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One Community! One Voice!©
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.JANUARV1 GTH 1 SSS \NVVV\l .houst onvoice . com ISSUE ass
VOICE I :+;@.:1~1 i'4 ?I
Mavor confirms he'll issue iob protection for gav citv workers
by J.C. MJCHELAK and TERR'r' MURPHY
After JUSI eight days in office, Houston
Mayor Let" Hrown took t1mC' to give Houston
Voitr an exclusive interVlcw m his City Hall
of!icr. dunng which he confirmed that he
will issut an executive ordC'r adding sexual
orientation to the anti-d1scnmrnat1on pohcy
in the hiring or city employees
"!will be doing that," M•yor Brown told
the Voiet. "That 1s a commttmcnt that I will
carry forth "
W1th an outer office foll or TV crews and
other people wanung a piece of the mayor's
umc, Brown sat 'A'ith Voice reporters to dis·
cuss campaign promises and issues of particular
intcre~t to the gay community in
Houston Among them his commttmc..·nt to
...... ,c the employment non-d1scnmmauon
cxrcuuve order and a promised !.ai.son
between his office and Houston's gay com~
mumty.
Seemmg relaxed and m control or a busy
staff iugghng the mynad tasks mvolved m
the transfer or mayoral power, Brown chuck·
led as he was asked when that execunve
order would be drafted and Signed 'Well,
I've been m office one.- week and two days,"
he said. sm1lmg "Let me get things gomg
and then I can get to some or the issues. It
will be done
"Just today, l gave someone the assign·
ment 10 start the process of 1mplemenung
that," Brown said "It's going 10 be
done .. ll 's being worked on, but 1t 's not completed
yet"
The process involves havmg the City legal
dtpartment draw up an executive order and
having the mayor sign .t :-lo appro,·al from
cny council 1s needed. Brown assured the
Vo1ct· that his office would give notice when
the order signing was imminent
Brown, 59, has named 200 people to a
speoal trans1t1on team that has been given
90 days to completely evaluate all areas of
ruy government and come back to the
mayor with a detailed report_ That report
will shape his admm1strauvc and legislauvc
agenda for the next two year.;, he said A
number of gays and lesbians are mcluded
among that 200 ("I know," said the Mayor,
sm1hng. l appointed them."), and the follow-
through on the haLSOn appointment 1s
part or their charge.
Whether that ltaison would be an
See BROWN/ page 15 Houston Mayor Lee Brown
'98 Ryan White
funding tops
$12.7 m"ll'on
Fired lesbian lawver loses in U.S. Supreme Court
Increase of more
than $2 million
from current funding
by TERR'r' MURPHY
The Hams County Ryan White Council
will have S 12. 7 milhon m federal money for
A IDS service programs in 1998, a $2 m1llton
mcrease over 1997 fonding levels.
The newly reconstituted 30·member
Counnl begins the process or distnbuung
those' funds with a first-ever retreat Jan_ 27
Composed of 14 lllV·pos111ve mrmber.; and
16 others, the Council is dratting a new
process for asses.sing needs and distnbutmg
funds to the vanous orgamzauons that pro~
v1de services and treatments to the county's
AIDS/HIV populauon
"The demographics !of the infected populat1on)
have changed." said Counc-il member
Gary Van Ooteghem .. People are hving, not
dying, and the federal governmrnt has
encouraged us to change the way we do
See WHITE/ page 14
Justices let stand
Ga. attorney general's
anti-gay move m widely
watched case
by LAURA BROWN
Special to the Houston Voice
Almost seven years after being fired for
pl.mnmg a Jewish commnmcnt ceremony
with her partner, attorney Robin Shahar has
reacht"d the end of the" line m her case
agamst former Georgia Anorney General
Michael Bowers, now a Repubhc:an cand1·
date m the 1998 governor's race
The United States Supreme Court
announced Jan 12 that 11 would not hear her
case, leaving Shahar no further legal resort
By Its refusal. the Court let stand an I Ith
Circuit Court of Appeals decision that
Shahar's ·'nghts had not been violated"
bt.·cause "given the culture and trad1uons of
the N;111on, considerable doubt exists that
[Shah.ir) has a cons111uuonally protected
federal nght to be 'marned' to another
woman.'
"I'm very dtsappointed in the Supreme
Court," Shahar said on the day or the
announcement ''Anyone who has read the
I I th Circuit's dcc1s10n knows that u was
Fnends of Bill President Clinton Olew into Houston Jan. 9 for an education themed photo
opp with newly elected Mayor Lee BrQwn and U .:>. Rep. Sheila JacAson Lee. C'nlon mingled
wrth a crowd of more than 2,000 students and teachers before going to a prrvate fund ra1s
er for Ccngresswom3n Lee, a supporter of 1 g/bJ/ issues. The e•enl 11as e•pected •o ra se
$200,000 for Lee, w'1o is 11noPfJOsed L0 the MJrch election.
based on preiud1ce and I thmk II ..s the kmd
of deru1on that ur society "~ look back at
n<J feel \Cry emt rrassed
71lett 1s rJC' -t r f-o;-i ~ and
1hat ha n t sunken In yet," she said "It fe-c.Is
a ltttle hkc steppmg off a moving Sidewalk
ti's a btt of a JOit and l haven't qu11e caught
m) balance"
B1'I Crane, commumcauons director for
Bower's gubernatorial campaign, said htS
cand1Jate would not comment personally on
the Supreme Court's action '~Mr Bowers'
comment on the dec1s1on 1s that he 1s
pJeascd that this maner 1s over from a legal
perspecuv..-," Crane said 'He stands behmd
his carl1t"r actJons and 1s pJeased tbat the
Supreme Coun saw no reason to set aside or
review the I Ith Circuit Court of Appeals'
dCCISIOn"
Shahar's attorneys had ar1.'Ued that the
11th Circuit Court "dtd not suf!'ciemly
value Robm·s cons111u11onal fl8ht to freedom
of [mnmate and CJ<prcss1~) associauon"
and the case c01; d p ' de • S premc
Court's first opportunnv to import lrecdom
of assoc1auon nghts to protect • gay or les·
b1an relauonsh1p •
But whtle Ruth Harlow, lead counsel for
Shahar, called the deru1on "frustrating and
d1sappomtmg." she said II would not set a
negattve precedent for future challenges to
anu-gay employment d1scrtmmauon
"Basically they dccided not 10 hear the
case. which IS not the same thing as affirming
what the I Ith Circuit Court dtd, tt's iust
lerung theu dectSton stand as the final one m
the case," she said "'Unfortunately for
Robin, 1r has a Jot morC' unpact, but an the
btg scheme of things, tt's JUSI the roun saying
the) 're not going to look at thtS case It's
See SHAHAR page 15
Remembering Bayard Rustin
MLK s right-hand-mand was
publicly black and publicly gay,
but histon·ans have trouble
integrating his legacy
by SHAWN STEWART RUFF
Cml nghts leader and King confidant
Bavard Rustin chief architect of the 1963
March on \Vashmgton v.-as never pubhcly
conflicted about hJS gay and black 1dontllles
But h1stonans, when rcnccung upon his
legacy. seem to choose sides.
As Amenc:ans celebrate ~Urtm l uther
King, Jr Day on Jan 19, hlSlonans still
struggle with the dual tdenht) or thlS key
player m the Cnl Rights Movement The
Kmg family and holiday organizer.; have
ernbraCt-J Rustin's unique role and uruque
background, and will aga1r. SUge an annual
rally m htS ~onor as part of the larger Kmg
Dav act1vttJcs 1n Atlanta
1~ hfe, R JStm was botr. black and gay,
always and at the same lime, whether the
pubhc hked 1t or not But htStoncal recogm·
uon or ~.IT' rus rocuscd c-n one aspea to the
exctusion of the other, depending. t \\ould
seem, on "hose mterest "as best scned
k; 1ear, 1n a surpnsmgly mept Rustin
biography, Nnv Yorl:tr wnter Jervis
Anderson made '-n) clear that Ammc:a s
black civil nghts leadership sull hasn t suffi·
ciently matured enough to accept. and be
proud of, the 1ru1h about one of its great
leader.;
At the same ume, Charles KatS<r'S "The
Gay Metropohs," a brilliant htStory or gay
New Yorl, never On('(' cvt'n mentions
Rustm, \\ho h\cd most of his hfe m the cin.
Kai.scr's omlSS1on IS no
more or less
appalling than
Anderson's calcu·
lated e\'llSIOOS
Both ra1Se the
issues of \\ho
owns history, and
whose interest as
served bi history
And QCUht-r of
coc.rse. is accep1able
Bavard Rust n IS the
See
RUSTIN
page 14
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COMPAQ CENTER
SAT, JAN 17 • 2PM & 7:30PM
$2 Discoont tor chM'en 12 and under and senoors 60 and rNer.
TICKats avalable a1111e Compaq Center Box Office and
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FRIDAY, JA.t~UARY 16, 7:30 P.M.
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A~rgJ~~~ FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI L.L.P. 1~;.. Con~"rt1~t:!
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WEDNESDAYS
$2.00 Well Cocktails and Domestic Longnecks
All Night Long
Minutes from Montrose
DJ Alex C.
Grand Opening
Coming Soon
No
Co\ler
Dress
Casua1
In Shepherd Square
2165 Portsmouth • 520-5000
J A N LI A R V 1 0 T t--t 1 e 9 e
In
This
Issue
Communitv News
pages 3
Regional News
pages 4
Counwatch
pages 5
National News
pages 6-7
Voices & Echos
pages 8 9
Health News
pages 10 11
Global News
pages 12
Church Calendar
pages 13
Ans & Entertainment
pages 16 17
Book Review
page 19
GlAADAlert
page 21
Communitv Calendar/
Horoscope
page 22
Scene & Heard
page 23
out in Houston
page 24
Charter Member
I
Gr11ter HDUSllR Gav & 1.asbllD
Chamber 01 C1mmerce
=•·••W¥••-•§
COMMUNITY NEWS
laissez le boo temps ...
The Krewc of Olympus kicked o!T the
1998 Mardi Gras srason in Houston wt1h tis
12th Night fund-ra1smg event Jan 7 The
city's only Mardi Gras krc.-v.c b prcp.umg
for its fabulous Kr<we Ball, to be held Feb
7 at the Edwm Hornbcrg<'C Conference
Center Que,·n Olympus XX\'11 (also
known as John Weinland, far nghr) presided
over the 12th Night frs11vt11<·s "1th (from
tor} Ball Capt Ben Jonrs, Kre"c President
S;inds S11clt:r, Weldon llKkey and Gary
McCoy
Gav Chamber of
Commerce plans
casino panv bus mixer
The Greater Houston Gay & Lesbian
Chambt•r of Commerce :ivttt·s the commu·
mry to JOtn ti for a Happy Hour Parry Bus
Busmt.-ss and Pleasure Ad\'~nture to Grand
Casino m Coushatta. La on Sat • Jan. 17
The bus will !rave Jr's at 801 Pacific St at
9 30 am I 1ckets are SIS Call (713) 777.
8773 for rcseniJtions
Gav lobbv to honor
supportive legislators
Th<· Lesb1.111/Gay Rights obby of Texas
will honor 16 mc'llbcrs of the H.1ms
Country stat< lcg1sl.1tl\c Jelegauon at a
rc(.'cpt1on J,1n 22
Legislators who supportrd rquahry for
esb1.tn and gay Texans during the 15th
l.cg1slatavc Session last year w1.I b(- recogn1zl0d
by the:- group "ita1c Rcprcsentauve
Debra DJnburg "'111 Tt"Cc1ve the Naylor
Lifetime Ach1ncmtnt A"'ard fer hc.-r "out
standing )Ob represenung us m Austin an
here at home,' said event co-chair Shelley
Porter
Openly gay Travrs County Shen!T Margo
Frasier will r<-crive a sprctal CoMing Our
Award
Jht• rt·ma1mng I 5 kg1sl.uors Mt' State
S<'nators Mano Gallegos, Rodney Eilts and
John \Vh1t1111rc, .rnd state n.:prcM:ntallvcs
h ed Bosse, Scott llochbcrg, Ken
Yarbrough, Ron Wilson, Sylvester Turner,
Kevin Ba1ky, St·nfmma Thompson1 Harold
Dutton, Gerard Torrn, D1an.1 Davila.
Garnet Coleman and Jc.:ss1ca Farrar
The cost ot tht• rt·ccpuon, to tle held at
630 pm. J.tn 22 ·ll t~c Lovett Inn, 501
Lovett HlvJ , is S25 For more mfornauon
call (713) 861 82J8
crossroads meeting to
screen Rev. Mel White
video .
Rev Md Whi1<•'s JUSHeleased video- a
pointed response to anu-gay televange·
hsts will bt· shown at the Jan 17
CrossrtMds meeting at I l a.m
Rev. Whue workCil as a ghost wnter for
P,u Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham
·lnd other prominent evangelical Chnsuans
before he rame out as a gay man He cur·
rcntly serves .is the m1nrs1cr of JUSl!CC for the
United Fellowship of Mrtropohtan
Communuy Churchc~. the nauon's largest
prcdom1namly gay dcnommauon
------ P A G E
T ne video, ttow Can • Be Sure tha• God
Loves Me, Too., .. , was filmed ~fore a ;:'!'tn·
gre~auon of the mainstream church m
M1ch1gan and 1s Rev \\hue's response to
those wQo misuse the Bible to '!lake outcasts
of lesbian, gay, bISexual and transgrnd<r
people, according to Johnny Prden, CO·
founder of Crossroads, and a former
Southern Baptist m1mster
Crossroads 1s a confidcnua! spmtua.
educational and social organization for gay
and lesbian church workers of .111 fauhs and
denommauons, and their fncnds
Call (713) 681-9082 for more mformallon
Montrose Clinic to
hold HIV testing
marathon Jan. 16
people \\1th •mport.lnt rnfc.rm4t on concern·
mg their heal·~ We are very gratefi.I to
Watgrcenr a~d Or.Sure for undrrwnt ng
th s C\T"I Ir IS only througi, rhr1r genr•os1ty
that \\e- are able to offer Test for :..,.c"
Tes ng " 1h OraSurc rs safe ~d padess
for both •'lose be ng tested and rhosr "ho
adm1rus1er the t<St A spcctally treated pad
attached to a handlr 1s placed bcr"een the
client's lower check and gum for two minutes
The pad is then placed m a vial and
sent to a lab for analysis
Montrose Chm(' 1s a non-prof-t, ccmmunuy
based agency founded m 1981 to serve
people m the Houston area by providmg
low- or no-cost hca!th, social, cduca11onal
and rc:.earch services
~1ontrosc am1c wall hold Its f:rst annual
Test for Life, an 111\i t<Stmg marathon, on
Fndav. Jan. 16
Th~ first 300 people who show up \\tll be
offered free HI\' lt'StS. Thr r>cnt. sponsored
by \\'algreens and Or.1Surc '"" be held
from 7 a.m. to 10 pm .u the chmc, 215
Westhe1mer Call (713) 830-3000 for more
information
Ringlaben named
Volunteer of the Year
Paul Ringlal:>en \\as nancd Volunteer of
t':ic Year at the annual holiday parry at
Ste\ ens House on l)c(' 11 1997 He works
at 1he AIDS service org3n:zauon cvrry
\1unday cvemn~ and the busanC'SS contacts
he has brought to the organzz.atior have
Tht· prove, mnst ·,endic a climt~ lt'stc:J 25~ people on June 27,
1997, dunng N.umnal IJIV ksting Day
'\Ve \\'Cre so 1mprc.-sscd b) 1he number of
people who took the respons1b1ht) to gc•
tested. that we decided to ha'e an evnt that
offered frct.· oral testing li.)r a cof'tmuous 15
hours,' said Kay Caldwell, executive dire•·
1or of the chmc '\Ve want to reach more
.Srncn·s H~)use 1s al'"avs m need of dona•
1c.ns of monq and household goods, sue l
as p1lluws and comrortc!'S, knchrn cqu.;:'"
ment, furniture and telcv1s1ons, as wl"ll as
office equipment such as a photocopier or
d<'Sks Call (71 l) '22-S757 for more mfor
mation
3
OBITUARY
Barry L Nye a :-esrdrnt of Houston for 14 years, dird Dec 2J Born
m Maldcn, \lass , he "as a chef at 'llany Houston lTStauran:s, and
l1vc.'"d and '"vrkcd 'c r several years m FlonJa
He ts sumved by a brother, Bob '{ye of Broe kt on Mass srster and
brother-r~·law, Domr Ann and Kt>1: .. Jz,...,es o Port: ~d. Texas and
1hrt"C' ncphe\\s and mo mcces
lntC'!'nmcnt was at Veterans \1emonal Cemetery "he·;. hC' N"C'e1ved
full m1ht.uy honors, bavong served m the Manne Corps He "will be
sorely m1s,cd by all hts loved ones.
SUSTIVA N(efavirenz)
EXPANDED ACCESS PROGRAM
FOR THE TREATMENT OF HIV
DuPont Pharma is pleased 10 announce tts
Expanded Access Pwgram for Sl STI\ A •, a ne\\
m\·c~ ·:;;i1iona1 n0~-n· cle0sidc r~'crse 1ranscnptase
.nl11b1tor used m comi'inatton therap) for HI\ disease
The program 1s open 10 HI\ P<JSitiw patients
I 3 years of age Jr older who arc unable to toler,uc,
or arc !ailing to re5j)Ond [(), thctr current trcatmen: and
who meet the entl) critc_n_·a __~
r EXPANDED INCLUSION CRITERIA' now allow
enrollment of patients \11th CD4 <400 cells/mm:1 at an}
point m their htston
If y;:iu ''ould hke more mforrnation 0:- paruopaung
m this progr,1m, please rontact )Our phys1etan.
