NEWS

10

HEALTH'}wn Hands (Christensen).AI Science (Harrington)

31
32

THE ARTS
Film (Casualties of War)Music (Marisa Monte)
Performance (Buzzsaw Berkley)
Books (The Boys In The Bars)
Books (Poets For Ufe)
DEPARTMENTS
Outspoken (Editoria/)
Letters
Nightmare of the Week
XeroxedOut of Control (Day)New York Journal (Walter)

.

50
52
53
54
55
4
6
6
8

OutWeek endorses Dave Taylor. Tom Duane (above) and othersin the upcoming primary. See page 4.

Featu.res
BUNNY'S BABY:WIGSTOCK '89

34
35

'

Rick Sugden TalksTo The Wavy Gravy Of
Tompkins Square
page 36

PLEASING THE RICH
LookOut
Out Of My Hands (Ball)
Gossip Watch (Signori/e)Social Terrorism
Community DirectoryClassifieds
Personals
Going Out Calendar (X)Best Bets (X)Crossword (Greco)
Hotshot (Conrad)

42
44

Jim Provenzano Take~ Us Inside'The Gay Slave
Tradepage 40

45
46
56

57
64
74
76

80
82

IN SEARCH OF ...WOMEN!
UZ Tracey's Guide To Dyke Cruising
page 49

OutWeekEndo~emen~
The following candidates for city office in the upcoming
primary have earned the support of the lesbian and gay community. Out Week therefore endorses them and urges lesbian
and gay voters to seri9usly consider voting for them on
September 12,
Mayor
David Dinkins
City Council, District 3
Tom Duane, openly gay candidate
City Council, District 4
Dave Taylor, openly gay candidate
Comptroller
Elizabeth Holtzman
Manhattan Borough President
Ruth Messinger
City Council, District 2
Miriam Friedlander
City Council, District 5
Hilton Clark
City Council, District 6
Stan Michaels
City Council, District 8
Carolyn Maloney
Village District Leaders:male
Tony Hoffman
femalePeggy Stuart
Chelsea District Leaders:maleFrank Clemmons, openly gay candidate
femaleDoris Corrigan
City Council, District 26
Chris Owens
City Council, District 32
David Eichenthal
City Council, District 33
Samuel Horwitz
City Council, District 29
Abraham Gerges
Readers should take note that two openly gay candidates
are running for city office in New York, Both Tom Duane andDave Taylor have proven themselves progressive, sensitive
activists who would effectively address issues of concern to ourcommunity. For their many years of dedicated work on numerous issues of concern to all New Yorkers, they have proventhemselves the best candidates in their districts. But they should
be of particular interest to lesbians and gays. It is Vitally important that we have representatives within the power structure at
this time, because the new city charter and the redistricting thatwill follow are historic opportunities for lesbians and gays toinstitutionalize roles for ourselves in municipal government. If
this opportunnity is missed, it may be many years before wehave such a chance again.
We feel that there is no substitute for having openly gay or
lesbian members of the city council. No non-gay can ever be aseffective an advocate of our community as one of our own,
who by his or her very presence on the council would constitute a vivid and continuing argument for equal rights, and apowerful role model for lesbians and gays seeking politicalpower. This lesson has already been absorbed by women andpeople of color. It's time that it was learned by lesbian and gay
New Yorkers as well. We urge you to vote for Tom Duane andDave Taylor on September 12.
~

4

OUrYWEEK

September 4, 1989

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5LETTERS

TO

THE

QTIPS
In defense of Project
Inform's Compound Q trials,
this is what we should havebeen doing from the very
start! Years and years havepassed, billion dollars spentsince the start of the epidemic and the Establishment
still hasn't come up with alife sustaining treatment for
AIDS. Especially when drugs
used overseas for decades,
centuries or thousands ofyears are to be tested, there
is no point in starting withminuscule doses to determine toxicity-unless there istheoreticalbasis that thisdrug will have a particular,
deadly side-effect on peo-

EDITORpie with AIDS or HIV. The
point is that there is no time.
As Vito Russosays, "the side
Effect of AIDS is death: andfast. The informal
dataalready accumulatedforyears for these drugs form
enough basis for startingwidespread efficacy trials
while monitoring
toxicityclosely at the same time.
Similarly, for licensed drugs inother countries (like fluconazole) with more or less wellestablished drug licensing
procedures(like France),time spent in rigorous testingfor toxicity is the same time
killing many valuable people
every day. In ideal situations
it would be understandable

Dykes to Watch Out For

6

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989

to use placebos and longlasting toxicity and efficacy
studies, but we are in an
emergency. Enough people
died alreadytrying theEstablishment way. The time
to take charge has longcome and passed. The callhere isto act in the face of anational disaster, just like anearthquake,
typhoonormass fires. There is need forextraordinary measures. The
government
isn't taking
these measures because theaffected groups have traditionally been viewed as disposable. Therefore thesegroups have to do it themselves. In short, the tradeoff
involved in immediate use ofdrugs is well worth the risks
taken, in the case of AIDS.
En Bengul
Eatontown, NJ

BALL BUSTING
I received a copy ofyour magazine (7/3/89) froma friend and enjoyeditimmensely with one major
exception. The "advice" column penned by Bradley Ball,"Out of My Hands: was ahorrible example of perpetuating .ineffectual
ways ofdealing with conflict-keep
your feelings secret andavoid conflict at all costs rather than the "constructive
guidelines"
requested.
I
hoped at first that it was written in jest but soon realizedthat tl':leauthor was serious!
Conflicts grow in proportion to the time and energy spent repressing them.
Silence is not golden,
Mr. Ball. On the contrary,silence merely serves to
exacerbate what might bean easily resolvable situation.

And relationships are notabout power or blame, they
are about balance
andequality and sharing andlove and emotional support.
Editors, I feel you aredoing your readers a grave
disservice by allowing thiskind of outmoded advice tograce the pages of your otherwise fine publication. The"advice" was inadequate atbest and damaging at worst.
You'veprobablyheardmuch the same from otherreaders. Perhaps Mr. Ball willlearn that some of the "oldways" have been discarded
for good reason!
Ann McClintock
Eureka,CA

FUCK FUNK
Last Friday I made plans
to meet some friends at Funk
Inc .. which OutWeek occa-

sionally features in its club
photographs
section. My
friends never showed up and
I called them the next day to
see what had happened. I
was told that when they
arrived (in the pouring rain, I
might add), the woman at
the door turned them away,
informing them that it was a
private party.
As gays and lesbians,
we have dealt with oppression and ostracism by thestraight world our entire lives.
It is an outrage to be similarly
rejected and cast out by ourown. The lesbian and gay
community should boycottclubs like Funk, Inc. until theylearn to embrace the spirit ofdiversity and togetherness
and welcome all gay men
and lesbians.
Thomas F. Hickey
Manhattan

PORN AGAIN
Your Aug. 10editorial on
sexual minorities makes me
wonder about people whoare into porn and porn only
- gay male schizophrenics
like myself who are spurned
by others on both sexual likes
and "undesirable" behavior.
Your cover porn articles
were very excellent md mademe wonder if we're redly a sexual minority - somehow I getthefeelinggaymale
pornophiles are perhaps amajorityv.ithinthe overdl groupof our comrrunity - delusion?
Maybe it's just us gay
schizo's that don't fit in anywhere. If so, I'm starling a newgroup.
Anonymous

SUMMER BUMMER
I am marooned (okay,
by my own choice, I admit it)in the cultural wastelandcalled Fire Island PInes.I was
so glad to receive a complimentary copy of your magazinedeliveredtomywalkway. I add my voice tothe chorus to wish you great
success. An alternative to the
Native was long overdue.
In the issue I received, I
was very pleased
that
Donna Summer was named
Freak (Geek?) of the Week. I
couldn't agree more withthe sentiments expressed.
Unfortunately
the axiom,"We can't play records wenever buy. Or dance tosongs we never listen to: issadly not true out here in thePines. All the dj's here
(Jorba, Fierman, Iverson et.
al.) love the "disco-evangelist." They all play at least 4 ofher songs every night-sevendays a week. Are these drs
stupid? Merely cynical? Orjust stuck in 1977? (There is

GlUUANI, IN BIZARRE SWITCH, MARRIES MAN WHO GIVES BIRTHThe New YorkTimes reported today that mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani's husband, Donna
Hanover, gave birth to a daughter. It seems that the gay-bashing, anti-domestic-partnership Republican
has a few domestic partners rattling around in his closet. If you don't believe us, read the caption. Congrats, and pass the cigars.

. ''''")--,~A Newcomer to the Giuliani Camp
Donna Hanover, an anchorwoman for WPIX- TV
and husband of Rudolph W. Giuliani. a Republican
mayoral candidate, gave birth at 9:26 A.M. yester'

day to a 9-pound. 7-ounce girl, Caroline Delores. inLenox Hill Hospital. Mr. Giuliani introduced Caro- "line to her brother. Andrew. right.

September 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK

7

long months. Nine moremonths of hatred between
the Board and the Executive
Director. Nine more monthsof hatred between the staff
and the executive director(of the 140 men and womenon staff,
139 have norespect for Richard Dunne,
Tim Sweeney excepted).
Nine more months of hatred
between the staff and theboad. Nine more months of
do-nothingness. As the epidemic rages around us. As
key personnel leave one byone. As morale sinks evenlower and hits the skids. Nine
more months of wonder:
WHY IS IT TAKING SIXTEENGROWN MEN AND WOMENNINE MONTHS TO FINDSOMEBODY TO FILL MR.
DUNNE'STINYSHOES?
And you go cheerily on
your merry way, ignoring,
yet again, all the signs of rot,
believingthat-withsomany millions of dollars inthe bank and a pretty newbuilding and such a hugemailing list and so many volunteers-you must be deing
something right.
Do you not understandtnat while you diddle your. agenc'y is heading toward• irrelevancy as the nature of·this epidemic changes? Do'you not undersfand that you"are no longer on the cuttingedge-nolonger anywhere
near the front line' of advocating what we now needto survive? Do you not
understand that for people
Who are already sick except for providing support
services-you are presently
us'eless? Do you not understand that GMHC is now~trailing far, far behind, andthis whole pathetic episodeof Mr; Levi's employment
and Mr. Dunne's departureand replacement are symbolic examples of just how
far, far behind and just how
pathetic and just how low
you have sunk?
Where are you going?
Whom are you fighting for?
What constituency are you

representing? I no longer
know. You are suddenly fortesting but yet you don't
fight for treatments. Then
you hire someone to fightfor treatments
who isagainst experimental treatments. For three years there
have been promising drugs
that you refused to fight for.
What did you really do tofight for the release of pentamadine? (I am not talking
about the heroic work of Dr.
Barry Gingell, on whom you
dumped all your own irresponsibilities
while
you
looked the other way andsaid nothing to support him.)
A minimum of thirty toforty thousand people aregoing to need ddl immediately and we are promised
enough for five thousand.
What are you doing about
that? You hop on the AZT
bandwagon
just as AZT
could become obsolete.
You certainly have not
led us into the Age of Treatment-and that is where weare now and that is where
we must stay and fight withevery ounce of energy until
we are saved. But not only
are you not with us on thisfight, you have been historically against it (as you were
historically against safe sex
guidelines until it was toolate to save millions of lives).
Were it not for Project Informand ACT UP the gay community would be even further decimated.
You are siphoning off
huge amounts of the money
given to fight AIDS. What
are you doing with it?
Indeed, what are any of ourso-called gay and/or AIDS
organizations doing with it?
All our Washington organizations-AIDS Action Council.
Human Rights Campaign
Fund, National Gay and Lesbian TaskForce-what havethey accomplished for us?
All they seem to do is go out
to lunch with important people and think they've
accomplishedsomething ..
This is exactly
what

destroyed the Civil Rights
movement-thecivil rights
professionals went to lunchwith the white men while
their leaders died. You can'teven learn from history!
ACT UP and Project
Inform come along and,with no money, with only
anger and energy, manage
to achieve in six months
what AIDS Action Council
and all our D.C. presence
has not been able toaccomplish in nine years.
Lack of leadership has
been one of the mostimportant issues of this epidemic. You have been
given millions of dollars tolead and you can't, won't
and don't. You can't evenfind a new executive director! You don't even knowwhat you're looking for:leader, adversary, advocate, politician, bureaucrat,
fund-raiser, messiah, gay,lesbian, straight.
white,
black, hispanic, married, single??? Which community
are you trying to serve? By
your indecisiveness you areserving none of them.
But why am I surprised?
Why should anybody in theworld be surprised at bad
management on the part ofthe board of Gay Men's
Health Crisis?Not one of you
has distinguished yourself asa successful public advocate or a successful executive of a major not-for-profit
organization.
You comefrom different generations.
You come from different
eras in GMHC's own history
when conflicting attitudes ofwhat
constituted
anacceptable board member
were in evidence. Thus you
don't have any cohesive
world view. And you don't
like or respect each other.
You are supposed to be
decisive,make policy,
define the cutting edge, notreact to it.
I now come to my lastharrowing point. I refer toyour attempt to rewrite thehistory of GMHC.

Increasingly
I havenoticed in the press thatseveral present and pastboard members-most particularly Judge Failla-havetaken to referring to themselves as a "founding board
member of GMHC: And
now Mr. Pepper's letterrefers to a classroom "dedicated to the co-founding
Board.· I also understandthat the new building is tobe dedicated to the memory of Mr. Paul Popham, theboard's first president.
For the sake of all
future historians, and toprotest against the sleazy
posturings of Judge Faillaand Mr. Pepper, I would liketo state the following facts.
Gay Men's Health Crisiswas
my idea. I called together
five other friends to hear
about it. I gave it its name.
There was no co-founding
board of GMHC. GMHC wasofficiallyfoundedby sixmen: Nathan Fain, Larry
Kramer, Larry Mass, PaulPopham, Paul Rapoport,
and Edmund White. This
happenedon January 4,
1982, althoughvariousgroups had been meeting
since the first get-together in
my apartment on August 11,
1981. The first board of
directors, which was eventually formed in May, 1982
(and did not include Judge
Failla), was comprised ofPaul Popham, Larry McDevitt, Brad Frandsen, Joe
Paschek, Nathan Fain, Larry
Kramer, Dr. Lawrence Moss,
Harry Dioz and Joe Hernandez. On August 23, 1982,
Harry Dioz and Joe Hernandez resigned and Robert
Wachter, Enno Poersch andRichard Failla were elected.
This does not make Judge
Failla a foundingboard
member. This makes Judge
Failla an arriviste, which isperhaps nicer thc:'lnan Uncle
Tom, but not by much.
I resent Judge Failla's
opportunism mightily just as I
resent the dedicationof
See XEROXED on page

August 28, 1989 OUTTWEEKn9evidence to suggest the latter.) Wake up! The 1990sare
here. Those djs who play
Donna Summer are not only
musically retrograde
butpolitically bankrupt.
BillChafin
Manhattan

OVERAND OUT

from: Larry Kramer

Correction Miss Thing!
Your explanation of the word
·over" (ISSue#7) was wrong.
The proper usage of theword ·over" is... ·Your pumps
are OVER!" (fierce and ruling, if you know what thatmeans). The word designates something as fabulous,
not tired (if you know whatthat means).
MissGlamamore
P.S.The correct pronun-:iationof ·over"is, ofcourse, ·oval't"Michelangelo Signorile
Responds:
If your use of the word istruly the only current use,then you won't get upset if I
say that you are truly over.
Love you!

LESANDNO
I too am bewildered by
the odd abbreviation for Lesbian (Ies) and was startled tosee it was still being usedeven after complaints were
made. What is your reasoning for this usage?
Also, thanks for Signorile's Gossip Watch. It is
terrific and I particularly
enjoyed his lambasting ofSteven Saban and the disgusting, parasiticalcrew
he waffles
on about.
Great too are the photos
by Erich
Conrad-but
remember all the fabulous
people in this city don't
live south of 14th Street-it
just seems like it.
Keep up the goodwork. Every issue gets better.
A little more international
news please.
A. Milton
Manhattan

8

OUT'YWEEKAn Open Letter to the BoardoA Directors oA Gay Men'.
Health Crisis

Ladies and Gentlemen:
In response to my letterto all of you of 10 August
1989, I am in receipt of a letter, dated August 16, 1989,
from one of your number, Mr.
James G. Pepper. Mr. Pepper's letter is so irresponsible,
so non-responsive
to theunfortunate and tragic issues
I raised, and so condescendingly pompous, that I find itheartbreaking. Because hiswords so accurately reflect
the head-in-the-sandattitude I have come to expect
as the typical GMHC board
response to life in the realworld, I address you one andall again.
My original letter was
motivated by the hiring by
your acting executive director, Mr. Tim Sweeney, of Mr.
Jeff Levi, as your Washington
representative, charged withspeeding
the release ofpromising, lifesaving treatments for AIDS. As Mr. Levi
has been historically against
just this release of just thesetreatments, this appointment
seemed to many of us a
destructive act of huge proportions and possibly direconsequences. (Additionally,
it was an act of arroganceon the part of Mr. Sweeney
to hire Mr. Levi without in any
way networking with ACT UP,
Project Inform, AmFar, Community Research Initiative, or
any other of the leading
players dealing with treatment issues-all of whom Mr.
Levi would be called upon
to work with closely.)
It was our hope that you
might sense some wisdom in
my words (for I have notbeen all wrong in the past)

August 28, 1989

Pepper not have the courtesy to respond to my raisingof this issue, not only does
your board's president. Ms.
Joy Tomchin, not have thecourtesy to respond to myand cut your-and our-lossraising of this issue (a total ofes by immediately severing
five phone calls to her
Mr. Levi from your payroll, aremain unanswered), blltpayroll you have promised
as I shall describe in detailyour many generous donors
below-it is more than obvito protect from dissipate
ous that the rest of you haveprofligacy
and needlesslittle interest in attending towaste. You chose not to do
it either.
so and we were left toThat Mr. SWeeney, in his
first time at bat as ·acting"circulate my letter as widely
as possible in Washington cirexecutive director, made acles. I was not surprised tohorrendous decision is notdiscover that Mr. Levi has
particularly remarkable. After
fewer friends in Washington
all, he follows on the heels ofthan a potential
lobbyist
Mr. Richard Dunne, who in his
must have; I have had assur- three years as ·permanent"
ances that he will certainly
executive director, madenever be included on any
horrendous decisions on aregular daily basis.
further committee dealing
with treatment issues;he will
Indeed, the one act of
courage and vision that you
henceforth be a powerless
petitioner for your organizahave ever accomplished
has been the disposing oftion in Washington.
For the record, both Mr.
Richard Dunne. How you
Levi's performance and thatcame to such a sensible
decisionand veritiably
i .Set; g,'yUIC'srespo!,!se,iacted on it. and unanimouspage 72.
ly, will forever be a mystery,of Ms. Jean McGuire (of the
but nevertheless you did
AIDS Action Council), anothand you are to be congratuer of your Washington reprelated for at last getting rid ofsentatives at the historica man who brought new
meeting of the Parallel Trackmeaning to ·unimaginaCommittee, were useless.
tive: ·unpopular," ·cowardWere it not for Mr. Paul
Iy:
·retrograde"
andBoneburg, of San Francisco's·inept."By unanimQusly
Mobilization Against AIDS,
agreeing that he must resign
and Dr. Basil Vareldzis ofor be fired, you gave
Washington's Whitman-Walkmomentary hope to those ofer Clinic, who gave superlaus who wish your organizative
supporttothetion well, s.omething impossipioneering presentations of
ble of achievement under
Mr. Jim Eigo of ACT UP and . Mr. Dunne's repellent reign.
Mr. Martin Delaney of Project
But then, cagey Dick
Inform, we might not havethat he is, he pulled a fast
walked c:may from this meetone on you. In March, he
ing with the triumphanttold you he would not leave
rewards that we did.
until September, and you,
I shall not go on with thisobviously exhausted (rompetty squabbling over Mr.
the over-exertion of the o[1eLevi. He has been silenced
act of energy in your reperquickly and will shortly, notoire, caved in and allowed
doubt. find some line of workit, instead of kicking him out
more suited to his obvious
on his incompetent ass.
talents. But the mess that is
And so you, and we,today's GMHC remains withhave been left with a lame
us and not only does Mr.
duck in office for nine very

h-

News

Levi to Lobby
fo:r GMHC in D.C.
Ex-NGLTF Head Is Praised and Attacked
by Chris Bull
NEW YORK-Evenbefore the Gay
Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) had officially announced its appointment of
Jeff Levi to the newly-created poSitionof Washington AIDS lobbyist, AIDS

MOVERLYCAUTIOUS' OR-DmRMINEDAND PROVEN"?
GMHC'S JeH Levi Photo: Tom DiMaria
activist and GMHC founder Larry
Kramer had dashed off the first of two
poison pen letters to GMHC's board
criticizing the decision. Kramer andothers have alleged that Levi represents an overly cautious or obstructionist approach to the early releaseof promising AIDS treatments.
GMHC's August 16 announcement, and Kramer's subsequent letter,
which was reprinted in Out Week andwidely circulated
among GMHC
staffers, key Washington bureaucrats,
and gay and lesbian organizations, ledsome in the community to line up in
support of Levi, while ACT UP dis-10

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989

cussed a zap against GMHC, thecountry's largest community-based
AIDS service organization.
Ironically, it was Kramer, seeking
more direct influence in Washington
for GMHC, who had originally agitated for the creation of the position
now held by Levi.
MArti cuIate, Determined. ProvenLevi, the recently-resigned executive director of the National Gay andLesbian Task Force (NGLTF), brings along history of experience in the lesbian and gay community to the newposition. He has worked in Washington on AIDS and lesbian/gay issues
for the last seven years, and until
recently, he was also co-chair of theAppropriations
Task Force of the
National Organizations Responding toAIDS. "GMHC is pleased to have suchan articulate, determined and proven
AIDS advocate working with us on
issues critical to our clients and theirfamilies," said Richard Dunne, theoutgoing executive director of GMHC.
However, several members of
ACT UP, including Kramer, immediately expressed outrage at the appointment. Larry Kramer's letter likened
Levi's appointment to hiring anti-gay
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) "to look out
for the interests of Robert Mapplethorpe .... In hiring Mr. Levi, you have chosen one of the communitie~ mostreckless zealots in his condemnationof the early release of experimental
drugs." Kramer added that the decision highlights GMHC's reluctance tochange its focus from a service
proVider to a treatment advocate.
Charlie Franchino, also a memberof ACT UP, characterized Levi as an"FDA apologist." "Levi has worked
against fast-tracking AIDS drugs. His
public statements lead me to believethat Levi doesn't understand the drug
approval process. GMHC should haveappointed more of an advocate for
PWAs [people with AIDS] and quick
approval of AIDS drugs," he said.

