docs the
combination of flavors explode on the
tongue, but the garnishings of shrimp.
octopus and flying fish roe for eyes are
adorably delectable.
If Gin1~1 falls short at all, it is in the rather
unremarkable main entrces, such as Chicken
Teriyaki ($8.95), or Tempura ($6.95) 'lhe
chicken, for example, arnved with chopped
peppers and onions coated so thickly in a
gelatinous sauce that it resembled Chinese
food more than anything Japanese. And the
small nugget-like pieces of chicken did little
for the texture, which usually docs fmc m tenderly
grilled strips.
The Soba Noodle dishes ($6.95), however,
make for loud and eager slurping. and
the miso soup is well stocked with fresh
green seaweed, chunks of tofu and tasty
mushrooms.
Ginz.a featul'l'S the staple desserts-Red
Ban or Green Tea Ice Cream ($2.50)-from a
popul.ir Japanese grocery brand advertised on
many of the booths. The service IS friendly and
efficient, and II' s common for the staff to rec·
ogmze return customers and make them feel
1mmed1ately at home with a pot of green tea.
As a break from the often overbearing
atmosphere of other Japanese restaurants,
Ginza makes the perfect choice. So ellJOY
the unpretentious setting, but stay for the
outstanding sushi.
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001
PROVEN POWER FOR HIV
Ast,.,.. docfw *"" Combivire
lamivlKfhe!l!zidovtxJinel "i~~ 0 TA B L E T T w I c E A D A YC:11
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•Low risk of fat wasting, tingling or burning In the hands and feet, or problems with the pancreas
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CALL 1-800-780-3311 for lnfonnatlon or visit our Web site at m. TrutlllV.com
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BRIEF SUMMARY
COMBIVIR~ Tablets (lamivudine/Zidovudine tablets)
Tiie lollOlriof IS I ilnel~ Diiiy: set ..ii pr1$C1lbilll inlormmoo lor COl1'lefl ,,_ inlonnlticlft.
WARNING. ZlDOVIJDIHE. ONE OF THE TWO ACTIYE INGREDIENTS Ill COMSIVIR. HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED
WITH HEMATOLOGIC TOXICITY INCLUDING NEUTROPENIA AND SEVERE ANEMIA. PARTICULARLY IN PATIENTS
WITH ADVANCED HIV DISEASE (SEE WARHINGSI. PROLONGED USE OF ZlOOVUDINE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED
WITH SYMPTOMATIC MYOPATHY
lACllC ACIDOSIS AND SEVERE HEPATOMEGAl.Y WITH SlfATDSIS. INClUDlllG FATAL CASES. HAVE BEEN
REPOIITTD WITH THE USE OF NUCLEOSIDE ANALOGUES ALONE DR IN COMBINATION. INCLUDING lAMIVUOINE,
ZlDOVIJOlllE AND OTHER AllTIRETROVIRAlS !SEE WARNINGS).
FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
CDMBIVIR T1blets ( l1m1Vud1ne~1do,.din1 tablets)
Mm;eEwnt
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OlgabYI Nausea 33'-
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Nausea & vomtll10 13'4
Ancnxia and/or decreased awetta 10%
Alldomilal pall 9"I.
A1ldomml lmllJS 6%
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HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 NEWS
health news
Medical implant could give women pleasure at push of a button
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-A physician in North Carolina is working on a medical
implant th.it could offer women the chance to experience orgasm at the push of a button,
according to CNN. Stuart Meloy, the doctor seeking a patent for the device, thinks it could
allow women with orgasmic dysfunction to resume normal sex lives. The device would
work by implanting electrodes in the spine and a small signal generator in the skin under
the buttocks. The patient could then control the sensation with a handheld remote control.
"I was treating la patirnt with) a chronic pain condition and generated a response I was not
anhc1pahng," Mcloy said. The patient told Meloy of the reaction, and his expenments
shifted from the study of pain to that of pleasure. Clinical trials could begin later this year
if Mcloy recl'iVl'S funding from a major medical implant manufacturer. The initial cost
would be $15,000, not including the surgical procedures required to install the device.