.~ltcmaU\ ely CO:' tact ) our ocal -\IDS rommumt) based
e>rganizauon, distnct public health office. Jr caU the
toll free number belo".
SUSTIVA
efav irenz
Call the SCSTI\/\
Expanded Access Program at 1-800-998-6854
http://www.hiv.dupontmerck.com
J A N U A R V 1 6 T H 1 s s a
t Communily
Gospel
Pa4t<n~~
Tile Pentecostal
Fami/J ot Montrose
sun 11am Praise& Worship
7pm Evenint Service
Tllur 7:30pm lltneek 5ervicl5
See Church Calendar for
Weekly Events
~-#.:.. ""--- ...... ...:...u~_.)t,,,, ... ~
...__.,o
t=-
4305 WllaO. IDDst88. 11 TIOOJ
113-880-9235
www.communltygo•pel.org
F.xdting Fami/y Ent:ertaimnent
They're stopping
Here on their
1998 Sixty-City
erican Tour.
with boist.erous
energy that
will make
the heart
pound and
the blood
boil
=• ·•••¥M•·•k ....... P A G r
REGIONAL
Austin Area Update
by Steve Labmsk1
Out In Austin
Austin's newest gay bar, the 1920's Club is
now open al 918 Congress Ave, exactly one
block south of 1he Cap110J The comfort·
able, Jow-kry bar prOm1scs .. martinis, Jai:z,
and a kuchen open all night long " The
I 920's Club IS in 1he same locauon as the
now-gone Chicago 20's Cafe, bul stlll serves
many 11ems from its food menu Coming
soon a 100-meh Video screen for dance
videos
ART
Ausun·s !\-fcxic·Artc :\1llsrum featur~s
two an openings this werkend Conceptual
arust Mano Sagrad1m s "'ork wdl appear m
the main gallery from Jan 16 10 Feb. 28,
1998 w11h an exh1b111on entnled The Purple
Land (La Tierra Purpurea) The exh1b111on
opens Jan 16 from 7 10 9 p. m F rce adm1ss1on
to o~nmg, S2 dunng regular hours.
The exh1b11 is inspired by a book by
Uruguayan/English wn1er W H Hudson
called "The Purple Land" Sagradin1 1s one
of the few arum from Uruguay who lived in
a foreign country, and after residing for
some ume in Italy, returned to Uruguay His
work as a reflection on Uruguaydn society
and culture. which partakes of memory,
refkcuon, irony, sarcasm, and bnternC'Ss.
Sagrad1m has exh1bned m Europe and
South A menca, dnd has also studied South
Amenl<ln an at the University of Texa. al
Austin
Mexic-Ane is also presenung a solo exh1·
b111on of works by Cuban-Amencan artist
Elizabtth !\trsa-Gaido, vnc of sever. :ttsts
selerted for the 1997 IJ1vers11y & ~ mcrgence
Series The exh1b11 runs concurrently wnh
MaPO Sagradmi: The Purple Land m 1he
muSt"um's bad~ gallery space For mere
1 formation ul 512-482 9373
Women & Their Work p=cnts .in exh1·
b1tion by Sherry Owens called 'This Serd of
Space", anJ runs from Jan 10 to Feb. 14,
I 998 Women & Their Work is locatl'd a1
1710 I avaca S1 m downtown Ausr,
fhe Austin !\t u"irum of Art-Lagu na
Gloria presents a retrospcC! vc of thC' pa mt·
:igs, photographs, and videos of W lham
Wegman start ng Jan I t>th
weeklv "Montrose TV"
show to feature gav,
lesbian life
Auditions for on-air talent slated an. 26
TnAnglc V1dl'o Productions,,, proft.-ss1onai.
gay-owned tclcv1s1on producuon compJ.·
ny, will begm showing a wl'rkly, .ill-minute
program on cable channel 54 in Houston
beginning M.rch 3
Sieve Baker. Trv\ngle's owner, will hold
aud111ons for on..iir 1alent, including hosts
"d reponer., rn .~ 26 (-1ere led persors
should , 11' (7, 1) 523 6 l02 l<>r m appoml
show ts ~mg produced by a professional,
pnva1<ly owned product on company wnh
top-quality cameras and ed,ting equipment.
as opposed 10 some gay TV show etToru
around 1he country 1ha1 rcheJ on ded1ca1ed
volunteers workmg wuh the sometimes
shop-worn resources of cable TV public
access s1a11ons Secondly, TnAngle has pur·
chased weekly, regularly 5"heduled, pnme·
ume, half-hour blocks on Warner Cable
Channel 54
Each weekly episode of "Montrose TV"
will air from 8 10 8 30 p.m on Mondays,
Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning March
2, he said Fach we<k thereafter, for the
duration of fnAngk's one.year contrJ.Ct
with Warner, a new episode will t11r three
umes a week
The content of 1he sho" "111 focus on 1he
people, ac11v•11cs anJ events that take place
m the Mom rose area of Houston, according
to Baker Sin,·e Montrose ts home 10 lhe gay
and lesbian community, the show will fra·
ture segments of in1ercs1 to gay and lesbian
]><.'Opie as well as .rnyone of any sexualny,
rehg1on, race or nauonahty who lives in the
area, he said
"To our knowledge, this 1s the first ume
that a broadcaster ha.i agreed to sell air umc
for a program that will lt:a1ure 1he gay and
lesbian community on a nms1stcnt b.1s1s on
the same time day," said Baker Local ,1dvcr·
users will be fraturcd in 30·sccond spou on
1he shows, Baker said
lack of contested races
means suggests low
turnout in Texas
primaries in March
HOUSTON CAP) Hew c.rn you expect
to havt~ much of a •urnout "";en so f"'.lany
maJor races arc ... ncontestcd, Texas p ~y
olTic-aJS and elccuor watchers ask
The answer they say, IS you prob.1bly can't
e11:Pf""'1 ma~y V"ltm 10 shciw ur at t°"h~e~••~•-••~-upcommg
lkmocrauc and Republican P"·
manes.
The races for gowrnor, 1cutcmant gover
nor or comptroller w11l only r.lt1fv tht• rom
nattons of candidates who facc no oppos1
lion or only token c ppos1t1on
Tex~s Democra!Jc l'a ty Chairman B1 1
While sa1J the trend <Sn't surprising
'Hoth pohucal parties h.1ve more of a
struggle recrumng h1g~-quah1y candidates
because •>f the ncgauvc. poisonous t&::ios·
pherc of "1any campaigns.' White 1old the
llous1on Ch'.'Onicle
"So cand1J.1tcs want to run once ma gen·
cral election rather than haV1ng to endure the
poss1b1hty of l\"o negat1V(' t..:dmp.ugns'"
The Jack of hotly COnlcstl'd pnmanes
probably means fewer people will bother to
vote, Un1vcrs11y of Houston poltt1cal scu. ·. n·
list Richard Murray s.ud Tlw Democratic
primary likely will have a Jl'Cl'nl 1urnou1
only bc(.·ausc of contested r.1n:s across the
s1a1e for local offices
In the governor's r.lc.:t•. only Rt•pubhcan
Gov. George W Jlu,h gol l'Vl'n lokcn 11ppos111on
in his pnm.lry Round R<Kk h1gh\-\iay
contractor R C Crawford 1~ running .1g,uns1
Bush on a platform of .1boh,hing the doctnnc
of sovereign 1mmunny, wh1ch prevents
cmzcns from sumg 1.-.r state v.1:':iout th('
states pcrm1ss1on
Only one Democrat chose to challenge
!lush this yea· Land Comm1ss1oner Garry
\Liuro, who first wo~ his office in 1982
l'l the ,;i~te•t 10 replace re1mng
"'lr.-ocre· c l t Ge v Bob Bullock the mai~r
par• cs .ire fit'h .... :igJt.: t >nC' 'm~ date rach
l orptroJ er .oh. Sharr a Democrat and
Agnt ... ul ... re C .. 1 m1ss1orc l(Kk Pc ry
Republican
Bo1~ Sharp and l'erry wnr the• cur•ent
statewide cffii..CS 11 1990 Pt~rry previous.\;
haJ been m 1he Tex•• House, Snarp served
as a state rtlt Jad lOmr.1'1ss1one statr scna
tor an a state t.fousc rnrmt'er
The r •cc for l)C Slat<• •.lmpl >Iler S )Ob
vacate1 ~y Shar 1lso "· l•Sl cnr c -du! ·c
frcm each IO'..lJO· pa ty l<:a r aJ
C mm ss oner C irole Kce•on Ryland
th I cpubl " and I' 1ul H bbv son of r
me LI Gov IJ1ll Hot-by f>fl e L>e-nO( al
.JANUAnv 10!ltJ
COURT
Navv defends dismissal
of man outed bv America
Online
BY JOHN DIAMOND
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON (AP)-The e-mail from
the senior sailor covered routine matters. But
there was something that bothered the rec1p-
1cnt The "screen name" was "Boysrch,"
presumably meaning, "boy search "
That small clue set in motion a chain of
events that led to the d1sm1ssal of a 17-year
veteran sailor on charges of homosexuality,
and to counter charges by gay rights and pnvacy
advocates that the Navy and America
Onhne v10lated the sailor's pnvacy and possibly
broke the law
Now supporter.; of Senior Chief Petty
Onicer Timothy R. McVe1gh (no relation to
the Oklahoma City bomber) said at
prcsst1me that they haJ until Jan 16 to get
the Navy to recons1dcr<1ts dec1sion to honorably
discharge McVe1gh (S« rJ11onal car.
10011. page 8.)
The Navy says the case 1s a clear-cut v10-
lat1on of the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't
tell" pohcy on gays in the m1htary By stating
his sexual preference on an onlme service's
computer network, and by using his screen
name in an e-mail to someone he knew,
McVe1gh had publicly acknowledged his
homOSl'XUallty
McVe1gh says the Navy vJOlated us own
rules and plans to appeal his discharge to
Navy Secr<tary John Dalton
"I find 11 mcrcd1ble that such blatant d1sregarJ
for regulations occurred and then
were endorsed by the Navy at higher levels."
M, Ve1gh told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
McVe1gh·s supporters say II w,1s the Navy
that violated the don't-ask, don't-tell pohcy
by asking AO!. for ,nformat1on about
!\.!, Ve1gh According 10 recerds of
McVC"1gh's discharge proceeding dating from
last November,• Navy officer said he called
AOl and asked for the full name of a "Tim"
hsted m the b1ograph1cal pror'e page under
1he !icn•en n.1me "Jkvsrch "
1 ... ~lied AOl and talked to a gcnt1cman
named Owl·n at Te<.:h Sc:rv.ccs1" 1hc \\-1tncss,
v.ho "as umJrn11lied n the records, said .n
the heanng 'I said that I am the third party
m receipt of a fax nnd \\anted to confirm the
profi e sheet, who II belonged IC' They s21d
ll came from flawan anJ tha1 n was from
T1mo1hy R McVe1gh on l~e b1.hng '
Attorney David Sobel, legal counsel for
the El~mc Pnvaey lnformalton Center, a
Washington based group that ts assisting
McVe1gh's lawyers, said this conversation
may go beyond a possible v10lat1of' of the
don't-ask don't 1dl pohcy The Naw, Sobel
said, m.t.y have obtained l'v1dcnce about
McVc1gh 1llcg.1lly when the o!"icer that
phoned AOL failed to say he was calling
from the Navy.
The 1986 Electronic Communications
Privacy Act bars service providers such as
AOL from providing government agencies
wtth information wtthout a search warrant,
court ordrr or subpoena Even though the
Navy officer failed to properly 1dent1fy himself.
Sobel said, AOL appear.; to have violated
us own a~reemcnt wnh Its customers to
give no information to anyone w11hout a
search warrant, court order or subpoena
''What I see as the broader 1mphcation of
this case is that on-hne scrvtcC"s handle a lot
of personal mformauon and this case shows
what happens when it's handled carelessly,"
Sobel said
McVei~h. Jb, was a senior enhstcd man
on the USS Chicago, a Los Angeles-class
attack submarine, when the inquiry began
las1 year
Attorneys and oOic1ab fam1har with the
case said 11 began when McVeigh sent a routine
c·ma1l to J Navy spouse serving as an
onshore ombudsman for s.u lors aboard the
Chicago and 1hr1r spouses The woman
knew McVe1gh to be the author of the e·
matl which covered such things as buying
pre~nts for Navy children for an urcoming
party Bui the woman noticed the ·• Boysrch"
screen name .Shl• then "enl 10 the profill."
page m 1hc AOL system that pro•1ded more
=···--·•§
background information
There, she saw that the author of the page
1dent1fied himself as "Tim" from Honolulu
and, under manta) status, wro1e "'gay"
Under hobbies the profile page hsted "dnving,
boy watching, collecting pictures of
other young studs •• The woman turned this
mformauon over to 1he Navy, which m1uat·
ed an mvest1ga11on
Kirk Childress of the Serv1cemember.;
Legal Defense Network, a Washingtonbased
advocacy group assisting McVe1gh,
said McVe1gh acknowledged the profile page
was his dunng his discharge proceeding, but
only after the Navy had presented evidence
11 had gathered from AOL. Sobel and other
advocates for McVe1gh said the only evidence
presented by Navy prosecutors
stemmed from the confirmation AOL provided
that McVe1gh had authored the profile
page.
Parents of Cunanan
victim start memorial
scholarship fund
S1. Paul, Minn Carol and Howard
Madson don't want the public to remember
their son David only as the second of
Andrew Cunanan's five vsc:llms
The Barron, Wis, couple wants people to
know that the youngest of their four children
loved learning
That's why the Madsons are eslablishing
two scholar.;h1ps m their son's honor They
c.arOI and ffoward Madson
also want to try to create some good from
tragedy
"I Jon't think "e'll ever be the Sdme
again We think about htm every day," lhc
cider Madson said
David Madson, 33-ycar-old
Mmncapohs architect, was .. a young man
whose character was formed here and who
went on to college ,ind who did well in hfe
And these kids can do the ••me thing," said
his father, a retired hJrdware store owner.
Over the next decade, $20,000 will be
divided among 30 students from two of their
sun's alma marers The money comes from
the Madson family and donations from their
son's friends
With the scholarships in place, the
Madsons will turn thc'lr attention to one of
the most troubling facets of 1ht1r son's death
That is the spef.."Ulauon, which authontics
discredit, that Madson might have played a
role in the murder of his friend Jeffrey Trail,
Cunanan's first v1ct1m
Trail was bludgeoned to death Apnl 27 in
Madson's downtown Minneapolis apartment
Madson's body was d1scmered May 3
m Chicago County, but mvcst1gator< think
Cunanan shot him to death days earlier to
eliminate him as a possible witness to Tra11's
murder
Cunanan also 1s blamed for the murder.;
of m1lhonaire Lee M1ghn 1n Chicago on
May 3 and cemetery caretaker Wilham
Reese in Pennsville, NJ, on May 9 The
rampage peaked when Cunanan apparently
gunned down fashion dt'S1gner Gianni
Versace on July 15 in M 1am1 Beach
Cunanan comm1ttt•d su1c1de on a M1am1
Beach houseboat whore he had been hiding
His body was lound July 23
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J A N U A R V 1 6 T H 1 o n a
I I
Neb. bishop extends
suspension of pro-gav
Methodist pastor
Omaha, Neb. Nebraska United
Methodist Bishop Joel Marttnez on Jan. 9
indefimtely extended the suspension of an
Omaha pastor who presided over a marnage
betwern two women last September
Martinez wasn't specific about how long
Rev. Jimmy Creech would be removed from
duty A se<:rctary at the bishop's quarte~ tn
Lincoln said Martmez wasn't available for
further comment
"II JS my best Judgment that add1uonal
time will serve the best tnterests of all, cons1denng
rhe volauhty of the chmate,"
Martinez said ma news release
Creech said the extended suspension
wouldn't serve the church
"I thtnlc II will htnder the progress that
was being made there, he said •I hope that
people who were supporting the church will
conunue to give support."
Cn-ech's suspension has spin the congregation
at F1~1 United Methodtst Church
Meanwhdc, Mamncz has been alternately
supported and cr1uc1zed by Methodist clergy
members and Jany across Nebraska
Creech ~rformed a union ceremony for
two women 1:1 September defying
\1cthodist Jaw and an order from Maritnez
In November, Maritnez suspended Creech
for 60 days
Martinez said t..,at a rCVJew of the s1tua·
tmn was moving ahead "1n an orilerly and
deliberate fashion " He expressed confi·
dcnce that the matter "ould be r:-solvcd is
soon as possible
.. I will contmuc to be m dose and conrm"
ng ':invcrsauor woth the past'-lral leader
ship at Ftm Unued Method!St Ch" .h the
Sta'. Pansh Relauons Committee and with
Rev Creech,' Martmcz said
Church council president 6111 Rathbun
said attendance and financa! cortnbut ons
have ~:-oppcd since the con:mve.-.y ?ega"
=··--.... ··•;'!
