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Sue Suter, Rehabilitation Services
Administration Commissioner.
Suter Sworn In As First
Disabled Head of
Rehabilitation Services
Washington D.C.-Sue Suicr, nominated by
President Reagan as the Rehabilitation Services
Commissioner, was sworn into office on June 8.
Suter is the first person with a disability to ever
hold the office. She contracted poliomyelitis at
the age of two and was prevented from attending
public school because of a lack of accessibility.
In spite of this, Suter earned a master’s degree
in clinical psychology and served as Director of
the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation
Services, a position she held for three years prior
to her appointment as RSA (Rehabilitation
Services Administration) Commissioner.
Sutcr's emphasis is on empowering people
with disabilities to lake charge of their own lives
and to allow government to provide the tools that
they need to achieve their highest level of
independence and more opportunities. She is an
advocate for community integration of people
with disabilities.
Suter has the support and enthusiasm of
major disability groups who have come to rely
on her for fairness and accountability
AIDS Commission Chair
Calls for Money, Bias
Protection
Washington D.C.-The Chair of the President's
AIDS Commission took a strong stand in favor
of anti-discrimination laws to protect PWAs
(Persons With AIDS) - a position opposed by
the Reagan Administration.
Retired Admiral James D. Watkins made his
statements three weeks before the official
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report’s scheduled delivery to the While House.
According to Watkins, Federal laws against
discrimination are "critical" to fighting the
epidemic. The Administration, on the other
hand, says it wants discrimination laws handled
at the State level. Watkins charges that approach
has and will continue to result in confusing and
ineffective action.
Other recommendations by the Commission
Chairman include an overhaul of the CDCs
(Centers for Disease Control) strategy to combat
AIDS, involving a major increase in staff and a
total destructuring of the AIDS program which,
he said, lacks direction. Federal and State
spending on ADS, says Watkins, should
increase from the current $500 million to S3
billion per year.
He iso emphasized the need for
confidentiality, calling for legislation making
disclosure of patient records a punishable crime.
CDC officials called the report "basically
sound" although they disagreed with some of the
criticism. ADS groups had feared that a
Reagan-appointed panel would be incapable of
providing acceptable recommendations, but they
conceded, these recommendations far exceed
what they expected.
- F G
Gay Spy Wins at the
Supreme Court
Washington, D.C. - The man fired by the
Central Intelligence Agency because he revealed
his homosexuality won an important round in his
legal fight, with a Supreme Court ruling in his
favor.
The man, identified only as John Doe, was
rated an excellent agent by the CIA, where he
worked for eight years, until his 1982 dismissal
by thcn-Dircctor William Casey. The CIA
claimed he represented a security threat after the
agent voluntarily told an agency officer that he
was gay.
After his firing "in the interest of the United
States," the agency and the Reagan
administration maintained the CIA could fire
anyone without review by the courts, due to the
nature of the agency.
The Supreme Court disagreed, saying the
courts may review the constitutionality of the
firing.
The decision, according to legal experts, is a
major setback for the CIA, and a small step
forward for gay and lesbian rights.
Good News, Bad News at
AIDS Conference
Stockholm - Researchers gathered at the
fourth International Conference on ADS appear
to share a sense of optimism, as they leant about
thousands of research projects from around the
world, bearing both good and bad news on the
disease.
The number of studies brought to the
conference in Stockholm, Sweden, is so great
that presentations take place simultaneously in
nine different rooms. Still, most researchers
display their projects by tacking posters on a row
of bulletin boards showing more than 3200
studies in die battle against ADS.
The sheer number of studies has brought
optimism, although most agree a cure for ADS,
or a vaccine to prevent it, will not come in the
near future.
Scientists, however, sec progress in the
number of ways to tackle the disease. And
progress is reported in most fronts.
Vaccine tests, say researchers, continue to
show promise and the development of
treatments with reduced side effects has brought
positive results.
The more than 7,000 scientists attending the
meeting face a moving reminder of the
importance of their task. Every morning they
are welcomed into the meeting hall by panels
from the NAMES Project, the memorial quilt for
those who have died of ADS.
