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" Gay, in all its
Diversity, is Good"
To the editor:
This letter is in response to the question "If
It's Gay, Is It Good?" which was used as the
heading for James Jackson's letter with critical
comments on Torch Song Trilogy. The answer
to the question is "yes”.
Mr. Jackson’s letter was not only irritating but
also somewhat humbling as I realized I might
have taken that attitude ten years ago. However,
experience has taught me to distinguish between
what is possibly good and what is probably an
ego problem.
If gay isn't good enough, what is? Fierstein's
adaptation of the decade old award winning play
is masterful. It takes a lot of talent and good
judgment to bring a gay play to the movies of
mainstream America. And it was worth the
effort if only to present such simple ideas as gays
being loving and responsible parents-or perhaps
that the sanctity of human life includes those
human lives that happen to be gay.
If gay isn't good enough, why bother? Why
go to a gay bar? Why donate even one more
dollar to the AIDS effort? Why read Southern
Voice? Gay is an act of expression as well as a
state of being. The simple facts are that Torch
Song Trilogy is a good movie and that gay, in all
its diversity, is good. If some people don't "get
it", whose problem is that?
Sincerely,
John Walker
Lips Are For More
Than Reading
To the Editor:
"Read my lips!”
Every time George Bush slapped us with this
bullying quip during his campaign I wanted to
pull one of my man friends up close to me,
smack a luscious kiss together and retort, "Read
My Lips, George!"
Despite the bad press and the dismal return on
the money we pay our government we all know
that our lesbian/gay love, our sexuality, our
relationships, and our ways of seeing and being
in the world are potent and powerful. We are
also learning that our love empowers us when
we let the world see it - alive, healthy, creative,
even demanding!
Soon we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day, a
day of love and lovers. This year I'd like to
inundate the White House, Congress, the
Supreme Court, ABC, CBS, etc...with
lesbian/gay Valentine wishes. So I invite you all
to play along and head to your favorite
lesbian/gay card shop, find your favorite
postcards of men or women kissing, color them
with a few red hearts, inscribe them with a
"Read My Lips!" and any other quips you fancy.
Then send them off to George Bush, Justices
Rehnquist or O'Connor or to whom ever you'd
like to read your lips. Let our collective lips
daringly speak our love.
Do Be My Valentine!
Michael Neisen
Reagan’s Shameful Response to AIDS
Former President Reagan has packed his bags and retired to California, ending a long,
controversial era of White House response to the AIDS epidemic described by activists as a national
"legacy of shame".
For example, from 1982 and 1983, in which Reagan requested zero AIDS dollars, through the 1990
budget - his parting shot at AIDS - Reagan consistently requested less than what his own federal
health agencies asked for and what Congress finally appropriated.
"Bush just inherited from Ronald Reagan an estimated 15 million Americans infected with HTV,"
said Robert Bray, HRCF communications director. "That presents a formidable health care problem
he will have to manage responsibly."
"Every family burned out of its home because the hemophiliac children had AIDS," said Bray,
"every child with AIDS isolated from the classroom, every infected IV drug abuser, every gay man
evicted from his apartment, fired from his job, cancelled by his insurance, stigmatized by his
neighbors, or who died alone is some anonymous hospital room - every one of these people will come
back to haunt Ronald Reagan in his Bel Air redrem
A Chronology of the Reagan Administration's
Respoase to the AIDS Epidemic
Spring 1981 - First cases of AIDS reported to the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Oct 1981 - Fiscal year 1982 funding for AIDS
without an appropriation, set at $5.5 million by
Congress.
Jan. 1982 - President Reagan's budget doesn't
request funds for AIDS activities' Congress
eventually appropriates $28.7 million for fiscal vear
1983.
Dec 1982 - 843 AIDS cases reported by the CDC
since it began keeping statistics in March 1981.
Jan. 1983 - President's budget requests $39.8 million
for AIDS activities in fiscal year 1984; Congress
appropriates a total of $61.5 million.
Aug. 1983 - Congressional oversight committee
(Rep. Ted Weiss' House Government Operation
Subcommittee on Human Resources finds that the
Public health Service (PHS) has insufficient funds to
fight AIDS epidemic and that the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) has not
adequately planned and coordinated the federal
response to AIDS.
Dec 1983 - 3,064 AIDS cases reported.
Jan. 1984 - President's budget requests $60.6 million
for fiscal year 1985 AIDS activities; Congress
appropriates $97.4 million.