!5* ••
NATIONAL I 1
He said pled~es for the 1998 budget are
S250,000 to S300,000 behtnd the usual pace
Utah scholar's book on
uav relationship wins
award
Seattle A Utah scholar's con1rove~1al
book on same-sex relat1onsh1ps in
Mormontsm was honored Jan 9 night by
the Amencan H1stoncal Assoc1auon
D Michael Qutnn, a Yale-tratned historian
and former Brigham Young Universuy
professor, received the Herbert Fe1s Award
for his book, "S•me-Sex Dynamics among
Nmetecnth-Ccntury Americans: A Mormon
Pe~pccuve "
The award, given annually 10 the best
work by a pubhc histonan or tndependent
scholar, was annoum:ed by the AHA's pres1-
den1-clect, Joseph Miller of the Un1ve~uy of
Virginia, at the assooauon's I 12th annual
meeting, held here
A central thesis of Quinn's book was that
attitudes of 19th century Mormons toward
the whole range of same-sex relat1onsh1ps
were far more relaxed than m the latter half
of the 20th century
Quinn, who was excommunicated from
The Church of Jesus Chnsl of L attcr-day
Saints n 199.3 for research on wnmcn and
the fauh's male pnesthood, IS •lso the author
of a two-volurre h storv of the Mormon
hierarchy and other books on Mormon topics
In "Same Sex Dynamics," he wrote that
pioneer Utah was no different thon the
r: • on at brgc on I at resp<C' Adult fr ends
of the same gender held hands and k.:sed tn
pubhc often slept together tn the same beds
and wrote each other t'mot1onaJlv intense,
evrri passionate kttcrs
In .-,ost cases, these relauonsh1ps were ~ot
crouc But when they were Mormons at
times were even nore tolerant than other
Americans. accon! ng to Quinn
------ P A G E
The book, pubhshed by the Unove~1ty of
llhno1s Press. created a storm of controversy
rn Utah, part1cularly over Quinn's account of
the hfc of Evan Stephens, who directed the
Mormon Tabernacle ChOlr for 26 yea~ and
composed some of Mormonism's beloved
hymns
Stephens, a lifelong bachelor, shared his
life wtth a succession of young male singers.
All the ''boy chums," as Stephens called
them, eventually married and Qutnn said 11
was possible Stephens never acted on what
the author characterized as his homosexual
yearntngs
ABC-TV pulls
AIDS episode of
"Nothing Sacred"
Los Angeles An episode of the ABC
senes "Nothtng Sacred" about a gay
Cathohc pnest affi1c1ed w11h AIDS IS betng
w11hheld by the network out of "cowardice,"
the drama's consulting producer said.
Richard Kramer co-wrote the episode in
which Father Ray (series star Kevin
Ander.;on) discovers that a fnend, a fellow
pnest he knows to be secretly gay, is 111 wnh
AIDS Father Ray Ines 10 persuade htS
despondent frtend 10 stay in the priesthood
"ABC s Jecis1on to bury 11 was based en
COV1oard1cc, uelh" and co-opuon of the rch·
g1ou, nght s agenda," Kramer told the Los
Angeles Times
Formerly the senes co-execuuvc produc
er, Kram'1 \\TOtc the scr pt" th Father Bill
Cap, a Jesuit priest The ep1Sode was filmed
tn July and had been tntended to air as
.. Nothing Sacrcd's" !\econd hour, after thC'
pilot
David Manson, producer of the freshman
sencs that has drawn cnucal acclaim as well
as attacks from some Catholic groups, said
the una1red episode is about rehg1on rather
than homosexuality.
"It's not about this man's sexual prefer·
ences but about the nature of tolerance and
compassion and about trying to get a man
who doesn't feel worthy to come back to the
table," Manson said
An ABC spokesman said Jan 9 that the
episode has not been scheduled and dechned
further comment
"Nothtng Sacred," which has struggled 10
draw an audience, has been condemned by
the Catholic League for Rehg1ous and Covil
Rights as "a pohucal statement agamst the
Cathohc Church " Some pncsi., however,
have endo~ed the drama
Starttng Jan 17, the show has been moved
from Fnday mghts, to Saturday nights at 8
pm
Calif. fails to pass bill
requiring govt.
contractors to grant
domestic benefits
SACRAMENTO (AP) Gay nghts leg1slat1on
that would rl·qu1n· govl'rnmcnt con
tractors to proVlde equal bcnl·fits to employees
" 11 h spouses and those w11 h domesuc
partners was k11leJ Jan I 3 by a Cal1fom1a
State Senate commlltc-c
The measure by Sen. !Um llavdcn, ll-Los
Angeles, went down to defeat on a 2-4 vote
after four DC'mocrats lhrt-e facing potentially
tough election campaigns cnhcr
opposed the bill, al>stamcd or didn't attend
the heanng.
The b11" n~dcd at k.tst livl' vote'i to mow
out of thr. nme-membt.•r Jud1c1.sry
Comm1uec
Hayden's proposal, modeled aft« d San
Franc1St·o or<lin.rn<...'c, would bar st.lit.' and
local agcncu.'S from contracting with companies
that do not offer cqu.tl benefits to
employees with spouses and those wuh
domcsuc partners
So 1f a company offered us m.uned
employees health tnsurance th.u also covered
spouses. II would have to provide the
same coverage to domestic. partncs 1f t
wanted government contracts
"Th!S law is truly •bout equal pay for
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equal work," said kffrey Kors. a CIVIi nghls
auorney and a coauthor of the San
Francisco ordinance
But Art Croney of the Committee on
Moral Concerns said domcsuc partners are
d1flCrent than spoU$l"S
.. Domrs11c ['Mrtncrs are adult fncnds," he
said "They arc nothing more than that
Domestic partners are not dependent on one
anothtr They are free to find a better JOb" if
a company doesn'I offer benefits
"Isn't that the same where you have a
working family where 1he husband and wife
works'" Sen John Burton, D·San Francisco,
asked Croney
San Francisco onic1als said their ordinance
has worked well, Is generally well·
accop1ed by companies seeking cuy contracts
and h.isn·t cost companies a lot of
money
Cynthia Gol~ein of the San Francisco
Human Rights Comm1ss1on said onlv a
small number of employees apply ·for
domt"SllC partner benefits and doJ11esuc part~
ncrs cost the same or less to cover than
spouse~
Bui Sen Ray Haynes, R-Temecula, said
1hc bill would d1scriminatr against employers
who had .i moral ObJCCllon to homosex·
ualuy
And Sen Cathie Wright, R-S1m1 Valley,
said c111cs and counues should be able 10
decide for themselves whether to impose 1he
requirement
' If you wanted 10 slow progress of 1his
issue 10 about 100 years," Hayden replied
More Detroit-area gav
emplovees lobbving
for partner benefits
DETROIT (AP) Detrou-arca gays and
lesbians arc putting more pressure on their
employers to offer tx·nefils for 1heir panners
Groups pushing (or health care .rnd other
benefits h.1ve formed at Amentech, Derron
Edison and all of the Big Three automakers.
An•,t unions h,1ve also m.tdt· such benefits a
pnonty
Larry Spt'Ol'cr, 44, an cxccu11vc at
Amernech, said he rccc1Vl'S generous health
bcnefiis 1ha1 he would like 10 share wuh his
pannn of 16 years, Wayne State Umvcrsuy
philosophy professor Bob Yan.11. 49
Although Wayne State al,.ady offers
equal bc:nclit$ for p.utntrs. Spencer's bcne·
fits are far better
That's why Spencer and a group of
Ameritech employees have been trying for
two )'ears to pt·rsuadc the tdecommum1..-a·
t1ons c1ant to extend the same- bencfus to
thrm that It offers married couplt.~.
Ameritech ollici.lls S3)' they arc still cons1denng
offering •he benefits.
"(Par1nersh1p bt·nefils) send a strong mt·ssagc
1ha1 the comp.mies moan wha1 they say
.tbout valuing J1vc1stty."' Spcnn•r told the
Iktrott hcc PrL"$S in a story Tucsd<1y
Gay and lesb1,1n employees from EDS,
Ford Molor Co Chrysler Corp and
Grntr.11 Motors Corp get tog('thL·r each
month to discus workplace issues, mrlud·
mg dome.i c partnership benefits
NATIONAL
EDS already offers domestic partner ben·
efits. The automakers do not, although the
Canadian Auto Workers su=ssfully "on
them from Genera: Motors last year
The number of ma;or corporations offer·
mg domestic partnership benefits 1s growing
by about one per month, according to 1he
Washington.based Human Rights
Campaign Wall Disney Co, IBM and
Microsoft all offer such benefits
In realuy, few homosexual employees take
advantage of the benefils, said Ph1ladelph1a·
based management consultant Jay Lucas
The percentage of employees who sign up
vanes from 0 75 perccnl 10 I 5 perconl,
Lucas said They lend 10 be youn~cr. health·
1er and have few or no children, keeping
companies' costs minimal
Lisa M11ehell. preS1dent of Gay, Lesbian
and Bisexual Employees of DTE Energy
Co., 1he parent company of Dctroll Edison,
said the symbohsm 1s JUSt as important as
the actual benefits
"It IS a signal on the part of the company
1hat they will treat us nghl," she said
Delroll Edison officials said they plan to
review a benefit plan sometime this year
Gav teens in Rhode
Island sav schools
ignore harassment
PROVIDENCE, R.I (AP) Teachers and
admm1stra1ors do 100 httle to prevenl harass·
ment of gay and lesbian high school stu·
dents, some tel·ns say
Adults in school olicn "turn their backs"
when students art.• m1Stre.ltrd because of
their sexual 1den1lly, 17•\.'ear-old Violet
Smuh said
A male studenl behl'\"ed 10 be gay had his
head held in a unnal so 01hers could unnate
on him, Smith said Another male studl·nt
tormL'nled by classmates '"as dnvcn to trans·
fcrnng out of lht• class, she said
The commenls came a1 a forum held Jan
12 on a stair Hoard of Regents policy that
bans d1s<.·nmmc1t1on agamst g.ty students.
St.tic ollk1.tls, .n gt\Y st.He lawmaker and high
school stutknts a1tL·nded the llrown
Untversuy meet mg on the 8-month-old regulal!
On.
"We all know dJScnmina11on 1s against the
law," Sm11h told a panel of stale officials and
gay studenls. "Yet we learn every day 1hat
11's OK from our schools."
Rua McCartney, 16, said the pnvate
«·hool she anonds compiles a IJSt of lesbian
stu1.knts to "protect" other students, according
10 1he l'rov1den~ Journal·Bulktin The
1mphcauon, she said. was that straight people
had something 10 fear from gays
'I am nol a sexual predator by any means,
nor do I wish harm to anvone, ·• shr said
But other students r~ported progress.
Amelia Orteg.t, a Junior from South
Kings1own, said .1 Gay/Straight Al11an'e at
hL·r high s(hnol has hdprd raise .iwarcncss
of tht• JSSUl' .and th.ll some tL'.l(her~ have
helped h.rng tl1ers 'or the group
'' 1\·opk an· .1~1Mll) t.1lk ng," OrtL·ga said
Ken Fish, chrccror of t'ic state
llcpartmenr of I duc.111on >ffice for school
·----- P A G E
improvement, pledged to protect gay SIU·
dents from harassment and encouraged the
teen> 10 contact him directlv
The forum was the soc~nd m two years
sponsored bv the Rhode Island Task Force
on Gay, Le_,i,,an, Bisexual and Transgender
Youth
Utah anornev claims God
suppons firing lesbian
teacher
OREM. U1ah (AP} High school iracher
\Vendy \\.'eaver may ha\e the American
Civil Liberties Union to back her up, but the
lawsuu opposing her has God on 1ts side,
accordin~ to the attorney for \\'c.-a\l.'r's angry
accusers
"Miss \VeavL·r may \\In her frdcral lawsun,"
said Matt Hilton, a Utah County
laW)·er "'But a different result will ensue
under those la\\S that \\L'rc dl\mdy mspircd.
and 1hat I believe will be dl\"Jnely enforced "
Hilton made the remarks Jan 10 to the
Ulah Eagle Forum, an ultra-conscrvauve
political organiza11on which had us annual
convenllon at U1ah Valley Slalt' College
Hilton represents a coali11on or Utah
County parents who oppose the enOns of
Weaver, a lesbian, to continue coaching \.'OI·
leyball al Spanish Fork High School
After hearing aboul Hilton's comments,
Wea\.'er's attorney likened the sentiment to
the assaults on civil nghts dunng the 1960s
"If God's on their side, then God's a
bigot," said Rick Van Wagoner. a lawyer
practicing 10 Salt LalC' Caty "Thr h) stena
and small-mmdednrss that this citizens
group 1s exhibiting will g1vr v-ay to reason
only through the asSJstance of the courts. •
Weaver, a Span1Sh f·ork High School gym
and psychology teacher, is suing the !\cbo
School DtStnct in fr·deral coun for \10laung
her av I nghts The dmr C'I last sprmg forced
her to sign an ordl·r 1hat bans her from dis·
cussing her sexuality and rt'l10\CS her as
coach of the school's award·w1nnrng girl's
vollovball tcam
H hon's grou;- "h1c>i roprtSCnts 5pamsh
Fork High School parents a~d ot'ler Utah
Countv residents, has filed a )3'11 suit n state
court that accuses \\ca,cr of violations
ranging from child abuse •o sodomy 10
unprofessional conduct
.. There was d1vmc msp1ratton m the adop-
11on of this legisla11on," said Hilton, who
told listeners n 1s umc the slate proves its
w1lhngness 10 uphold the those laws.
The state must also guarantee that par·
ents have the nght to ensure their children
have role models. Hilton said
Neb. pastor suspended
atter officiating at
lesbian union
OMAHA. :\'eb (AP)- An Omaha pastor
suspended after performing a lesbian unity
ceremony was supposed to be back behmd
tho pulpll Sunda), Jan 11 HIS name \\as
even hsted on a church program a..s preacher
for the day's worship services.
Instead, about 75 supporters of the Rev
Jimmy Creech gathered that morning outSide
Omaha's First United Me1hod1st
Church to protest the pastor's absence
Creech was not at church because
Nebraska Un11ed Methodist Bishop Joel
Martinez late Fnday, Jan 9, indefinitely
extended Creech's susprns1on at least until
a statewide church committee finishes us
1n\"es11gat1on,
"f \\1sh I could stand here this morning
and 1ell you that I understand "hy (the bishop)
felt II was nc.,,ssary to do thts, l:out I
can't," said \\ !hams Jr<Jks, \<ho led tho proCreech
rally
Jenks, chair,.,,an of the Omaha church's
staff pansh relatJOns commllttt, said many
felt "abanJonod, d1sm1ssod and oven
hctra)ed" ~use 1he committee mr-1 v. th
Mar: :lez on Jan 8 and had "advo..:ated
strongly" aganst extending the sus~nsmn
Mary, did you hear the news?
LOBO has opened their new cafe!
And they've ex anded their hours!
7 ...J A N UAR Y 1 G T H 1 o s a
VOICES & ECHOS
I HOUSTON I EDITORIAL VOICE Some queer ideas about marriage
One Community! One Voice!.1 by CHRIS CRAIN
ISSUE ass
JANUARY 1 6, 1 998
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We must ~at the "end days" of the gay
~1vil nghts movement, at least on the issue of
same-sex mamage.
Gay nghts lawyers are understandably disappointed
by this week's refusal by the U.S
Supreme Coun to even hear Robin Shahar's
lawsuu against former Georgia Attorney
General Mike Bowers, who fired Shahar
when he learned of her upcoming Jew1Sh
wedding ceremony to her partner Fran
But in the outcome of the Shahar case,
and 1n other ~cent 1's1gns" on the marnage
front. conservauves appear to be so defensive,
so queer (in the bad sense), so hypocntical
and even bizarre, that It 1s only matter of
ume before Judgment Day 1s upon us and
wedding ~lls will nng for us all
Call them the "Six Signs" of impending
doom for those who would deny gay men
and lesbians the nght to marry
Sign #1: The victory of Mike Bowers
over Robin Shahar. In sworn court proceedings,
former Georgia Attorney General
Mike Bowers testified that he fired promising
attorney Robin Shahar solely ~cause of
her planned Jewish commitment ceremony
with her partner Fran. For Bowers, the
planned Shahar wedding was problematic
because their ~lauonsh1p presumably v1olat·
ed the state's sodomy law. which Bowers
successfully defended in famous cases ~fore
the US Supreme Court and Georgia's high
court
five d.lys after Ilic I Ith Circuit Court of
Appeals rendered a deets1on 1n his fa••or,
Bowers admitted to a decade-long extramarital
affair w1~J..i a v.-oman who v.as formerly
employed m his office Eve" Bowers has
admitted the •.,oral hypocnsy" of finng
Shahar ~cause hrr relauonsh1p presumably
v101au:d t'le sodomy law, while he was
simultaneously carrying on a relationship
that in fact violated state adultery laws Who
IS the role model for marriage here?