-F.G
Dayton Publisher Fired for
Rejecting Gay Advertising
Dayton, Ohio-The publisher of the Dayton
Daily News has been fired after refusing to
accept advertising from two local gay/lesbian
groups.
According to a spokesperson for the Dayton
Lesbian and Gay Center, the newspaper's
publisher, Dennis Shire, had refused on several
occasions to allow die organization to advertise
an upcoming scries of programs on health care.
Another local group, Serenity, which offers legal
services to the gay and lesbian community,
organized a picket line in front of the Daily
News offices after its advertising was rejected as
well.
Although Shire released a statement saying
that to accept the advertising would have been
inconsistent with his Christian ethics, his boss,
Cox Enterprises president David Easterly, said
the refusal violated company policy.
"Personal feelings, religious or otherwise,
cannot be allowed to override our obligation to
treat people fairly," Easterly said. "As
newspaper people, it's our job to defend freedom
of expression for all people."
Cox Enterprises also owns the Atlanta
Journal and the Atlanta Constitution.
-David Tucker
AIDS Tape Banned from
Gwinnett Schools
Lithonia, Ca-An audiocassette which refers
to gay men as "perverts," and includes erroneous
information about how ADS is transmitted, has
been barred from further use in Gwinnett County
classrooms after a parent's complaint.
The tape, part of the "Focus on the Family"
scries issued by evangelist Dr. James Dobson,
was played in several lOth-grade health classes
at Shiloh High School in Lithonia, according to
principal Dr. Pat Mahon.
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daughter was among the students who heard it,
complained to school officials after she told him
of the "blatant errors" it contained, among them
the statement that ADS could be transmitted via
kissing or the use of public toilets.
Dr. Mahon said the tape was brought into the
classroom by a student who said it presented
"another view," as opposed to the Red Cross
ADS unit the class was studying. Varsity head
football coach Mcll Hulmc and assistant
basketball coach Michael McCoy were the
teachers who used the tape in their classes.
Wilson, who has been actively lobbying for
improved health education and care in Gwinnett
County schools, disagreed with this rationale for
passing along such misinformation, saying,
"You don't have a radical point of view on the
proper way to do heart surgery."
Although he has been assured that teachers
will not stray from the approved AIDS •
curriculum again, Wilson said the incident
clearly demonstrated the need to fully-qualified
staff to deal with health issues in schools, rather
than "two guys who didn't know what the hell
they were doing."
- David Tucker
Thailand Prime Minister
Called Gay
Bangkok-Prime Minister Prcm Tinsulanond,
who has been in office for at least eight years,
has been accused of being homosexual by his
opponents in the Parliament of Thailand. .
Opposition party leader Chalcrm Yubamrung
claimed to have photographs and documentary
evidence relating to what he called Prem's
"peculiar behavior." He also said he would
produce two young army officers to collaborate
his claims at a parliamentary no-confidence
debate, which had been scheduled for May 9th.
Prime Minister Prcm avoided the debate by
dissolving Parliament and calling new general
elections for July 9. The newly elected
Parliament will then make recommendations to
King Bhumidol Adulyadcj who will appoint the
Prime Minister, the head of Thailand's
government.
According to East/West Magazine of London,
Prem's enjoyment of the company of young men
has long been known in Bangkok. Thai gays
affectionately refer to him as "Auntie Prcm".
However, this is the first time it has been raised
publicly by his opponents. Prcm, 67, is
generally acknowledged to be the most popular
and honest Prime Minister Thailand has had in
many years.
Opposition leader Chalcrm, when called a
"toad" by a Prcm supporter, replied, "A toad is
no different from a homosexual. Months of rain
cannot smooth a toad's rough skin."
"Likcw'ise, a homosexual is always a
homosexual, no matter what position he holds
and how long," said Chalcrm. He described an
instance where he said a British cabinet minister
had resigned when his homosexuality was
revealed. He said anyone else in a similar
position should be "man enough" to stand down.
Premier Prcm, should he
decide to come out, as have
Representatives Barney
Frank and Gerry Studds in
the USA, could advance the
cause of Gay Liberation in
Asia by many years, even
decades. Letters of
encouragement and support
can be sent to: Prime
Minister Prcm Tinsulanond,
Government House,
Bangkok, Thailand.
- John Hubert