Microbicides see limited development over profit, liability concerns
Cl IICAGO-A potential avenue of AIDS prevention, the creation of microbicide gels
and creams that would kill HIV during sex, may be thwarted by troubles during expcri·
mental trials, thl' Clricago Sun-Times reported. Microbicides would be especially valuable in
fighting AIDS in Afric;i, where condom use 1s limited, and in some instances, during anal
sex. "Ideally, women will one day be able to choose from among a wide range of microbicides,
as they now choose, from among a range of contraceptives," according to a report by
the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a think tank specializing in reproductive health issues. But
most big drug companies aren't developing microbic1des because they would be sold overthe-
counter, where profits are lower and liabilities higher. A company could be sued, for
example, if its microbicide failed to prevent an HIV infection, scientists said. Qne microbiode
being tested in Chicago is Pro 2000, which coats HIV, preventing if from entering and
infecting human cells.
Mapping of genes could lead to secrets of genetic code, disease
WAS! llNGTON (AP)-Scicntists released the ~-suits of the Human Genome Prtject, the mapping
of the gen~ that comprise the human genetic code. "We arc confirming Darwin," Sir John
Sulston, who 1s spearheading the British end of the projl'C!, told Reuters on Feb. 12. One of the key
uses of the projl'<:t could be the ability to fight disease, since mutations in the genome either cause
or prcdisposl.' at least 1,500 diseases. Cancer researcher
Barbara). Trask told A'>SOCiated Press that cancer is currently
treated as a "di~·ase of the genome" with a "sledgehammer
approach." But the information gleaned from the mapping
could !rod to treatments that addres.5 only the cancer and
leave the rest of the body alone. The project could also lead to
an under.;tanding of why AIDS affects some pt.'Ople immediately
while leaving others unaffL'\.ied for years.
The recently released results of the Human Genome Project
could unleash the secrets to diseases fike AIDS, said
researcher Sir John Sulston.
Feds slow experimental drug approvals spurred by 1992 law
NEW YORK-U.S. drug regulators took almost 40 percent more time in 2000 than they
did in 1999 to approve new prescription drugs, Reuters reported. The U.S. Food&: Drug
Administration last year approved 27 medicines that have active ingredients never before
sold in the country. Last year, the FDA took an average of 17.6 months to approve the exper·
imental drugs, compared with only 12.6 months for the 35 it approved in 1999. The slowdown
ended a seven-year streak of faster approval times that was spurred by passage of
the Prescription Drug User Fee Act in 1992, which was actively lobbied for by AIDS
groups. J,inet Woodcock, head of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation &: Research, said
her agency last year met all of the goab imposed by the 1992 law, including reviewing half
of all ongmal new drug applicahons within 10 months. "The FDA has met all of our goals.
In fact, we exccedl'<l them," Woodcock said
Drugs pulled from market posed greater risk to women, FDA says
WASlllNGTON-A draft of a federal government rrport suggests that eight of 10 prescription
drugs that have been pulled from the market for safety reasot1 since early 1997
may have posed greater nsks to woml'n than to men, according to CN . The General
Accountmg Office report pomts out that the withdrawal of a drug from the market 1s less
a judgment on the safctv of a particular drug, and more a judgment on the relah\'C risks
and bend1t cm~parl•d with a\ailablt• alternative~. Four of the eight drugs may ha\'e
showed d1sproport1onatc levels of nsk to wum,•n because thl'}' are more often prescribed
for women TI1e GAO report noted thr.t m four othl'I cases where drugs were evenly prescribed
to men and women, physiological d1ften•nces between the sexes may account for
the higher risks The. drugs in question range from appetite suppressantS Pond1mm and
For more news, visit
www.houstonvoice.com
Redux, antihistamines Scldane and Hismanal. the
he:irtbum drug Propulsid, and Lotronex, which
w.is used to treat 1mtable bowel syndrome.
