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AIDS Vaccine
Study Needs More
Volunteers
Additional volunteers are being sought for
the AIDS vaccine study that is underway at
the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.
The study is designed to determine the best
dosing regimen and the nature of the antibody
and cell-mediated immune responses to this
vaccine. At the recent Fourth International
Conference on AIDS in Stockholm, NIAID
scientists reported promising new results from
this study-the first experimental AIDS
vaccine to be tested in humans in the United
States.
Dr. H. Clifford Lane, Deputy Clinical
Director, NIAID, said that 20 volunteers who
have already been inoculated using escalating
doses of a recombinant AIDS vaccine
manufactured by MicroGcncSys, Inc.,
biopharmaceutical firm in West Haven,
Connecticut. The vaccine consists of purified
envelope protein (gpl60) derived from the
genetic material of the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the suspected
cause of AIDS. Participants in the study are
healthy homosexual and bisexual men who
are at low risk of HIV infection.
The first group of volunteers received 10
micrograms of gpl60 and the dose was
doubled for each successive group. Two-
thirds of each group received a booster dose
(either 50 percent or 100 percent of the
primary dose) one month later.
The Western blot test is being used to
examine blood specimens, taken weekly, for
antibody responses to the various doses of the
vaccine. The test can delect the specific HIV
proteins against which an individual's immune
system has produced antibodies.
Of the 16 volunteers who were immunized
with 40 micrograms of the vaccine, 10
showed an antibody response. Four of the 5
persons who received primary immunizations
and no boosters developed antibodies within 8
weeks. Six out of the 10 persons who received
a primary dose and a booster at one month
also showed antibodies by 8 weeks. Of the 15
volunteers who received 80 micrograms of
the vaccine, 10 have developed antibodies so
far. The investigators stated that
immunization with gpl60 appears safe during
short-term followup with initial doses up to 80
micrograms.
Local reactions (tenderness, redness and
swelling), flu-like symptoms, and fever of up
to 24 hours duration, common in the
administration of any vaccine, occurred in
some volunteers. No serious toxicides
attributable to the vaccine have been seen.
Volunteers must be healthy homosexual or
bisexual men who are at low risk of HIV
infecdon, and are able to come to NIAID once
per week for the first month after vaccination,
and subsequendy once per month for the next
year. Travel expenses for volunteers who are
not local will be paid by NIH. To obtain more
informadon or to volunteer, call 1-800-634
3027. Prospccdve volunteers may also call 1
301496-7196.
• GAY & LESBIAN*
Gay Activist, Lobbyist Seeks Fulton County Seat
Well-known for his work as a lobbyist and
activist on gayllesbian-related issues,
Atlanta attorney Gil Robison is currently a
candidate for the Georgia House of
Representatives, in one of the at-large seats
representing Fulton County. Following is
the text of Mr. Robison's recent interview
with Southern Voice.
SOUTHERN VOICE: Why did you decide '
to run for office at this time?
GIL ROBISON: The need is greater for our
community than it's ever been before. The
federal government has, under the Reagan
administradon, not shown the leadership that
it should have in dealing with the AIDS
crisis, and so it's fallen to the states to shelter
the burden to develop policies and to provide
the funding to prevent the spread of AIDS.
I've woriced with the Georgia legislature for a
number of years on AIDS-related issues and
gay rights issues, and consequendy a lot of
folks from throughout the community feel
that I'm better qualified than my opponents.
SV: Aside from the AIDS issue, with what
other issues are you particularly concerned
with?
GR: Where to start? One is fair planning for
regional growth, another is assuring that
Fulton County gets back a fairer share of
state revenues than it does. The state collects
more from Fulton County than it does from
any other county in state revenues in the
form of sales taxes and other taxes, and we
never get back even half of what we pay into
the state. Grady Hospital, for instance,
desperately needs greater state funding. It
serves people from throughout the area, not
only in its AIDS clinic, but also its bum unit
and emergency room. Another need we have
for state funding is in drug rehabilitation and
education programs to curb the epidemic of
drug abuse, and the crime that it generates.
Instead, what we get from the state, far too
often, are projects many Fulton County
residents less than wholeheartedly support,
such as the Presidential Paricway, Georgia
400, and the domed stadium.
SV: To what extent have you been
campaigning as an openly gay candidate?
Is that a feasible thing to do for someone
who wants to win?
GR: Well, I've been described as a candidate
who has nothing to hide but hide itself.
Fulton County is large and has a diverse
population, with a diversity of concerns.
Virtually all of the electorate, all of the
various communities, are primarily
concerned about their issues. In order to be a
viable candidate, I must address those issues.