Past Disagreements
In fact, Levi has not always
agreed with AIDS activists about theearly release of experimental drugs.
In a Nov. 26, 1988 New York Times
article, Levi was quoted opposing fast
tracking some experimental
AIDS
drugs. And, in May 2 testimony before
President George Bush's advisorycommittee on the FDA drug approval
process, Levi advocated a moderate
approach. "The 'consumer' perspective on access to drugs for AIDS isoften simplified as one of demanding
immediate access to drugs in earlystages of trials no matter how small
the promise they many offer," he said.
"In fact, m or anization
TF] is
Will;; aware that a muc more difficu
balancing act is needed. As consumers we are painfully aware of why...
~
is a thorough regulatory pr~
cess, that there are compelling reasons for drugs to go throughextensive, and sometimes lengthy,
testing before being released on {fie·market. We have all seen, whether"""Gt,!heTimit~ple.
of the AIDS crisis
or other diseases too many example;;Of the "drug of the month" thatoffered so much hope but after m~study turned out not onl to be ineffective, ut sometimes unsafe as well.
It is this overall neetl to prOVide longterm protection for the larger bOdy ofpotential consumers that must be b,!k
anced against the emotionally compelling case of the individual who_needs help today-andmay not bealive to take advantage of the "di1!gthat must make its way through a~ngthy approval process~--

Strong Position on Treatments?
Others defended Levi's appointment. Tim Sweeney, acting executive
See LEVI on page 78

NewsArmy Lesbian Denied
Re-Enlistment A2ain
Ben-Shalom's 15-year Court BattTe Drags On
by Sue Burke
MILWAUKEE-Afederal court has ruledthat lesbians and gay men can bebanned from the military, but one lesbian is continuing her active duty in the
U.S. Army Reserves while she appealsthat ruling. Miriam Ben-Shalom, a 41year-old drill sergeant, has been battling
the Army for more than 14 years for theright to remain a soldier.
In a 22-page decision issued Aug.
7, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Chicago overturned an earlier rulingthat declared the decision to bar BenShalom from re-enlisting unconstitutional. The appeals
court also
declined to "second-guess" the rationality of the Army's rules barring gay
men and lesbians from the service.
Ben-Shalom has appealed that ruling by a three-judge panel, asking that
all the judges of the 7th Circuit rehear
the case. If that fails, she said, she will
likely go to the Supreme Court.
She learned about the loss while
she was at the Michigan Women'sMusic Festival, where she was conducting workshops on women in the
military.
"I felt bad. It hurt so bad I wanted to cry. People were counting onme," she said. Ben-Shalom has hoped
her legal victory would help other lesbians and gay men. "Once the military changes so will the rest ofsociety," she said.
"Welost a skirmish," she said of oneof the few losses in an almost 15-yearhJ)g court battle. '''The wars not over."Freedom of Speech
In 1976, the Army gave BenShalom an honorable discharge a year
after she had announced at a press
conference that she is a lesbian. Afteradministrative appeals, she filed suitin federal court, claiming her First

Amendment rightof free speech had
been violated.
Federal Judge
Terence T. Evansin
Milwaukee
ruled in her favor
in 1980, but sevenyears later she still
had not been reinstated.
BenShalom went to
the 7th Circuit
Court of Appeals.
In August 1987 thejudges ruled thatthey were "baffled"by
theArmy's failure tounderstandtheword "re instatement."
Theyordered the Army
to let her back in.
But a year
later, when BenShalom's term ofenlistment was up,
the Army refused
to allow her to reenlist, claiming that -THE WAR'S NOT OVER.Photo: Tracy Bairn/Outlines
it had changed the Miriam Ben-Shalom at the 1987March on Washington
regulationthecourt had found unconstitutional.
Ben-Shalom had been discharged
Ben-Shalom went back to court,
because of her status as a lesbian andnot because she spoke about being aand in January 1989 Milwaukee Federal Judge Myron L. Gordon ruled thatlesbian. Her freedom of speech, accordthe regulations were still unconstituing to the court, and therefore not beentional and in strong terms criticizedviolated. It added that by entering thethe arguments raised by the Army on
military she had "voluntarily sacrificed"
a number of points.
some of her rights anyway.
The Army appealed to the 7th
It said that gays and lesbians
Circuit Court, which reversed much ofwere not entitled to special consideraGordon's decision.
tion against discrimination under the
5th Amendment, which guarantees
Bowers v. Hardwick Cited
equal
protection,
becausethe
The appeals court decided that
ARMY LESBIAN continued on page 71
September 4, 1989

OUT'YWEEK

11

News

Feds Push AZT for HIV+Study Finds Drug May Delay Onset of AIDS Symptoms(defined as two systemic symptoms ofsymptoms twice as often as thoseby Cliff O'Neill
HIV infection and a T-4 ceIl count less
WASHINGTON-Federal
health offi- who were given AZT.
than 2(0), the occurrence of AiDS-defincials are now urging the use of AZf-4 cell counts are an indicator
ing opportunistic infection, or death.
by as many as 650,000 Americans
of human immune system function. A
healthy immune system has between
with HIV infection, based on the preThe study began July 12, 1987
and was conducted by Dr. Paul A.
800-1,200 T-4 cells per cubic milliliter.)liminary results of a massive drug
study. [The conclusions were immediVolberding of the University of CaliThe study also found that AZf at
lower doses is as effective as at highfornia, San Francisco, and San Franately challenged by AIDS experts who
cisco General Hospital. Neither thequestioned the manner in which the er doses, and that the toxic side
doctors nor the patients involved instudy was terminated and the results effects among those taking the lower
the study knew who was receiving a
released. The usual procedure for dose AZT were comparable
withplacebo, and who was taking AZf.
releasing test results, requiring scruti- those taking the placebo, except for
On announcing the study's premild nausea among a handful of parny by independent experts followed
liminary findings at a qUickly-calledby publication of results ina scientific ticipants on the low dose AZf.
press 'conference Aug. 17, just hours
journal, was bypassed in this caseafter the Data and Safety Monitoring
Protocol 019(see Political Science, page 32).)
Board counted the final numbers, SulMore than 3,200 HIV-infected
Top officials from the National
Institutes of Health and the I
I livan stated that all those in
the study with T-4 cell counts
Food and Drug Administrabelow 500 would now betion joined
Healthand iplaced on low dose AZT.
Human Services Secretary I
Those taking the higher doseLouis W. Sullivan Aug. 17 in
AZf will now be dropped toannouncing the preliminary
the lower dose.
results of the largest AIDS
Those with T -4 celldrug study ever, which foundcounts over 500 will continuethat the anti-HIV treatmentin the study as there is not
may delay the onset of AIDS
yet any conclusive evidence
symptoms in people who arethat AZT slows the onset of
infected with HIV, but who
symptoms. Those with T-4
do not yet have symptoms ofcell counts over 500 who are
the disease. HIV is the virus
on the placebo
will bethought by many to be theplaced on low dose AZTcause of AIDS.
when their counts drop
"Today we are witnessing an additional significant
below 500.
milestonein the battle to I
I
Funding Dilemmachange AIDS from a fatal dis- WINDFALL FOR BURROUGHS?
Photo: Rink
The financial implicaease to a treatable one,· stat- AZTed Sullivan. "These results
tions of placing the nearly
650,000 HIV-infected Americans with
provide real hope for the millions of individuals in 32 centers nationwide
T-4 cell counts below 500 on AZf arepeople worldwide who are infectedparticipated in the drug study, calledwith HIV:staggering, considering that the drug,
Protocol 019. Of the 1,300 participants
The study, sponsoredby themanufactured by the Burroughs Wellwith T-4 counts below 500, nine perNational Institute of Allergies andcome Corp., can cost up to $8,000 acent of those on the placebo develInfectious Diseases (NIAID), andyear. AIDS already affects a disprooped AIDS symptoms, while only four
portionate number of low-income
funded in part by Burroughs Well- percent of those on AZT developed
people and people of color, who,come, the monopoly manufacturer of symptoms.
AZT, found that seropositive individualong with women, have traditionally
For the purposes of the study, dishad little or no access to quality
als with T-4 cell counts under 500 tak- ease progression was defined as develhealth care. Many people with AIDS
ing a placebo
developed
AIDS opment of AIDS-related complex

er

12

OUTTWEEK

September 4, 1989

who rely on public hospitals, or Medicaid and Medicare for health carehave no access to treatment options
at all.
"It is now all the more importantto provide resources to assist people
with HIV,· stated Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D-MA), a lead sponsor ofseveral health care financing measures, at the press conference. "Science has given us the tools to help
hundreds of thousands of people fightfor life. What is lacking is an equitable formula for delivering those
tools to Americans in need.""I think the federal government
has more than an obligation to step inand assure that people have access tothese drugs,· said Jeff Levi, the new
Washington lobbyist for New York's
Gay Men's Health Crisis.
Sullivan stated that his officewould be examining federal subsidies
like Medicare and Medicaid programs,
for AIDS treatment and services.
But Levi said that AIDS could not
be treated like other catastrophic illnesses. "Few comparable diseases havemedications that can stave off disease,·
Levi said. "In a sense we're now charting new waters. And that will certainly
require creativity from all those concerned. That means the government
and third party payers and, yes, even
Burroughs Wellcome.·
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OUT'YWEEK

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News

FDA Panel OKs New AIDS
Drug Access
Activists Demands Met at Tense O~C.Meetingsby Cliff O'Neill
BETHESDA, MD-A new AIDS drug
distribution program, long touted by
AIDS activists, was given a shot in thearm recently when a Food and Drug
Administration advisory panel agreed

to support the plan, and to form a .
committee to implement it.
Meeting at a Bethesda, MD hotel
Aug. 18, the Anti-Infective Drugs
Advisory Committee of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

KEEPING WATCH
Photo: Patsy lynch
Activists during silent prDtest st FDAdrug hesrings in Bethesds

14

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989

heard testimony and debated the merits and potential dangers of the pro- .
gram, known as parallel track, during
a lengthy, often tense meeting.
Initially devised by AIDS activists,
the parallel track would give people
with AIDS who do not qualify forstandard clinical drug trials access toexperimental AIDS drugs. The treatments would be available on a broad
scale after the drug's toxicity levels
are established, but before its effectiveness is actually proven.
The testimony and discussion
were marked alternately by cheers
and hisses from the nearly 50 members of ACT UP!NY present. Eighthours later, the panel
qUietlyapproved the concept of the parallel
track, without specifically defining it.
The committee also recommended
that the Department of Health andHuman Services appoint a panel of
Public Health Service representatives,
AIDS patients and AIDS activists toimplement the program.
Most, if not all of the items
agreed upon by the panel weredirectly lifted from a consensus statement crafted by ACf UP and signedby 17 lesbian/gay activist and AIDS
service groups.
Still, a myriad of questions
remain about who would qualify forthe parallel track; what kind of data
would be collected from people taking the drugs; what legal precautions
would need to be taken; and how the
program would be financed.
The panel's motion for consensus
on parallel track came almost immediately after A1dyn McKeane of ACf UP
stood up and vocally expressed thefrustration of the audience. EchOing
statements made earlier by panel

~

·"

· ~~
···
.....

,;

,

-.
.~
4

·....··..

,··

ing rapidly forward, because
lives are at stake."
Early in the meeting,National
AIDS Program,
Director Dr. Anthony Fauci
defended the parallel trackprogram, which in the past
two months has become his
pet project, against the sharpquestions of panel members.
His comments garnered singular applause from one
unusual source.
At the end of Fauci'spresentation, AIDS activist
and playwright Larry Kramer,
who in a widely publishedopen letter last year compared Fauci to Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann, yelled
out as the federal AIDS
researcher took his seat.
DESIGNING TRIALS WITH PEOPLE IN MIND
"President
Bush wasACT UP's Jim fi90
Photo: Patsy lynch
right'" shouted Kramer. "Youguest Dr. Basil Vareldzis of Washing- are our hero, Dr. Fauci'"
ton D.C:s Whitman Walker Clinic, theFauci has led a chorus of federal
bureaucrats, AIDS activists and mediACT UP member, interrupting theproceedings, urged the panel to final- cal researchers in saying that the new
system should maintain the integrity
ly take action on the program.
AIDS activists had recently criti- of the current clinical trials process,cized the delays of federal AIDS poli- so as not to inadvertently slow the
drug approval process by havingcy makers,
including
Assistant
Secretary for Health and Acting Sur- more people choose to take a drug aspart of the parallel track than as partgeon General James O. Mason, whoof a standard drug trial.
endorsed the parallel track proposal
at a July U.S. House Committee hearProgram Defined
ing, but referred the program to the
Jim Eigo of ACf UP!NY and MarFDA adViSOrycommittee.
The same committee refused to tin Delaney of San Francisco's Project
grant fmal FDA approval to ganciclovir, Inform, two of several invited guests at
a drug that can prevent blindness in the front table, took exception with
PWAs, despite great support for the the hypothesis put forth by drug companies that the program would deplete
drug from the panel's two ophthalmologist£-a decision it eventually reversed the pool of potential participants forlast June, after extensive research and standard drug trials, however.
"Trials are [only) under-enrolled
lobbying from AIDSactivists.
when they're not designed with people in mind," stated Eigo.
-Lives Are at StakeOther detractors expressed conAt the opening of Thursday's
meeting, however, Mason praised the cern that the program would allow
advisory committee for its votes to the release of unsafe drugs into themarketplace, which also set off aapprove ganciclovir and aerosol penfirestorm of criticism from activists.
tamidine, an AIDS-related pneumonia"We're not talking about a crappreventative, adding that the committee was particularly well suited to shoot here," stated Delaney. "We'regive recommendations on specifics of not asking for the release of any drugthat scrapes by Phase I [toxicity) trials.
the new program.
"Our interest is not just in mov- We're not asking for the floodgates to
ing forward," stated Mason, "but mov- be opened. Nobody wants that."

16

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989.,

The ftrst drug being looked at forthe parallel track is ddl, an expedmental anti-HIV drug which will enterstandard Phase II effectiveness trials in
September. Drug manufacturer Bristol
Myers has already announced that it
will distribute the drug outside of clinical trials, although only to 5,000 pe0ple nationwide.
In Eigo's testimony, however, heclaimed that the drug company has
already received 40,000 requests forthe drug.

Tense Silence
Also at the meeting, a selfdescribed representativefrom theinvestment industry was heckled loudly when, after the heartfelt testimonyof several people living with AIDS, hetook the stand to tell the panel that his
company is now telling their clientsthat good financial investments may
be made in companies that manufacture HIV antibody tests.
"What about companies
that
manufacture tombstones?" shouted
one ACf UP member.
Another highly charged momentin the meeting came when, closing
the public testimony, Kramer took the
podium and loudly tongue-lashed thepanel, opening With, "I am going tothreaten you, and I'm not making
jokes. What does it take to get thisfucking country to take its thumb outof its ass?" Kramer shouted at thepanel.
After listing a series of demandsof the panel to an unusually anduncomfortably silent room, Kramer
threatened the adviSOry panel that if
they did not "approve these drugs
now," AIDS patients would rise up,
sabotage standard drug trials andcopy promising therapies in underground laboratories.
"Revolutionsdon't occur when there
is no hope," bellowed Kramer, "Revolutions occur when there is hope ....I beg ofyou, make fuckinghi&ory."
After his speech, the room wassilent, save for the applause of a number of ACT UP/NY members. Later,
one panel member angrily explained
his commitment to people with AIDS,
adding that the committee is advisory
in nature and was not to be approving any drugs at the meeting.
~

News

Pro-Gay Candidates
Challenge Brooklyn
Homophobe
Noach Dear, in 3-Way Race, Faces Grand Jury Probe
The second in a series of articles
on New York City's municipal
elections.
by Sandor Katz
BROOKLYN-Noach Dear, the notoriously homophobic Brooklyn Councilman, is facing challenges
in theupcoming Democrat primary election
by David Eichenthal and RobertEvans, two progres-1981, and attempted to initiate a voter
referendum to repeal that humanrights law in 1986

sive, pro-gay candi- CAMPAIGN
dates.
Dear led the
opposition to the gay and lesbianrights legislation since his election in

SPOTLIGHT

after it. passed theCouncIl. He also
vocally supported
the Supreme Court's Hardwick decision, which empowers states to prohibit sodomy.
Dear represents the
Brooklyn neighborhoodsof Borough Park,. Midwood, Ocean Parkway
and Bensonhurst, but ismost closely identified
with Borough Park andits politically conservative
Hasidic
popUlation.
Eichenthal says of Dear,"His position
on gayrights does not standalone." He cites Democrat
Dear's quotable endorsement of George Bushover Michael Dukakis:"Liberals don't believe in
.

I

God."