-From staff and wire rrporls
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22
Diana Ross
Gay friendly icon and glam diva M ss Ross
goes country and appears at the Rodeo of al
p aces. I' she can scrao off the road apples
fro!"' her ostrich boots, looK for an appearance
around 8.45 p.'n .• but that s dubious.
Feb 16 Reuant Astrodome, 8400 K"by, 713-
629-3700
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
There's no better way to celebrate Black
History Montli than Alvin A ey's Jubilant
·Revelations.· It Is a tr·umphant musical
expression of the humal' spir t-glory and
JOY set to rousing black churc" music: spir~
tuals, song-sermons gospels, and holy
blues Choreographer A1 ey's finest Nork. it
can be seen on every program of t'11s company's
weekend v1s1t. Other works on the
programs include artistic d.rector Judith
Jamison's 'Div mng." Ailey's ·Pas de Duke"
to music by Duke Elhngton. and U ysses
Dove's •Episodes· Fabulous bodies. fabulous
darc1rg
Feb 16 & 18, 8 p.rr., Feb. 17. 2 p.m. Jones
Hall 615.Louisiana 713-227 4SPA
OUT ON THE BAYOU
Black Gays & lesbians In History
An atternat ve view m celebrating Black
History Month. II Michael Jackson 1s the only
gay black mal'I (or black woman, for that mat
ter) you can think of, then this d!alogue and
l'1story lesson 1s for you. Let's see, we could
talk about George Washington Carver, Alvin
Alley, Josephine Baker Benjamin Senneker,
Langston Hughes, Barbara Jordan, Lorraine
Hansberry, James Baldwin, Billy Strayhorn,
Bayard Rustin, Ahce Walker, Ruth C. Ellis,
Howard Rollins, Angela Dav1sI
Feb 17, 6:30 to 9:30 p.rn. Community Gospel
Churcti 4305 Llihan 713-880.9235
Runt of the Utter
Once a pro-baller with the Houston Oilers
( reMember them?). then an actor appearing
on "ER" and "The John Larroquette ShoN,"
now Bo Eason's a writer/actor in his own oneman
show. He plays a professional football
player who's pitted against his brother in a
pivotal champ1onsh1p game. However, dredg·
mg up family r1story makes this big galoot
tackle the big questions about his spor t, his
dad, and his quest for fame Whatever the out·
come, he"s got to be a better actor than
Arnold, or O.J., or Greg.
Feb. 21-March 18, Stages Repertory Theatre,
3201 Allen Parkway· Waugh at D'Amico. 713-
527-8243
Five Poems & The Firebird
Two artistic directors of two of the best bal·
let companies, our own Ben Stevenson and
National Ballet of Canada's James Kudelka,
have created a memorable ear·and·eyeful
tor Houston Ballet's next program.
Stevenson has taken Wagner's lush
Romantic ·wesendonck Lieder· and set 1t
to lyric dancing, while Kudelka gives his
characteristic cerebral spin to Stravinsky's
sublime and magical score. Jane Seymour •
yes, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman • Is a
respected artist and has opened her paint
box to design the Wagner in pastel cloud·
scapes. Veteran designer Santo Loquasto
puts the fairy tale Firebird in the steamy
jungles of Central Al"'enca. The colors, the
colors!
Feb. 22-March 4 , Houston Ballet Wortham
Theater Center 500 Texas 713-227-ARTS
FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
Breakfast
Club walks
;;.- Continued from Page 17
it ratches on, it's going to become popular
The people who have Gilled, they've genuinely
been very excited about it. 'Oh, cool,
I can't wait.' They're very interested in it.
I'm happy about that.
"We call it the Gay & Lesbian Breakfast
Club, but I would love to have some
straight people join us. I iust want the gay
and lesbian people to feel very welcome.
"As I was walking 1 would see people
who I suspect were gay, but you can't go up
and ask them. Yeah, our family's out here.
So, surely there are other people who
would want to do this with me," Brown
said.
Gay & Lesbian Breakfast
Club
Feb 17, 8 a.m.