Robin ShahJr never even claimed that her
marnage ~ad egal stgmficance, only personal
and religious importance And yet. Judge
J L Edmondson of the I Ith Ctrru11 Court of
Appeals, a long-standing cnuc of "1ud1cial
activism," reached out ro the issue of same·
sex mJrnage and held that, "given Jhe culture
and trad1uons of the Nauon, c:insiderabk
doubt exists 1hat 'ShaharJ has a consutuuon~
lly protected federal nght to t>e marned
· 10 another woman" For good 11ieasurc.
the l\)'ICC·dtvorcrd Edmondson noted that
no fc~eral court, m 1he 200-plus years of
American independence, has re\·ognized
same sex marnage r
Our day of victory must surely be
approach mg when a federal Judge can do no
~tte1 than rely on "1he culture apd traditions
of 1he Nauon" to deny gays a nght that
L
!M•MM+@f** P A G C
the U.S Supreme Court has declared to ~
among "the basic rights of man," vested in
Declaration of Independence, ~fore even
the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
If Judge Edmonson's "cultural" analys1S
were apphed to this century's famous cavil
rights cases, our schools would remain
racially segregated. Jim Crow would be the
law of the South, and interracial mamage
would ~ prohibited m half the states
fortunately, that sort of JUd1c1al act1V1sm
never survives the test of time, and his opm-
1on m the Shahar case will ~ remem~red
as an embarrassment of modern JUnsprudence
Sign #2: Bob Barr's sponsorship of (and
Bill Cl inion's signature on) the 'Defense of
Marriage Act.' The arch-conservative congressman
introduced the Defense of
Mamage Act in 1996 to preserve the msututton
of mamage and us sacred wedding
vows But the good Congressman has himself
been married four umes. allowing
Elizabeth Birch her finest moment as executive
director of the Human Rights
Campaign In a debate with Rep Barr on
CNN's "Crossfire," Birch asked Barr exactly
which of hlS four mamages he was defend·
mg
DOMA, which unconst1tutmnally denies
federal ~nefits to gay marned couples, was
signed into law by admuted adulterer Bill
Clinton, who has smce ta~en the moral high
ho~ on gay nghts lSSUCS, claiming d&nm·
inaaon against gays 1s morally wrong
Sign #3: A Georgia judge orders a man
to marry his victim/girlfriend or go to jail
Darrell Meadows was copping a plea to
amid prosecuuon for threatening to kill his
hve-rn girlfr1tnd and their two-year-old
daughter, apparently provoked by her plans
IO leave him What sentence did conserva·
uve Cherokee County Judge CJ Gober
hand down? Probation, so long as Meadows
'did nght by" hlS girlfriend and daughter by
getting marned w1th10 60 days No one
askrd hts girlfriend 1f she wantC'd to get mar·
ncd to the man who had threatened her hfe
and her daughter. In fact, she didn't
An mterestmg concept of marnagc 1s at
work here Happy, loyal, loving gay relation·
ships are den1td any legal recognillon, while
a man accu"'d of threa1ening h1S girlfnend's
life \ ordered to marry her within 60 days,
whether she likes It or not, or face Jail time
Sign #4: The "domestic partnership"
benefits offered by the state of Hawaii.
Recognizing that there 1s no compelling reason
to deny gay couples many of the same
legal benefits and protections afforded
straight married couples. the state of Hawaii
has enac1ed a sort of second-class marnage
status for gay men and lesbians ThlS half-a
.J A N U A A V
step 1s reminiscent of the "separate but
unequal" world of Jim Crow, and only
demonstrates m sharper relief the mequuy
of 1he law's treatment of gay rela11onsh1ps
Sign #5: The hypocrisy and bigotry of
Bill 'Mr. Morals' Bennett on the subject of
gay relationships. In bnlhant fashion, gay
conservative Andrew Sullivan dcconstructrd
and obliterated the recent h1gh·profile
attacks on gays by former Education
Secretary Bill Bennett. Long the darling of
social conservatives, Bennett has apprared
on ABC's "This Week" ai?d has wntten m
The Wttkly Srandard that the average life span
of gay men 1s 43 years, this based upon a
long-<l1scred11ed study that reached conclu·
S1ons based upon a sampling of ob1tuanes in
gay newspapers
In a rebuttal published in the Jan. 5 1Ssue
of New Rtpublrc, Sulhvan not only attacked
Bennett's "sc1enttfic" claims, he also pomted
out the moral hypocrisy underlying
Bennett's pos111on. If, as Bennett claims, gay
men lave short hves because of prom1scu11y
and AIDS, then why doesn't he advocate gay
mamage as a means of addressing the problem?
Is he afraid of encouraging homosexu·
ahty? No, even Bennett admits that most
gays are "hard-wired" to be "that way"
If the idea is to hm1t gay prom1scu11y, then
why ISn't marriage the answcr1 1'Would he
think," asks Sullivan. "that mere kctunng
would ~ enough for heterosexual men 1f
they too had no right to marry their loved
ones' ..
Sign #6: The "mushy-middle" fin•lly
"gets it.'' Only one add1uonal "'sign ·t stands
between gay America and the rt.-cognizcd
nght to marry for same sex rnuples The firsl
five signs, outlined abovt.\ demonstrate the
ab$olutc: mqr,ll and logJ.cal b.lokrupll..:y or
those who oppose gay marriage. Middle
Amenca needs only 10 understand the mer·
Its of arguments on bolh Sides.
To get there, we mus1 tir:it address 1he
"yuck factor .. 1hat prevents most l.i1r-mmdcd
folks from even seriously con.s1denng the
issue Already, "Ulrn" and other .1ccurate
portrayals 10 the entertainment media have
opened the door Our own wtllingness to live
openly and to tell our stones to fnends and
family will prove to be thl' d1flcrcnce
Already, fully half of all rnllege freshman
surveyed th1S year support full legal rccognt·
uon of gay marnage
Wuhin our hfeume, maybe even in this
century, the nght to marry will ~ realized,
and the gay civil rights movement will end
victoriously. Some on 1he rrligious right will
undoubledly see that victory as a sign of the
Apocalypse. In 1hat case, let loose 1hc
plagues of locusts. Judgment Day can't
come too soon.
lITTER TO THE EDITOR
OissatlsOed with lull disclosure
I look forward to reading 1hc /lowton
Voui• each week and I am anx10U!; to see
the changes that will happen to the pubh·
cauon as a result of 1cs ownership by
Window Media The first ch•ngc I
would hke to see IS lcss of the sexually
t>xphc1t photos in the bat.-k p.iges
The nalure of these ads 1s not obJeC·
t1onable1 but they arc too exphnt for my
taste Would H ~ possible 10 use a liule
ed1tonal control and require that the pco·
pie in them be fully clothed? These ads
makr the paper look more hke a :;c.·x rag
that caters to men rather than a news
source for the: whole comrnun11y
I want l!ouslon's loc.11 g.1y & lesbian
newspa(><'r to be a h1gh-cl.iss public.1uon,
one tha1 we can all be proud of It can't
do that wtth 1hc back of the paper n us
present state
Sincerely.
Chcryl Merri:'
1 G T H 1 o 9 e
OPINION
It's boring here,
outside the
closet
by MICHAEL ALVEAR
OPINION
Hvpe drives
holidav film
season
by LARRY LINGLE
=· -··-=·•-•§
VOICES & ECHOS
Somrbody askrd mr oner what I thought
was the most ironic thmg m gay culture
How about guys looking hk• g1rls, the
g1rls looking hkr guys, and nellh<r fnendly
w1th th• other7
Was It our penchant to aid those who
would hurt us - likr my attorney fnend,
acuve m gay nghts, who represents Newt
Gmgnch?
Was 11 AIDS organizations lending the1r
names to circuit parties that ull the AIDS
soil?
No, those rxamplrs may br twiStrd, but at
leaSt they havr plausiblr, 1f not shghtly nauseating,
explanations
My votr for thr most ironic thing about
gay culture is .. wrll, gay culturr Thrrr's
nothing that can even masquerade as a reason
for th• inanity and banahty of gay hfr
for gay peopl•
Here's the irony· As a community, we
entertain th• largrr culturr with bnlhant,
creative music, htcrature, film, theater and
television. But how do we entertain 011rsLl11tS1
With drag With soul-lrss music With
mmd-numbmg repetition
We give The Lion King 10 middle
America, but we keep The Lying Queens to
ourselves We give Armani to the larger
world, but we keep the light, Lycra shorts
We give the world Disnry, but we keep dim
and dank nighclubs for oursrlves
We move the earth with Shakespeare's
pen, but Tht AdW>Catt can't wnte past ch•
I don't know which has become more vnal
to the holiday season and the Nrw Year,
shopping until all your money 1s gone or
tramping to the mulll·scrccn cinemas for the
floodude of new movie releases
h 's nm JUSI the number and cosc of chc
holiday cinema blockbuscers, It's Che enure
movie-going cxpcncnc.:c Only small towns
have the luxury of single·S<:rccn theaters
Now your choires arc <11her a rcbu1h old !healer
chopped up inco cwos and chrees or
encenng a wonderland of I 0, 20 or 30 screen
monohchs ceeming wuh hordes of people,
mosc under Che dnnk1ng age.
There are nearly twice as many movie
screens today as there were 20 years ago. and
nc.irly the same ratio compared to 40 years
ago. And while the movie industry (does
Jack Valen11 have nine hvcs7) cotrs rrcord
mov1<-1icke1 sales, in real dollars chcrr is an
enttrely d11Tcrrn1 picture. In 1996 Amencans
spenc approximacrly $6 b1lhon dollars ac chc
box officr. Yee 40 years ago, w11h half as
many scrrcns, Amencans spenl $8 b1lhon
dollars (m 1996 dollars)
Far few films arc made, JUSt much more
expensive ones So the movie makers are
playing Russian rouleue, bcmng bigger
bucks for fewer hats, trying to lure customers
mto more mini-theaters with less and less
product Much hke a besc-sclhng book, a
new movie must make 1t as a hit 1mmed1ately
or 1t 's off to video S1brna faster chan
Random House can remainder that wannabe
brsl seller.
It 1s not unusual for a movie studio ro
spend SI 00 m1lhon 10 make a movie and
anocher $30 million 10 hype 1t The only
Ching new chis holiday srason has bern thac
the studios conspired to stagger wannabe
hus over several weekends and sla~ered
some films across the country-in an
attempt to avoid shooting each other m the
fooc
Because the lime brtween 1he expensive
hype and che release is hm1trd, and Che couple
of weeks a new film is allowed co make It
or noc at che box oflice, the hype is the chmg
Word of mouch has killed more Chan one
expensive bomb
So using Thl· New York T1mL'S, I perused
the intiustry's in1t1al hy~ for some measure
of th1> hohday lare And I found one stm•·
lanty an all the ads Rave quotes by " rrv1~ ·
·----- P A G E
fifth grade level. We intoxicace the world
with Tchaikovsky's "Pas De Dcu.," buc we
overdose ourselves with tcchno music
I don't get 1t We gave everyont outside of
ourselves bold, v1s1onary culture But we
reserve the cheap crap for ourselves We
bring out che good china for gucscs. Wt cal
on flimsy paper plates and plastic forks
What is It with us? Why do we reserve the
besc of ourselves for ochers' You would
think that our night hfe, our entertainment
scene would be a hocbed of creativity,
always changing, always look mg for che nexc
big "11"
Inscead, all we have, nigh! after mghc, IS
drag Bad drag Which is rcdundanc Ltkc
saying "rural Alabama "
h's noc thac I don'! hkc drag Bue hke my
grandmother used to say when she was a
novelty act on Ed Sulhvan that was weanng
a hnle Ihm "Enough a/rrady''
Another Hem in our wildly 1magmat1ve
culture IS male scnp clubs Men m brcf
armor. As calenced as ch• drag qurens Only
not as real
And don'! forget Che ever-changing,
chameleon-hke b~r scene. h's as wild and
diverse as the music tha1 blasts out of their
tired walls_ It's not the drugs that are making
people pass ouc on chc dance floor, 1t's tht
music. If you ever get hungry for food as
lcchno dors for melody, chc people around
you would have 10 hold you up, 100
On and on, lhc drum of Gay Genrnca
ers·· attesting to the fact that any parucular
film was lhe best one C\1c.·r made, bar none
Begmmng with a film so far seen only by
lucky audiences m "select cu1es", "'The
Aposcle" with Robcn Duvall already has
word of mouth gomg for It In ch• ad Che
raves are from Roger Ebert as well as reviewers
for 1hc New York Tunes. th<.· l OS Angeles
Times, the New York Post, and Newsweek
Preuy respectable.
Then we have ·scream 2" with a cwo-page
ad mcludmg six review quoces mainly attesting
10 che movie being "fun" (cwo) and hip
(two). Noc a mascer of cinema making but
apparcncly fun for chose who arc into bcmg
scared
A late entry into the holiday season was
.. The Postman", a pnme example of the b1gbudget,
big hype campaign Kevin Costner
did everything in this movie except sell t1d·
els Apparencly 11's not rasy 10 hype a fu1urist1c
scory about a poscman dchvenng old kiters.
Someone should have reminded
Coscncr againsc going poscal Warner
Brochers advertised this with chc rcqu1s1te
"rave" quotes, five from local trlev1sion stat10ns
and one from a radio network That
should have been a clue nghc thcrr
Then Chere is Sceven Sp1elbrrg's epic
"Amiscad" which also had a big hype budge!
as well as publicity from Che concroversy surrounding
whose book chis was basrd on.
And noc 10 be outdone, Drcamworks
Pictures cook our a double page m chc Times
as well, and with sixteen rave quotes These
ravers included boch newspapers and 1rkv1-
sion s1a11ons w11h the nocablc absence of chc
Times 11sclf Bui for good mcasurr It included
two reviewers from the same newspaper,
chc Boscon Glob<, and both applied Che same
adjective to the film, "powerhouse"
t•Tomorrow Never Dies", the latot Jamrs
Bond, goc noc only cwo pages in chc Times
but color as well, a recent mno1,·at1on for that
venerable newspaper le also had ch• requ1-
sue six review quotes, all from local telcv1·
sion statJOn!l, no onC' you have e\rer heard of
unless you personally know ll1ll Zwecker,
Patty Spiller, Jason Milkr, David Sheehan,
Jim Ferguson or Tim Shc.·rmo
The less said abouc "Mousr llunc" che brtcer
It's IUll-page ad served up four local
ft\ 1ewers, two ra' ing about thc- mouse and
the ocher cwo 1out1ng chis as a fun kids' film
9 .J A N U A R V
beats on !\:o dev1auon. no t\\'lSts, no cun.·es.
Unless 11's for che straighc world Then we
give them the full panorama of our creat11,1
cy
It doesn't make sense Look at everything
we give t0 Amem.:an culture from fashion
to language If Darwin ever considered us a
species, he'd chink we werr so high up 1n che
creauve food chain that we'd never go
exunct
As far as entenammg Amenca, 1f we were
any more cuning edgr, wr'd blcrd Bue as far
as encertaining oursrlves, we' ll blerd brforr
we do anything culling edge
My s1ra1gh1 fnrnds gee so disappointed
when I cake them 10 the gay hot spocs One
of chem told me It was hkr going 10 AT&T
World Headquartrrs and finding ouc they
use rotary-dial phones.
Whcrr arc the nighcclubs 1ha1 display our
creauve talents1 Whe~ are the hve music
clubs feacunng up-and-coming gay arcists
brforr we losr chem to the larger world1
Wherr arr chc arcs} coif er houses with portry
readings and other hve performances?
Where are the gay theater or comedy
troupes, the fashion shows. the whateverbut-
make-1t-creat1ve-and·outland1sh gathering
places?
It's bonng here, oucsidc the closr1.