THE HAPPY HOMOPHOBE

Councilman Noach Dear
18

OUT?WEEK

September 4. 1989

Photo: Ellen B. Neipris

Eichenthal, a 26-yearold lawyer, has lived virtually his entire life in
Brooklyn. He supports
gay rights ana the extension of spousal benefits todomestic partners. But heis not running in his district on a platform of gay
rights. Eichenthal is focusing his campaign
oncrime, mass transit, affordable housing, senior citizen issues, and ethics inSeptember 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK

19

TI
government. Regarding Dear's traditional base of support, he says, "People in the Orthodox community areconcerned about aU of these issues."
Another candidate, attorney RobertEvans, is also challenging Dear. Evanssays she is "in favor of all hurnap rights"
as well as "gay partnership." However,Lambda Independent
Democrats,
Brooklyn's lesbian and gay Democratic
club, has endorsed Eichenthal in therace. "The Brooklyn machine obviously
ran Evans to split the vote and safe-

20

OUT'YWEEK

September 4. 1989

guard Noach Dear's seat,· says Lambda
president Alan Fleishman. '" see him as
a big problem.""Absolutely not so,· responded
Evans, who called the charges propaganda started by Mr. Eichenthal.
What's the Issue?
Dear supporters are doing what
they can to make gay rights the issue.
"We have heard rumors that I am
gay," reports Eichenthal, who is not.
"We have also heard that I am being

put up by the gay community to do
this to him." This is not true, although
he has attracted city-wide gay support, and the endorsement of Manhattan's Stonewall Democratic Club. He
has also recieved the blessings of
non-gay progressive figures such as
Manhattan Borough President candidate Ruth Messinger and former u.s.
Senate candidate Mark Green.
Will the rumors hurt Eichenthal?
"There is a certain segment of the
population for whom our positions

on gay rights are the decisive issues, nhe says. His attitude is that those people will cast their votes on the basisof the candidates' stated positions.
But for the most part, "I don't think itis the crucial issue facing voters here. n

Dear Fraud Alleged
One issue he thinks is crucial isgovernment ethics. Noach Dear iscurrently being investigated by a Federal grand jury for defrauding a number .of small businesses within his
district. Apparently he was a one-thirdpartner in a restaurant, and personallysolicited credit from area merchants,
who extended him credit without routine credit checks. Accordiog toEichenthal's campaign manager, Winston Von Engel, "The implication isthat he used his position to gain credit.· The restaurant
then wentbankrupt, in debt more than $500,000,
much of it owed to local merchants.
The scandal is further. complicated by the involvement of Eugene Hollander, who was recently convicted offelonious activities in connection withthe operation of his New York City
nursing homes. According to Evans,
Dear's investment in the restaurant
venture consisted of money provided
by Hollander. Dear's office did not
return OutWel:1k~ phone calls.

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ft (Dear initially tried to cover up his
interest in the restaurant, but the scandal was uncovered and received considerable media attention. The result,according to Eichenthal, is that many
area voters "say it's an embarrassment
to have him on the city council:·Ripe and Ready·Eichenthal's polling reveals highvoter dissatisfaction with Dear, and atremendous undecided vote, "ripeand ready for the picking. n He isplanning major mailings, phone canvassing, and a large primary day
operation to make sure voters know
his name as the alternative.
Both camps are bracing for asm'ear campaign
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September 4, 1989

OUrYWEEK

21

There's no substitute forthe real thingElect a Gay Activist to City Hall.
As President of San Francisco's
Board of Supervisors, I've come tosee first-hand the importance of
having Lesbians and Gays in officerepresenting our community.
No matter how committed others
are to Lesbian and Gay rights,-there's no substitute for thereal thing. I urge all of you tovote for Dave Taylor for City
Council in the Democratic Primary
Tuesday, September 12. If
JJ

HARRY BRITT
Openly Gay President of
San Francisco's
Board of Supervisors

DAVE TAYLOR FOR CITY COUNCIL
Dave Taylor is an openly gay candidate in the 4th Council District,which includes Clinton and the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
For more information or to get involved, drop by our office,2095 Broadway (72ndJ, #505, NYC 10023,
or call 212-721-0064.

OutTakes
FDA: Don't
doQ
SAN FRANCISCO-The Food andDrug Administration
has formallyasked the San Francisco-based Project
Inform to stop its unauthorized testsof the experimental new AIDS drug,
Compound Q.
In a letter to Project Inform's
Martin Delaney, Dr. Carl C. Peck,director of the FDA Center for Drug
Evaluation and Research in Bethesda,
MD, asked the group to discontinue
its community-based
testing of the
drug trichosanthin, a derivative of theChinese cucumber plant, also known
as GLQ-223. The letter comes about
six weeks after reports of the Project
Inform tests broke in the national
media, following the death of one
patient involved in the trials.
The Project Inform tests; involving some 60 volunteer patients withAIDS in San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and New York,are still under a formal inquiry by
FDA investigators.
Peck's letter is the first formal
reaction from the FDA to the Project
Inform triAls of the drug, which has
been shown in test tubes to selectively kill cells infected with HIV, thevirus generally believed to cause
AIDS. Project Inform began its own
Compoun<,i Q testing program in April
because it said the FDA-approved trials would take too long.
Delaney said the letter represented "a victory" for the group because it
was not an FDA "order" to stop thetests. Patients are no longer receiving
the drug and physicians involved in
the trials are currently trying to determine whether the drug has helped
them, according to Delaney.
Peck's letter to Project Inform
also held out the possibility of the
AIDS advocacy group being involvedin future FDA-approved communitybased testing programs of the drug.
"We stand ready," Peck's lettersays, "to meet immediately with Project Inform "trichosanthin investigators

22

O~WEEK

September 4, 1989

and possibly representatives from the
manufacturer." The drug is being synthetically developed by Genelabs Inc.
of Redwood City, California, and is
now undergoing FDA-approved toxicity te"sting at San Francisco General
Hospital.
"We're pleased about the FDA
suggestion," Delaney said. "It gives us
an opportunity to have contact with
Genelabs. The solution is for us all tocome to the table together."
Delaney said he would be meet~ing with FDA officials in early
September at which time Project
Inform will present the agency withthe results of its findings in the controversial testing program.
-Keith Clark

CUAV

Who's

zoolllin'
who?
SAN FRANCISCO-While representatives of the Metropolitan Community
Church(MCC)
andCommunity United Against Violence(CUAV) were attending an August 10
press conference at police headquarters here about the possibility that
two reported assaults on former MCC
assistant pastor Lynn Griffis were fabi

Mec

Photo: Rink

Photo: Rinkrications,
someonewas making
threatening phone calls to the Castro
district locations of CUAV, MCC andthe newspaper Bay Times.
Editor Kim Corsaro of Bay Times,
a lesbian and gay monthly, said while
she and one of the paper's reporters
were attending the press conference,
the newspaper
received "several
death-threat
calls." Similar deaththreats were reportedly made at thesame time to MCC and CUAV byphone as well.
The following Saturday morning,
August 12, Corsaro said she discovered the newspaper's
sign in thebuilding's entrance-way
had been
obliterated with spraypaint. Shortly
thereafter it was discovered that thefront of MCC/SF had also been
defaced with a series of crosses
sprayed on its front. The offices of
CUAVwere also vandalized, apparently at about the same time with a similar colored paint.
The incidents were all reported
to CUAV, which gathers information
on anti-lesbian/gay incidents in thecity, and the threatening phone calls
and vandalism were also reported topolice, largely because of the recent
increase in hate-related crimes aimed
at lesbians and gay men in the Castro
district.
Police offICialssay they are investigating both the threatening calls andvandalism but have no leads. There;;~ .:.

/

·,

.

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NEWYORK'S:::; :::,.":::.

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Out Takes
was no evidence the calls and vandalism were directly connected with therecent Griffis case, but those involved
are not overlooking some connection-either on the part of those whoare alleged to have assaulted GriffIS,orby partisans who might be striking out
at organizations connected with suggestions the GriffIScase was a hoax.
While MCC and CUAVwere closely involved in the confusing and stillunresolved Griffis case, Bay Times has
no particular connection with the caseother than its reportage. The city's twoother community newspapers, neitherof which are located in the Castro,
reported no similar incidents.
-KellbC1ark"SiDlonNkoli Day"SAN FRANCISCO Antiapartheidand gay rights activist
Simon NkoIi arrived here Wednesday,
August 23 on the first leg of afundraising tour of the United States,
and was welcomed with the news
that Supervisor and Acting Mayor
Richard Hongisto had proclaimed
August 24 "Simon Nkoli Day· in San
Francisco.
Nkoli, who has never before
been outside the Republic of South
Africa, began his tour in July as aguest of the 11th Annual International

SIMON NKOU

24

OUTYWEEKPhoto: Rex Wockner

September 4, 1989

Lesbian and Gay Association Convention in Vienna, and continued on
through Canada before coming to theWest Coast.
NkoIi was one of 22 defendants
in the Delmas treason case thatstretched from 1984 through November 1988, during which he spent four
years in detention. NkoIi and nineother defendants were finally acquitted of all charges.
Funds raised from Nkoli's tour,
coordinated by the national association of Black and White Men Together, will go to the Zulu AIDS Project tohelp provide AIDS education and prevention materials in the main languages spoken by Black South
Africans. The South African government makes no AIDS information
available in any non-white languages
there, according to Nkoli.
While in the U.S. he will also be
visiting Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis,
Cincinnati,
Louisville,
Atlanta, MemphiS, Washington, D.C.,
Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston and
New York City before returning to
Johannesburg in late September.
-KeilbC1ark

Reagan.
Colorado is one of 28 states thatcurrently require name reporting of
HIV positives.
- Andrew MiJIer

Just say

NEW YORK - Former Naval
Academy Midshipman Joseph Steffanand Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund are looking for one good
man or woman.
A retired, high-ranking Naval officer is needed to submit an affidavit
testifying to the feaSibility and effective service of lesbians and gay men
in the military.
Navy regulations, like those of all
branches of the armed services,
declare homosexuality incompatible
with military service, and were used
to discharge Steffan from the Academy six weeks before his graduation.
In response to the discharge,
Lambda filed suit against the Navy,charging it with unconstitutional discrimination. Lambda recently won thefirst round of its challenge when
Judge Oliver Gasch of the Federal
District Court in Washington, D.C.
denied the government's motion todismiss the case.

Nancy
DENVER- According to the San
Francisco Chronicle, the state healthdepartment in Denver "has received
reports that scores of men named
Nancy Reagan are infected with thehuman immunodeficiency virus.·
An August 14 article by AIDS
reporter Randy Shilts made public thephenomenon, which is directly related to Colorado legislation whichmakes anonymous HIV testing illegal.
. Because the names of anyone
testing positive for the virus-thoughtby many to be the cause of
AIDS-are automatically reported togovernment health authorities, many
gay men are giving fake names toavoid ending up on a master list. By
far the most popular name is Nancy

I need a
Dlan (or
WODlan)JOSEPH STEFFAN

Photo: Jim Marks

WILLIAM B. DeBONIS D.D.S.
Quality, Personal Dentistry
on-gOing legal attempt to overturnSection 21.06. "Even though it's notenforced," said Thomas, "we can atleast show that they use it."
Many other major American cities
recruit gay men and lesbians forpolice jobs by going into the gay
community.
In Philadelphia
lastmonth, police officials set up a
recruitment table inside Giovanni'sroom, the city's gay/lesbian bookstore.
-Rex Wockner

Out ofdoors? Outof luck.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA-A San
Jose municipal court judge ruled here
August 18 that a police crackdown on
gay men engaging in public sex near
the downtown area of the city was
not "in any way motivated by anti-gay
bias" on the part of police.
Judge Douglas Southard rejected
defense arguments on behalf of 18
gay men that, excluding heterosexual
prostitution charges, a statistical analysis of sexual arrests over an 18month period showed 78 citations of ~I
gay men for late-night sexual conduct
but none against heterosexuals for
similar public sexual behavior.
Attorney Bruce Nickerson, who
handled the defense for the 18 gay
men, told the court the gay sex
offenses did not involve money andshould therefore not be included withprostitution
in the comparison ofpolice arrests.
Southard wrote in his .decision,"There is no reason homosexual
offenders should expect preferential
treatment for similar conduct. Prostitutes and their 'dates' are given no
special consideration because they
are heterosexual, male or female."His
decisioncontinued,"Thoughtful supporters of homosexual rights should be embarrassed ...by
the implication of such behaVior,

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OUTWEEK.
September 4, 1989

our'YWEEK

27

Out Takes
The court has set a timetable for
deciding the constitutionality of the
Navy's regulations, and the affidavit,
declaring that lesbians and gay men
have served and are serving effectively in the military, and that they are
accepted by their peers, must be filedby this fall.
Anyone in a position to provide
such testimony can contact Sandra
Lowe, Lambda staff attorney, at (212)995-8585.
-Andrew Miller

No Dlore
Dlystery
MUSCATINE, IOWA-Time ran
out AUgust 18 for the Muscatine, Iowa
city council to override Mayor Don
LeMar'S july 19 veto of this small
city's gay rights ordinance. The ordinance' had passed the councjl july 6
on a 4-3 vote.
But according to city council member jerry Amerine, the 'Ordinance may
well make a return appearance following November's mayoral election.
Amerine and others say LeMar
actually favors the ordinance and only
vetoed it for fear of losing his post.
leMar won the last election by only
36 votes.
Twelve hundred people wrote
leMar letters and another 300 called
him at home to help him make up his
mind. Muscatine has a population of
23,000.
According to city councillor LarryKemp, "No one called saying thatthey were gay and that they supported the ordinance ...from any place inthe world."
The Muscatine ordinance was
highly unusual because it was initiated by the city's Human Rights Commission without any lobbying fromgay or lesbian citizens.
• In fact, there are no openly gay
or lesbian citizens in Muscatine,
according to LeMar, Amerine, The
Muscatine Journal and the Quad City
Times, in nearby Davenport.
The Human Rights Commission

26

OUrYWEEK

September 4, 1989

studied the bill for a year before recommending that the city council passit. In the beginning, all seven councillors supported the measure. But later,
after the Christian fundamentalist
group Concerned Citizens of Muscatine (CCM) got involved, three councillors turned against the bill.
CCM made extensive use of thelocal media to warn residents that thelaw would force churches, schools
and youth organizations "to hire aperson who practices and promotes
homosexuality,
incest, adultery,sadism or prostitution."
The ordinancewould havebanned discrimination in housing,
employment, credit and the offeringof services. Statewide, only the university town of Iowa City legally protects
homosexuals
fromdiscrimination.
"I guess people just weren't
ready for a change," Amerine said,
looking back on the battle. "Theythink, 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.'
They made it a moral issue instead ofa human rights issue."-Rex Wockner

Fowl is fair
DALLAS-If you want to be apolice officer in Dallas, Texas, you"must not admit [to) nor have engaged
in deviate sexual intercourse [or) sexual contact with a member of the samesex since age 15."
If, however,your particular
youthful indiscretion was bestiality
rather than homosexuality, then that's
a different matter. In this case, you"must not admit [to) nor have engaged
in deviate sexual intercourse [or) sexual contact... with any animal or fowl
since age 17."
A copy of the Dallas Police
Department hiring policies found its
way into the hands of the Dallas Gay
Alliance (DGA) last week. DGA officers were livid.
"Texas is predominantly a ruralstate and Texans are predominantly
ignorant about sexual relationships,"

DGA's JOHN THOMAS

Photo: Rex Wockner
said DGA activist john Thomas. "So,they really are more comfortable with
the idea of sex with animals and fowl
than with their own sexual desires forsomeone of the same sex."
Thomas and three other local
activists--angered by the guidelines,
which came to light after the police
recently rejected an open lesbian
applicant-havedecided to go headto-head with the Dallas P.D.
They recently realized, they say,that their life's ambition is to serve
their fellow citizens as officers of thepeace. They have filled out applications to work as cops.
If it weren't for the homosexual
exclUSion, the Dallas Police Department would probably be happy about
this. They desperately need 83 new
officers by September 1.
But police say their anti-gay policy will stand as long as Thomas, B.J.
Anderson, Don Hervey, Dan Sopko
and all other practicing homosexuals
in Texas continue breaking the law.
Law-breakers, of course, are prohibited from being police officers.
And Section 21.06 of the Texas Penal
Code defines homosexual
sex as"deviate sexual behavior, a Class C
misdemeanor punishable by fines up
to $200."
DGA officers hope the new publicity surrounding the "better-a-chicken-than-a-cock" policy will bolster anweek, the commission also fined John
and Agnes Donahue$8,260 forrefusing to rent an apartment to Verna
Terry and Robert Wilder in Downey,
California, in 1987. The Donahues,
who are Roman Catholics, told thecommission they believe sex outside
marriage is a sin and that helping
anyone to commit a sin also violates
their religious beliefs.
"As Christians we are being persecuted,H Smith said following thedecision.
Beverly LaHaye, founder andpresident of the conservative group,
Concerned
Women of America,
announced
from her Washington,
D.C. headquarters that her organization hoped to appeal the Smith caseeventually to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Concerned Women of America has
been paying the legal fees so far in
the Smith case.
Smith told an administrative
judge at the initial hearing that renting
to unwed couples would make her a"wimp ChristianH and that she would
not be able "to join my husband in
the hereafter" as a result. During thehearing, Smith also said she still refuses to rent to unmarried couples.
-Keith Clark~'IDiziano
TRATTORIA

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AC/D.C.?
WESTPORT, CT-A man claiming
to have been the lover of Rep. Stewart
B. McKinney (R-Cf) has announced hewill challenge the late congressman's
will and a physician's report that McKinney contracted AIDS through ablood transfusion.
Arnold R. Denson, a real estateagent now living in Whitesburg, GA,
claims that he was McKinney's loverfor five years and that the two shared ahouse in Washington while McKinney's
wife remained in Connecticut.
McKinney, a liberal Republicanand vOCal supporter of homeless andgay/lesbian rights, died May 9, 1989 of
AIDS-related complications
shortly
after spending the night on the cold
streets of Washington as part of ahomeless rights demonstration.
Lucie McKinney has continued todeny Widespread reports of her hus-

10 Room Inn
Piano Bar
& Restaurant
135 Gough Street
San Francisco, California 94102
415-621 -0896

September 4, 1989

OUT~WEEK

29

Out Takes
which so unfortunately te'nds to reinforce the negative stereotypes which
the gay community 'has fought so, hard to destroy."
Most of the 18 men had been
cited for public sex acts that took placein parked cars, parking garages or park
areas near downtown San Jose.
Defense attorney Nickerson was
not available for comment on whether
his clients would appeal the ruling.
-KeUbQark

Quilt calls.it quits,
SAN FRANCISCO- As the AIDS
epidemic surpassed the 100,000 markin July, one additional victim in thealmost relentless toll was the Names
Project's massive quilt.
Although
Names
Project
spokesperson Dan Sauro said that theorganization will continue to collectpanels and to display portions of theqUilt around the country and in Canada, the October 6 through 8 display if)
Washington, D.C. will be the last fullshOWing of the quilt. The magnitudeof the epidemic, with over 56,000
women and men dead from AIDS inthis country alone, makes the finan-

NAMES PROJECTS QUILT IN ALBANY

28bUT"YWEEK

September 4, 1989

cial and logistical problems of full displays in the future impossible, according to Sauro.
The display this fall, titled "Keepthe Love Alive,· will follow on theheels of a conference of the National
Association of People With AIDS. The
qUilt will be unfolded and refolded
every day for three days at the
Ellipse, on the south side of the WhiteHouse.
Some 2,500 volunteers will be
required for the three-day showing,
which will ·cost about $165,000,$90,000 of which will come directlyfrom the Names Project.
During the Columbus DaylYom
Kippur display, organizers will conduct seminars on AIDS, a federal legislation update, and a candlelightmarch to the Lincoln Memorial October 7. First Lady I,3arbara Bush has
been invited to make a special visit to
the display as well, according to organizers.
- Keltb Qark

Tossed out,c,ashed in
CHICAGO-Forty-fivegay men
who were harassed by agents of the

Photo: Ellen 8. Neipris

Northeastern 'IIIinois Metropolitan
Enforcement Group (NIMEG) during
the 1985 raid at Carol's Speakeasy, a
Chicago gay bar, have been offered
more than $5,000 compensation eachunder an agreement hammered out ina class action lawsuit brought by theAmericanCivil Liberties
Union(ACLU).
The money was offered by attorneys for the State of Illinois and theCity of Chicago August 17 before
Judge Suzanne Conlon in U.S. District
Court. Conlon will decide this week
whether to accept the settlement.
According to ACLU Illinois legal
director Harvey Grossman, the tentative class-action settlement would be
the first ever to result from alleged
improper action by law enforcement
officials during a gay bar raid.
The lawsuit charged that 15
NIMEG agents went ~o Carol's on
Sept. 12, 1985 with arrest warrants fortwo employees and then forced all
the customers to lie on the floor for
two hours while photographing themand hurling anti-gay insults.
-Rex Wock"er

Unwed? No
bed.
CHICO, CALIFORNIA-In 1987
Evelyn Smith advertised to rent part ofa duplex she owns and Gail Randall, aCalifornia State University student,. here, and Ken Phillips, a landscaper,answered the ad. But when they
admitted to Smith that they weren't
married, the landlady refused to rentto them or any other unmarried couples whom she considers "fornicators.·
The California fair employment
and housing commission on August
17, however, ordered Smith to pay
the couple, who are no longer a couple, $1,000 in damages for her
refusal to rent to them. The devoutly
religious fundamentalist Presbyterian
Smith vowed immediately to fight theruling in the courts.
In a similar case earlier in theOut Takes
band's homosexuality and insisted
that he contracted AIDS through a1979 blood transfusion.
In his will, Rep. McKinney left a 40
percent share of the Washington house,
all personal effects in the house and his
car to Denson, all worth a total of$59,200. Denson, however, has notreceived any of his inheritance and is
now challenging the will in Probate
Court.