I know in the past when we've had
candidates' forums, the candidates would
come give a rather standard speech, and most
of us in the audience would wonder why they
weren't addressing gay issues. Conversely,
when a gay candidate speaks to an audience
outside the gay community, I feel it's most
important that as a representative, he be
responsive to those issues. Here in the Atlanta
area, we have a history of electing officials
who we don't necessarily identify with, but
who we believe would be the best person for
the job. For instance, when the fifth
congressional district was majority white,
Andrew Young was elected congressman.
When it was majority black, it elected Wyche
Fowler. In the not-too-distant past, Atlanta
had a Jewish mayor, Sam Massell. We have a
greater percentage of women elected officials
than other areas of the state and the South. I
believe that we have made progress to the
point at which we look at the candidate and
his or her abilities, rather than other issues that
most of the electorate considers extraneous.
Conversely, though, I believe my work in the
gay community, the commitment to people
issues, has found a sympathetic ear in various
other constituencies such as the feminist,
environmental, and other progressive groups.
SV: / understand you would like to see some
changes in the way MARTA is run.
GR: Yes, true. I would like to sec it more
responsive to the public it serves. The board
of MARTA is appointed, not elected by the
public, and its members can be removed only
by the General Assembly. This, of course, has
never happened and probably never will.
Having an elected board would certainly make
MARTA's policy more responsive. Another
suggestion has been to institute an office of a
consumer advocate, similar to the consumer
advocate's office that represents public
concerns before the Public Service
Commission.
SV: You've said that you believe there is a
large part of the gayllesbian community that
does not vote. Why do you think that is?
GR: We've never had a gay candidate before.
Back when I first got involved in electoral
politics, in 1976, we usually had to choose
between the lesser of two evils. Now,
generally we choose among persons who are
to some degree or another committed to equal
rights for gays and lesbians.
S V: What would you tell those voters are
your special goals for them?
GR: I hope that all the craziness associated
with the omnibus AIDS bill is behind us,
though I'm afraid it's not There are many
special interest groups who would like to see
the confidentiality of AIDS-related
information that was part of the omnibus
AIDS bill loosened up, opened up. Many of
the crazy proposals that have been around the
legislature for a number of years are still going
to be there, such as requiring that restaurant
Gil Robison, Candidate for State
House District 40
workers be tested annually, all kinds of
demagoguery. As I said, I hope that we
concentrate on more substantial issues such as
more funding. The Department of Human
Resources requested $2.7 million for its
AIDS prevention program last year. They got
less than 1/4 of that - $660,000.
Massachusetts, by comparison, has fewer
cases of AIDS than we do in Georgia, but
their annual budget usually includes $34
million to fight AIDS. Georgia now ranks
8 th among states in number of cases of AIDS,
yet it's 26th in state expenditures, 36th in per
capita expenditures.
SV: Is that because the legislators from the
smaller, rural sections of Georgia are
reluctant to spend the money?
GR: Yes, exactly. Unfortunately, they seem
to be like everyone else in a crisis. They don't
believe AIDS is a problem for Ihem. AIDS
education, it's been said, is what happens
when five of your friends are diagnosed. Of
course, by then it's too late to take measures
that would have been more effective earlier. I
don't believe that it would be inaccurate to say
that the state has written off the gay
community, and is only now beginning to
grapple with the problem in a meaningful
way as it spreads among IV drug users, the
poor, and minorities.
SV: And you're also still involved in
attempts to see the sodomy law repealed?
GR: Yes. There’s an attempt to repeal it
close to passing the House of Representatives
now. I believe many of our straight
supporters in the legislature don't fully
appreciate how significant this issue is to the
gay community. An openly gay person in the
legislature, frilly committed to the repeal
effort, could make our chances of success
much greater. -David Tucker
Look for an interview with openly gay
candidate Dick Rhodes in the August 4th
edition of Southern Voice.
• Franklin Abbott, L.C.S.W. • Jane DeMore, R.n., M.n., C.S.
• Martha Lou Brock, L.C.S.W. • Elaine Mueller, R.N., Ms.T.
Ansley Therapy Associates
Suite 120 • 1904 Monroe Drive • Atlanta,
Georgia 30324 • (404) 874-8294
First Existentialist Church
of Atlanta
470 CANDLE* 7 AMDWVtNE ATLANTA GEORGIA 30»7
378-5570
R. Lanier Ctance, Minister
Services 11:00 AM, Sunday
Circle of Healing, 3:45 PM
1st & 3rd Sundays
Debora
h E. Keefe
ATTORNEY AT LAW
La Vista Center
(404) 634-3835
1535 LaVista
Road, N.E.
Atlanta GA
30329
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