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NEWS
Activists protesting the treatment of HIV+ women at this year's
AIDS Conference in San Francisco.
Jim Marks
four times faster than infected men. Why is
the agency charged with tracking and defining
communicable diseases so reluctant to admit
the devastating effect that HIV is having on
American women?
The CDC, apparently swayed by the same
myths and institutionalized sexism as the rest
of our government, has focused few studies on
women with AIDS; The studies it has com
piled have concentrated on women who are
HIV infected and pregnant or women who
prostitute their bodies. The pregnant women
have been treated as fetal containers that
might pass HIV on to their child and prosti
tutes are seen as walking disease carriers
delivering death wherever they roam. In other
words, women are treated as vectors for HIV
rather than individuals suffering from a devas
tating condition themselves.
Under pressure from activists, the CDC last
revised its definition of exactly what condi
tions define AIDS in 1987. Federal, state, and
ACT UP Storms CDC
Agency appears to move slightly in face of demands
(Because today's demonstration at the
CDC began after our deadline to take this
issue to the printer the information in this
story does not include details of the demon
stration itself; those will appear in our next
issue.—Ed.)
Atlanta—Furious at the Centers for
Disease Control's (CDC) continued refusal to
expand its definition of AIDS, more than 400
demonstrators stormed the agency's Clifton
Road Headquarters here on Dec. 3. The
demonstration was the culmination of a "Week
of Outrage" activities coordinated by ACT UP
and affiliated organizations around the coun
try.
ACT UP staged a similar demonstration at
the CDC 11 months ago. Forty-nine activists
were arrested in that action, the focus of
which was expansion ofjhe definition of the
opportunistic infections which are used to
legally define AIDS.
Members of ACT UP and representatives
of the CDC met here on Nov. 19 to discuss the
expansion. Maxine Wolfe of ACT UP/NY
says that CDC representatives at the meeting
never countered the group's claims about the
fact that women affected by HIV were being
excluded from the CDC's studies and defini
tions. What Wolfe and others present at the
meeting said they did hear was a line of rea
soning which suggested the CDC was not
willing to expand its definition of the disease.
It would appear that the agency was doing so
in an attempt to get more funding at a time
when the federal budget was hostage to the
twin demons of recession and deficit.
As the group left the meeting, Katrina
Haslip a woman with HIV told the group, "I
hold you personally responsible for the deaths
of all the women I know infected with HIV,
including my own."
The CDC's response to that meeting was to
issue a statement that it would release a sum
mary of studies on the link between abnormal
Pap smears, cervical cancer and HIV-infected
women.
As the demonstration began, sources inside
the CDC were saying, not for attribution, that
agency would soon expand certain existing
groups of opportunistic diseases to include
some of the conditions which affect HIV-
infected women.
■ ■■
A recent study, co-authored by a CDC
researcher, estimates that 48% of women who
die with HTV infection are never diagnosed as
having AIDS. And HIV infected women die
local health and social service agencies, as
well as many doctors, use only this definition
for diagnosis.
All this is not to say that there has been no
research on HIV infected women and the
opportunistic infections that are unique to to
them. ACT UP's extensive material on the
subject references 22 studies which show a
whole spectrum of chronic gynecological con
ditions that affect these women.
The CDC's definition of AIDS includes
not no gynecological conditions whatsoever.
The list of persistent gynecological condi
tions that are the manifestation of HIV is
abundant and well documented in non-CEX?
studies. Vaginal thrush (candidiasis) is the
most persistent example although there are
numerous others—including certain types of
pelvic inflammatory disease, human papillo
ma virus and several kinds of cancer. Thrush,
a yeast infection that affects both sexes, in its
oral form invades the esophagus, trachea,
bronchi, or lungs and is listed in the CDC def
inition as an opportunistic infection indicative
of AIDS.
The CDC claims that vaginal thrush,
which of course affects only women, is not
included in its definition because it also
affects many who are not HIV infected.
Activists respond that they are talking about
cases of thrush which are persistent and non-
responsive to conventional therapies—a simi
lar requirement to the one placed on oral
thrush in the CDC's AIDS definition.
In fact according to the CDC, only 30% of
all the nation's new cases of AIDS in 1989 fit
only the 1987 definition. Even with the
restrictive definitions, women are the fastest
growing group in the U.S. to be affected by
AIDS. The litany of similar evidence which
suggests that the CDC is consciously trying to
keep the size and severity of the AIDS epi
demic from being made public is overwhelm
ing and far beyond the space available here to
document. Readers who are interested in fur
ther information are urged to contact ACT
UP/Atlanta at 286-6347.
Queer Nation
Goes Underground
Police and security offer support
by Carrie Wofford
Underground Atlanta—"Look, there are
only two single women in that bar. Just shows
how lonely those men must be; they're holding
hands!" This comment came from two slight
ly inebriated men as they watched the lesbians
and gay men of Queer Nation visit Atlanta's
premiere tourist attraction on Sat. Dec 1.
Roughly 75 lesbians and gay men from
Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Boston, Tallahassee, and other cities (here for
ACT UP's demonstration at the CDC)
descended on Underground for a "queer visi
bility action," bringing new meaning to the
"homosexual Underground" often rumored by
the 70s straight press.