In an Aug. 21 press conference
here, Denson made public personal
records and photographs of him and
McKinney to back up his claim. Denson has told the press that the McKinney family was informed of the two
men's relationship while McKinney
was on his deathbed and was toldthat if he kept the relationship secret
he would receive his share of theinheritance.
Since then, Denson has reportedly returned to Georgia where ca1\s tohis home number have gone unreturned.
-Cliff O'NeiUMovin' onup

Photo: Ellen B. Neipris

LOS ANGELES - National Gay
Rights Advocates, the nation's largest
public interest law firm representing
gay men and lesbians in civil rights
S•• OUTTAKES on page 78

i!'....

NGRA'SANN BRADLEY30

OUTYWEEK

September 4, 1989PROVINCETOWN- Instead of a parade of glittering floats bearing thenames of businesses, a loud activist march on August 16 signalled the beginningof Carnival Week in Provincetown this year. The parade, designed to encourage
tourism, is sponsored by the predominantly gay Provincetown Business Guild,which said it cancelled this year's festivities for safety reasons.
The Guild said it received anonymous threats of violence against parade
participants. Many felt the alleged threats, and the subsequent cancellation,
were directed at ACT UP/Provincetown's participation in the parade. Together
with members of ACTUP/New York, the group led its own "March Against Homophobia" down Commercial Street.
A sign that read "legalize butt fucking" and "legalize clit licking," carried bya member of ACT UP in Provincetown's gay and lesbian pride march last monthsparked a huge, ongoing controversy. Gay and straight residents alike, and particularly members of the PBG, lined up to condemn the sign, and the group whichaccompanied it.
Reverend Keith Boyles (pictured above). a gay minister who organized theJuly 4 march, was publicly denounced, and fired by the coalition of churches thatsponsors the yearly event. He returned last week to take part in ACTUP's demonstration, originally planned to be part of the carnival festivities.
ACT UP has charged tl!at despite its reputation as a lesbian and gay vacation mecca, Provincetown is rife with homophobic attitudes and anti-gay violence.
- Masha Gessen and Andrew Miller

In Our Own Hands

How to Avoid Being a Handicap to the Disabled
Hints for the Temporarily Able-Bodied
by Kim Christensen
1. Realize that ableism (anti-disabled attitudes) and lack of access toall of the major institutions in this society (education, transportation, etc.)
are at least as "disabling" to us as ourphysical differences or conditions. My
joint disease makes me different. But
the stairs in the subway stations, thelack of curb cuts and the lack of anaccessible
women'sroom at the
Lesbian/Gay Community Center makeme disabled; i.e., unable to participate
fully in this community.
2. One out of six people in
the u.s. today is disabled (thesefigures are even higher among
African-Americanand Latino
communities). But where are
we? Shut away in the institutions and isolated in homes, unwelcome in a society that wasliterally not built for us.
A commitment to access for
all disabled people (includingPWAs) means holding all of ourevents in wheelchair accessible
spaces, with accessible bathrooms for both men andwomen (and if the events absolutely can't be made accessible,
they should be advertised as inaccessible).
Access means hiring
American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters (or at least making it clear that
one will be proVided if needed).
3. Disabled people's bodies (especially disabled women's bodies) areoften perceived to be, and treated
like, public property. While using awheelchair, a cane or braces, I've had
total strangers come up to me on thestreet and ask, "What's wrong withyou?" (Correct answer, "What's wrong
with your manners?") or "What did
you do to yourself?" (Correct answer,"Oh, I was bored last week, and decided to try skydiving without aparachute.") Don't presume that you
have the right to ask personal questions like this to a disabled person
you don't know. As a general rule, if
you don't know somebody wellenough to ask them about their sex
life, don't ask them about their disability.
4. When arguing a pro-chOice
position, avoid ableist and eugenicist
arguments about needing to abort"defective" fetuses. (This applies
whether the "defect" is HIV positivity,

or a genetic or other difference.)
Women, of course, have the right tochoose to terminate a pregnancy. But
the "defective fetus" argument makes
disability into a "personal tragedy"
rather than the political problem (ofthe lack of social, medical and othersupports for disabled children) that it
actually is.
5. Don't presume that any person
you meet is able-bodied. Many disabilities aren't "obvious."
6. Realize that the support systems, medical and otherwise, for dis-abled and ill people in this country
are terrible (this is especially true forlesbian/gaylbisexual people, who areoften alienated from our families oforigin, and for poor people, who
can't afford those services which doexist). We have begun to build someof these
supportservicesforPWAs--from being "on call" for medical emergencies, to advocating for adisabled/iII person who has to deal
with the medical establishment, tofood shopping and filling prescriptions. It is wonderful that we are beginning to do this for each otheraround AIDS. Now we have toexpand these commitments toeach other, and begin to provide
these services for each otherwhether it is AIDS or somethingelse which is causing our illness/disability.
7. Would you consider
being lovers with someone in awheelchair? (If not, why not?)Don't assume that disabled people are asexual. The prevailingdefinitions of "attractive," in thelesbian/gay/bi,
as well as thestraight community, are profoundly anti-disabled (as well as
ageist, racist and anti-fat).
8. When interacting with awheelchair user (Not wheelchair-bound, please!): (1) Don't leanon the back of the chair; they're often
unstable. (2) If you are talking to theperson for any length of time, sit orsquat to get to hi~/her level. (3) In
general: Don't assume that you knowwhat the person needs. Ask.
9. Learn about the history of thedisability rights movement in thiscountry-including
the accessibility
sit-ins by the Disabled People's
Liberation Front, the protests at
Galludet University for the Deaf, andSee HANDICAP on page 68

September 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK

31

Political Science

AZT and the Diversionary IITrack"by Mark HarringtonEarly on Thursday, August 17,
Federal AIDS Program Director
Dr. Anthony Fauci called 10
prominent AIDS reporters to givethem a scoop: a press conference
would be held that afternoon announcing that people with HIV who
had no symptoms could delay theonset of AIDS by taking AZf.
The announcementof any results, promising or not, from a Federal
AIDS trial was long overdue. For
three years now, these trials havebeen limping along, slowly accruing
patients, rapidly losing many because ofbad trial design, testISing mediocre treatments and denying
peopleaccessto

The research establishment has
one set of standards for the unfortunate outsiders who want their drugs
tested, and another, less stringent
standard for itself, waiving all therules for political gain.
This was the second time in two
weeks that major new information
about AZT was released at a press
conference. The first press conference
was called to announce the end of trial
916, of AZf in people with early ARC.
According to that press release, AZT
delayed progression from early to late
ARC or AIDS by at least 50 percent.
Again, no hard data were released.
What are the medical implications?
First of all, it
stands to reason that
if AZf is at all active

I.
II·
d d
t not genera V consl ere
responsible scientific behavior toannounce research results at a press
conference. Scientific practice calls forresults to be submitted to outside expertsf·or peer review.

promis~ng ones.
It IS not generally
considered responsible scientific behavior
to announce research
results at a press conference. Scientific practice calls for resuIts to be submitted to outside experts for peer review. Then an article
is published in a medical journal.
Thus it was highly unusual when
Dr. Fauci stood with Secretary of
Health and Human Services Louis
Sullivan, Assistant secretary for HealthJames Mason, and Commissioner ofFood and Drugs Frank Young announcing the premature terminationof part of Federal AIDS trial 019.
This single trial accounted forover half the 7,046 Americans enrolled in Federally-sponsoredAIDS
studies. It was a two-year study of

32

AZT in asymptomatic HIV-infected
persons-people
who had no clinicalsigns of disease, but who tested positive for HIV antibodies. The trial divided subjects into three groups ofequal size. One third got full-dose
AZT 0500 milligrams daily). One
third got a lower dose (500 mg/day).
The last third got a placebo. They had
to take three small capsules five times
a day, but the capsules were physiologically inert.
The trial was stopped in the
1,300 subjects who entered the trial
with fewer than 500 T4-cells. This was
because twice as many placebo recipients progressed to ARC or AIDS thanthose receiving either dose of AZf: 38

OUTTWEEK September4, 1989

placebo takers progressed, versus 19
on high dose AZT and 17 on low
dose AZT. Few of the subjects experienced any of AZT's well-known
blood toxicities. All of those in thetrial with fewer than 500 T4 cells may
now receive AZf if they choose to.
Or so we are to believe. No data
were released to support these claims.
It was science by press release. Only
last year, Federal AIDS officials bitterIy attacked sponsors of other drugs,
such as IMREG-l and Peptide T, forreleasing preliminary results at the
Stockholm AIDS conference before
submitting them for peer review.

in people with adtxmeed HIV infection,that it would work as

well ~r bett~ in reopie with earlJef stages.
Drugs operate inblissful ignorance oftheCentersfor
DiseaseControl(CDC) and its outdated definition of"AIDS,' which ignores some fatal HIV
axnplications and lumps cthers indisaiminateIy together.
Henceforth, we shall have to insist that when treatments prove effective against HIV in people with AIDS,
that they be tested concurrently inpeople with earlier stages of disease.
Second, AZf appears to be lesstoxic in people with early ARC orasymptomatics. At least the press release said so. But how do we knoW.
We don't. Some AZT toxicity develops
only after long-term use. In Montreal,
Florida researcher Dr. Margaret Fischl

reported that about 20 percent of long-term (40 weeks
or more) AZf users developed muscle degeneration(myopathy). This applied to
AZT users who had ARC,
not just AIDS. What evidence, if any, is there about
this condition from the newstudies?
Third, what will be theimpact of early An use on
the much-feared "resistantviral Isolates"? If HIV is muchless active in early infection,then it replicates less frequently. Hence the virus hasless chance to mutate into a
resistant form. What, if anything, do the new results tell
us about this possibility?
Fourth, what is the impact on thefmrling that 500 mg/day is just as goodas 15OO? On a study reported in July, Dr.
Fischl reported that 600 mg was just as
good as 1200 mg, and caused lesswhite blood cell defICiency). First of all,it strongly implies that the original
dosage was far too high. Thousands of
PWAsbecame transfusion dependent ordeveloped infections because AZf suppressed their bone marrow. The original dose was too high, too toxic, andmedically unjustiftable.
We will have to be vigilant in the
future to demand dose-comparison
studies early in the testing of new antiviral drugs. There is a very real danger that such mistakes could recur if
AIDS advocates do not insist upon
careful safety monitoring in both controlled trials and the Parallel Track.
Fifth, how will the wider use of
AZT which the NIH, the FDA andBurroughs- Wellcome are about to recommend change the natural history of
HlV infection?
It will not change it at all unlesspeople can afford AZT. Even with lowdose, the cost will be over $3,000 annUally. The Federal subsidy for AZT isscheduled to run out in September.
Senators with covertly genocidal instincts are beginning to cho~s "whyshould we treat AIDS differently fromother diseases?" (There are two answers: 1) AIDS is an infectious, rapid-.
Iy spreading epidemic, which strikes.
people down in their prime; 2) we
can save the lives of most HIV-infected people, and not doing so would
condemn to death over one· million
Americans who are gay, people ofcolor, or both.)
There was another reason for thesudden press conference August 17.
The Federal AIDS establishment wason the verge of ceding significant
power to AIDS advocates. At the very
moment Drs. Sullivan, Mason, Youngand Fauci held their press conference,an FDA advisory committee meetingin Bethesda was on the verge of recommending that ACf UP and Project
Inform have full voting membershipon the Parallel Track AdVisory
Committee. Staging a media extravaganza to announce the latest findingson that tired pharmaceutical warhorse,
AZT, was an effective way to guarantee that the historic Parallel Trackmeeting would go unrecorded in the
major media. It was a sleazy tactic,
but it worked. Nonetheless, the AIDS
community had forced the FDA togive up a massive chunk of its power.
The monolithic bureaucracy is fast
crumbling. Stay tuned.
...

A public service oltha National Institute on
Drug Abuse and the Office lor Substance
Abuse Prevention.

September 4. 1989m

OUT~WEEK•

33

New York Journal

Commentary by Kate Walter

After Woodstock
I went back to Yasgur's Farm.
But it wasn't the same without Joe.
We were a typical late 60s couple
who met at the Jersey Shore during
the summer of love. As my guide into
the radical 60s, Joe led me from therepressive climate of a small Catholic
women's college and into the exciting
world of alternative culture. Since Joe
was a music reviewer who got freetickets, we were regulars at
the Capitol Theaterin
Passaic and the Fillmore
East in Manhattan. Nothing
could have kept us tworockers from the now-legendary Woodstock Festival.
We even had tickets.
Twenty years ago thismonth, Joe and I wanderedthrough the rain and mud
looking for Tom, the friend
who'd introduced us. Tom
had been drafted into thearmy, (which meant going toVietnam) and was scheduled
to leave that Monday. What abummer! We had to find him
to say goodbye. By somesmall miracle, we bumped
into him amidst the thousands of other long-haired,scraggly, wet, people (by amiracle, he got a last minutedeferment). Tom is now happily married, owns a condo in New Jersey andworks in municipal government.
Joe's story is different. About
three years after Woodstock, he cameout ~o me. I remember being confused because he wanted men-not
me. I wasn't prejudiced against gays,
just upset about losing my boyfriend,
Yet we remained friends. We were attracted to each other's personalities,
interests, tastes, politiCS and sense ofhumor. Several years later, I came out.

Having gay male friends made it easier to come out as a lesbian.
I moved to the East Village andbegan freelancing. Joe moved to theUpper West Side and became a trademagaZine editor. I'd hoped we'd seeeach other after we both moved toManhattan, but Joe was involved with
his Fire Island friends and I got "married." Although we didn't see each otherthat much, we stayed in touch over theyears, encouraging each other's careers
and relationships. We'd shared such along, involved history-no question mylife would have been different if wehadn't met. Joe encouraged me to become a rock reviewer-andthatlaunched my writing career.
Joe died of AIDS this past May.
Whenever I hear certain songs fromthe Rolling Stones or The Who (histwo favorite 60s groups), I think
about him. Whenever my teenage

nieces ask me about Woodstock, I tellthem about us--wet, cold, tired, but
too wired to fall asleep. Whenever I
flash back to that weekend of sex,
drugs, rock 'n roll, youthful idealism,
no one would have believed it if
someone told us that 20 years fromnow, a terrible sexually-transmitted
virus would kill off thousands ofyoung people, and scientists couldn't
find a cure. No one would have believed that. We thought we couldchange the world.
As I look back, it's ironic. At
Woodstock we were worried about our friends get-,ting killed in some rice
paddy in a foreign country,
yet today I know lots more
people who've died fromAIDS than who died in the
Vietnam War. But just likewith Vietnam, it took too
long for people to wake up
about AIDS. If people had
been more respons'ive atthe beginning of the epidemic, maybe Joe and I
wouldbeswapping
Woodstock stories.
I bet we'd be laughing
about how goofy I looked
coming home in his broth,~ er's bell bottoms (everything else I'd brought got
soaked). Or we'd be laughing about eating the Hog
Farm's goopy gruel (wecouldn't get out to reach a store). Or
we'd be amazed at how we stayedalert for so many hours with almost
no sleep (we couldn't possibly missthe next super group). But mostly, I
think we'd recall the natural high ofspending three days with thousandsof other people committed to changing government
policies. Today
whenever I march for women's rights
or lesbian and gay rights or demonstrate for AIDS action, it's that part of I.'
Woodstock IstiU carry with me. ' ',.
.

September 4, 1989

OUT?WEEK35

o11~ T)

OO~~®'i1®

d~~OO.u.

lroa~l!!lthe Apex Correspondence School ofArt. I suspect that I
was one of the lucky
few chosen for a~~~~:rs::~C:U:;r~'~~~:g~~at~ ~~o:~:~:~:If~tb~~~~:dtr;~~

Commentary by Susie Day I ble is that, being a lesbian, I can't al"You're much to hostile,'· mytherapist said. "Why don't you-in
your own words-try
to thank thepeople who cause you momentary grief and annoyance? AfteraJl, they are the agents of yourown personal growth.""OK,· I retorted. I spent alllast Thursday being grateful.
Dear Jesse Helms,
Thank you for proposingthat innovative
amendmentslashing the NEA's budget because you didn't like Robert.
Mapplethorpe'sor Andres
Serrano's photography. I was justsaying the other day how unresponsive the Senate was to art,
but then you go and prove me
wrong. Your sensitive use of thewords "vulgar" and ·sick· in describing Mapplethorpe's
work
and the astute phraseology inyour amendment, says to me thatyou, Jesse Helms, are a ne plus
ultra 'of art criticism. And I
should know, too.
I am a recent recipient of the"Draw Binky· Art Scholarship. This
prestigious award is given to selectmagazine readers who demonstrateartistic promise in copying the duckie
wearing the rainhat, then enrolling in

34

OUrYWEEK

September 4, 1989

ways teJl the difference. That's where
I need your help.
I am enclosing slides of some of
my work for you to impartially criti-

cize. What, for instance, do you thinkof my full-color painting entitled"Bunny in Meat Grinder"? It was myfirst serious work, so I worry that thereligious symbology of Bunny/Christ;
Meat Grinder/Worldis a little toovague. Do you think it would havemore moral uplift if I had the little fellow rolling a giant, painted egg awayfrom the tomb?
The one of the two cervixes
mud-wrestlingamidst a crowd ofcheering
condoms
is from my"mauve" period, when I was trying tomix social change with surrealism. In
it, I attempt to dep'ict the debasementof Woman by an oppressive secular
humanist cadre of non-church-goingmales. I admit I borrowed the idea ofthe melting stopwatch from a Dalipainting, in order to ask the visualquestion, "When will it all end?"
The next picture, called "FoodChain," is the only painting I've
done without using actual models. The nuns slamming colostomy bags over one another's.
heads might therefore seem disproportionately larger than thekindergartners who are eating
rotten meat in light-hearted
abandon. Oh-see
the womanin the lower left corner, wearing
the leather jumpsuit and pressing her spiked heel into Oliver
North's navel? That's me! I wanted to convey, in a deeply personal manner, North's subjugation at the hands [and feet] ofself-indulgent, power-hungry liberals.
Do you think I have any talent, Jesse? I know you're busy,
but if you could take a minuteto tell me how to achieve thatwinning blend of art and politics, I'd be so grateful. I intend
to follow your recommendations to
the letter! Then, after I've improved
enough, maybe you could use yourartistic pull with Congress and get mea nice, fat NEA grant.
-Yours in Art
A Consenting Adult~

in Wigstock, it's second nature.
One night in the spring of 1984, Bunny, Brian Butterick,Wendy Wild, Michael "Kitty" Ullman and members of the asyet unformed Love Delegation were in the park when adrunken conversation turned to the idea of having a daytime
rock concert in the band shell. Since these people wereinvolved with the Pyramid Club (started by Butterick, Sister
Dimension and Bobby Bradley in 1981, and for years headquarters to the East Village queen scene), it had to have dragqueens. Butterick, Ullman and Peter Zaremba, being rockqueens from way back, hit on the idea of Woodstock (after
all, what period better mixed rock with flamboyant fashions
suited for drag queens?). But it was Bunny who took up theidea, got the needed permits from the Department of Parks
and the police and organized the event. Now, in 1989, she's
presenting the fifth annual Wigstock with "every East Village
performance-art type queen" in the downtown scene. A partial list of the over 40 acts includes Bunny herself, Hapi
Phace, TABOO!, Sister Dimension (all queens who made the
Pyramid scene), Ethyl Eichelberger (the Grand Dame of performing queens), those Gallic grove-makers French TWist,
Wendy Wild as the amphetamine "Joey Heatherock," Phoebe
Legere, dancer Michael Clark, the rocking psychedelic soulof Peter Zaremba and the Love Delegation, Joey Arias, theBoy Bar Beauties, comedian Barbara Patterson Lloyd and thewildly entertaining Suhkreet Gable.