Memorial Park, tennis center
1500 E. Memorial Loop Drive
phone: 713-864-7299
Web site:
httpJ/members aol .com/morning
club/gayfun3.htm#top
r. .... '
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Saturlays at 7:30pm
1307-:J{')'afe • 713-880-2872
HOUSTON VOICE • FEBRUARY 16, 2001 OUT ON THE BAYOU 23
Spring theater preview, act II
;. Con tinued from Page 17
singers don't seem to nund
Encore Theatre
4816 Mam Street
713-527-8277
ANTIGONE, April 6-28
Founded in 1994 to provide quality theater
to the inner-oty and also as a traming ground
for aspirmg professionals, Encore is going to
give us all a run for our money with some dramatic
productions, including tlus masterpiece
from the very begmrung of theater history.
Sophocles' tragedy defines the term: a harrowing
tale of peroonal responsibility vs. the
state, represented by an implacable Creon,
whose need to be in control brings destruction
to his family in the mother of all dramas.
Infernal Bridegroom
Productions
Atorruc Cafe
1320 Nance Street
ACTION and
CHICAGO, Feb
23-March 17
These one-acts
give u~ a rare
Houston opportum·
ty to experience
early Sam Shepard,
when he was the
downtown grungl'
voice of his generahon, before he started playing
polo and hangin' with Jessica. When he
was the John the Baptist of playwrights, crying
in the wilderness, letting it all hang out, raw
and powerful, if not always in controL
Stu, who's ensconced in a tub in Shepard's
Obie-winning 1965 "Chicago," goes on linguistic
flights of fancy when his girlfriend
announces she's leaving him to go to Clucago.
Disjointed and in pain, he says whatever's in
his head, no matter the situation. As he splashes
in the water, Stu's stream-of-conscious
monologues make sense. Life's unravelmg.
but you've still got to breathe.
"Action," from 1975, is a riff on identity,
and an actor's godsend. We as performance
art is given full rem. 'Tm looking forward to
my life," one of the four misplaced characters
says, "the way I picture me." But there's no
escape from where they've come. It's all part of
the baggage they can't escape
Little Room Downstairs
2332 Bissorinet
713-522-5737
VISmNG MR. GREENE, through March 17
Oy. what a ruce play. Jeff Baron's two character
comedy/drama has the warm, comforting
smell of chicken soup. There's so much, in
fact, that we start clucking.
This feel-good matzo ball of a play,
d~1gned to leave us uplifted and better off for
it, is beautifully acted and smoothly dtrected,
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but 1l's so sqwshy and shameless we don't
want to pinch its cheeks so much as smack 1t.
Get tough, scream out, do something! But it
won't; it just plods.
You can guess its inevitable conclusion
from the get-go, and the shocking revelations
are handled with all the emotional depth of a
sit-com. There's a gritty. much better play contained
within, but Baron doesn't want to write
it. He'd rather lull than shock, please than dlSturb.
At the fade out, the t\\'o men wait anxiously
for the door to open so Mr Green's ageold
family conflict can finally resolve. It
wouldn't surprise us m the least if Molly
Goldberg waddled m
DISPARATE INGREDIENTS, March 16 -
April 21
Now, this sounds promising. A world premiere
musical by Richard Laub, LRD's artistic
director, about a big city mayoral election, an
ultra-conservah\'e politico, his gay-but-cl~ted
spin doctor and his illegitimate son. Any
city we know'
THE WISDOM OF EVE, May 25-June 30
Mary Or's "Cosmopolitan" short storv
from 1946, the ba,b for )o,eph L
~ankiewicz's truh• classic cinematic fable of
fame, "All About E\'e," comes to the stage \\ith
its onginal venom slill wet and potent enough
to inflict psychic damage. If the coruscatmg
humor and sophisticated devilhy of the film is
halfway realized, then Eve's \\1sdom will be
imparted to satisfied full houses Fasten your
seatbelt!-
Main Street Theater
713-524-{)706
Without question, the only Equity theater
in town \\1th two separate buildings (their
small Village location and their Chelsea
Market space tor larger works), Main Street
Theater delights with d1versitr
THE COUNTESS. through February 25, 2540
Tunes Blvd
To paraphrase Giotto, Gregory Murphy's
play is no oil painting He takes the unpa,to
and the bold brush strokes and the erotic coloring
of one of Victorian England's most scandalous
trios and turns the whole shocking
affair into a pencil sketch, blanclung the life out
of II.