Michael Alvtar direct> pu~ht rrlat101U for a
htolth care chain
I couldn'c wall
I must br honrsc hrrc, I only mad• 11 10
cwo of the big holiday films. "As Good As le
Gets"' was one_ And by the time this film
made che rounds 11 had already garnerrd six
Golden Glob< nominations so cherr was no
need for scounng che tabloids for choice
quotes. I found 1t quite entcrtamrng, ~rth
Jack Nicholson playing a stellar mtt'rpreta
lion of Jack Nicholson Unmlenuonally, l
also wacchcd on video chis past week an car.
her film, "Reds", probably Warrrn Beauy's
brsc performance playinR chc Amcncan radical,
John Rrrd Intrrrst1ngly, Nicholson
plays Eugene O':\edl m chat film. and he
actually portrayed O':\.ill, m one of his brtter
and mo~ understated roles
The ochrr film I saw was not considered
one of the hohday blodbustcrs, w11ncss chc
limited number of screens carrying It. But
"Good Wdl Huncmg" IS my choice for !hr
best movie of not only this holiday season
buc the year Robin W11!1ams, who like Jack
Nicholson, can ofcen play h1msrlf, nonetheless
manages 10 rrm in hlS usual bravado and
dehvers one of his brtter performancrs And
Mau Damon desrr.rs an Oscar nommat1on,
10 say noching of an adminng gay following
There were ocher films hkc (Disney's
"Flubbrr" and Un1ve..,.al's "For Richer or
Poorer") which earned Times ads wuhout
any ravr quotes "M1dmght an the Garden of
Good and Evil" was, I supposr, a hohday
movie, 1f somewhat rarhtr And I did see
chis one also, buc chis lrss said about this film
version of a good book cbc better
I purposely left ouc "Tuanic". for no ochrr
reason chan I havr not yet gotten around 10
>eeing 11 Bue thlS unsinkablr ship will probably
br Che winner of chr hohday swrrpscakrs,
encenng ch• biggest film budget and
large.s1 hype budget and now th• greatrst box
officr cake. Frankly any director who can tell
a storv. cold many t1mrs brforr on film.
abouc ·an unsinkable ship that sinks - and
rveryone already kne" thtS ending, and
build a model of this great ocean 1·ner on
nme-crnchs of lull scale, descnes kudos for
1ha1 alone And think of the sequels. Th•
Lusitania. the Andrea Dona, the Bntann1c
(a >!Sier ship) He could fill Long Beach harbor,
alongside che permanently dockrd
Queen Mary Well, that should take car< of
the nnt SC\eral hohda) olTmngs
1 G T H 1 a 9 B
Va. AIDS cases decline
for second vear running
RICH\10ND, Va (AP} For the second
str.ught year, •he number of new AIDS cases
V1'.'glma has declined, according to the
Virginia Department of Heahh
However, the 2 9 percent drop reported
Monday for 1997 was much less dramauc
than the 22 percent dee' ne 10 I 996 Also,
1he numbe:s mcreased slightly among teen·
agers, blacks and people aged 40 to 49
Su Casey W Riley, direc1or of the
departmen: s AIDS u.v1s1on, said 1he back·
to-back decrease was h1 •:.me
The Staie reported l l n cases of A.OS ·n
1~7 <Omparcd wuh l 211 in 1996 Cases of
Hl'v the virus thaJ causes A OS, held bas•·
c ly steady with 11 more cases rep<.rtcd m
I 997 t'>an m 1996
Ala. coon upholds
mandatorv HIV reporting
MONTGOMcRY Ala (AP} The .iate
Supreme C urt 1.n Jan 9 upheld a lower
court rulmg that JrJered a Btrm1-gham doc·
tor to reveal names of HIV pos1uve pat cnts
to the state Health Depz:-tmcrt
The health department lcar~ed in 1994
that Dr Mark M ddlebrooks of \lcd1cal
Cemer East m B1rm1~gham was no1 report
sng the ~mes of his pauerts w~o are mfcd
ed by t~e v rus that causes AIDS
L der Alabama's nc 11fiable disease l<I\'.
s a rsdrmcanor for ar:y docto to violate
,..,c ~port ng rul('S Docto;-s ccinv1~trd art•
su c • fines r ~gmg from SI 00 to SSUO
1~ 1 March 99 ruhng. Carcua Judge
\\al ~ I WvM ordered M1ddleb,ooks ,
divulge the names He agreed, however wi·
thr dOC1 rs argumrnt 1hat there y,as a ... er
t tn :iequ11y 1~ the law because tnose who
used home tesrs for the virus weren't subject
to havmg their results reported
Bui e high court rc'Uscd to rule rt...at the
HEALTH
law created unequal treatment under terms
of the 14th Amendment
"The purpose of the Equal Protection
Clause IS to prevent states fror:i enaC' ng leg·
1Slat1on that treats persons 's1n1larly s1tuat·
ed' d1ffercntly," the court W'"Ote
'"We tonclude t~at the state has made a
reasonable class.ficauon in thts ·nstance It
appears to us lhat t~e out-of·state testing labs
1hat analyze the results of the testing kus are
nol as to 1hose required to report HIV and
AIDS cases under (1he Jaw), similarly s1tuat·
ed'
W'ien the health department learned that
M d~ ebrooks was not reportmg the names,
ti tried I negot.•te with ham, but depart
mci:i1 ofiaals said they were forced co sue
Ass tant state health cfficer Dr Charles
Woernle said the Health Department does·
n't want to finr doctors, 1t JUSt wants the
names znd I cations of people w:·>,
reportable illnesses
Once a Jl<'rson's name 1s reported, the next
step usually as an 1ntcrv1ew by a s1ate work·
er at'. -ip:ang IC' d1sco,i:r and noufy form<r
sex pa:'tncrs ·~at !!lay 'iave been exposed to
the virus
When he ordered M1ddlcbrocks to reveal !he
names, Wynn agreed Wit~ the doctor on 1he
point that people who use home-1es1mg lats
don't face 1he same acnoras as those who are
n.'JXlrtcd after a pos1t1ve lest m a physictan 's
office
llec.lusc the hone~estl!'g marled IS urucgc
C!ted, the names of people who •est posm"' are
rot reported
"As the dc'endant ?OmlS "ut, 1has IS dearly
•Jnequal ittatmcnt onder the law and olmously
Dr Middlebrooks ;s a verv courageous person
o detend has pauents af'd beliefs to lhcse ends
Wynn wrole
Studv rates effectiveness
of various AIDS drugs
CHl(AvO (AP} Presenbmg expensive
drugs I<> prevent every Al OS-related mfcct1<'n
ts not a cost<'Tccuvc v.a¥,to fiS}1t the disease.
researchers say
G1V1ng treatments to prevent HIV-rcla1ed
pneumonia nakes the most fiscal sense, but
prescnbmg drugs to fend off eye and fungal
mfccuons is not a financially sound approach,
acrording to an arude m the Jan. 7 Journal of
the Amcncan Medical Assoc1aaon
·•rf resources arc unhmned, then orei may
wan1 to use z.l of these medicauons," •ad
Kenneth Freedberg, the study's lead
researcher and co-director of the HIV dtag·
nost1c evaluauon unu al Hoston Medical
Center.
"But this s1udy should help put mto Jl<'•·
SJ'<'ct1ve what to do f resources are hmued
You can't put everyone on every plausible
rncd1cauon "
Researchers say t~e study could l>elp offi·
ctals who control the federal AIDS Drug
Ass.stance Program, whtc'i 'Jnds drugs for
pauents who don't quahfy for Med1ca1d,
decide how to best spend the money
The researchers compiled data from several
chnical 1nals and A IDS studies 10 determine
the cost-elfect1veness of drugs that pre·
vent A IDS-related infections, not those that
trea1 the virus uself Cost-elfec11veness t~kes
into ~ccount the efl'ccuvencss and ..:ost of
med1ca11on and the ltkel1hood and potenual
seventy of 1he mfccunn, frcedberg said
Patients who received no prcvcnlattvc
med1ca11ons had a pro1ected hfe expectancy
of 39 OS months, after adius11ng for quahty
of hfe wtth average total hfeume costs of
S40,288, the researchers found
Giving them t~e chmcally recommended
tnmcthopnm-sulfamcthoxaz IC' to prevent
AIDS-related preumoma •nd toxuplasmoSIS,
a brain :-afcct1on, increased ltfc expectan·
•V to 4.1 56 months""">• cos1 ill Sl6,000
!'<" <jUahtv ad1usted year uf hfc '°'ed, they
found
n t using ganl 1clov1r to prr:vc,t
cvtomeg_ ovuu progressive eye mtcct on,
was the least cos. effective at $114,000 Jl<'r
quah:y-ad;usted year of hfe saved. according
to the study
ne findings supnort current clinical
gu1dehncs f work.mg t prevent pncumo
Home ear of the Roua1. souereign and Imperial court of the Single star
"' Celebrating Coronation x1y
dances/; 0 sat Jan.17 9pm
J Susan Masar
; Fri. Jan. tfi De Blues Broad
~1111re e1renall1n
11r1u1"
Buses will bring the I\
out- of-town visitors and hotel guests. ,j.
(
Join us after Coronation
to break bread at our sandwich buffet
and party till we pop.
For your C&W listening and dancing pleasure
Jan. 17 • 9pm
PeQQy & The Dreamers
Jan. 16 .. BridQett
(the best damn chick DJ In town)
1100 Westheimer •Houston• 523-7217
ma, toxoplasmoso and a tuberculos1S·hke
infection Doctors curttntly do not routtnely
prcscnbe preventative drugs for eye and fun·
ga1 infections
''Everybody \\'ants to know 1f what we rr
domg really makes sense in 1he long run,'
said Dr Catherine Crct1cos, mit·nm medical
director for Chicago's Howard Brown
Health Center, who was not involved in 1hc
study ·•Not that we're going to make all of
our dec1s1ons ba5cd on finanC-l"S, but It's nice
to have the data that prove.) It "
In reversal, maior AIDS
organizations endorse
HIV reponing
NEW YORK (AP} The naLon's leading
AIDS sen.cc agency wants doctors 10 begm
reporung HI V-pos111vc people to the s1ate
Health Department, The New York T mes
reported Jan. 13
The Gay Men's Health C•1Sls and other
AIDS and civtl ngh1s groups have 'ong en •.
c1zrd H JV reporting as .1 viol.1t1on of pn\.a·
cy and a deterrent to testing .rnd cdrly treatment
The turnaround by the New York C11y
based GMHC, 1he m<>sl prominent nnnprol
It A IDS service, was revc.tled in a policy
s1a1ement obtained by lh<' Tames
The statement said HIV rcporling 1s necessary
to secure up·t~·datc mforrnauon oo
AIDS and thai mere t.'ackmg of people who
develop the cond1110~ nu longer c"ee! vely
ricasures the rate cf l fccuo~
"Th.s .s nor a .s111o:1c ep1drm1c and ur
pos111on onoot be a siauc po .uon,' Rcnald
5 Johnso~. C·MHC 's managmg d1recto.
tcld the fames
r1>entv eight states have HIV repcr' ng
systrm for adu:·s ,1nd .id<'ltscnts. but •.hose
states d4:Count for only 24 percent of .:
reported AIDS ca.,es
New York, w~ach does not require HIV
reporung, has the h1grest rate of repcrted
AIDS C'BK 6~ per 100 ()()(). Wllh IS0,000
Allstate
You'n· in .eonJ hand•.
Your house. Your car.
Your business. You.
for your
insurance needsBeing
in good
hands is the
only place to be!"'
Edward Oiiircia
Ntr,ef.bmhood E:u:lwo••
A
Auto, Pr°"""', uf,
Bium..11
AIG1Atc
lmur.Hl< l' Con1p.1ny
H<-7 lo.:1rl-\· Or1v~
H'l\1,hijl, TX 770Q
n .. , <1 1 i i 526-555 i
~" (7 l J) 526-5 I 55
....... ~ ... ~·r-..,..1n-.
........ l ..... '.WT»wllll ...... ~ ..
~ .......... _I_'"....._".,__.~
---·~, . ..._.,......,. ~---
"The problem
is most people
wait too long.'
-Danna K. Archu
=··----·•§ ...... P A G E 1 0 ..J A N U A A V 1 B T H 1 a a e
infected with HIV statewide, according to
health officials.
While GMHC does not outright oppose
rcponmg names, It 1s urging the state to consider
usmg coded iden111ica11on systems,
s1m1lar to those used in Maryland and
Texas, for tracking HIV-posu1ve people.
However, the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention last week reported
that those systems were found to be unrehable
in accurately tracking cases of HIV
mfect1on
Calif. AIDS deaths drop
60 percent
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The number
of AIDS deaths in the most populous state
dropped 60 percent dunng the first half of
last year, yet expcrls caulloned against reading
too much into the decrease
"It's astonishingly good news,'' said Derck
Gordon. a spokesman for the San Francisco
A IDS Foundation "The big question for us
now becomes, 'How long will this last>"'
In the latest national figures, AIDS deaths
in the United States dropped 26 percent
from 1995 to 1996.
There were 1, 112 AIDS-related deaths in
California from January to June 1997, compared
with 2,788 in the same period in 1996
Experts credited the widespread use of protease
inh1b1tors and other drugs for the drop
in a state wuh 31.5 m1lhon people.
But Gordon and othcn said the lower
number may represent a " honeymoon"
period as HI V-positive patients develop
resista nce to protease inhibitors.
Calil. lirm seeks HIV
vaccine test approval
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Cahf
(AP) Officials at VaxGcn Inc, a small
bt0tech nology company, are seeking
approval from the FDA to begin human trials
of an AIDS vaccine later this year, the
company said Jan 12
J'he so-called Pha ... r II I portion of the
VaxGen study would involve 7,500 healthy
volunteers and would take about three years
to complete, company spokeswoman Donna
Walters said ff sucn'SSful, the vaccine could
be ava1labk 1n the: pubhc early m the next
crntury
There had bcrn ncwt.p.•per reports that
the FDA already h.ld approved clm1cal stud.
1es for the company's val·cmc. known ,1s
AIDSVAX But Walters s;ud the company 1s
Still seeking approval
'These reports arc premature," the com·
pany said m a statement, adding that It 1s m
the process of reporting chc rc.)uhs 1f Its lirst
two lest mg phases to the f· DA VaxGcn 1s a
spin·off of Geneniech Inc
The vaccine, whKh contains the protein
gpl20, reintroduces .t Mratcgy that several
years ago was widely thought to have failed
The mixed rl·suhs of stud1l'S of an carlll•r
version of the protL'IO v.tccmc: were not con·
s1dcrcd encoura~mg VaxGcn researchers
ha\·e however comL' back with a s1m1lar \·ace.
me: 'that ap~a~ to be' much more L"llCct1vc
because 1t deal!i with two strains of the virus
rather than one, W.1ht•rs said
Dr Donald Francis, VaxGen president
and a veteran virologist, said prchmmary
Mud1es arc hopeful All but a handful of the
thousand people mJectc..·d with an early form
of the vaccine havl· shown a strong 1mmuncsystcm
response
.. There's nothing m.1g1c about this vac~
cmc, but it's our ~t hope so far and 1t s t1ml'
to take the next step," he told the San J"'c
Mercury News .. I am opt1m1stic"
Some AIDS act1v1>1S said they hope news
of thr VaxGt·n vaccint• wilt spur mcrcasl·d
mvl"Stmcnt m and attention to vaccine dcvcl·
opmcnt, which 1s fr,w~ht with sc1cn11fic.
cconom1c and cth1c.1I problems.
"Yes, u's cxciuni;. Yes, n's a btg step,'' s.ud
Sam Avrett, a.$SOt.·1a1c ~1en11fic d1rech.lr for
the International AIDS Vaccine lnmat1Vl'
11Bu1 we're not gomg to get ansYrcrs
OVl'rmght We're gomg to need to do a l~t
more largL· 1csts 11 we're gomg 10 succeed
VaxGen has raised at least SIR m1lhon for
#M.MIM§MM.+tf'
HEALTH
us new study, which mostly IS being funded
by private mvesto~.
Some 5,000 of the volunteers most of
whom would be considered at high nsk of
contracting HIV-are expected to be in 1he
Unued States An additional 2,500 would be
in Thailand Half of the volunteers would
get the vaccine; the other half would get
placebos
CDC studv faults Texas
method of HIV reponing
Tracking HIV by using names rather than
codes JS a more reliable way to count the
number of cases, according to a study by the
U.S Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Health officials in Maryland and Texas
came up wuh a system m 1994 that uses a
code to identify patients, mstead of lisung
them by name The code JS a 12-digit number
that uses the person's Social Scruncy
number, date of birth and other digits to represent
gender and race
According to the study, the 12-digu codes
used m the system were incomplete as much
as 40 percent of the ume, making It 1mposs1~
ble to gather critical data
In the Maryland portion of the study, only
25 percent to 50 percent of cases were
reported to state health authonucs, and
CDC officials said no rouune follow-up was
done to gather basic information, mcludmg
how people contracted the virus
"Clearly, the system was not able to generate
information on the maionty of people
who are HIV-infected,'' said Dr Stan
Lehman, a CDC ep1dem1ologist and project
officer for evaluation of the system to monitor
those who test posmve for the human
1mmunodefic1ency virus
The codes arc a combmauon of a pauent's
Social Secunty number, date of birth, race
and gender Only Maryland and Texas usr
the "unique 1den1ifier" system, rather than
names
Wasserman said some providers were
unable to find SOCTal Secunty numl><:" and
used incomplete codes One large public laboratory,
which he v.ould not 1dcnt1fy,
accounted for much of the prot'tlem because
ll did not report any cases dunng the study
period, he said.
Wasserman said 1997 figures show much
better rates than the CDC study He also
noted that his depanment has been able to
detect trends, mcludmg the mcrcascd num~
ber of women and young people who are
contracting HIV
AIDS advocates and a recent study from
the Amencan Cml L1bert1es Union JOmed
Wasserman in calhng Maryland a model for
other states
"You don't have to have a count of every
ind1v1dual in order to do planning This IS a
very good model," said Michele Douglas.
,obbyist for the AIDS Leg1slat1ve
Committee
The CDC report comes dunng a nat1onw1de
debate over how HIV-positive people
should be tracked
Names are reporred routmely m
Maryland and around the country for those
who suffer from full·blown AIDS and other
mfecuous diseases such as tuberculosis
Thirty-one states report the names of HIV
patients to confidenual reg1stnes, three of
those states count onl) ~J1atric cases
In other states, lawmakers are arguing
over which system as better
Project CAESAR preJentJ it'J firJt ne(/Jf
• •
THIHK HEGfiTIVE
Think Negative is a 5 week series
forum designed to tackle the
issues specific to being an HIV
negative gay /bisexual man living
in Houston today. from dating
and intimacy to sex and the
emotional price negative men
pay for their status - Think
Negative lets you meet and talk
with other guys like you.
Because staying negative is a
challenge. And Project CAESAR
can help.
The next Think Negative forum series begins on Tuesday night. the 20th of
January from 1 to 9 p.m. for more information. call Philip or Randall at
Project CAESAR. By phone. it's 713.623.6796. Or you can email us at
vducation@aidshelp.org.
.......
Project CflESflR is the Gay Men's HV<Jlth Initiative at flfH.