Bom m Chattanooga, Bunny ",me to New Y",kin 1983 as a traveling companion for Ru Paul and Larry Tee'sband from Atlanta, the Now Explosion. They had met in college in Atlanta and knew each other when Bunny, who dida baton twirling act, was crowned "Miss 688" at a local"alternative rock" bar. Although Bunny had been in dragbefore, it wasn't until she came to New York and found the
Pyramid on Avenue A that she became the performer she istoday.
She started dancing on the bar ("To think that someone
wanted to pay me to dress up and dance for them was so
thrilling!"). Then came bit parts in Pyramid productions like"Charlie's Angels." Her first solo performance was a Iipsynch to °1 Will Survive." In the middle of the song, she wasblinded by the lights and fell into the audience. Having had
her first taste of audience response as the crowd roared, shebounced back on stage, the song personified. She became
known for her energetic renditions of Patti Labelle songs.
For a long time no other drag queen dared attempt a Iipsynch to her tour de force, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Unlike most drag queens, the Lady Bunny also sings, usually
to backing tracks of famous songs. (She does the most credi-

WIGGIN'OUT

Photo: Todd Eberle

Ths crowd at Wigstock '88
September 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK37

Bunny's Obsession!
Rick Sugden Talks to Wigstock's
Lady in Question About Her Annual
East Village Ritual"By the time we got to WIGSTOCKwe were several thousand falls ...
And I dreamed I saw the drag queens
spraying hair spray in the sky
and it made all the YUPPies die"-john Kelly's variation on the song "Woodstock",T

ccowd at Tompkin' squa~ePark-numberingin the thousands-is
silent and focused on the beautiful
Singer on stage. When she throws
her head back her long, straight,
brown fall sweeps off her shoulders
I' revealing~ finely sculpted profile. The
pc1ave swoop and the giggles are so artfully done they send chills down your spine.
You'd swear that Joni had decided to blessus with her presence. Behind her are themusical instruments that the more than 50
performers scheduled for today will use. On
the back wall of the band shell is a muralwith caricatures of some of the drag queensthat will perform: Lypsynka, Hapi Phace, theConnie Girl, and the curlicue trademark letters of the artist TABOO!-"Wigstock."
Just three weeks after the summer of1988 Tompkins Square Riots, the park isalive with drag queens and their friends
celebrating Peace, Love and Wigs! Flyers
advertising the event read, "Have a riot in
Tompkins Square Park." As "Joni" (performed by "Dagmar Onasis,' as performed by John Kelly) finishes hervariation on the song "Woodstock," thecrowd rips open with applause andscreams. People are flashing peace

THE LADY BUNNY
Photo: Ande Whylande36

OU~WEEK

September 4, 1989

signs and I feel a bit embarra~d at being on
the verge of tears.
The "Lady" Bunny dashes up to themike, "Let's hear it for Joni! She's so sweet! I
don't know what Wigstock would be like
without her. Isn't she special?" The crowdroars with approval as much for Bunny as for"Joni." Bunny has on a caftan number that
resembles a table cloth from an Indian restaurant on 6th Street, worn so that the corners
just barely cover her crotch and butt. Her
glamour-nails are glittering and her make-up
is, as always, the most understated of theoverdone of the LES drag queens. Her wig(or is it wigs, it looks so big) is a blonde cascade with a bubble in the back that looks
like a late-sixties Ann Margaret with a serious
hairdo. She is waving a copy of the Wigstock
program which, in a standard agreement with
the Parks Department, she is forbidden tosell. "The suggested donation is one dollar
and I suggest you pay it or you won't getone." After the next introduction, she heads
to the side of the stage to watch the act,
check her make-up and hair, make sure thenext act is somewhere near prepared, andkeep various rowdy types from mounting thestage. She does all this without panic because
after four years of organizing and performingI put on has got to have a strong dose of thenutty and the ill-prepared," squeaks Bunny inher southern accent. Wigstock, and the entire
mentality that personifies it, is something that
requires a thinking audience. "I think sophisticated people have always enjoyed [drag queens]."
Bunny thinks of her self-creation as a twisted
Up-With-People kind of person. When I asked
her who she thought personified the spirit ofWigstock, she said Carol Channing. "She's such afool I can't believe she's made it this far."A

Ite< getting the peemit'. Bunny
starts rounding up the performers. Scott Lifschutz
does an equal amount of work designingposters, t-shirts, putting the program together,etc. Tom Rubinitz, the auteur of the video Wigstock- The Movie also greatly helps in the production. To raise money for the sound systemand other expenses, Bunny sponsors fund raising events around .town (this year she tried getting corporate sponsors from the "hip" liquor
companies, but no luck). Of course, the madness
and running around takes its toll on a dragqueen.
"I have to make sure I eat lots of pork," shesays. "Pork is the meat that makes you mean, it
makes you aggressive and I'm such a sweet little
country girl that in this dog-eat-dog world I needit to give myself that aggressive edge that a 'professional female impersonator' in New York has
Photo: Todd Eberle
to have dealing with these shyster promoters." PROU~ M~RY•
She giggles at her own outrageousness and pon- Taboo .• Wigstock 88
ders some of the problems of Wigstock. "It is difficult to use (sung to the tune of Leaving on a Jet Plane). But the appeal
the bathroom. I'm glad that the paparazzi weren't around the is not limited to the 60s. For example, Lypsynka, the Russianyear I was forced to go to the bathroom behind a tree in the Defectress, does routines from her off-Broadway show. The
park."Boy Bar Beauties' 1988 crowd-pleasing rendition of A/terThat was a lucky break for Bunny, as not only thenoon Delight, while nostalgic, has nothing to do with thepaparazzi, but TV cameras too are now Wigstock staples,
generation of peace and love.
adding to the event's glamour. The performers at Wigstock,
Wigstock is quintessential contemporary entertainment
in fact, work for free, their pay-off being the honor-andin its references to a past. It's an 80s post-modern nostalgia
publicity--of being a part of a LES tradition. Last year the for authenticity and innocence. But what makes it so popunetworks CNN and MTV cover~d the event for reports that lar is that it is the only annual community event of its kind
were shown repeatedly over the weekend. Interview had a that takes place in the park. It is a -celebration not so muchfull-page photo of a little girl wearing a wig. Reports haveof the 60s as a celebration of the renaissance of the gay senpopped up on "Midnight Blue," the Manhattan Cable pornsibility that has taken place in the Lower East Side. Since theshow, in Details, and the Italian magaZine Per Lui. Al Gold- opening of the Pyramid, Avenue A and its environs havestein's Screw said, in the year of the harmonic convergence,
been a refuge for the rebellious funsters of the Queer
that Wigstock was "the hormonal convergence that ushered
Nation. Bunny speaks for a lot of us when she says she likes
in the Age of Asparagus."
Wigstock because "it is such a sick treat to see these tramps
What exactly makes Wigstock such a popular event? The out in broad daylight."~
nostalgic homage to the 1969 concert is tangential-rockWigstock '89 takes place on Labor Day, September 4, inbands, beads, flowers and performers belting out a "peaceand love" at the end of their set. Jesse Hultberg performs as Tompkins Square Park (Avenue A between 7th Street andPeter, Paul and a Big Mary, a one-person trio singing Poo/, 10th Street). Shows are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. andto continue until 10:00 p.m. Admission is/roo.
the Magic Drag Queen and I'm Weaving on a Hair Piece

September 4, 1989

OUT~WEEK

39

Photo: Todd Eberle

FLOWER VASE

Ming VBUZ",Wigstock '88

PSYCHADELIC

Photo: Todd Eberle

FUR?

R""e/ers Bt Wigstock '88
38

OUTTWEEK

ble cover of Bobbi Gentry's "Fancy" I have ever seen.) Withex-main squeeze Dimitri (currently with "Delite") and Sister
Dimension, Bunny also had a band, "Shazork!," which madea stab at disco with a pyrmaid in-house live recording of an
original song, "Is It Up to Me?" Disco survived, but the song
didn't and neither did the band.
Though the Lady Bunny is one of the most sought-after
entertainers in the city, she supplements her theatrical income
working on the 55O-9999/Chicks with Dicks phone line. "Itgives me an independence from relying on the shyster promoters in this city." She quickly adds, "Not that they are all
shysters." The appeal of working the phone lines is that it ismore relaxed, you don't have to dress up, and it is an easy
way to get dates. "The guys [that call] are gay but it is jUst
pushed so far back in their minds that they don't want to sucka dick unless it pops out from under a skirt." Is that whatmade a sweet southern boy with a sharp tongue a dragqueen? "Maybe the pressures of being a sissy in the south
pushed me into being a drag queen, I don't know. But I think
it was the theatrical part that attracted me. I mean, when I
saw my first queen my eyes popped out of my head and I
knew I wanted to do that. It wasn't a sexual thing at all."
Although Bunny's performing passion is for the Blackdisco diva, especially her alter ego Patti laBelle, she is quick
to point out that she is not a "female impersonator" of the
Judy-Barbara-Diana
school; she's a drag queen. Female
impersonators try to present a picture-perfect copy of theiridols whereas performers like Bunny, Hapi and TABOO! create a spectacle that often relies on the deception being
deceived by shOWing the cracks in the artifice. "My show that

September 4, 1989

Inside the Gay Slave Trade
Champagne
Activism,
A-List Aryans
and Pleasing
the RulingClassl... _

by Jim Provenzano"I'm thinking of startinga club for straight cater
waiters, "said my friend Ray.
"Really?" I responded.
"Where willyou both meet?"Of course the ratio of gays tostraights isn't that unbalanced in thecatering business, but it might be close.
There are just too many great haircuts
topping off those tuxes. Unfortunately,as two years in formal food service
have shown, catering is one of themost hypocritical gay industries in New
York City. It is one in which gay men
and lesbians are exploited-manytimes by their "own kind"-and tossed
off like the uneaten crudite scraped off
Milton Petrie's gold-edged plate.
Most catering companies have40

OUTTWEEKSJptember 4,1989

decidedly sexist and racist hiring policies. Few women are ever hired andpeople of all colors are predominantly
excluded from the ranks, except Caucasoid males with varying degrees of tanning bed tint. Among the hundreds ofsuccessful companies in the area, several have large and profitable accounts
with the wealthiest people and corporations in the country. Each night inMetropolis thousands of young men
and women, most of them gays and lesbians, converge on museums and meeting halls with a garment bag slung overa shoulder, a full black tuxedo inside.
Ranging from the enormous top two,
Glorious Food and Abigail Kirsch, tothe small yet posh Food Lovers, the city
is served by a variety of companies,
each employing a discreet army ofqueer men and women in black.
Very few of these companies haveanything resembling a union policy.
Except for a core group of captains andlongtime employees, most waiters are paid
about fifteen dollars an hour and hired
only a few times a week by one company.
This makes it easier to avoid employee
benefits plans for such large crews, sincemost are part-time. It also leaves the waiters to find other kinds of work or alternatenights with other caterers.
It's not easy to describe the tenuous relationship between the overdressed, usually wealthy guests andthe dapper
gay men who servethem. (J will be speaking mostly ofmen since, due to the sexism,
women cater waiters are very rare.)Unlike restaurant work, tipping is
discouraged.
Sometimes
guestsseem tolerant and even charmed to
be served by so many handsome
men, gay or not. More often, we'rejust ignored. It's an odd chemistry.
People can be quite rude as well as
flirtatious. It's at the dinners where
we're required to wear white gloves
that the most insults can be overheard. Chat among diners occasionally becomes
preoccupiedwithcleanliness, as if disease were transmitted by French service.
Most of the waiters I work withclaim to be actors. Occasionally while
we dress, flyers are passed about forsomeone's upcoming showcase, but
most rely on catering to pay the rent.
As the co-owner of a successful company stated in our training session,"You may call yourselves actors or
singers, but you
have chosen cateringtomakemoney. If you don't
feel comfortable
with
that,
you
should get out of
the business.»
A lot of people
I've talked with
don't feel comfortable with that fact.
Some have sufferedsuch a mind bend,
they turn down
performing opportunities to do catering,jobs. "What did
you come. to New
York to do? Performorfoldnapkins?"
I ask
them. Of course I
know the value ofa good paycheck,but the mental
drain flares up in
odd ways. "I want • ...oi
to behead this creep," my friend Chet
whispered to me one night, while weboth stood directly behind the man,wine bottles poised in deceptive control. It seemed the man had put his
cigar out in a votive candle at Chet'stable. The cigar didn't piss Chet off somuch as the decadent disregard for thetable setting. To Chet, it symbolized the
man's hatred for service people in general and toward him for being a handsome and threateningly gay man.
Though there are many like Chet
and myself, catering seems to meet theneeds of gay men with a streak of thesnob (I have a serious problem working under these conditions and havemade the shift to other work). For
thousands of handsome gay whitemen, catering is the preferred means ofincome. They have no qualms about
serving medallions of veal to the CEOof Coors. They haven't a. second
thought about getting another scotch
for William F. Buckley, who would
rather see us all tattooed than tuxedo
These gay waiters balance out their
hypocrisy with the amusement of dishing Estee Lauder's latest luncheon outfit
while slapping down her steak.
Some of the really cute guys are

distinctly apathetic about lesbian andgay rights. One muscled hunk, freshfrom the Midwest, told me he was gay
but wasn't
reallyinterested
in
Stonewall and "all that stuff..
Gays and lesbians are also among
the ranks of owners and managers inmany companies. Some donate leftovers to AIDS hospices or God's LoveWe Deliver. However, the only place
I've seen leftovers go after a big event
is in the trash or in the bags of waiters.
Along with ra'mpant waste, inside
elitism is high. The prettier workers risethrough the ranks, while most are fed
poorly, rushed through short breaks innine to ten hour shifts.
The simple'act of getting hired bya better paying company involves astereotypically gay challenge: Who do
you know in the company? Who haveyou slept with? Are you cute? In orderto get an interview or the privilege ofattending a tedious training session,
most companies demand a mailed 8" X
10" headshot
and a food service
resume. As in all cattle calls, good
looks are tantamount. Short hair isessential and earrings a no-no. One
uptown company supposedly has acomputer file of waiters sorted by raceand hair color
so the help canbe distributed
according to the
bias
of
the
client. The "A"list consists ofsquarejawed
Aryan crewcut
blonds with narya straight boy
among them.
What makes
a gay man work
under such conditions? I certaintly
can't
speak
for allcater
waitersbut, for me, it
was greed andsloth.
Whatother job offers
as few as ten
people to servein a posh homeor museum plus
the opportunity
to glance at the Glamorous and Global
for about a hundred bucks a night?
Some waiters go so far as to delight inseeing the next days' "reviews" in the
SOCietycolumns. Perchance the Times
will feature oneself or a friend, standing penguinlike in the background andslightly out of focus behind Ivana or
Jackie O.
A prevalent shared fantasy among
cater waiters, and one that perpetuates
the industry'S success, is the belief thatthrough the business a lucky guy or gal
SLAVE TRADE continued on page 70

September 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK

41

Someday $oon we expect - and hope - condoms will fall out of Hallmark greeting cards when
we open them up. 'Cause let's face it rubbers arefast entering into that familiar Hall of Fame withbaseball. apple pie and Chevrolet. And so it's only
appropriate that the Fashion Insitute of Technology
will be housing a small display called The Conspicuous
Condom (September 5-12). which.
according to the press release, Misan unexpected.
unpretentious. undogmatic. irreverent and witty

inquiry into contemporary culture:
The display
features condom packaging. advertising. specialties. T-shirts and gift items such as Bed Ross (pictured here), which can be found at card stores andspecialty shops around Manhattan. Says curator
Richard Martin: Minthe past five years the condom
has achieved visibility as an artifact and in polite
discussion. An icon is being created in our own
time out of an age-old secret; this exhibition studies the emergence of a new imagery':-M.S.
Photo: Irving Solera

September 4, 1989

OUrYWEEK43

We rlther like the all-new
end improved d,.ignof theN.w York Tim.. ,trut vending
mlchinu
which I~e mlking
their debut III .ver town.

-M.S.