In 1853, John Ruskin, England's preeminent
art critic (and admirer of very. very young
girls, although tlus 1wcy hdbit is barely picked
at) in\1ted studly pre-Raphaelite painter John
Millais to join him and his young bride on a
trip to S..-otland where Ruskin would unpart
his co1b1derable knowledge to the impre>.,1onable
artist. What got impressed mstead was
Ruskin's nubile bnde and the painter.
Rcpfl':'sed Victorian England wasn't prepared
for a messy pic;ture like tlu~.
Sexual hypocn~y. repression and pnggish
ronformtt:y \·,.a woman's emanapation, great
art and an unconsummated wedding rught.
Enough good stuff tor any drama.
24 FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
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HOUSTON VOICE •FEBRUARY 16, 2001 OUT ON THE BAYOU 25
on screen FILM, VIDEO & TV REVIEWS
by STE\'F \\'t\RRrl\
You are who you eat
A fictional sequel and
an original documentary
both offer a unique
perspective on life
Wht.>n I lannibal Lectcr (Anthony Hopkins),
the thinking person's Freddy Kreuger,
announet.>s, "I need to come out of retirement
and return to public Life," fasten your scat belb1
It's ten ye.us after "The Silence of the
Lambs." The !;Bl 1sstlll after Lecter but so is
his sole surviving victim, filthy and nch
Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), who lives in
Asheville's Biltmore Estate.
What's left of Verger's face 1s horrible to
behold. A flashback shows how he got that
way when he pickl•d Lecter up one night
and brought him home to party.
HANNIBAL is the ideal sequel, familiar
yet different. Jodie Foster is sorely missed as
FBI Agent Clarice Starling, although
Julianne Moore is as good a,, any substitute
could have bl>cn. Ridley Scott ("Gladiator")
fares better, replacing Jonathan Demme as
director ,ind keeping production values
first-cl.iss ,111 the way.
A bisexual wom,m character has been
droppt>d from Thomas Harris' source nowl,
but Vergl·r is gay .md the Justice Department':.
Paul Krcndler (Ray Uotta) homophobIC; so the
villam roster offers something for everyone
.md GIAAD will still have plenty to bitch
about. fbnnib.il's Panama hat makes him look
rather like Truman Capote, but his madnes-~ 1s
oc-yond sexuality.
It you have a probll•m with Verger cutting
off hb own face while high on poppers
and swinging from a noose, forget about
seeing the movie Like "Silence of the
Lambs" it's not for the faint of heart or
stomach, but it's done with more than
enough grace notes to distinguish it from
the typically cheesy movies of the genre.
So many, 111 fact, that you have to be
patient while the plot is set in motion, but
know that your patience will be rewarded.
Cl.1nce gets in trouble when a drug bust
goes b,1d. Krendler, a misogynist as well as a
homophobe, is sent to help with damage control.
Verger, who wants to administer his own
iushce to l..ecter, offers a reward that Italian
polite detL>ehve Giancarlo Giannini goes after;
but Verger ,1Jso rekindle:; the FBI's interest in
one of their Ten Most Wanted, who has bt<en
laymg low for a dL>eade.
Memorable ~t·quences become more
numt•rous ,is Wt' .ipproach the climachc
dinner-tJble scene· Leder IL>eturmg on the
link bl•twcen avarice and hanging in art .is
Gian111111 1w,1rs his dat(' with destiny, the
threP·wav t«1hind·mou'c game iii .Unwn
Stahon· Leck·r 'l'nrountcr with wild bo.irs
a carnivorous .is he b; and his 'trange rcla
honsh1p With Clance that m.ikl'S her \\ant
to protect him even as she hunts him down.