Dec 1984 - 7,699 AIDS cases reported by the CDC
since 1981. President Reagan has yet to make any
statement on the epidemic.
Jan. 1985 - President's budget requests $126.3
million for AIDS activities in fiscal year 1986;
Congress appropriates $233.8 million.
Oct. 1985 - Defense Department begins HIV testing
of all military personnel.
Dec 1985 -15,948 AIDS cases reported by the CDC
since 1981,more thana 100 percent increase from
those reported as of of 1984.
Jan. 1986 - President Reagan's budget requests $213
million for AIDS activities in fiscal year 1987;
nt house because he did nothing to help them."
Congress appropriates $495 million.
June 1986 -Justice Department issues opinion
saying employers may fire persons with AIDS or
HIV infection - or those suspected of being infected
- if the basis for firing was fear - however irrational
- of casual contagion of HIV.
Dec 1986 - 29,003 AIDS cases reported.
June 1987 - Reagan speaks at American
Foundation for AIDS Research, his first address on
AIDS. He announces "routine testing" for certain
populations and mandatory testing for prisoners and
immigrants.
Dec 1987 - 49,743 AIDS cases reported.
Feb. 1988 - Preliminary report by Presidential
AIDS Commission calls for dramatic expansion of
government efforts in drug development
May 1988 - Reagan Administration begins mass
mailing of AIDS info to all American households
after ignoring COngress' instructions for a year and
a half.
June 1988 - President's AIDS Commission decries
insufficient Federal response to AIDS, calls for
dramatically higher funding, more personnel and
better organization in nation's battle against the
epidemic. Key recommendation is federal anti
discrimination protections. V.P. Bush endorses
recommendation for anti-discrimination; White
House remains silent
Aug. 1988 - President rejects Commission
recommendation for anti-discrimination protections.
Nov. 1988 - Reagan announces National AIDS
Awareness Month, which took place during Oct,
1988, the month just past.
Dec. 1988 - 82,406 AIDS cases reported since
1981, about half whom have died.
Jan. 1989 - In one of his final official actions,
Reagan proposes fiscal year 1990 budget providing
for $1.6 billion for AIDS-related activities. The
figure is $400 million below the amount requested
by the Administration's own executive agencies.
AIDS activists say the final Reagan budget for
fighting the epidemic is "too little, too late.”
Help Keep Abortion Safe and Legal
A national petition drive in support of a woman's fundamental right to reproductive freedom was
kicked off during ceremonies marking the 16th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court
decision that legalized abortion. Southern Voice supports the petition drive and encourages anyone
interested in signing the petition to get in touch wrth the Georgia Abortion Rights Action League
(GARAL) immediately.
The Supreme Court is now considering another case, Missouri v. Webster, which many fear the
more conservative justices on the bench today will use to roll back the rights granted in Roe v. Wade.
We share that same fear.
The fact that anti-abortionists want the power to control a woman's most private and personal
choices over what to do with her own body is reason enough to get up and get involved. If you need
a more immediately personal reason, think about this: The same people who attacked women at
abortion clinics in Atlanta are mounting a huge campaign to roll back Atlanta’s gay/lesbian rights
ordinance later this year.
Please join us in supporting a woman's right to control her own body. If you agree with the
statement reprinted below, call or write GARAL to get involved.
MILLIONS OF VOICES
SILENT NO MORE
Speaking out to defend the right to choose safe and legal abortion
I believe our constitution protects every woman's right to make her own decision about
abortion, according to her own personal convictions, free from the dictates and intrusion of
government
Others want to take away this right. They seek to impose their beliefs on the rest of us by
making abortion illegal.
The women of America must never be thrown back to that degrading and dangerous time
of illegal abortions when women risked their lives, their health, and thousands died.
I therefore pledge to oppose any attempt to interfere with the fundamental right of a
woman to make her own decision about abortion.
Hie Georgia Abortion Rights Action League may be reached at
371-2181 or 235 E. Ponce de Leon Ave.. # 303. Decatur, Ga. 30030.
Viewpoints is part of a continuing effort to provide a forum for our community.
We invite your ideas, comments and feelings and your responses to ideas expressed
in this space.
The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of Southern Voice. Submissions should be typed, double
spaced and no longer than four pages. Mail to:
Southern Voice/Viewpoints
PO Box 18215
Atlanta, Georgia 30316
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