Photography by: ll. litt
42

OUrYWEEK

September4, 1989

TI

By: Michelangelo

Signorlle

still a tidy sum, but hardly the nationaldebt" (Oh, gee Liz, that makes me feelbetter).
On Night/ine, Koppel framed theForbes party as "excessive"
and"extravagant" and then asked Liz, who
kept reiteriating that she was there"working," what she thought. "It was
horrible," she answered, as I thoughtthat finally Liz was gaining a conscience. But then she continued, "Imean, there was no air conditioning
and the lines were too long."The Daily News put it on page
two. ABC sent a slew ofreporters. And Newsday listed the names of all 600 or so guests
who were flown to Morroco. Of
course we're speaking of that megalomaniacal, vicious show of American
excess and waste: Malcolm Forbes'
three million dollar (0 70th birthday
doo in Tangier.
As far as we're concerned themost fun and revealing item that cameout of the whole gluttonous mess was
the one headlined WHO WAS WITH
WHOM IN TANGIER, in which
Richard Johnson at, Page Six (NewYork Post) printed the names of someof the more curious guests whoshared rooms at Tangier's
Hotel
Solazur. And though Johnson could
be accused of lesbian-baiting (sincehe's heterosexual, he's not allowed to
say the things that we - or at least I- say about ourselves), one of his
observations was most interesting:"Room 213 was listed to archeologist
Iris Love and Daily News columnist
Liz Smith." (FINGER SNAP!)
The big, fat Forbes bash was infact the food for the gossips last week,
especiallythe ones who kissed
Malcolm's ass long enough so as toget themselves flown over to Morroco.
When it was over, Liz Smith, Robin
Leach
and
RichardCohen(Washington Post) joined Ted Koppel
for a "discussion" on Nightline. Only
days before, Liz had defended thecomparatively
smaller
Gayfryd
Steinberg one-mil lion-dollar party,
writing, "it cost considerably less thanthe $1 million everybody loves toguess at. My own educated reasoningis that it cost more like $250,000 -An angry Cohen, who did notattend and who attacked Liz for her
defense of Steinberg, lashed out at
Forbes, saying the party was a nightmare simply because it happened"while people in the world are starving." Leach chuckled, pontificatingthat the rich "have the right to spend
their money the way they want."
Koppel agr~ed, saying something
grotesque about capitalism, while Liz
jumped in calling Cohen a "moralist,"
and adding that "in these times ofexcess, these [million dollar or morel
parties are just a drop in the bucket."
Not my bucket, Liz baby!
Of course Cindy Adams (NewYork Post) wasn't invited on to
Nightline for the "discussion," but did
go to Tangier - and gave us daily
reports in the Post, nauseatingly goingon and on about Forbes and his"date" Elizabeth Taylor. Her homophobia even surfaced in her discussion of guest Walter Cronkite who"knows lots of queens - and not theGreenwich Village kind." Right Cindy.
It's your friend Malcolm Forbes who
knows that kind.
Which
leads
us to Billy(Goldberg) Norwich (Daily News),
who also knows his share of thatkind. And yet, he keeps on printing
things like "Forbes' on-again, off-again
sweetheart, Liz Taylor," while doing
the Monacco thing with Will iam F.
Buckley, Henry Kissinger and the restof the homophobic,
murderous
bunch. How glamourous!
~

September 4, 1989

OUTYWEEK

45

o
BY

Dear Brad:
I really thought our relationshipwas doomed. Ever since I moved inwith Brian all we did was get on eachother's nerves. I couldn't stand theway he organized his medicine chestand he always had something nasty to
say about my choice of music and soon until after a while it seemed like
we were deliberately going out of ourway to antagonize each other. Then,
thank God, a concernedfriendshowed us a copy of your column on
conflict management in relationships.
We figured we had nothing to lose
and gave it a try and you wouldn't
believe the difference it made! Insteadof constantly bickering, we became
civil to one another which was far
more pleasant. When he comes home
I turn off the stereo so he knows I
care enough to make the sacrifice andhe has been absolutely meticulous in
letting me arrange the medicine chest
just the way I like it. Whenever wethink we're about to say something
potentially hurtful we just keep our

UT

OF

MV
HANDS
BRADLEY
BALL
mouths shut and wait until thatun~asymomenthas
passed.
Sometimes we'll go for days without
exchanging a harsh word. Everyone
who predicted that our relationshipwouldn't last the weekend is now
amazed at the transformation. As an
added bonus, because of our newfound reputation for quietness, we'vebeen much in demand as bouseguests
all summer long! Thanks for yourhelp.

-De,,,,"

Dear DennJs:
Sometimes, late atl night, when I
wonder if it's all worth it, I think
about letters like yours and find comfort in the thought that I've made'a
difference in somebody's life. If I
believed in God, I'd ask him to blessyou. But I don't.
Dear Brad:.
aB" and I have been good friends
for nearly nine years now but lately
he's really been testing the limits ofthat friendship. You see, he bought a

VCR in January and now everytime heinvites me and our other friend, aJ,.
over to play cards we're also forced
to watch Vanessa Redgrave movies.
We didn't know until now just how
vast her body of film work was. It
was all right at first with the goodmovies like Blowup and Isadora andwe tried to be polite about Camelot
but now he's moved on to things like
Agatha and The Bostonians.
Lastnight he went too far and showed
Bear Island (there's a very good reason why nobody remembers
thatone). We just don't know how, without hurting his already fragile ego, totell "B" that enoughis enoughalready, especially since he always
lets us win at "Hearts· and serves
good liquor. "J" has taken to faking
migraines to get out of these evenings
and I'm only sorry I didn't think ofthat first. "B" is a faithful reader of thiscolumn and quotes you all the time,
so I thought maybe if you ran this letter he'd see it and get the hint. --GDear "G":To be quite honest, I don't
exactly see what the problem is since
Ms. Redgrave is undoubtedly
thegreatest living actress and brings anextraordinary luminescence even to
the most dismal film. If, however,
you and aJ" are such philistines thatyou can't pleasantly participate in anelevating experience which obviously means a great deal to "B" then I
suggest the you tell aB" to his faceand not rely on this column to doyour dirty work (and what could be
dirtier than denying your "goodfriend" tlie simple pleasure of quality
entertainment in his own home?). As
I have ~cently been informed, conflicts can only be resolved by open
and honest communication. Don't be
surprised, however, if you and oJ"
have to recruit another patsy for yourcard games.
~

44

OUTTWEEK

September 4, 1989Social Terrorism

Photos by Erich Conrad

EVERYBODY DOESNT UKE SOMETHING
SlIrllh Lee of the B-52S lind Betty .. Bitzi lit Jones Belich

A KISS IS SnLL A KISS
Lo"e" .t I'yremid

WILL IDAHO USCENCE PlATt 6941D PLEASE REPORT TO...
B-5b' Fred Schneider.,Jon .. BelICh perry

BEVY OF BEAUTEE
B.".rly

Johnson lit Sound Fllctoty

LAY YOUR LOVIN' ON ME
Gil.t ACT UP's benefit

DAMN, FORGOTTHAT DENTAL DAM
Nlltali. lit Sound Fllctoty

OUT.... WEEK

September 4, 1989

THE PAUSE OF MS CLAWS
Gramp. Hoofpynpoei." .tLo". "'lfChin.

THATS RIGHT, 10 HOURS TO PUT ON THIS DAMN MAKEUP
BIM. "'osl.y .t Act Up" Nn.fit.t
Sound F.ctory

EDDIE LUVS ASIA LOVE
Asill LO".lInd Eddi. lit th. Act Up benefit at Sound Factory

I DREAMT I WAS QUEEN OF THE KNIGHTS IN MY MAIDENFORM ...
at ACT Up-. Nn.fit, Sound Factoryr.,."dlJ

SUCK IT TO ME,BUBBY
B-SZs' KlltlJ lI"'r tblJ show at Jones Beach

ALOHAI
Keith Haring lit Sound FlfCtory

TAKE ME, SHAKE ME, ANYWAY YOU WANT ME
Bruce of the B-SZs opens up

September 4, 1989

OUTYWEEK47

not meeting. So after all that lingering eye contact and smiling, speak up! Favorite topics
of conversation are site specjflC:
CUbby Hole: How goocIIbad the videos are, how little space there is...
Cave canan: How many cute/obnoxious girls there are, why the door woman

gives such attitude, how that voluptuous girl ever got the nerve to go in the pool witha white t-shirt and no bra ...
Love Mach1ne, Man on Sunday, any gay men's club/bar: Where are the girls,
why do boys have all the fun, isn't the deejay great/terrible, I hear Madonna's intown ...
Acr UP meeting; What is going on?, where's the next demonstration?, are you
going?, who's that girl with the hair?
Anywhere: News, politics, straight men, Madonna, the state of lesbian nightlife ...
(Small talk is hard enough when you have to do it. Don't overextend yourself.
Besides, important conversations are one way to tell the dykes/gay women from thegirls/wimmin.)Once You've Spoken:
Is it going well? Do you have anything in common (that includes lusting after one
another)? Has one of you bought drinks for the other? Has anyone asked if it mattered?
If you've answered yes, then you are well on your way to cruising success. You
have some options:
Keep talking. It will eventually get late, and you caQ get each other'S phone numbers, plan to meet again wherever you are, meet somewhere else, or even go somewhere else now (for those girls with avant-garde empioyment). This is usually safe,
and the anticipation of seeing them again makes for a week of eXciting fantasizing. If
you do go somewhere else, or leave together, keep reading:.
You're both leaving. The best strategy is to live downtown and hope they live in
Brooklyn. If it's late, they can always spare themselves that long, dangerous ride homeby staying at your house. If you live near each other, share a cab, and agree to get out
at one person's house". This way the only polite thing to do is to ask them up to seethat issue of On Our Backs you were talking about earlier. Or have another drink.
If you just know that the two of you are not going to work out for even one night(you're both butch, you're both femme, she's radical, you're fifteen ...), do not give up
on the lesbian nation! Remember, we are diverse and you weren't standing alone in
the corner all night either. In addition, since this is the smallest of small towns, you'll
run into each other again (the odds increase the more you didn't get along), and it will
be nice not to stand alone, again.
Notes For Speda1 SItuations:1) This is fairly tame advice for the more adventurous of you. But one can assume
if you're that adventurous, you've worked on your own strategies anyway. Suffice it to
say that there are women who can look you up and down for a little while, walk up toyou, whisper in your ear that there's an ice cube with your name on it in their
kitchens, and you'll be so aroused you'll awaken three days later somewhere in New
York with hickies like leech bites. If you are one of them, please exercise the talentmuch more frequently, thank you.
2) There are some girls who don't know they're being cruised. You have to hit
them over the head with $eir own libido (confess, you know who you are). They areusually the sweetest girls you'll ever meet, and are worth the effort. Just make sure
you'r~ not mistaking them for someone with a "wifen who happens to be watching thetwo of-you out of the corner of her eye. What you think is shyness could be fear.
3) Cruising with friends: Cruising is for all intents and purposes a one-woman operation, unless of course you're seeking a third for an orgy. Observe proper etiquette, tell
the object of your affections, ·she's my friend, not my girlfriend,· and layout the
ground rules before you go out: Should you make a date for later, or can you go homewith her now? Can your friend get home alone? Can you get home alone? Are you andyour friend just avoiding the fact that it's each other you want? All this and more is whatmakes lesbian friendship the festival of female bonding that lights up our lives.
Have fun, be safe and don't say you weren't warned.
~"Aren'tyou
tired ofgoing todyke
parties,dances,bars andsafer
sexforumsandcominghomewith noaneta
try yourdentaldam
on???"

September 4, 1989

OUT~WEEK

49

•

•
Hc>~
~c>

c:r1.Jis <:::?' <-:.ir Is.by Li:z:. TrCl:ce--y

Photo: IL. LittIf cruising were music, then lesbian cruising would be
Muzak. Due to our parents, high school and the culture-at-Iarge,
we girls have been taught that we don't cruise,-we get cruised
Well, that's fabulous. But if your preferences run toward othergirls, especially cute blondes in leather jackets, then honey,
you'll all be waiting a long, long time for some action.
With this in mind, the time has come for some helpful
hints for the cruising-impaired. Aren't you tired of going todyke parties, dances, bars and safer sex forums and coming
home with no one to try your dental dam out with??? Let'sseize control of our sexuality, get out there and have somefun. Here we go ...
Before We Get Started:
The first prerequisite for cruising a girl is knowing if

48

OUTTWEEK

September 4, 1989

she's a dyke/lesbian/gay woman. So, this article is issuing achallenge (certainly not for the first or last time in this city):a lesbian visibility campaign. Numerous kiss-ins, brunches instraight havens and grinding on dance floors seem to becalled for. They won't know who to go for if they think you
have Michael J. Fox on your wall.
After We Are All Visible:
Be friendly. As Michael Musto has written, "friendly isin." If you're giving out bad attitude like an unwashed sock,
you're asking for nothing but heartache and a lot of that act
which no one need look their best for. If someone smiles atyou, smile back. What's the worst that can happen, you get
invited to a spaghetti potluck ...
Communication is essential If you're not talking, you'reFilmDressed to Pillage
lties'.:- of .War. Directed
De Palma: Written by
'.~

-,"

,

be from the book by
ng. Produced by Art~tiSed by Columbia.

by Peter BowenI

war
f is hell, then war films are
the special hell of film goers.
And for my generation,
theVietnam War has become that particular hell which we are continually
forced to remember, even as govern-

mental foreign policy seems hell-bent
on forgetting it. For myself, the specific hell of war films is never that they
are too horrible to witness, but rather
that they are never-and never could
be-horrible
enough. For the horrorthat is necessarily omitted in the usagainst-them scenario of war films isthe specific horror of the other side.
Whether Hollywood cinematicallydreams Vietnam as a machine-gunning
fantasy (Rambo) or as literary nightmare (Apocalypse Now), its dreaminevitably takes Vietnam out of its
own historical reality and transforms it
into a hellish back lot of the American
psyche. Here,sweltering, tangled
jungle and the local people and theirlanguage are blurred together into a

A SPECIAL KIND OF HELL

Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox

50

OUTTWEEK

September 4, 1989

ttf

continuously dangerous and utterly
incomprehensible
background-abackground through which American
soldiers must trudge as each grapples
with his own conscience and national
identity. But does Vietnam have ageographical place, a national history,
a culture, or a political future? Not
really, for as we are reassured at theend of Brian De Palma's military slasher film, Casualties of War, Vietnam
was after all only a "bad dream."
In Casualties of War, it is Private
Eriksson's (Michael J. Fox) remembrance of his experience in Vietnam
that functions as the narrative's structuring device. Eriksson's dream/memory of Vietnam is sparked off by thepresence of a Vietnamese woman on
a San Francisco bus who bears an
uncanny resemblance to the woman
his squad kidnapped, then brutally
raped and murdered in Vietnam years
before. And while this woman's pres-ence recreates, and finally pardons,
his personal involvement in the crime,
the pUblic and allegorical dimensionsof his private nightmare are maderidiculously clear by the day's newspaper's headlines announcing Nixon's
resignation. Taken from an actual incident-originally
told in a 1969 New
Yorker article by Daniel Lang-De
Palma and screenwriter David Rabe
have taken poetic justice into theirown hands by creating a wartime version of The Accused which, according
to De Palma, "encapsules our involvement in Vietnam in a simple, dramaticstory" with "all the elements of a classical tragedy."W

hat is most classical about
this wartime tragedy isless the artfully tilted
shots or stylishly edited combat scenes
than the fact that the final conflict isultimately a moral debate between
straight, white men.' As with Charlie
Sheen's realization as he rises far
above the maddening crowds of war
in the last few minutes of Piatoon that
America was really at war withitself-a conclusion that obviously forgets the entire Vietnamese population-Casualties of War transforms therape of the Vietnamese woman, Oahn
(Thuy Thu Le), into a fight between
Eriksson and his grunting sergeant,Meserve (Sean Penn).
Barred from Saigon's whorehouses, Meserve angrily turns Vietnam into
his personal brothel by requisitioning
a local woman
as his squad's"portable R&R." As Meserve's troop
drags Oahn through the mountainous
jungle with Ennio Morricone's forbidcling soundtrack hounding them likethe classical furies, Eriksson finds
himself caught between his American
sense of decency ("Sarge, I don't think
this is right") and th<:;army's code ofmale bonding. After all, Meserve had
saved Eriksson's life earlier by dragging him out of a collapsed Viet Congtunnel and keeping, within a knifeswipe of time, his masculinity intact.
And it is precisely this "masculinity"that Eriksson won't share with theother boys during the gang rape.
While De Palma made his nameTI
in earlier slasher films by psychoticallyconfusing violence for sex, the articulation of sex as violence in this film
makes it psychotically clear the real
conflict is over the definition of heterosexual masculinity. In the penultimate
momentwhen Eriksson
abstains from participating in the gangrape, his fellow soldiers bring out thatcrushing insult of "faggot." In thisman's army, the only thing worse thana rapist is a faggot, and the penalty for
those who fail' to rape is rape itself.
"Maybe when I'm done with her,' I'll
come after you," Meserve threatens
Eriksson. And in case we have misunderstood the nature of this threat or
the reason for the rape, Meserve,
dropping his rifle and grabbing his
crotch, explains, "this is a weapon."Thus, while certain gay men fetishize
the military as ero.tic, the military, atleast in this case, evokes homosexuality as a reason for violence and rape.
And the woman, who is never even
granted the decency of subtitles toexpress her pain, is killed off in a fightbetween straight, white men.
In the end, Eriksson brings his
squad to trial for their crimes. But
while the trial-whose
actual sentences were much more lenient thanthose fictional sentences meted out inthis film-seems able to differentiate
between murder and war, no one in
the film seems willing to bring the war
to trial. And years later when the mysterious Vietnamese woman on a San
Francisco bus tells Eriksson that his"bad dream" is over, I can only echo
the sentiments of the disgruntled soldier in the film who, after surveying
the landscape he is able to destroy,says, "This is all bullshit'"~

apORTABLE R&R'
17ruy Thu LB
September 4, 1989

OUT~WEEK

51

MusicGirl From Impanema
by Victoria StarrN

othing inspires a music column like an approachingdeadline. Unless, of course,
the deadline is so near that eacll tick of
the clock induces another droplet ofsweat. Just what I need on a hot AugtB52

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989

in my "natural air" living room in
Brooklyn. The only solution is to get into
the groove by heading for the turntable.
And the surest way to relax and cool off
is to reach for Marisa Monte.
·She's the hottest thing on theradio over there,· explained
my friend Lorry, who had justreturned to Lima after passing
a month in his old Brazilian
haunts. "Since you're returning to New Yot:k before me,
you should take this album
with you.· Now, as I listen
again to Monte's self-titled
new album, I'm swept backin time, perhaps to anotherlife, to a sultry, balmy
evening in a smoky Bahiannight club. Or maybe it was
just a movie I saw once.
Either way, the album is sure
to evoke every hedonistic
fantasy ever conjured up
about this most sensual ofSouth American paradises. Allwithout Monte ever brea~ing
into a Samba. WeIl, maybe
just once.
The unusuaIly spontaneous temporal reference(above)must surely be
attributed to an image of thechanteuse,a tradition to'which Monte is Viscerally
attached. Yet her versatility
goes a step beyond, as sl!emoves from torchy ballads tonear rock, while never straying too far from her Afro/Latin
influences. Her band's line-up,
which varies from the "live"
cuts to the more highly polished studio work, offers acreative blend of strings andbrass to round out the widearray of percussive sounds

that are the backbone of most Brazilian
music. In addition, the strength of her
voice allows her to muster a throatyedge, but only when it's most appropriate, opting for a smoother, moresoothing style for cuts like her closiDg
cover of Kurt Weill's ·Speak low.·
Now that
I've
wet
your
appetite, I must also teIl you thatyou might have to go to Brazil topick up this record (finally, theexcuse you've been waiting forI).
Or you could try Tower, since EMI
seems to have had somethingto
do with the album's distribution
south of the border. But in case
you don't find this gem in NY, try
writing Fonobras,. Distribuidora
Fonografica
Brasileira
Ltd.,
Estrada Do Gabinal, 1521, Brazil.
And while at Tower pick up Maria
Bethania (another Brazilian singer,
not a Tower clerk).
In fact, since this is the fsrst issue
in which we at Outweek have had an
official music column, there may be anumber of music choices which wereoverlooked in your summer shopping
sprees. First off is Neneh Cherry's
Raw Like Sushi, where a cut like "NextGeneration," addressing the joys ofplanned parenthood, proves her durability beyond the top 40/dance rotation. True to rap's real roots, this·woman can teach. Other summer
faves have included
Cindy Lee
Berryhill's Naked Movie Star, EU's
Livin' Large, and SheIley Thunder'sReggae Dancehall single Kuff.
Newsflash: MTV says that if they
could turn back time they would haveasked Cher to wear more clothes forher latest video If We Could Turn
Back Time. And if I could leap into
my television I would show thoseleering sailor boys just what to dowith those canons they're riding. ~Performance

Making America Safe for Songby Joe E. Jeffreys

Musical comedy isn't noted
for its high mortality rate.
The W.P.A.Theater's current production of Doug Wright andMichael John LaChiusa's Buzzsaw
Berkeley whirs through this convention
with a bloody vengeance while joyously sending up all the others.
A musical meeting of 1930s
Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland "I've got
a barn, let's put on a show" mUSicals,
and 1980s low budget slasher films,
the premise is simple and delivered
with exposition-as
intentionally bald
as Ethyl Eichelberger's second act title
character's pate.
It seems that Grove Hollow,
U.S.A. circa 1939 is being terrorized bya series of horrendous murders. The
one connecting factor-thevictims
were all rapturously engaged in songat the time of death. Mickey Looney(Keith Reddin) and Judy Gorgon(Shauna Hicks) meet at the local soda
shop, a la Our Town, and plot to capture the murderer by staging a simple
revue,The Historyof Human
Civilization,
thus making America
once again safe for song. Yet they lack
the requisite barn.
Judy energetically sets out to rectify the situation by meeting with the
proprietress of the local barn andserendipitously former vaudeville starMiss
ChromaSoames(EthylEichelberger). The course of their chatreveals that old Miss Soames conceived a demon child out of wedlockby the flamboyant producer Buzzsaw
Berkeley (Eichelberger).
The lovechild w~ shamefully locked in a trunkfull of old vaudeville skits and sheetmusic and has consequently evolved
with a vocabulary entirely constitutedby these genres. Upon compulsively
killing his mother engaged
in asong-"That
Demon
Baby
of
Mine"-hebemoans the act withBUZZING THROUGH HOLLYWOOD HISTORY

Photo: Martha Swope

Ethyl Eichelberger and John Hickok in Buzzsaw Berkely
Jolsonesque flair, "Mammy, Mammy!"
The child is now roaming the streetswith vengeance in his eyes and buzzsaw in hand. The premise established, we areset for a series of murders and musicalnumbers as horrific as they are
humorous. By the end of the evening
the body count rivals any Jacobean
tragedy or for that matter current
slasher film. The cause of death bysong catalogue includes: falling chandelier, piranha and hanging vine
attack and sundry others too silly formention lest the fun be spoiled.
Original producer of Little Shop of
Horrors, the W.P.A.theater has on theirhands what appears to be a calculated
attempt to reproduce the former's success. The show is designed for a single
set and seven actors double and triple
cast into thirteen roles by means ofover fifty costume changes. It is currently scored for a single musician on
piano and percussIon.
The music, though apt, falls short.