Moore lacks Fo tcr'~ vulnerab1hty and
fare; more competition than her predccl'!>sor,
Mth Hopkins' role being much larger and
Directed by Ridley Scctt
Starring Anthony Hopkins. Julianne
Moore, Gary Oldman
Queer Quotient: There's one despicable
gay character but he's not as bad as
the killer in 'Silence of the Lambs.' and
for balance there's a homophobe
who's almost as unpleasant.
***
Anthony Hopkins suffers hunger pangs in
'Hannibal.'
Oldman makmg Verger a compelling weirdo.
"Hannibal" must be considered a succe~
s 1f only because it's not too great a
disappointment.
A heady mix of politics and provocahve,
LIVE NUDE GIRLS UNITE! documents a
Jewish lesbian s effort to unionize a San
Francisco peepshow while trying to keep
her mother from learning what she does for
a living. Julia Query, who ccrdirected with
Vicky Funari, guides us amiably through her
life, which also ~ervc:. as fodder for her
stand-up act ma queer cabaret.
R.iist'CI in a liberal New York household,
Julia moved to San Francisco and became
invol\'ed in the sex indu~try, wnthmg at a
peepshow, the Lusty Lady, which had better
working conditions than most but still
exploited its workers.
"I wondered why I could tell my mom
I was gay but not a stripper," Julia says; but
she finally comes out during the months of
negotiations for a union contract. Her being a
lesbian i~ no more an issue than it is a secret.
In addition to more humor than the
average documentary about labor conflicts,
"Live- Nude Girls Unite!" includes more-well,
hve nude girls; but the nudity is often
casual and more artistic than exploitative.
Query's involvement in the story ensured
that the camera was always in the nght
place at the right time
Equally importantly, Query, Funari and
their crew knew how to assemble the
footage they got in a way that's amusing,
entertJining, informative and provocative.
'Live Nude Girls Unite!'
Dtrected by Ju11a Query & Vicky F..inar
Starring Juha Query, Dr. Joyce Wallace
Queer Quotient: More fe'T!mist than les-bial\
but wr ter11roducer-01tector-star
Query IS out and proud.
***
" ... a side splitting,
pants-ripping,
riotously raunchy
delight."
-Texas Triangle
"Laughter was never this nasty!"
Now through Feb.24
Fri. & Sat 8 p.m.
THEATRE NEW WEST
1415 California St.
(Located on the ground floor of
the Sonoma Restaurant Bldg.)
Reservations: 713-394-0464
nckets: $20.00
Maranatha Fellowship MCC
1311 Holman
(across from HCC-Downtown Campus)
meets In the home of Central Congregational Church
6:30pm Sunday Evenings
Sermon Series: "WHAT GOD DID TO WIN YOUR HE.ART"
(Based on Max Lucado's book "He C/io5e tire Sails")
February 18" "Compassion: Re\·. Janet Parker
A Way of Living Together"
February 25" "God Gives You A Choice" Rev. Janet Parker
Please Join Us For E~·ening Serwces And Experience
Tire Love That Afaranatlra Fel/owshrp MCC /las To Offer'
Church Service begins at 6:30pm and
nursery is available for small children.
Mid-week "Home Group· services on
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
For more infCJ ...
713-528-6756 or ema/I
maranatha@ev1.net
Our Church Can Become Your Homcl Gl\e U A TC) 1
\\c 'Would Lo'e Tu Ha\c Yo ¥1~11An}11me
26
'LEAIHER1
~1ontrose
Inn
HOU STON
OUT ON THE BAYOU FEBRUARY 16, 2001 • HOUSTON VOICE
Galveston
Mardi Gras
Gay Bus Trip 2001
In 1979, The Ripcord and the original Barn
began these yearly party bus trips for
Galveston's big Mardi Gras Saturday parade.
The Ripcord has oontinued the tradition
every year since. So join us for the 23 |