3202 Wcrslayan flnncrx. Houston TX 77027
p A G e 1 1 ..J A N U A R V 1 G T H 1 a s e
MONTROSE
MINING COMPANY
-Non-Stop Party
$3. 50 Texas Sized
Doubles
$2.00 Domestic
Longnecks
Pool Tournament 8:30pm
Cash & Prizes
- Anything Goes!
$1 . 75 Domestic
Longnecks
$2.50 Well Drinks
$3.00 Any Drink
in the !louse
- Get Over the
Hump!
$2.00 Domesttc
Longnecks
$2.00 Well Drinks
- Party to the
Music of Houston
DJ Legend John Sims
$2.25 Domestic
Longnecks
$2.25 Well Onnks
All day I All night
Weekend Happy Hour
In & Sat Unlll 10 pm
$1 .50 Domesuc l.ongnccks
$2.50 Well Drinks
GET A NIGHTLIFE!
80!5 PACIFIC• HOUSTON• 713.529 . 7488
JOIN T~E FUN
Reservations now being taken
.$2.5.00 per person
First come first served basis
GLOBAL
Australian coon OKs
tiring HIV-positive Gls
CANBERRA, Austraha (AP) -A federal
court on Jan 13 upheld the Austrahan
armed forces' nght to expel HIV-post11ve sol·
d1ers. saying u was JUSUfied because of the
inherent nsk of bloodshed and infection
during mthtary duty
Three three-Judge panel, sining in
Brisbane, ordered Austraha's Equal
Opponumues Comm1ss1on to recons1dt'r its
finding that the army acted d1scnmmatonly
when u dtScharged an HIV-posiuve soldier
The soldier was expelled a month after he
enlisted in November 1993 when a routine
test showed he was carrying HIV
Slaving ot Italian raises
specter ot serial killer
ROME (AP) Italy's gay community
demanded a parliamentary mvcsttgation last
week after the slaying of a nobleman who
be1ongcd to the Vaucan protocol corps
ratSCd spcculauon about a serial killer preymg
on gay ml'n
Ennco Sim Luzi. 67 was found dead in
his Rome apartment Jan 5 with his skull
bashed in and a silk white scarf around hts
reek. the Ital tan news agency ANSA report·
ed
ANSA quoted investigators as saymg they
had no suspeclS but th= was nothing m
how the sla;1ng was ..:arncd Jut to con,.. rm
fears by some • .::ihan gay orgar. ::::iuons that
one ktLcr mtght be to blame
Ho111cvrr II Messaggero, a Rome daily.
said pohce beheved •~ere were clements
'"which lead mvesugators on 10 the •ca1l of
homosexual k1lltng "
Sm1 Luzt s death was the latt:St in a stnng
of slaymgs over the last scvc~ years m Rome
of 18 men authortttt:S believe were gay,
pohce said Pnllrc .also have studied the s1ay
ing of a nobleman m his Florence apartment
last year to see tf there were links to the
Rome cases
Only eight of the slaymgs have been
solved
Homosexual groups cautioned gay men in
Rome to be on guard
"The cnme involving Enrico Sini Luzi is
only the latest in an mcrcd1ble senes of
ktlltngs that seem to have no end," said
Franco Gnlltnt, president of Arctgay. an
Italian gay advocacy group.
Grillmt asked for a parltamentary inquest
into violence against gays
According to the autopsy, Smt Luzi was
killed Sunday night or early Monday. He
was struck on the head wuh a brass candle·
suck, poltce were quoted as saying.
His elegant apartment had been ran·
sacked and hts Vatican medals were missing.
but there was no stgn of forced entry lead·
mg police to believe that he knew hts killer
Sini Luzi belonged to "Hts llohness"
Gentlemen," a protocol group whose duties
include ushering p<'rsonahues dunng
Vaucan cercmontes
Gav man sets himsell on
lire at Vatican
VATICAN CITY (Al') Protest ng wh.11
he called socttty's tnJUSUCe tuwarJ homo·
se,uals, a 40-ycar-olJ man set hu'lself on
fire m Sr Peters Square Jan 13
Alfredo 0r"1ando of I'alrr"1o. S1c1ly, his
body m flames. was trymg to reach the
entrance of the basth<-3 when he cC'llapsed
Pohce officers outstde the V · can put out
the fire 0r"1ando was hosp1tahzed n sen·
ous condition with burns ·wrr <>Q percent of
his body
The ANSA news agency satd pohce con
limed thev fount! two letters :i r~c ma~·s
coat complatntng that his family and SOCl<'Y
dtd not understand homoscxua.s" probkms.
ANSA said
----A--N--D-- -·- -?:D:.--=-;,.::.l--~
-==---o--o--~---~--=-=
CALL 528-9192 OR 528-8102 FOR MORE INFORMATION
=•-••w.-:w•-•§ !M•MM+M§llll P A G C 1 2 .. JANUARY 1 6 T ... , n u a
CHURCH CALENDAR
Fridav-Januarv 16
• Low impact aerobics at Community Gospd,
6 30 pm, $2 880-9235 or wwwcommunuyg05pcl
org
• Catholic M.ns at 10 00 am; Mo\'IC Night at
7 00 pm al the Kolbe Proiect 522-8182
• The Church of Good Life on the Internet,
http 'wwwsyncrct1 .t erg/church htm
Saturdav-Januarv 11
• Mass at Dignity llouston at 7· 30 pm 880-
2872
• The Church ol Good Life on 1he Internet,
http·/ /www synnl"ttsl org/c-iurch htm
Sundav-Januarv 18
• Church of the XII Apostles Anglican Rue
Old Catholic Church, Holy Communion I lam
at 2 39 WcsthetmC""
• lloly Rte Fuchanst I 8 00 am. Holy Rue
l·ueha. st II 9 00 am, Choral Eucbanst I :xi
am at St Stephen's Fp1SCC>pal Church, 1~05 \\
Alabama ~28-6065
• Mar.m.uh.1 Fc.:Uowshir Mc1ropohtan Church
Sttv1cc a1 11 am
• MCCR Worship services 9 00 & II 00 am
8"1 9'49
•Gr.tee I uth<ran Church Sunday school for all
ages .it 1J 30 .1m \\"orsh1p Sc:rv1n.· at 10:30 am
5l8·.1269
• I· rst Un11an.in Umversahst Church SundJy
Srrv1ccs at 9 JO am and 11 30 am 5~6-5200
• !ic.·rv1Cl'S at ti) "iO pm 1>1gnuy C'Jiurch 880-
2871
• Community Go::.:pd \Vorsh1p Krvrcc at 11 00
am & 7 c:; pm Bible n the book of Genesis.
4105 I i/'1an 880-9235 Catch them at
wwy, comrnumtygosf'('I org
• 111 U5' n Mission (-,..un.11 Worship service at
10 10 am 529·822S
• Covenant Bapust t.-,..urch \\'orshrp service.I
10 pm •nd educauon hour at .1 00 pm 1>68
8830
• Bc-rmg Memorial UnllC'd Mc-:hod1st Church
V/orsh1p sl'n CC' IO ~O am Stttc-rs 1;:1ass 9: IS
am 57t,.IOl 7
• Cathohc Mass at 7 30 pm 1'.olbc PrOJCCI 522·
8182
• MCCR I landbcll Chotr Rehearsal at 7 00 pm
801-9149
• L.mtanan Fellowship of GalV(Ston County,
402 Church St m Galveston Sunday Services
at 10.JO am Meklv 409-i65·8330
• The Church of ·Good Life on the Internet,
hup 'w""'·w .yncreust org/dmr-h li1m
Mondav-Januarv 19
• Low 1mpac1 aerobics at Community Gospel;
630 pm, $2. 880·9235 or ""wcommumtygospel.
org
Tuesdav-Januarv 20
• MCCR 1-'mpowt·rment for Living support
group & pot luck dmncr at 6 00 pm, Gloryland
Ensemble at 6 00 pm 861·9149
• PROTFCT meets at Rmng Church. 520-
i870
• MJranJ.l°ld f·clloY.shtp MC(' has groups thar
meet m each others home." for a umc of fC'Uow·
ship, shanng God's \\ord, and prayer Call for
the localion n your &tTa 5l8-6'56
• The Church of liood l fc n 1he h1e,net,
hup //Y.WV.' syncrcllst or,;il.l:lu~ch htm
• " Womm "h1 did \\ha1 1hcv Could" by
Diane \V1mbcrc1y, AssoC'J.Jte Pastor of St
Paul's Umtcd Methodist t'llurc"'l Houston At
the Kolbe l'rOJL'CI 8M·l800
Wednesdav-Januarv 21
• Holy l·ucharist Rue II ll l\"oon at Sr
Stephen's Fpiscopal Churc·h, 1805 W
Alab,1ma. 528·N>05
• MCCR ll1blc Srudy 7 .10 rm 861-9149
• Wursh1r Snv1cc 7 JO pm 11 l·•ah and llopc
Fdlowsh1p 771-1429
• The Church of Good l tfc un the ~lernct
http / / w. .. wsyncrcust org church htm
• Ca1ho1 c Ma s at 8 JO am the Kolbe Proiect
Thursdav-Januarv 22
• lliblc Stud) 7 00 pm •t ~auh and Hope
Fell0Mh1p 7734429
• Choir Prdct CC' at Community Gosrd 6 10
rm 8 0-9235 or W\\w•ommumtygospel.org
• M 1d\H'Ck Service at Commumly Gospel 7 JO
pm 880-92.lS or www communuygospcl org
• 'Ibc Church of Good Life on lhc lntemc..
h1tp: 11www ~ynCTcllSt org/church ~Im
If you WWII an t1'<nl lisud m this staron, pkas< coJJ
Carolyn Robt:m at 529-8490 by 12 Noon Mondays.
A IDS
AIDS WA'CH
New Tuskegee Studv:
AIDS patients put at risk
by Br'\JC e M1rken
Last August I wrote about a governmcnl·
sponsored AIDS s1u.dy known as ACTG 343
lhat appeared on us face 10 I><.· unc1h1cal
Follow mg m 1he p.11h of A IDS acuvtSts
whose pk.ts h.1d alrc.1dy fallen on deaf cars.
I .trgucd that 1hc trial should be shut down
1mmcd1.ltdy bt:fore HS volunteers suffered
1rrcpMabk harm Nol surprisingly, nothing
happened
Now. live mon1hs too late, 1he federal
AlllS Clm1cal ·rnals Group has finally
Mopped thl· mo!\t d.tn~c.:rous parts of the
s1udy \\lh.ll we Jon'I know for sure yet s
ho\\ much d.1mage was done to how many
proplc .ind whal 1hc govcrnmC'nt intends to
do 10 compensate ahem, but the early ndica
t1ons .nen't l"ncouragmg
ACTG 341 a1tcmp1cd to lest the nolton
tha1 those "hose lllV viral load had become
undc1ec1ablc on tnple-drug therapy could
krrp u unJell•cubk wnh u v.cakcr .. mamtcnanCl"•
regimen Volunteers wrn: given
AZT/lTC/mchnam for the first 24 weeks,
then two thirds of 1hose who stayed undelrctablc
for 8 wL·eks or longer wtrl." random·
ly switched to ellht•r AZT I JTC alone or
mdmav1r alonL", in llagrltnl vwlataon of both
the g,ovnnml·nt's own HIV trratmcnl guide
Imes ilnd ll s1m11Jr srl of gu1dclmes pubh,
hed by 1he ln1ern,111onal AIDS Society
USA
There was httk rl",)Son to think u would
work, .ind guess what It d1Jndn't
According, to tht· interim analysis d1stnbUlcd
10 rt'S<"arl·hc:rs on J.1n 8, of 109 vulunteers
who made 11 u110 the maintcndnce phase
and "host· rt'SU!ts could be:' analyzed, 45 saw
then virus rebound after u median of JUSl
scvrr> "crks Ot 1hosc 4). 42 wne the
unlucky ones on lh< wrakenrd rrg1men'
=····w..--•·•k
while JUSI three who staved on all lhrce
drugs expnenccd a return of dt1ectable
v•rus
Faced" 11h those rc'Sulls the folks runnmg
the anal J1d the only ethical thmg they could
do They offered everyone takmg AZT/JTC
or indinav1r mono1h~rapy the chance to get
back onto the ongtnal three-drug combinauon.
Hopefully bv 1he ume you read thts all
will have been contacted and wdl h.-e
resumed treatment wuh a regimen that actu~
ally has a shot al keeping 1hem ahvc
Bui 1hm troubles m•y not be over There
1s much we don't know about HIV, but one
thmK Wl" Jo undtrst.1nd 1s that whC'n the
virus 1s .1ble 10 rl·phcall· •n the prcsencl~ of a
drug or drugs, 11 1s cx1rc:ml'ly likely to dl"\dop
resistanrc Thal me.ms 23 unlucky
PWAs h.tvc very hkely developed rcmtance
10 AZT/JTC. a combma110n 1ha1 has proven
10 be a corncrs1one of the highly active anll·
rctrov1rJI combmauons, whale: 19 havl• prob,1bly
dL'Vclopcd res1stmce 10 tndmam
The mtmm anolys1s document blatantlv
fudges 1he rrsistancr rssuc It stat;:s 1ru1hfully
thal "1t ts not known \\hcther" resuming
lnpk·drug therap\ m those "hose ' r.il
loads haw staved unde1cc1ablc "111 keep
1he1r HIV suecrssfully suppressed or encourage
the cml·rgcncc of n-ststant virus, but 11
simply ignores rhose whose \'lrus has
boun,cd bJlk Tune 1s l'vcry reason to
1hmk 1hat many and perhaps most ahem \\ 11!
now haw HIV 1hat as rrs1stant to some of
thl" most porcnt drugs in our arsenal In
other words, thanks to th1' study 1hey've
pl.1yl·d c.irds tht·y can never get bal'.k
Nothing in the instruo1ons 1hJ1 \\ere sent
to the 1n al sites .1long with the.• mtc:nm analy·
sis SUAAl'sts that these Men~cle wannabes
have any ~rasp of lhl' gravuy of what they
h.tvc donc.• to thc.·ir unfortunate pal1ents
The ACTG's handhng of this tS cnmmal·
ly negligent The \1Chms of thlS toohsh and
dangerous tnal may have lost forever their
bcs1 chana: to keep thctr mus under control,
and no com~nsation oneo could conce•
ve will ever be:' adcqua1e But free medical
<.Ue for hfe might help
!MeMM?M P A G E
<;;oa Loves YO'll, so come
share tlie
LOYl:Mj 'EX'P'ERI'ENCE
Srn·mtl llu." C11.HJ. f t·,/J.an.
'B1 \exw1( Commuml'lf of ( ,H/w(ics
,,nuljric.•nd\.
fli'U>tlll' ti /lift t.'f /J{1flllfy '(IS
Services
\L1lurdin1) ;-;opm
'Irtld1lw11a(.At1.H!>
ul Ind ~;s'slu1'1~ ~~r~:~~~·~~ Schedules.
Tacos bieovtnidos1
(F•ll dtra' 1111 ·95 ~6 Car ond Ltsbian Ytllaw Pagtil
In rlie J(eii)lits .11130; Vak
\111 l e :J{ • 71{·8So-2S7;?
KOLBE
PROJECT
:\ -cnplure '<rie> :0r 11Jm«; enll~.d
''\\'omen in the Bi Me"
Tue,da\, January 20 • 7pm
w omtn Who Did What They c.o..Jd
Tuesda\', Januar\' 27 • 7pm
&ie
Tuc,da\ , Februarv 3 • 7pm
Gimp.. Of QI..,. Woimt In The Bible
ll'k' H\·1~-hb BhJ . • HNNOfl, Th ii'l\':-1-6914
713-Sbl-!~1(1
713.s61-i212 fax
Maranatha
fellowship
Metropol_itan l .
Community " J
Church ~
Becoming Gods Manager
A teaching on Stewardship
.A four part ~ermon series
A great way to keep your
1Yew Year :, re.-olution.
Sunday llam
Reverend Janet Parker
3400 :\lontro:;e, Ste. 600
at Hawthorne
(Handicap accessibl<)
For more info on "'IXll" home groupt., call
713-528-6756
Metropolitan Community Church
of the Resurrection
Restore Your Relationshi~ With God.
~~Over ANew Leaf
in 1998
Spiritual Uplift ServiCJ! Wednesdays 7 pm
Bible Study: The Book of Prdverbs Wednesdays 7:30 pm
Worship Services Sundays 9 am & 11 am
Receive and Enjoy God's
Unconditional Love at MCCR
713.861.9149 • 1919 Decatur, Houston, Texas 77077
Waslii11gto11 @White (betwee11 Studemollt a11d Housto11 Al'e.)
1 3 J A N U A R V 1 G T H 1 e g a
Sundav
Januarv 18 • 8:00 pm ~
Mr. BBB • Jody Travis ~
PRESENTS
"1u 71te ~ ~ Loue"
Benefiting The Loving Arms Foundation
Sundav • Januarv 25
Mr. BRR contest
HOSTED BY
~'P04a4
Applications Due by January 19
Tuesdav Madness
Nevada's
Madness Show
Drink Madness
Burger Madness
Thursdav
Dance Lessons Free -Fun!
Sund av
Steak Nile 5·9
The Brazos River Bottom Club
2400 Brazos • Houston, TX
713-528-9192
COl.< ... EllCIAL MEMBER
TG~ l>{d~n Po,.