The show's original concept called for
only "source" music. Perhaps the creators should have stayed with thisnotion. Only one number proves memorable-"You'll
Never Possess a
Queen"-and is milked for all its worth.
The book, however, is a delight.
Aficionados of stage and screen will
be stringently tested to follow theplethora of allusions which keep themind spinning as fiercely as Berkeley's
well-greased chafnsaw blades. Little
Miss Prudy Doody (Vicki Lewis)
claims to have "snorted better lines
than these." If true, the price musthave been exorbitant and the productextremely pure. From Long Day's
Journey into Night to The Bad Seed to
The Wizard of Oz to Ester Williams'
films and even a shot at Little Shop of
Horrors no source is too venerable forthis jumbalaya.
Christopher Ashley's imaginative
direction is laudable. No part of the theater space, including the audience and

September 4, 1989

See BUZZSAW on paga 68

OUTTWEEK

53

BooksThe Importance of Not Being Ernest
by David Feinberg

Ihave always hated Hemingway.
His macho posturing offends myhomo sensibility. With his concise style and flat prose, I blame him
for being the father of the minimalists.
But it is his endless sentences thatreally get to me, those endless sentences made up of short words thatstart slow and gentle and keep on
pounding away at me like a man who
had too much to drink pounding his·head away at a wall until it begins to
bleed and not stopping for rest, continually pounding away until he loses
all consciousness, and the next morning when I wake up I find out that I
have bruises on my skull, and my hairis matted with dried blood.
Christopher Davis writes well,
but he should cast off the mantle of
Hemingway and stick to his own
voice. It's always unfair to quote a
few sentences out of context from astory; yet lines like:I did not know then that his
name was Tommy and that hewould be important to our story.
If I had known what he wasgoing to do I would havepunched him.
stick out like a sore thumb. They
strike me as inappropriate
for the'character about which he writes, bothin tone and action.
Davis' first novel, Joseph and the
Old Man (and the Sea?), was full of
the monotonous Hemingway style.
His second novel, The Valley of the
Shadow, displayed substantial growth
as a writer. Davis wrote skillfully andmovingly of two men with AIDS in

54

OUTTWEEK

September 4,1989

Manhattan, using the device of theunreliable narrator to strong effect..
The Boys in the Bars is a collection of
thirteen short stories that take place
for the most part in g~y Manhattan,
with a few side trips to gay resorts(Fire Island, the Caribbean). Severalof thesestoriesappearedin
Christopher Street. The stories, withthe exception of History, appear in
the order in which they were written.
Davis writes about gay professionals in their thirties, Latino hustlers,

TIGHT AS A DRUM

Christopher Davis
alcoholics in the tropics, marriedlatent homosexuals in their fifties fascinated with tearoom trade, men withobsessive desires, quarreling lovers,
Puerto Rican studs and men addicted
to seducing straights, among others.
His stories are full of desire, longing
and sex. They generally end on sad
notes: drunks pass out, narrators
reveal they are ill, lovers break up
and friends die. Throughout Daviswrites clearly and directly.
I can't think of a Single collectionof short stories towards which I
haven't had mixed responses. The
title story, which also appears in Men
on Men, v. 2 (New American Library),is excellent: funny, dishy and trashy,
yet with a strong dark undercurrent. A
group of gay men meet nightly in abar that resembles
the Monster,
exchanging
confidences,
flirting,
falling in and out of relationships,
against the backdrop of AIDS. The
close comraderyof this groupreminded me of the best of Ethan
Morrden's stories. On first reading I
felt cheated by what seemed to me an
unmotivated ending; yet, rereading, I
appreciated how seamlessly it read,and how inexorably it progressed
toward its conclusion.
Davis' [untitled] story about awriter and a young homeless runaway
who pursues him was creepy andunsettling. Their bizarre relationshipgradually develops into a compulsive
dependency. I was drawn into theirtangled web against my will. By theend of this involuted story I was once
again impressed at how well everything fit together.
FireflieS is a poignant reminiscence of Eddie, an innocent young
man with a magical quality abouthim, who shared his unique perceptions of light, color and love with themarried narrator. Eddie's lyrical gracelies at the center of this tale. The story
has a wonderful symmetric structure,moving from the aftermath of one
funeral to another one.
A few of the stories in this collection are slight throwaways. I have ageneral aversion towards "lite" fiction.
Watercolors, about a man who leaves
his wife for a former professional
football player, compresses so muchinformation in a few brief impressions
that finally it's merely an exercise: thestory is missing. Reunion, where twoarmy buddies meet at the Plaza for
drinks, is another trifle without much
substance: it reads like a gay versionof some minor Hemingway
orFitzgerald story. There are two drunk
See BOYS on page 68

BooksRythmic Urgency
Poets FQr.,Life: S,eventy-Slx:}J~.ets Respond to AIDS,.>~n"idl;>y M~fhaeI K1ei9, Cr()wn
lerS, In~'f55 pages, $18.95
flver).
'by Robert LongP

oet Michael Klein decided in1988 that it was time toassemble the best poems on
AIDS-from gay people and straightpeople, those without AIDS and thosewith it, those who have tested HIV
positive and those who haven't,
from those who have lost loved
ones, who are losing them, whofear losing them.
Seventy-six poets are includedin the anthology, ranging from thelong-established(Philip Booth,Robert Cree ley, Edward Field,
Thorn Gunn, Allen Ginsberg, June
Jordan, James Merrill, Adrienne
Rich, Jean Valentine) through the
middle generation (Marilyn Hacker,
J.D. McClatchy, Heather McHugh,and others) to the youngest contemporaries,
whose voices are
already imprinting themselves on
our culture (Henri Cole, Tim
Dlugos, Mark Doty, Brad Gooch,
Ed Hirsch, Lynda Hull, Robert
Louthan, Molly Peacock, David
Trinidad and more).
What is most stirring, mostaffecting about the anthology is
the urgency of utterance, the insistent profundity of almost every
poem. In looking critically at contemporary poetry, one usually
becomes aware of stylistic affinities between one poet and another, and one can often trace thedescent of a group of younger
poets from one or two senior figures (the "New York School," forexample, largely grows out ofFrank O'Hara and John Ashbery).
There are those who write moreformally than others (James Merrill isthe obvious example), and those who
prefer a poem that looks as if it Simply
fell onto the page in an unrestricted
outpouring of inspiration, an overflowing that may be Romantic or simply journalistic. Some poets' lines are
determined by measured syllables or
accents; some rhyme and some don't.
This poet's music is that poet's din.
Some write skinny lines (one to threewords long) and some write in great
fat stanzas. Some poems are elegantly
cooked; some are raw.
At bottom, though, in this writer'S

view, poetry has to swing-it should
utilize the natural pulse of language,rhythm, stress: the organic correlative isthe heartbeat. The impulses in lines of
poetry may be regularly or irregularlyorganized, consistent or not, but without a pulse of sound or stress thepoem is dead: it don't mean a thing if
it ain't got that swing. And although it
would seem impossible to write poems
without that underlying living breathing, it's amazing how many bad poems
appear in magaZines and books, reamsof trash, poems whose blood has been
drained in the voyage from mind orheart to the flat white page.
There's not a bad poem in Poets
for Life, and 'there are a truly astonishing number of very good poems.
Often when reading anthologies one
will tend to pick out recognizable
names and go to them first; manyanthologies are organized according to stylistic affinities or geographicalclustering,age
groupings: anthologies which arepartially about the way to makean anthology. Poets for Life runs A
to Z and is organized by virtue ofa straight line of urgency andbeauty, cutting across concerns ofgenerationand gender. The
book's focus is clear and unwavering, and the reader becomes
immediately, deeply engaged in it.
The quality of writing is superior,and the poems-manyof themwritten specifically for this project-are often the very best work
these poets have done.
Poets for Life reads like' anovel, an unflinching testimonial,
a diary of pain and rage, of grief,of elation a.nd affirmation. It is
impossible
to put down,itdemands to be re-read, and isunforgettable.
Michael Klein has done an
extraordinary job of editing-<>ne
can only wonder how many good
poems he was forced to leave out
due to space restrictions. There's
not a wasted word in the book, ameasure both of the quality of these
poems and the degree of each writer's honesty and passion.
~

September 4, 1989

OUT~WEEK

55

COMMUNITY
For information on listingyournon-profit organization, call
Tom Eubanks at 685-5277.

A.C,o.C,
AIDS CENTER OF QUEENS COUNTYSOCIAL SERVICESofDUCATION-BUDDIESCOUNSELING-SUPPORT GROUPS
Volunteer Opportunitiea(718) 896-2500(voice) (718) 896-2985(1'DD)

ACT UP(AIDS C'Oalition to Unleash Power)
400A Hudson Street, Suite G4 NYC 10014(212)989-1114
A diverse, non-partisan group of individuals unitedin anger and committed to direct action to end the
AIDS crisis. Gelleral meetings Mon. nights 7:30 at
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BAR ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Lawyers Referral
Service for the Lesbian and Gay Community
Full Range of Legal ServiceS(212) 459-4873
BAR ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTSFree Walk-in Legal Clinic Tuesday 6-8 pm
Lesbian and Gay Community Center
Ground Floor

BODY POSITIVE
If you or your lover has teated HIV+,
we offer support groups, seminars, public forums,
reference library, referrals, social activities and upto- date national monthly, "THE BODY POSITIVE"($1!i/year).
(212) 633-1782.
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For info. call: (212) 929·9498.

EDGE
For the physically disabled Lesbianand Gay Community.
P.O.Box 305 Village Station
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DIRECTORYFRIENDS OF RUTH MESSINGER
Make a Difference!
Ruth Messinger for Manhattan Borough President.
Volunteer meeting and mailing
Tuesday, Aug. 29th
6:30-8:30 pm
at DC 37,125 Barclay Street
Call 268-5033 to RSVP and for more details.

FRONT RUNNERS
A running club for lesbian and gay athletes of allabilities.
Fun Runs of Hi miles held every Sal at 10
am and Weds. at 7pm in Central Park and every
Tues. at 7pm in Prospect Park.
For information: call (212) 724-9700.

THE FUND FOR HUMAN DIGNITY
National Gay and Lesbian Crisis Line"AIDS 800"---1-800-S0S·GAYS
Educational Resource Center; Positive Images
Media Center; NY State Arts Program
666 Broadway Suite 410 NYC, NY 10012(212) 529-1600

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80 Varick Street, NYC 10013(212) 966-1700 GLMD
combats homophobia in the media and elsewhereby promoting visibility of the lesbian and gay
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public anti·gay bigotry.

HEAL
Health Education AIDS Liaison
Weekly info and support group for treatments for
AIDS which do not compromise the immune systemfurther, including alternative and holistic
approaches.
Wed 8pm.
208 West 13th Street(212)674-HOPE.

HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE
for lesbian and gay youth. Counseling, drop-in
center (M-F, 3-6pm), rap groups, Harvey Milk HighSchool, AIDS and safer sex information, referrals, professional education.
(212) 633-8920(voice)(212) 633-8926 TTY for deaf

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Precedent-setting litigation nationwide for lesbians, gay men and people with AIDS. Membership ($35
and up) includes newsletter and invitations to
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Intake calls:
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LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY SERVICES
CENTER
208 West 13th Street New York, Ny 10011(212) 620-7310
9am-llpm everyday.
A place for community organizing and networking,social services, cultural programs, and social
events sponsored by the Center and more than 150
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LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS PROJECT• oftheAmerican Civil Liberties Union
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS/WE'RE EXPANDING THEM
(212) 944-9800, ext.. 545

LESBIANS AND GAYS OF RATBUSH
Brooklyn's social organization for both gay men
and lesbians.
P.O. Box 106, Midwood Station
Brooklyn, NY 11230(718) 859-9437

NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE
is the national grassroots political organization for
lesbians and gay men. Membership is $3OIyear.
Issue-oriented projects address violence, sodomy
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NGLTF 1517 U Street NW, Washington, DC 20009.
(202)332·6483.

NORTHERN UGHTS ALTERNATIVES
Improving Quality of Life for
People with AI DS!H IV.
THE AIDS MASTERY WORKS HOP: Exploring thepossibilities of a powerful and creative life in theface of AIDS.
Call Jack Godby(212) 337-8747

NYC GAY & LESBIAN ANTI-VIOLENCE PROJECT
Counseling, advocacy, and information forsurvivors of anti-gay and anti-lesbian violence,
sexual assault, domestic violence, and other typesof victimization. All services free and confidential.
24 hour hotline (212) 807-0197
PEOPLE WITH AIDS COALITION(212) 532·0200 Hotline(212) 532-0568
Monday thru Friday 10am-6pm
Meal programs, support groups, educa- tional andreferral services for f1INA's and PWArc's.

SAGE:
Senior Action in B Gay Environment
Social Service Agency providing care, activities,
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HELP WANTEDCONTRACTORS:::::JSJ
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ADMINISTRATIVEASSISTANT
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CLUBS

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OutWeek
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HELP WANTED
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Qla .. ••Aw... Wl..... GaylOll labl ..
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Qualifications should Include: Minimum 2
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strong news and ed~orlal writing capabil~y.

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GWF,28,
BARBARIAN
Romantic
Rocker,Pagan, Slim, 5'3 1/2",
with wild sense ofhumor and deep blueeyes seeks feminine
GWF, slim 18-25, intelligent & sensitive.
under 5'2" who likes
rock.
NYC, Bugs
Bunny and Metaphysics. I like to leadbut I don't like to push.
Foto
optional.
OutWeek Box 1013

LOOKS & BRAINSGWM, 30, 6'1", 170.
Good-looking and intelligent.
Baseball,politics, arts, books,
pubs,
safe
sex.
Interested? P.O. Box
1005
StuyvesantStation, NY 10009.

24 YEAR OLD GRADSTUDENT
into Shakespeare,music, and politicsseeks friend for weekend bike trips. Send
letter and phone # to
OutWeek Box 1133.

MUSCLEMANIA
Horny WM BB, 34,
5'7", 155#, 44c.,33w.,
16a.,hndsm, hlthy &built like a brick seeks
BB buddies for sis, titplay and body worship. Ph/ph to Box1165, Chelsea Station,
10011.

BODYBUILDER
5'10",
195,42,
49c.,33w.,17a., seeks
other muscle studs
built like me or betterlor hot muscle action.
Photo appreciated.
Rick, 496A Hudson#H24, NYC 10014.

GWM, ITALIAN, 25
Good-looking,
nice
guy looking to makefriends. Live on L.I.,
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TWO HOT GUYSIGood-looking
white
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Short onwords, long on action.
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Photo, phone a must.
Tom, Box 950, NY, NY
10021.

SUMO
GREAT FRENCH
6'4", 215 Ibs., loves tosuck cock and pleasein shape guys. Write
to MACK P.O. Box
1170, Brooklyn, NY
11240.

COUPLES?
GBM 27 editor/PhD
student/actor, GWM
28 admin.ldean/landscaper together
3
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Our
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We're looking to build
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Interesting
letterOutweek Box 1089

37 year old, muscularwhite male seeks tostart a relationshipwith older GWM over
50 with sumo build,large nipples, andtits(not hairy). Send
photo and descriptionof self to Box 123,
exec. suite, 330 West42nd St., NY, NY
10036.

CULTURED TRADE
I love to be tied up
withoperasandwhippedintoaBroadway play, oreven lashed into a
good movie. I must beforcedtodrink
Margaritas and submit
to fine cuisine. I needsomeone to discipline
me with love andfriendship and bringout the best in me. I
will willingly reCiprocate. I'm a goodlook-ing GWM, 38,6', 190
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moustache, seeking asimilar GWM. Sendme your photo, phone
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to JNP, P.O. Box 39,
Planetarium Station,
NY, NY 10024.

WMJEWISH38, 5'6", 140, bright,
warm, stable, healthconscious, firm bodyfrom weights & bicycling seeks contact
with conserva- tive,
decent built M for a
relationship that we
can share our interests together
Box
1730, Old Chelsea
Station, NYC, NY .

TEDDY BEAR
WANTED:
Chunky, hairy, funny,
affectionate. GWM, 6',
185, 34, beard, hairy,
herpes. I like IiIm, theatre, dining and comedy. Looking for someone with a sense ofhumor and romance.
No smokers/drugs.
Photo/letterandphone: P.O. Box 2605,
Fairlawn, NJ 07410.

BORED OR BORING
Me: 45 y.o. GWM,
6'2", 190 Ibs., looking
for friendship &lor safesex buddy. You:GWM,
25·35, short with small
endowment a plus.
Photo & phone to :
Box
8172,
FDR
Station, New York,NY
10019

ARE YOU JUICY?
Seek creative, joyous,
spunky, intelligent manof any race. I am. 35,
5'10 112", long brown
hair. I like perf. arts,
ideas, talking, books,
gym. Write with ph/ph
to David, POB 291,
NYC, 10011.

BRIGHT, BLUE-EYED
Healthy, affectionate
GM, 47, 5'10 1/2",
160, anxious to meetother trim GM interested in committed relationship. Enjoy music,
books,
performing
arts. Prefer serious
men with a sense ofhumor. Balding, O.k.
Send letter, phone andphoto (if possible).
Outweek Box 1100

EVERY INCH A MAN
with extra inches
where it counts... plus
hunky. hairy chest.
magiC nips. solid 6'.
185 Ibs., very young
44. Hot. hdsm big
brother/ top pal/ protector/ defender/ rescuer/ teacher/ lover &more. Seek special
guy 20-38 to share
life, laughs. hugs,
NYC fantasies plus
waterfront
dreamhouse. Go 4 it w/bothletter & picture: POB
1164 NYC, 10159.
(OK--so I'm choosy,but SO ARE YOU!)SLAVE TRAINING
Seeking novice slave
eager to submit totraining, Slave will
undergo 24-36 hour
uninterrupted. intense(but sale) sessions(CBT,VA.shaving,TT,leather, boots,obedience
training). Cock & balls
kept in tight leather
bondage for long periods. Jerking off andcumming will be gradually but severely limit·
ed. Apply with lull particulars to training
master Box 8079 FDR
Station NY, NY 10150
Express your eagerness to serve anddesire to become agood slave.