An initial confrontation occurred when
Queer Nation gathered at the entrance to
Underground. As chants of "We're Here,
Evett Bennett
Queer Nation rides MARTA to an
action at the Atlanta Airport.
We're Queer" rose, security guards pulled
aside one Atlanta man saying that the group
was welcome but could not yell (relating to a
general concern about limiting altercations
between groups or gangs). That man was
temporarily evicted, but quickly rejoined the
group.
The contingent then walked en masse,
greeting shoppers with, "Hi, we're just a
bunch of happy, well-adjusted dykes and fags
doin' our holiday shopping. Have a nice
night!" Most shoppers responsed politely
with "Well, good for you." Five women even
responded by saying, "We're lesbians, too!"
Only a few individual young men challenged
the group, and were immediately confronted.
In front of the food court, a security guard
grabbed one lesbian couple as they kissed, but
was immediately chastised by his supervisor
who reportedly said, "Leave them alone. Don't
bother them."
A group of 25 concluded the outing with
dancing in one bar, where one waitress so
pleased with their presence paid for their beer.
Police and security guards monitored a gather
ing of straight men outside the bar, and escort
ed a group of departing lesbians as they
walked towards their hotel, shaking their
hands and wishing them a good night
City Moves to
Fine Pro-Lifers
by S.M. Clarke
Atlanta—Protesters, waiting on the curb of
14th and Curran approach cars that pull up to
the Feminist Women's Health Center and
attempt to dissuade clients from entering the
non-profit clinic. Escorts place themselves
between protesters and clients as the women
make their way inside. Music from a radio on
the Center’s porch drowns out some of the
protesters' pleas. The scenario repeats itself
like a broken record as the morning passes.
In late March Georgia Superior Court
Judge Isaac Jenrette issued an injunction bar
ring members of Operation Rescue from
protesting within 50 feet of an Atlanta clinic
or within five feet of an entering patient. After
the much publicized ruling, media atten'ion to
the protests dwindled, but the harassment did
not
Operation Rescue members challenge the
injunction, saying that it infringes on their
right to free speech. "Their behavior infringes
on our client's right to privacy," said FWHC's
Rheta Barnes. "The Supreme Court has ruled
time and time again that you have an implicit
right to privacy guaranteed by the
Constitution.
The demonstrations this particular day are
fairly tame. According to volunteer escort
Elizabeth Knowlton protesters sometimes
mass themselves around cars that arrive at the
Center. And more protesters appear on days
when Georgia Tech is playing at home; police
detailed to cover the Center are diverted to
traffic control. Since March, police have spent
1,300 man hours trying to enforce the injunc
tion at a cost of more than $31,000.
"That guy over there pulled a .knife on a
client's boyfriend the other day," said Barnes.
"He's so brave. Then he went zooming off
because he was afraid that the police might
want to talk to him."
On Nov., 20 Bames, coordinator for the
Cento 1 , went before Jenrette to testify against
11 members of Operation Rescue who had
been arrested for violating the injunction.
No lawyer was present to represent
Operation Rescue. 'The lawyer for Operation
Rescue said that Operation Rescue wasn't any
more. Because the injunction is against
Operation Rescue his tact was to say that
Operation Rescue was unincorporated and
didn't exist, so you can't hold these people in
contempt because there's no organization,"
said Barnes.
Dialing 221-3321 produces a recording that
thanks you for calling Operation Rescue and
provides updates about where to protest on
Saturdays.
"These people have no compunction about
lying," adds Bames.
At the hearing Assistant City Attorney
Bruce Johnson asked Jenrette to fine each
member in contempt of the injunction $500
for each violation. Jenrette replied that he
thought sentencing the violators to 20 days in
jail would have more of an effect. The Judge
instructed Johnson to write a contempt order
which Jenrette will look over, perhaps revise,
and then seek to enforce
"The order is supposed to be written by
November 30, and then it's in the Judge's
hands, but I don't know how long it takes
because this is the first time we've ever gotten
this far with the process," concludes Bames.
Meanwhile the illegal harassment of
women seeking health care continues.
Bias Crimes
Turn Violent
Atlanta—The Lesbian and Gay Police
Advisory Committee reports three bias inci
dents since our last issue: two assaults and one
incident of police abuse. Arrests have been
made in both assaults and preliminary hear
ings are scheduled for both cases in the next
week. The much delayed assault case against
Thomas Germain reported here in January of
this year is also scheduled to be heard this
week.
In the first incident John Wilcox has been
charged with aggravated assault after he ran
over a gay man in a parking lot at Peachtree &
7th Streets. Friends with the victim got the
license number of the car enabling police to
arrest and charge Wilcox.
In the second incident a gay man was
slashed with a box knife at the intersection of
Myrtle and 6th Streets by two men who he
met in a nearby gay bar. APD Officer Lear
drove past the scene, observed the incident
and arrested Stefan Todd Astin and Damen
Stiles who are charged with armed robbery,
aggravated assault, carrying a concealed
weapon, profane language and obstruction.
Lear was also the officer responding to the
incident where the man was run over.
Readers are urged to report all bias inci
dents to 286-BIAS.
2
Southern Voice/December 6, 1990