(. 0 t,. g-=-= ~~-~
~ I ,,
.... ....,. sdtR ,, tJ ~
.\ii~) 0rgo01~,.
umd2!:.-~a:.
~
~ !<'\
/.'~
~
~~
~
~
~
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~~
,;11
~ y}!~
~
~
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~
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~
:+.wwg...ow+.+§ ....... P A G E
COVER STORY
R USTIN/trom page 1
hkel1 bt gr< I) amu ·d by the quandary ere·
ated by hts kgacy. By all aerounts, he had a
wicked ~nse of humor, and was the son who
liked to play pranks and exaggerate for dra·
mat1c effect
Had he not devoted h1m~lf to social causes,
he might have been a great opera singer, an
actor, or a wnter (he was also a remarkable
raconteur) He
dressed as 1f on ml!·
mate terms w11h a
fine haberdasher, and
spoke w11h 1hc pre·
case cadrnccs and
accents of a Bntrsh
anstocrat.
tinuously to help me and mine. unless I give
indicatton that I am wdhng 10 help 01her people
m trouble ..
lmpemous 10 pain though he DpJX'ared.
such cnttctsm hun him deeply 51111, Rustin
held fast to his conv1C110ns. no matter what
the consequences, no m.utcr what cnucism,
however tnv1al In an oft-quoted argumcr:lt
with NAACP hecuuve Secretary Roy
W1lkms, Rus11n losl his 1empcr .1her Wilkins
CrlllCIZl'd him for
bcmg pcrsnJCkcty
over, among other
things, tht~ number
of portable 101kts
needed 'or the I '163
MM ch Rus1in
memorably shout
rd, 11You can't have
these JX'Ople pissing
all over
W .ishrngton '
Given o rare
opponumty 10 dlS·
cuss lhc plighl of
Haitians on the N HC's ··1 oday Show" m
1982 Rusttn instead discussed Afghan
refugl'cs, to the v101l'nt ch<tgr n of bl.irk civil
nghts al'11v1sts. Rustin countcrt.'d cn11c1sm by
saymg that he was COlll1ng a11cntmn to
Haitians through other conti. .. n·nn·s and com·
mmces, and he adtkd, 'I bd1l'Vl' you cannot
stparatc what happel'lS to blacks m Amcnl'a
from w~at happens 10 people seeking JUSttcc
all ovt"r the world "
To b( sure, Rusun
was self-made a
product of A mencan
mgenu1ty, because
the truth was far from
grand He was raised Bayard Rustin (Left) with Martin Luther Kmg
by a Quaker grandmolhcr.
m a small town in Weslcrn
Pennsylvania tn 1912, not knowing 1ha1 one
of his siblings wa.< actually his molher If thlS
truth was a source of great pain to him all hl.S
hf<, then 11 wa$ perhaps the foundauon for an
immense compctss1on As poet Robert Penn
Warren said of Rustin, he was .. a strange
mixture ol strength and scns1t1v1ty"
Thougt- Rustin's c.uecr culmm.ltcd m his
masterful admm1s1ra11on of the I %3 March
or. Washington, he had been an act" IS! for 40
years, ~01dmg leadership post11ons in tne
Ccngress of Raaal F.quali1y, the Felic wsh1p
of Reconcilta• o<'. and the War Registers
League fie was l!Cli. afrrud of controversy,
and ~e nt"\'tr comr:utted to any:.~mg. he said,
"I do not fully believe m "
R....: n's many ntcrests ofttt ove<lapped,
putting htm d1realy in the : ne f fitt of the
black intelhgen1S1a Hrs long-standing interest
wtth the Jbor movrmenl and Jewish groups,
not 10 menuon a long list of peace issues
around the wor1d, was constantly under
attack Cnucs bch~ such 1ntert"Sts were
mvanably \....>Untcrprodul11vc to the Jc:s1rcd
d1aJogue between white.· ronserv.u1vcs and
black liberals
According to Jame:s F.mncr, thrn n.tllonal
d1reaor of 1he Congress of Raa.11 rquahty,
Rustin's 1nreres1 "on any issue lS transitory.
He bas the lremrndous ,1bdny, bec.ause of hLS
real talent, to SJX'ak on .iny side of the issue
But one wonders what he believes."
heryone but Rustin loyalists- and 1hrre
"ere many and Rusttn himself, quest1onrd
his beuefs. True 10 form, Rustin no doubt
nounshed all 1he auenuon and never fatled to
nse to the OCC'aSlon In the aftermath of UN
Ambassador Andrew Young's rcstgnauon
O>'tr US poli<")' in the Middle East, Rusun
""s auackcd for defending hlS pro AmmcanJcv.
1sh posumn
'I gol !booedJ," Rusun said in an Augusl
1983 in1erv1ew wuh the Wash111gton Post,
"very definucly for black Americans 10 $Up·
porl Israel What people IOrgcl 1s th.II when I
was rarsmg money for Dr King, a gre<U deal
of 1hat money came from Jewish people
They also forget 1h.1t h•O Jewish boys, along
wtth a black boy, were murdered in
M1ss1ss1pp1 I can't call on 01her people con-
WHITE/,, page 1
thmgs. They·re moving more money mto
drug programs anJ prC\'tnuon Last year
"e voted 10 reorgan:ze the Council, so
e\'eryt•ung [about the way funds are distnbuled]
IS new this year, and ""''re gomg on
,:i1s retreat to beg1ri that new procrss "
The Cou:"tc1I, whose meet ngs are open to
t~e public 1s a long way from finahzmg
wbrch orgamzattons "11: get he." much
money for 1998, accordmg to Oo1eghem
Meanwhtle, the S2 m1Ihon increase comes
about via two dLSt1ncJ processes, hr: sa1J
The bulk of the funding S7 million ts
based on a simple formula that determines
what pcrcn1age of all HIV posmve
Amencans h\e m Harns County The formula
-noncy is up 13 JX'rCent from 1997, represenung
the mcrease m Harr•s C"unty
AIDS cases (as a percen1age of the nattonal
total) from 1995 10 I 996
Fer Rusu~. 1hat pnnnple n< •ded gay
mr rnd lesbians L 1kc Mack gay govelis1
Jame; Batd" n, who ~ his w- ngs ~ everly
grafted g•y issues on top <'f race issues,
Rusrm found a way to mah·• point by ex.m·
pie Rusur. loved "len, and m fac"t was devot·
ed to one man n pan1cular the last 12 years
'lf his life, and he d1dr." cue who k,ew about
II
ThtS openness. too, put Rustin in the hne of
Fre. and mdeed cos1 him a high profile n:le m
1he 1963 March Ten years earlirr, Rustin had
been arrested m Pa!i.adcna, California, for
"'sexual pcrvcrsmn," aflcr ,11lcgedly bcmg
c.tught in the ilCt m a public restroom At the
ume, the media aw 11 up. When asked 11 h<·
was homosexual. Rusun simply ~.11<! yes
Not surpnsmgly, during thl· pl.mning of
the Mari:h on Washington, opponents from
inside and outs1dC' the movemrnr sc.·1zed upon
his arrest as a rcasoq to re.move.· him from a
highly public leaders~1p role The even1's success
stands as proof of Rusttn's unportance to
the movement
Al 1he ttme, though, Rustin w.1s hvmg by
hrs own creed hon<'sty, compassion, and
hard wC>rk In rctrospc:ct, he v.,1$ also makmg
.i point Years later, m a Vil/11gt Voice inter·
vie.,,.., he would reflect on being out and g.ty
"I lhink 1ha1 the gay communuy ha$ a
moral obhgauon 10 contmu<· the ligh1 .ind 10
do whatever 1s poss1bk to encour.1ge more
and more gays 10 come ou1of1he ciose1. God
knows, people stay in 1he doSl"I because n's
very painful 10 come out [01herwis<·.J we
cannot play 1he poliuc.11 role we mulJ play,
bcc.1usc we don't have the: numbns."
Commg as he did Ii-om .in ag<' when thm~
Wl'rc more dogmaucaUy blac-k and whnc, RustlP.
was one of a kind How strange 1h.i1 hrs memo.
ry would be so cardessly ptt'S<'rvl'd by history
Another S5 7 mllhon tomes 10 Harns
Counly in the form of supplemental funds,
Ooteghem said "Those funds MC granted bv
the federal governmrnt based on progrdms
put in place here in Harns Coun1y 1ha1 lhe
go>"trnment likes and believes "111 be sue·
cessfu1,·• he said "\\.'c try to be very
advanced m what wc."n• doing hen· m 11.trns
County"'
U.S Rep Ken Bentsen, 1-l Hous1on,
announcl'd the mcre.tsed Rvan \\.'hue.· funJ
mg for Harns Coun1y I.isl week 'We h.1d II>
work to get thl' mcre.1se bec.tusc.• wt· arc 1n .1
pcmld of a retract mg budgt·t,' lkntsl'n said
lie worked with the membns of tht• 1 lousr
Appropnauons Comm1tll'l", other merntx>rs
of 1he Texas congress1on.1I delegation and
1he Whue House s1atT to msure lhe fundmg
"On one hand. \\C lhmk the number of
AIDS dea1hs may have crested. hut the rate
of mfl"cuon has increased parttcularly among
women,' he told the I louston Ch1omcle
1 4 ..J A N U A R V 1 B T H 1 9 0 0
COVER STORY
BROWN/tram page 1
appointee to the mayor's staff, a promment
pnvate c1t1zen with access to the mayor himself,
or a commutee of community representatives,
has not been finalized, according to
the mayor "My commitment was for an
md1v1dual who would serve" as a h.a1son to
the gay community, Brown said "We're trying
to determine how best to serve the commnment
that I made. I won't rule out anythmg
.. my goal IS to make sure that there be
a direct lmk between me and the gay and lesbian
communny"
Another issue of concern to the gay communny
IS the possib1hty of gctung employee
benefits for the domesttc panners of cny
employees The issue has been dead m the
water m local pohucs since cuy voters overwhclmmg
rejected the issue m a 1984 refer- ·
endum Mayor Brown made no promises
regarding tht' issue dunng his campaign, and
did not seem eager to tackle 1l early in his
adm1mstrat1on
"What I've commuted to do IS to work
with the gay and lesbian communny and see
1f we c.rn develop consensus on how to
address Jdomesttc partner benefits!.' he
said "Obviously nothing as been done on
th,11 JI this pomt m ume JDunng the campaign]
I chose not to give a definitive answer
as to what could be done. I thmk you could
iump mto somethmg prematurely hke we
did w11h the JI 984 referendum J, which was
a resounding defeat."
Brown, who was elected w11h 53 percen1
of the popular vote, is Houston's first black
mayor Precinct rclUrns dearly show Brown
r.'Cetved the bulk of g.ty \'Oles (60·plus percent)
an thl· Dc.·c 6 run-off Precinct results
showed run·off turnout \\as low m area's
with large gay populauons. and polnical
obstrvcrs notc:d th.u the gay vote was not a
dec1dmg factor m the electton
That w.1o; not the: case in the." gc.·neral elec·
lion. howcH·r. in whKh gay voter turnout
"'" much higher, perhaps prompted by the
candidacy of George Greamas, who gar·
nered the endorsement of the Houston Gay
and l.e•bi,m Poh1ic.1l Caucus (HGLPC) and
Log C.1bm Repubhc,ms Houston (l.CR·H)
He rc<..·c1ved nc.\rly 80 percent of the gay vote
m the general election
Grc.rn1as1 a fiscal conservative and social
moderate, thn-w his support 10 Brown m the
run·oll llrown's opponent, Republican Rob
Mosbacher, had ltttlc support m 1he gay
communuy because of his ma1hng cn11az-
10g Greamas for his alltance wnh the gay
community
In add11ton, llrown garnered the endorse·
ment of the !!GI.PC m the run-off el0<-t1on.
log Cabtn did no! endorse m the run-off
Brown eamp,11gned as the "mayor for all the
peopk" and rnn on the strength of his record
as police ch1l'f m Atl.1nt,1, Houston and New
York and a stint .1s Prcsuknt Chnron·s
Nattonal Drug Czar
Will Greamas be a player m the mayor's
admm1strat1on' Probably not, accordmg to
Brown. Grean1as indicated to Brown that he
1s not mte~sted in a posn1on wnh 1he city,
the mayor told the Voter
As the Mayor began 1s second week m
office, he was pre-occupied wtth finahzmg
his City Hall staff "What I'm domg now IS
lookmg at the poStttons that are available,"
Brown said "We don't have a lot of seniorlevel
poStttons, but Ja candidate I bemg openly
gay or lesbian would no! preclude a person
from consideration "
Brown and his staff will have tbetr hands
full as the mayor faces a self-1denuficd cabal
of Republican City Council members the
R-7 group who seem 1nten1 on making
Brown's first term a d1llicult one The former
pohce chief and federal drug czar seemed
unfazcd, howner
"There's a history behmd this." he said
"It's not new When Kathy Whitmire was
Jmayor], they had somethmg called the
'Breakfast Club' In 1994, we had new coun·
c1l members come an, they were domg the
same thmg What history tells all of us IS
that counol members can dchvcr more for
their cons111uen1s If they work wnh the
admm1stra110n and not against II I don't
intend to d1mm1sh the power of the office of
the mayor."
And he has considerable background to
draw upon. given his tenure m law enforce·
ment and Washmgton
"The day after my election, the Vtce
President called me !from Atr Force 2), he
was two hours outside of Japan The
President also called, and said he wanted to
do evcrythmg he could to ass1S1 me I had
c.tlls form other mc'.tlbers of the adm1rustra
uon and c-abmet mcmbeN, ' Bro-.·n said I
S<'C that as a benefit to the cny, haVJng the
President and the Vice President as
fnl•nds 10 1he contC'xt of havmg workc.·d
w11h 1hem for two and a half years They
want to see Houston prosper and I will take
advantage of those rcla11onsh1ps to the benelit
of Houston "
Dunnt; thl· c.unp.ugn, Brown promised to
bnng m·1ghborhood-m1c.·ntcd government 10
Houston According to Hrown, the idea 1s
that ''the issues priorities and concerns of
one neighborhood would differ from the
issues, pnor111es and concerns of nc1ghbor·
hoods m other parts of the ~ny It's a matter
of empowenng the pcopll' to help 1den1tfy
whal are the pnonty uems m 1he1r neighborhood"
In the case of the gay, lesbian, bisexual
and lran.c;g,·ndcr community, wlnch ..s cen·
trred m a few geographic neighborhoods but
wetchcs throughout the city, Brown said he
would respond to wh.u amount.f to an
"1ssue-0nented neighborhood" that could
.1pproach his office wnh concerns about hate
crnnt: and g.ty )OUth, for ·nstancc
1st Amateur Strip Contest
Wed an 21 • Spm
Cash P.rizes
Surf the Cyber Bar
$5.00 per Hour
Every WEDNESDAY
Fajita Dinner and Margarita Special
2 Fajitas with a Margarita
or your choice of beverage - $5.00
=•·••w...-w•-•§
2312 Crocke r • Housto n
7 13-522·7366
••••• P A G E
SHAHAR/rrom page 1
no1 a precedent scttmg dec1s1on " Now managmg
attorney for the Lambda Legal
Defense and Educatton Fund, Harlow firs1
developed and filed the Shahar c05e as an
attorney for the Amencan C1v1l L1berues
Um on
Teresa Nelson, executtve director of 1he
ACLU of Georgia, JOtned Shahar in calling
the court's dec1s1on "an embarrassment to
the state of Georgia" "It's essenttally saymg
tt's OK 1f you commn sodomy and don't
admtt 11, but you admit to havmg an adulter·
ous affair, bul 1f you're ma lovmg commuted
relationship with someone of rhr same
sex, then you're unfi1 to perform your JOb
It's saymg we have one standard for heterosexuals
and another for homosexuals, and
that ts just wrong ..
As Georgia Attorney General, Bov.ers
"11hdrew a1ob offer from Shahar after learn·
mg that she planned to par11cipate m a pn·
vate Jewish comm11mcnt ccrt:'mony \.\llh ht:r
lesbian panncr, tellmg the roun the public
would assume Shahar and her partner
engaged m sodomy, which 1s against the law
for both heterosexuals and homosexuals m
Georgia Shahar would be unable to successfully
perform her 1ob as an attorney
upholding Georgia laws if perceived as
breakmg one of them, Bowers said
"As the chief legal officer to this state,
inaction on my part would const11utr tacit
approval of this purponed mamage and
ieopardizc the proper func-i1omng of this
office," he wroie in her July 9, 1991 d1Sm1ssal
letter
A 1nal court di:smisscd Shahar's in111al sutt
againSI Bower.; m 1991 S1'e appealed, and
IO 1995, a threC-JUdge panel Of the II th
Circun Coun of Appeals ruled m her favor
Bowers appealed that ruhng to the ful, eoun
which stded wnh flowers by an 8-4 vote on
May ~O. 1997 Jus1 five days later, ~e admitted
he paruCJpatcd ma long-term extraman·
tal affair
SOC I ETY FOR
Shahar peuuoned the 11th Circuit Coun
of Appeals to rehear her ca.<e 1n hght of the
adm1ss1on, since adultery hke sodomy-- is
illegal m Georgia, and Bowers stated he
broke the law, while her conduc1 was only
presumed But 1he 11 lh Circuil Coun voled
9-3 Augusl I 10 deny Shahar's requt"SI, makmg
!he Unned S1a1es Supreme Coun her la5!
avenue of appeal.
