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SOUTHERN \OCE Living and Dying Legal Concerns for Lesbians & Gays Part I of a II-part series Page 13 Vol. 1, No. 20 Taking Pride in Our Culture November 24,1988 Spin Magazine Shocks Supermarket Browsers with Free Condom Spin magazine, the rock-and-roll monthly, tested the publishing world's commitment to AIDS education by distributing a condom inside each newsstand copy of its November issue. So far, over 90 locations have declined to carry the issue, and four national chains have refused to accept copies. Editor and publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. said in a letter to magazine distributors that "(Inclusion of the condom) is an immensely important and responsible statement: that safe sex can save lives." In a November 16th telephone interview, Guccione acknowledged that this issue of the magazine was going to lose money for his company, but said he felt that getting the word out on safe sex was a moral issue not open to compromise. He also professed that he was amazed at the "extent of the hysteria. "Some of the distributors did ask us to do that (remove the condoms)," he said. "But I flat-out refused. We made a statement, not a half statement." Guccione noted that anyone whose magazine did not have the condom attached could request a free sample through the mail. Among the retail chains refusing to carry the issue in Atlanta are A & P, Big Star Foods, Eckerds Drugs, Ingles, Kroger, Majik Drugs, Reed Drug, 7-11, Treasury Drugs, Walden Books, and Winn Dixie. The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power/Atlanta (ACT UP/Atl) was planning at press time to stage a "die-in" action outside of Walden Books at Lenox Square Mall, and to urge customers to boycott the chain. The free offer is a joint effort between Spin and Carter-Wallace, the makers of Trojan condoms. A card-stock insert titled "And play by the rules" inside the issue lists ten explicit instructions on the proper usage of a condom. The condom is attached to this page. Guccione acknowledged that he has been criticized for the fact that the usage instructions are specifically penile-vaginal, but denied that it was homophobic in any way. "I've never agreed with the ghettoizing of AIDS-restricting references to AIDS to the gay or IV drug (populations)," he said. Quoting himself from an earlier radio interview, Guccione said, "We're just trying to teach people how to dress the penis, where you take it afterward is really up to you." He added that the instructions were provided by Carter-Wallace, and said that no specific attempt to bias the copy towards heterosexuals or homosexuals had been made to his knowledge. Although Guccione admitted that he lovec publicity gimicks, he denied that putting the condom in the issue was such a stunt "We won't capture (our) audience by putting a condom in the magazine," he said. Sales of the magazine are extremely brisk at area stores that agreed to stock the issue, however. Oxford Books has reported that they have to wrap copies of this issue in shrink-wrap plastic to keep people from taking the condom. Guccione is extremely proud of his magazine's coverage of AIDS and AIDS issues over the past year, noting that Spin is the only "mainstream magazine" to devote at least one column a month to the subject. "This is pure journalism," he said. "AIDS is the Vietnam of our time-to not cover it is to ignore the plight of our fellow man." -Chris Duncan Deidre McCalla, just one of the talented musicians with Olivia Records who brought the house down at Olivia's 15th anniversary concert at Center Stage on Nov. 19. See page 11 for a complete review. JO GIRAUDO ACT UP protesters zapped Walden Books November 19th for "censoring" the November issue of Spin magazine. The bookstore chain refused to carry the magazine because it contained a free condom and gave explicit safe sex advice. The action on Saturday lasted 30 seconds before Lenox Square security officers reached the scene. ACT UP then leafleted cars, sneaking back into the mall while officers cleaned the windshields. See related story this page. Atlantans - Gay & Straight - Protest Departure of Journal/Consitution Editor Atlanta- Atlanta residents - including a sizable contingent of gays and lesbians - joined to voice their outrage at the Atlanta Journal!Constitution, following the paper's acceptance of editor Bill Kovach's resignation. Kovach announced his resignation on Friday, November 4, after a confrontation with publisher Jay Smith, citing a lack of "mutual trust" between himself and the paper's owners, Cox Enterprises. Neither Kovach nor Cox officials have offered details of the dispute, but insiders say Kovach's aggressive brand of journalism angered the city's leading corporate citizens who found their companies under the vigilant eye of the paper. The Journal/Constitution recently published stories on discrimination against blacks by major banks; bribing of foreign officials by Coca-Cola employees, and illegal campaign contributions by Georgia Power personnel. Publisher Jay Smith denies those stories contributed to the conflict, saying the center of the dispute was control of Cox's Washington bureau. But critics point to the ouster of editor Eugene Patterson almost twenty years ago after he published attacks on a proposed rate increase by Georgia Power. The paper had won its last Pulitzer Prize under Patterson two decades ago. Since then, it has built a solid reputation of mediocrity. That quickly changed as Kovach, widely regarded as one of the top editors in the nation, tried to rebuild the Journal!Constitution. He came to Atlanta from the New York Times in December, 1986 and quickly made his mark, earning the admiration of employees and new respect for the paper. Last year, after twenty years without a Pulitzer, the Atlanta papers received five nominations -- the most ever for any newspaper - and cartoonist Doug Marlette won the award. Many noticed that sensitive coverage of the gay and lesbian community and of issues such as the AIDS crisis increased substantially over the last two years. Maury Weil, head of the Georgia AIDS Legislative Coalition, pointed out that without the informed, compassionate and courageous stand of the Constitution during the last legislative session, "We couldn't have accomplished what we did." If the Cont'd Page 3