'I lost bu1 Bowers also losl, because of his
own behavior," Shahar said. 0 He had to
come forward and admit that his finng me
was hypocnucal, and I thmk tha1 he has
mfunaied a lot of the Georgia public. It
doesn't make sense to, on the one hand, call
your.;elf Mr. Morals, and on the other hand
fire someone for being honest about her IO\·
mg relauonsh1p while simultaneously lying
abou1 an adulterous affair for I 0 years.
A lot of "hat thtS case ha5 been about
has been pubhc educat on, and m that
regard , I feel confident that we' ,·e won." she
explained "'Thts JS a casr that has received
nauonal attention , and It has come at a umcwhen
our opponents \\ere scrc:ammg that
gay men and lesbians wanted 'special nghts'
and 11 was such a dean example that we
weren't askmg for spcaJ.1 nghts. v-:e Wt'rt.'
askmg for equal nghts I thmk that tSSUes of
d1scnmma11on are much easier for people to
unders1and when they have a hve example,
and my case was an example that pcoplt'
were able to grasp very easily"
Despne her final d1sappomtment and the
stress of lmng in the public eye throughout
the case, Shahar also said she is glad she
chose to fi~ht her finng "for the pubhc education
reason and also because I thmk that people
need to fight m;usttce "hen they see ti
"Just because this case didn't ""' ti docs·
n't mean that ti \\Of1J help the next person, '
she sa1d " The pubhc education moves no1
JUSt Joe and Jane Member-0f-1hc Pubhc but
•t also educat<"S Judges and legislatc>N I So
all of us fightmg these battles are really
pavmg the road for some future plamuff
who is going lO win '"
AR T S
flus sbowstopper IS the grtatest
male vo1et on B~"-iy. :-\,iw
1 s J ANU AR Y 1 G T H 1 a e a
Rethinking the "Titanic"
The story of the Ship of Dreams delivers
a message for gays and lesbians
by STEPHEN R. UNDE.RWOOD
Amencans arc faSC1cated ':>y rhe mov c
'Tuamc" rhe ~hip Of Drcz;,s " Mov .e
be 3 ,rammed rhearers and wrestled for the
best scats to Y.<lh .. h Jamn Cameron s replu.a
of t~e ship >. p 1n10 the sea And rhe movie
ts a marketer's bon.Jnza: box offices report
sales of over S 197 mtlhon in lhe firs! four
"'eeks of release. Fc.rtunately for Cameri>n,
rhe movie IS abour 10 break even. ;-.;ow he
can look for t~e real money 10 come in.
But to d1sm1ss Amenca's obsession with
rhe "T1ran1c" story as merely an incredibly
successful markeung ploy 1s to miss rhe
point of 1he "T11amc" mylh en11rely
Cameron, I think, hit rhe mark by scnpung
the psycholog1cal voyage of Ja~k Dawson
(Leonardo D1Capno) and Rose DeWm
Bukarcr (Kate W1nslc1) mto 1hc plo1
Admtncdly, rhe love story drags m some
pans and gets fa.r!y cheesy m 01hers. Bui II
is rhc a"'akcrmg of the .ost self m Rose
"~1ch makes the ~·m a c...>mpelhng part c.f
r"-e hLman s1tuat1cn 'or gays and lesbians.
Rose's psycho1ogu.al condmon when she
boarded •~e Tuamc" was • Ju~gian feasr
Her un~onSC1ous self plunged her sanuy m10
a suicidal fir when 1hc conscious demands of
her cgocenrnc pe'SOnahry burst under 1he
rcgula1mg equ1hbnum of her unconSC1ous
mind Rose knew !Kr manral cngagemenl
was a sham and her attcmpl 10 keep up 1he
social fron1 to please her mo1hcr collapsed
when her unconscious sc'f surfaced Jung,
perhaps, would have commcn1ed 1ha1 her
androgynous wholc the male and female
t:"' unison within one mmd suffered from a
cavrrnous d1v1S1on Jf Rose were to survive,
1he deadly sphl mus1 be healed
Rose prOJectcd her lost self on10 J.ick 's
image Jack, of course, finds Rose attr.1ct1ve,
and he hkes 1hc chase and 1he compe1111on
Bur Jack, low-class and penniless. exh1b11s a
zesl for livmg wh1Ch 1hc h1gh-socie1y Rose
has hardly known When Jack lakes Rose
down lO a party m the steera~e section below
decks, she sreps m10 a world of wh1Ch she
was hardly conscious The third class quar·
tcrs were alive with song and dance, and
Rose expencnct-s a chrld-hkc JOY she had
long forgotten when she JOms m 1hc revelry
The stet-rage passengers, an a way, are an
archrrype of 1hc collecuve unconscious.
Pushed '"'" 1hc shadows by a soeie1y
obscsscd w11h social class, 1he1r hves nonerhelcss
were bursllng w11h hfc-forcc Denied and
rqccted by the pompous nch, 1he m1croeosm1c
world aboard lhc "T1ramc" was divided
and 1ncompletc "1thout them Rut the)· were
1here anyway, full of JOY and love
How dtf!'crcnl IS 1bc mtCrOCOSmte world of
the "Titanic" from the world we live in
1oday? Nol much ,..,,11ly l'xrepl m the case of
gays and lesbians, we arc denied and rcJCct·
ed based on our srxual or cntauori as well as
SO<.,aJ class. Bui hke 1hc awakening of 1hc
Jost self of Rose, Amcnc.t 1s awakemng to
an undeniable part of us losl self g.iys and
lesbians We have hopes and dreams and
we're ahvc with hfC-forcc, too Fortunately,
1he voyage 1oward accep1ance by lhc mam·
stream is picking up speed, but we must not
allow ourselves to be seduced into an
unsinkable sense of security
The movie abou1 1hc Ships of Dreams
ends with a dream· Rose and Jark meet once
again with all the passengers assembled on a
staircase m first class Gone arc the art1tiCTal
barriers of roc1al class whte'i scp.1ra1cd r~e
haves (consciousness) (-om 1hc havc·no1s
(unconsciousness) Cameron's mt"ssage ar
1h1s closing scene 1s 1h1s The world really IS
an mdms1hle whole Th IS world. for •IS own
surv1vaf, must unuc and tr.msccnd HS smk·
ing weaknesses And for the world to be
whole, 1h.11 includes everybody especially
gays and lesbians. When 1he people of lhlS
world nse above their rultural, rehg10us, and
personal hm1tat1ons, tht·n the promise of the
Ship of Dreams will make 11 s,1fCly mlo port
Sun sets on the 2mpitze ln "Oscatz and /2uclnda"
Ralph Fiennes and Cate
Blanchett bet all odds
against the Victorian
world in visually
stunning film.
by STEPHE.N R. UNDERWOOD
Oscar and Lucinda a pcnod drama S<I m
rhc V1ctonan era, IS a visually srunning r-1m
which explores lhc pccksntffcry of Bnush mpcnal:
sm and Angl!C.ln passrvlly
V ctonan England allcmprcd •o build lhc
Kingdom of Cod on lhc earth- and t JUSI abou1
succeeded but rhc tmpcral gamble proved a
sy; rual disaste' or 11s sa1n1S Soocry moncuzed
mo!'a: !)' 1f you had lors of cash, Cod o:ked you
more L.11s~z-fa1rc and u11l11anan ideology ga'-c
1hc wcl~ro-do rhc J ficauon needed to cxplo11
1hc wol'l<ing class, and B:nain s bou-gcolS
rnriched !heir b.rk accounrs while "<lcgaung 1hc
prolC'. .at 10 povcnv and squalor V.omC!! suf·
fcrcd lhc double JCOpardy ot working m danger·
ous 'acton<S 'o' la... pav n rhc one hand o:
wcanSC"mc lruure on 1hc 01hcr The propc• role
for a V .. onan " man was 10 acccp1 ~·· 01 and
fo:g<t hc-r dreams. for the Empire ~ad a n!Jcc for
he" -and V. anted ne-r •n II
The Anglican Church and 11s soc1al-club
tlms11an1ry cloaked rhesc V1ctonan hypocns1es.
absoh1ng lhc ch m general and men m pan1cu·
lar of rcsponsl)iury o: 1hc Empire's SOC1olog1cal
mess The .~urch sanctified rhc srarus quo and
seduced 1hc " rlung class 1010 submission by
preaching fa lh hope and 10'.'0 Bur 1hc churc~
had anolher reason 10 walk l·ghdy and carry a l11-
1Jc stack Bnrish mpcnal:sm allo,.cd rhc church
an opportun11y 10 ov-hzc and "Chrisuamzc" lhc
world as 1he f mptre opanded And m the
Jndustnal Af,e- as m any agc more com'Ons
'"cant mo"' mhc "'oney for church ;;offers
Set in •Jus milieu, Oscar Hopkins (R•lph
Ficnnes) plays lhe son of Theophilus (C'1vc
Russell). a stern preacher. who rules his house·
lwld w11h an iron fist One Chnstmas Day, maids
sneak young Osc" some Chnstmas pudding.
Theophilus d1SCOvcrs 1hc rrespass and punishes
Oscar for hlS d1SObcd1encc lhe sweel pudding,
ponufica1es Theophilus, s 'Saran's food Oscar
rcscnrs has fathers' stnctncss and one day he asks
God 10 sm11e Theophilus \\hllst his fa1hcr fished
m 1hc sea Theophilus or1S<S from 1hc wa1<• wuh
a deep, blC'..idy gash on hlS leg and 1hc por1cn1
MIJ'O"ers y; ung Osc;!I' 10 COVISIOn a 1fe away
from his ra1hers' dominauon
Oscar escapes hlS ulrn·Punran pnson and .1vcs
w11h a '1Val Anglican m1n1s1..- named Hugh
S1ranon (Tom Wilkinson). "ho rakes Oscar n
and •alks ham mro a11rnding drvmtty school at
Oxford Oscar, na.. a iwng aduh, 1"-es • ~c
mmc coll<gl'le ltfc unul a new dorm narc,
\Yardley Fish (Barnaby Kay,, introduces htm 10
hom be:: ni Oscu " ns big. but he keeps JUSI
enough money •o gc1 tiv n and donarcs lhe res1
1 1hc c'lurch He IS 8C'JUincly meek, unfash10~
a~lc, and a ralher dull chaJ>- uni I ~c h1rs lhc
rrack Srrangcly rnough Oscars' 1ransforma11on
IS hkc Jekyll and Hyde holy and samrly on rhc
~nc hand, bur dcvtl1Sh and schc-nmgon 1hc orhcr
~uc nda Lcplas1ncr (Cale Bldnchc11) hves
qu11c 1hc oppos11e kmd ot hfc "hich evrnrually
n1ersccts wnh Oscar's dark Side Luctndas' "'olh·
er 1s a rcmm151 who •11SCS her 10 be ndcpcndcnt
and self· '1an1 H. ndepcndcnec blossoms
w hrn she nhc-tlS her mothe<'s fortllnc and pur·
chases 1hc Proco Rupen Glass Works m Sydney
111 panncrshtp ,.,,ha fdlow glass en1husiast Rev
Dcruus Ha= (Ct•ran Hinds) Bur Luctndas
~lf-rchancc makes her hfc a lonely one <mill
P A G E
Luc111da 'Cate Blanchett) and Oscar(Ralph Fiennes) bet on a little peace and qwet.
she rurns 10 gambhng m the scettt card rooms ;f
Sydney s speakeasies
LJondas approach 10 1fc IS u11ht :-an a1
besl she ll\-cs for lhc pleasure prnciplc She IS a
p1onCC"' m a p1onccnng ,. or!d ordc• for female
mdusrnal1S1S hardly ex ;red m 1he E mpirc Bur
L aondas' nduSf"IJ' vcnrures, ~er lrendy
bloomers, and her gambling g cral< so 111uch
conuovcrsy 1ha1 she mus1 leavr AUSl'3Ua for
E igJand <1ndcr lhc prc1ensc of purchasing new
cqu1pmcn1 for rhc glass wor!ts II s on 1hc return
10 Ausrraha lhal Luonda meelS Oscar
"Oscor and Luctnda' s: kc JP a fncndsh1p on
1hc srcamcr LC'i a1han ,. hen !hey J1scover lhetr
mu1ual m1crcst m gambltng The duo cnrert •• ns a
fierce game of <Uds, pla)1Ilg mro 1hc wee hours
of lhc mormng Bui lhe ~asry f:-cndsh1p quickly
dcgcneralcs "hen Oscar relapses in10 hlS
Angltcan scns1b11111es How can Oscar be a 'l!an
of God and lead Lucmda m10 an 1mmor.l gardrn
of forbidden fruus? Bur "Osc.r and Lucinda"
cannot rcslSt rhc bond 1har cxisrs between 1hrm
rhctr gamblmg add1c11ons arc 1ke sp1. IUJI glur
Afler amvmg back m Sydnry. lhc 1wo gam·
biers 'one bscssrvr one compulme <onsp1re
m the nsk1cs( wager of their lives Osc r
prom1stS tL de11vC'r a stcel·lramC'd ~l.1ss ,,:hurch :o
RC'V Hasse' wh s cx1kd to abt..ngmal r\ew
Sou1h Wales when Sducy •Jmors Clr•ularc d his
nC'ndsh1p IA th Luetnda • ucmd.t goes so rar as
10 'let h..- cnttrc mhcrrance 1ha1 Oscat can I do
1hc deed Osc.r Wilgcrs 10 win Lucmdas' 1rusr
•nd lcve The s1ccMramcd glass church 1s cvcn1u
•lly det1vcrcd 10 Rev Hassel aflc· a rrcachcrous
and dangerous cxpcd111on m10 1he ourbaek
Bur 1hc srccl 'ramed glas stnsc, rs
a double C! carurc or B111 1Sm and
Se1 MOVIE page 18
1 a .JANUA,RV 1 G T H 1 D 0 D
NEW MUSIC
Victvria ltilliams:
Lvulslana sma bird
scars ab()Ve the £1vuds
by STEPHEN R. UNDERWOOD
V1ctona W1lhams sctms frail and innocent
enough to be of little threat to the glol>e
However. petite packages, as the saymg goes,
sometimes come w11h a big bang. V·ctona, qu11e
a petite package indeed, nonetheless dehvm her
own trademark snap, crackle, and pop ·an
earthy brand of pop music 1nsp11ed bi the misty
swamps and crawfish boils of Cajun Acad1ana
It's hard to figu"' out tf her new CD, "MusJ11!1'
Of A Creekd1pper," IS a wnauon on childhood
memortes or poliucal hype for Greenpeace But
the g11I dcscm-s credll for conslSlcncy, at least -
well, at leo1St this ume The bucolic mouf ts upl>eat
m a Kns Knsto!Tmon sort of "ay- the kmd of
way you get told you're screwing up the ozone as
a lone voice accompanies angry fingers strum·
mmg a cheap gunar. V1ctona has some positive
thmgs to say about the planet and about life
without the angry finger,; or the cheap gu11ar
The 1dyll1c songfest 1s all wet from the start
"Rammaket," no doubt, can't help but make you
thmk about getung caught m the ram and hkmg
11 Just crawl up to the near1"it thmg that will keep
a little of 11 off you If you're soaked, don't
worry Watch the clouds go by and ponder what's
going on m town
Urbanrzauon, to Victona. IS t"nough reason to
stay m the backwoods. 'Tree Song (Eucalyptus
Lullabye)" msulls a tranee, an agranan tranquil·
QUICK CUTS
DANCE
Twist This Pussy
Vanous Arusts
Twzsttd Rrcords
Twisted Records 1s the 1nnovauve New
York dance labt'I responsible for two of last
year's biggest hits, House Hero's Mag1t
Orgwm and funky Green Dog's fJY,J Up.
The label spec1ahzcs in pounding tnbal
dan1.:c records with cenc.\ elcrtromc, and
diva vocals Tw1stcd's new release. Twzst Thu
Pussy, is a continuous tn~al Journey expertly
programmed by Pet<r Rauhofer. the master·
mind behind Club 69 Peter, tn a fit of self·
promo11on, kicks the party tnto gear w11h
Club 69's nrama Peter remixed M11gt(
OflclJm for tht.• comp1l.it1on, but the only
thing recognizable about this version 1s thl·
elcctroni(' vtx·altzat1on However, the tnbal
rhythms add dO 101<.'rcstm~ fl.Ur .ind flavor to
the track Another special Club 69 remix on
thl· CD JS rrr/"'1 IAOW by House Of Prince
Prrjer:t IAwr hit the top ~pot on la~t week's
ll1llboard dance chart and J find Peter's
remix quite a bit hvthcr than the domestic
double pack Peter ends the Journey w11h Get
Funky by The Water Chamber, another
trancey, tnbal e-scapade I think the CD is an
overall wmner and 11 should be a must have
for the muscle boys who spice up their hves
on the party cm:u1t Si ph.,, Undem1 "41
=····-------~
MUS IC
1zer, to resist the cny's muck Nope, no reason to
play hooky at the movie house that's filthy. too
Oh yeah, don't mmd how muddy country roads
are when 11 rams l>emg dirty ts JUSt pan of georg1c
hfe A return to the Garden can't l>e bad for
anyone, could ui
Rest, reflection, and fresh air are a great pre·
scnpuon for frazzled nerves_ But someumes the
fares demand accommodalion "Let It Be So"
prescnbes res1gnat1on and rel |