GWM, 26, 5'10", 160
Fairlyhandsome,brown hair, greeneyes, buzz-cut, moustache, very thin beard,
slender build. I'm interested in computers,
tennis, work-outs. thearts, travel, politics. A
little shy, quiet, I'd liketo meet men 22-40,
mature and straightacting, fairly or very
handsome, moustaches/beards a plus, forsafe sex relationship.
Letter and phone to:
Outweek Box 1104

ONE DATE AT A
TIME
GWM, 30 years old
and look 30 years old.
5'5", 130 Ibs., goodface and body, brown
hair-balding,browneyes, HIV+, creative
bright healthy sex.

T

Have usually beena bottom but don't
have to be. Drug andalcohol Iree-except
cigarettes and coffee. I
am looking for an intelligent. masculine man30 to whatever-for dating and romance. No
drugs
or
heavy
drinkers.
Photo orhonest. Outweek Box
1105

LIGHT IN AUGUST
Humor, values, brains.
Handsome in an Our
Town kind of way.
Seeks open, com- mitted. personable fellow
who reads in bed andsings in the shower.
For the long haul.
Outweek Box 1107

GAY BLACK MALE
35.5'11" seeks GM for
possible relationship.
Seeking honesty, sincerity and commitment. Interests arevaried. Please only
serious replies. Write
to Ou/Week Box 1111

TOP QUALITY
Handsome, healthy,sale, secure, successful, fun-loving, generous. bi-coastal GWM,
40,5'9",155
Ibs., inshape, seeks relationship with a smooth,sexy younger guy (1833). blondes and greatbuns a +). I'm ready tosharelife'sgreat
adventures with someone who likes travel,
the arts, the gym,
whatever life has tooffer and wants to giveit. Photo and phone a
must.Outweek

Box

1112

EXHIBITIONISTSGWM, photographer
seeking men who liketo show off and posefor nude photos. Fees
paid. Send nude snapshots and don't beshy. NATIONWIDE.
I'm well-hung and gorgeous.
Box 294,
Franklin
Park, NJ
08823.

FEMME OF CENTER
GWF, 47: Gui"nevereseeksLesbianLancelot to bring me
dragons to play with.
Are you butch of cen·
ter non-smoker/drugs?

Love animal a? I willanswer all responses.
OuIWHkBox 1114

COMPANIONSHIP
GWf.1, 34,5'11", 180,
brown hair, eyes,
moust., good Ikg. I'm
sincere and passionate, seeking same.
Enjoy movies, museums, shows, prof.
sports, music, nature,
massage, sex. No
time for egotistical
people. Don't care if
you're muscular or inshape. Prefer moust.,
30-60, but not nec.
Reply Itr/photo. Please
don't respond if notsending photo. P.O.
Box
269,
70-A
Greenwich Ave. New
York, NY 10011.

MANHATTANITE,
BIWM, 21. I'm cleanshaven,sensual,wlfuller hair, Interests
still basic 4 now(punk/R&B/rock, theVillage,occas. xdress) seeking very
similar guys (mainly
whltelOriental) from

16-23 w/natural looks
not so male-ish. Nonsmoker/non-addict
helps. A letter andphoto from you could
spark a good friendshipfor starters.
OulWeek Box 1126

FRIENDS WANTED
We are two German
boyfriends in the late
20's,
with
many
interests, handsome,
smart and uncomplicated. We are looking
for new friends in theage between 25-35
years. New York area
preferred. We live inthe southern part 01
West Germany. Please
reply with photo to:Peter K. Siebold, P.O.
Box 1503, 0-7012
Fellbach,West
Germany.

METAPHYSICS?
Seth material? GWM,
6'2", 165, cute, br/bl,
29, seeks fair-haired
peer int. in same, plus
art, politics, fun, E. Viii.
Let's create a reality
together, w/music.

Ptvph, please. Bruce-ail
answered.
OutweekBox 1128

UNCUT DOCKERSGWM 39,5'8", looking
for large overhang toaccept my fat 8" tool. I
am not a body builder
and you need not be
one either. If you wantyour foreskin worshipped this ad is foryou. Please reply to
OutWeek Box 1129

OCTOGENARIAN
In excellent physicalcondition, seeks com·pany of GWM (18 to30).
Reasonably
secure financially andpsychologically, political activist who isinterested in sincere.
lovingrelationship(platonic or otherwise)with GWM well-versedin the arts, world traveller who has been an
active participant in
the joys and sorrows
Outweek Box 1130 bio
and optional photowould be real nice.
Cheerio.

HIV+
BOTTOM
Attractive GWM, 33,
Br/Br, slim, glasses.
Seeks:
Dominant,
handsome GWM, 2840, who can satisfy the
fantasies I have alone
at night. Must be
smart,
financially
seGureand not uptightabout his or my antibody
status.
Companionship andmore desired. Let's
exploretogether.
OutweekBoxl131

ORANGE COUNTY,NY
GWM, 31 yr., 5'7",
chunky, brown/green,
Italian/German bottom,
tired of all B/S, bars,
games, etc....likes outdoors, quiet nights andgood conversationseeks intelligent, affectionate, goodlooking
man between 25 & 35
yrs. with same interests for friendship &possible relationship.
Serious please only
replyCallJohn(914)986-1523.
Sunday-Thursday.
Aher 6p.m. only.

WORK MY BOTTOMOVER WITH ME
in long slow sessions.
He's hot Italian BB,
30·s. I'm 30's, lanky
and hung. If you're
attractive, hung, verbal
andready,
send
photo/phone to P.O.
Box
150.
PrinceStation, NYC 10012.

SERIOUSMOONLIGHT
GM,.36, 6', 145, inshape, attractive, creative, monog. radical
seeks non-smoker for
wild romance. Let's
howl. P.O. Box 1251,
Canal Street Station,
New York, NY 10013.

NEED A SPANKING?
Attractive guy, 43, 6',
160 Ibs., will put you
across his knee, pull
down your pantsnand
underpants--andspank yopur bare bottom till you promise to
behave. Am into fantasynnot pain. Good
with beginners. Box1316 FOR Station,
NYC 10150. Seek trim

guys only.

SUBMISSIVE,HEALTHY
GWM, 170 Ibs., 6 h. I
want to be your pussy.
Especially big, musc.
men. Age and looks
unimportant. P.O. Box
1075 Cooper Station,
NYC 10276.

NIPPLES AND PECS
GWM, 40, 5'8", 200
Ibs., extremely oral
loves to suck on nips,
pecs, and tits. I worship the male chest.
Send
photo
and
phone: Box 20446
LondonTerrace
Station. New York, NY
10011. My hot, wetmouth is waiting lor
you.

Personals
Continued
on Next
Page(212)(

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A FINE CATCH
and still not hooked.
Cleancut GWM, 32,
5'10", 145, developed
mind and body, lusty
and lustlul yet warmand caring, masculine
not closeted, seeks
lasting companionship.
Photo/phoneto
OutWeek Box 1134.

GWM, WASP, 26
180 Ibs., 5'11", BI/BI,
healthy, masculine,
well-built, looking foryoung, muscular (1828) guys for hot safesex (condoms). I liketo be both dominantand submissive. Facefucking, role-playing,butt·lucking, lers get it
onl Also into threesomes, light bondage,
trying new things. No
drugs, no pain. Send
note about yourself:
photo appreciated. Inshape and young necessary.. OutWeek Box1135

who love leather, uni
forms, s/m write H.
Ash P.O. Box 20147
LondonTerrace
Station NYC 10011.

usual stuff.
Send
photo and the rest to
P.O. Box 1366, NY, NY
10025.
Photo
retumed, if requested.

PLAYMATESWANTED
Butch-fem couple in
Manhattan, ages 40 &35, seeks lesbian singles or couples for wild
lun and adventure.
Join us for fantasies,
erotic games, lightbondage. No drugs,
no pain. Outweek Box
1020

MILDLY KINKY
GWM, 52, attractive,
5'10", 145, versatile,seeks hot sex, fun,relationship, friends,
enjoys politics, activism, conversation,
walks, travel, movies,
much more. P.O. Box
173, NYC 10023.

MUST HAVE MAN!
W/M, 5'11", 180, 40's,
sensuous,
healthy,stache,masculine.
muscular, well-built.
Need hot sex, physicalaffection, fun, friendshipllover wIman 3555. Hurry, get satisfied
and
much,
much
morel Outweek Box
1010

SEEKING GREATTOP
Tall(6'4"), goodlooking
bottom seeking tall top
for fun times, definite
adventure and passionl Me:30's, cleanshaven, brown hairgreen eyes,185,gym
shape, prof. You:30's40's, in shape, attractive, non-smoker, andpassionate I Zip yourletter, photo, phone to:
Outweek Box 1045

EYES OF A POET
Build of a dancer,
heart in the lines,
GWM, 34. 5'8", 135,
HIV+, brown hair andeyes, glasses, seeks
GWM dancel theatre!
artS/poetry aware andhimself arts driven.
Outweek Box 1009

TEN GAY/BI MALES
seek like, trim, masculine, health-conscious,
gregarious for monthly
meetings in midtown
hotel suite. Send noteand SASE: P.O. Box6653 FOR, NY, NY
10150

TOPGUNBoy wanted 18-25 by
GWM-170 Ibs., 5'11",
BrlBr, Clean-shaven,smooth, Italian. I havemost everythingI
could want except you.
Enjoy
NYC, travel,gym, dining out andtun times. If you are
young
and
hot.
write to Joey,
P.O.
Box 1040, Bloomfield,
NJ 07003. Photo andphone please.
Nogames and noone
over 30CIGARSI
Cigar-smoking men

GWF,28,BARBARIAN
Romantic
Rocker,Pagan, Slim. 5'3 1/2",
with wild sen'se ofhumor and deep blueeyes seeks feminine
GWF, slim 18-25, intelligent & sensitive,
under 5'2" who likes
rock,
NYC,
Bugs
Bunny and Meta·
physics. I like to leadbut I don't like to push.
Foto
optional.
OutWeekBox 1013

KEEP ME
23 year old NYU student is looking to besponsored by wellbuilt, well-hung, wellfinanced
Daddy inexchange lor a hungry
mind with an insatiableappetite for new sexual experiences. Send
photo. Outweek Box
1014

DEFINITION
Progressive hunk (34,6', 175) with postmodern affectations
seeks supple articulations of body andthoughtnor at least formernwith
brawnyIriend(s). len
joydancing, activism, safe
hot sex, cycling, sun.
beauty, grace & all the

GWM, ITALIAN, 25
Good-looking,
nice
guy looking to makefriends. Live on L.I.,
work on Wall SI. Want
to meet other niceguys who are interested in a sincere, discreet
and caring
friendship, lunches,
dinners,
movies,walks, hanging out, orjust doing nothing
together. Would like tohear from all-any age,race. Married, bi, O.k.
too. Write with photoand phonen you've
got nothing to losen(pen pals o.k.) P.O.
Box 483 Wall SI.
Station, New York, NY
10268.

CULTURED TRADE
I love to be tied up
withoperasandwhippedintoaBroadway play, oreven lashed into a
good movie. I must beforcedtodrink
Margaritas and submit
to fine cuisine. I needsomeone to discipline
me with love andfriendship and bringout the best in me. I
will willingly reciprocate. I'm a goodlooking GWM, 38,6', 190
Ibs., brownl brown,
moustache, seeking asimilar GWM. Sendme your photo, phone
number and a letter
telling me about yourselfnand outlining yourmaster plan to makeme really Sing! Reply
to JNP, P.O. Box 39,
Planetarium Station,
NY, NY 10024.

BODYBUILDER
5'10",
195,42,
49c.,33w.,17a., seeks
other muscle studs
built like me or betterfor hot muscle action.
Photo appreciated.
Rick, 496A Hudson#H24, NYC 10014.

STUDENTNEEDS HELPI
Ivy League student,
gay activist, writer,
really nice guy--may
not be able to alford
tuition. Ideas, patrons,
suggestions ... write
soon to: AMR, 76
Undercliff, Millburn, NJ
07041.

DADDY ENEMASII
Ass-play tool Sale,
gentle, sensual anderoticl I cater to shy,curious guys & beginners too. Get readyfor the red, bulging
bag, hose and nozzlebriefs down, bottoms
upl All questions
answered I Ph/ph. Rick
P.O. Box 45 Caldwell,
NJ 07006. Cum on, try
one soon!

COUPLES?
GBM, 27, editor/Ph.D.
studenVactor, GWM,
28, adminldean/landscaper together
3
years w/dog sk a couple for friendship. We
enjoy opera, dance,theatre, cinema, barbecues, cooking, finedining, travel, board
games, cards, dancing
and even bar-hopping,occasionally.
Our
friends are single.
We're looking to build
a friendship w/a couple(s) to share lifetime partner stories,
Interesting letters get
reply. Outweek
Box
1089

OutWeek Box #__77 Lexington Avenue, Suite 200
New York NY 10010

BUZZSAW continued from page 53

BOYS continued from page 54'

HANDICAP continued from page 31

lobby, is left unexplored. The numerous
murders are executed with a humor andstyle befitting the zany book.
The acting is entirely competentyet skewed in tone. All turn in fineperformances yet no actor is able totruly capture the style of script andcharacter, making it uniquely theirs.
The closest contender is Vicki Lewis
as Little Miss Prudy Doody and her little dog too (a puppet). Granted, thecharacters are broad stereotypes but
the Ridiculous Theater Company
bears witness to the dignity and skill
involved in portraying such figures.
This collection of performers, including Eichelberger, a former member ofthe Ridiculous, are too self-consciousof the burlesque they are creating andthus negate the tone so valiantly
strived for. Moments of sheer abandon to style do occur yet infrequently.
The production will close on
August 27. Before it does, be sure tocatch it and do your part in making
America once again safe for song, or
suffer the consequences--buzzzzz! ~stories, Oeufs a fa Neige and Rope
Trick, where characters demonstrate
their capacities to get totally smashed.
I enjoyed an amusing snippet called
The Art of Criticizing W:riters, wherean author runs into another author ina bar and learns that some writers do
not take to criticism.
History, perhaps the 'most ambitious story, a chronicle of the AIDS
epidemic in three parts, before, during and afterwards, is disjOinted, anddoesn't quite cohere: although thefirst section has several well-drawn
portraits, the second and third sections are too oblique in relationshipto the first.
All in all, it's a mixed collection.
The later stories are generally ~tterthan the earlier ones. Davis can write
a story as tight as a drum: his leanstyle suits him well. With a little pruning, one hopes he will get rid of afew stylistic excesses that characterize
him as a student of a master andcome into his own voice. I look forward to reading his next novel.
~

political actions in support of theSection 504 and other legislation.
Disabled people have fought longand hard for national health care, foraccessibility, and for our basic civilrights.
10. Last, if you pity disabled people, think about why (you don't pity apeer; you pity a person or group ofpeople who are so powerless that you
consider them to be non-threatening).
Pity denies us our anger-and
wehave a right to be angry-aboutourphysical conditions/problems, but also
about the rude and discriminatory
treatment we receive on a daily basis.
We don't need pity-we need solidarity-and your help in fighting to makethis city and this community accessible
to everycme.
~

LES
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SLAVE TRADE continued from page 41

might find a Sugar Daddy or Mommy
who will sweep him or her off his or
her feet to become a sort of protege.
Rumors persist of the cute, tuxed number who served a cocktail with theright amount of charm and is now living it up on Park Avenue as the kept
boy of some gay millionaire. Thus persists the myth of "social climbing."
My career in catering reached its
crescendo the week of the Stonewall
Twentieth Anniversary. My boss for thiscompany, Debbie, called to ask if I
wanted to work for the Centennial of
the Wall Street Journal and serve President Bush.
"Well, I don't know if George
minds being served by a 'known homosexual," I joked. I gave her my social
security number and presumably got
clearance by the S.S. (Secret Service).
That Thursday I was passiog bread at
the Winter Garden, inches from George
himself. Here I was tuxed up and with afresh haircut, when only days before atan ACf UP meeting I had recommended and supported a protest in honor of
the Prez. That week I had also participated in a demonstration targeting millionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes aboutsome horrific, homophobic remarks
made in his Forbes magazine. I was elated that I would be filling my time withsuch a diverse range of activities-militant activist fag on Tuesday, formal foodlackey to the arch-conservativesonThursday. The S.S. was either more
inept or more tolerant in its investigationS.
As it turned out, I didn't actually
serve Babs or George. They don't eat
at these shindigs. Whether they aren't
allowed food tasters or fear a bomb inthe pate' isn't clear. But if you've everseen how the grub at these massive
fetes is prepared, you'd pass on theentree as well.
While the media swarmed aroundthe Prez, getting their photo opportunity, a handsome S.S. man with the Ubiquitous earphone asked me if I'd like toserve champagne to the President of
the United States.
"Sure," I responded
without a
moment's hesitation. I had stopped by
the OffICeof Creative Time that morning
specifically to pick up some Gran Fury
(an activist group) postcards hoping to'foist a few on King George, the Kindest

70

OUTTWEEK

September 4, 1989

and Gentlest. The cards read -Kissing nament on behalf of his mother, a
Doesn't Kill: Greed and IndifferenceGeorgia State champion. "She'll be so
Do," and feature three gay and straight thrilled," Rob cooed, having succeeded
couples kissing. A rather ironic and per- in passing his note to Bab!?,while mine
sonal protest, I thought. Serve dinner to remained in my pocket. Had I been fed
some of the top corporate heads andan actual meal that night I would havethen slip this little piece of positive pro- bopped the queen right there. But I
paganda to the highest elected official of merely wrote it off as yet another night
our most greedy and indifferent.
of political incorrectness.
My palms grew sweaty as I finHours after George and Barbara
gered the two remaining cards in my went on their Presidential way, S.S.
tux breast pocket. Could I get thisentourage with them, fifty of the cutest
harmless yet pointed card to George or waiters (myself included, thank you!)Babs before being wrestled to theemerged from the enormous cake atop
ground? Would I erupt in a fit of leftist the stairs of the Winter Garden, each ofrage, take the microphone onstage andus carrying a tray of tiny candlelit
shout to the stuffy crowd, "More AIDS cakes. My musical theater training
funding NOW, you greedy dogs!"? But came in handy as I stepped down themost important, would I still get my platform without looking down. Out
paycheck even if I got arrested?
there in the dark were corporate heads
My S.S. man escorted me to thewho daily slighted gay and lesbianbackstage area behind a huge stage set rights, and the hundred and fifty otherbuilt to resemble a gargantuan white
waiters who did little to stop them. I
birthday cake. While I waited to bemarched down with the other men, agiven the Presidential bottle, anothersomber black chorus line. We served
S.S. man sidled up to me. I grew ner- dessert with tired and artificial grins.
vous. Did they secretly know I was an Happy Birthday, Wall Street Journal,
activist? Was I to be pegged as a fake Happy Birthday to You!
Oswald? Would a bogus weapon be
At two am, after the departure ofslipped in my tux pocket beside my the last and most drunken guests, I
service napkin?
changed in a dusty back room with
"Just a minute," my first S.S. man other waiters. My remaining Gran Fury
said. He pressed his hand to his ear- cards were distributed among friends.
phone and said to me, "We gotta guy As we changed, I recalled other waiters
already, but stay here."with whom I'd flirted, exchanged
I felt Simultaneously disappointed
phone· numbers, slept with. Cateringand relieved as Rob, the "A" waiter at may not reinforce political convictions,George's table, approached the backbut it's great for dating. This night,
stairs to the stage, escorted by yet
however, I didn't feel up to pursuing
another S.S. agent.
anyone. My moment for a bold and"So sorry, dear,· Rob sneered. "Butdangerous political statement had comesince I'm the 'A' tonight, it seems I get and gone. I was a weenie, a closet libto serve the President." Rob smiled a eral like all the other waiters. On thereptilian grin as the media floodlightsnight that has since become my last as
haloed his blond crewcut. He served . a cater waiter, I had the opportunity to
the champagne with ease and was fea- enact the fantasy of many repressed
tured in the background video footage
cater waiters: obvious and pointed
of several news services that night,
revenge. But the moment was extinguished.
.
while Bush, Babs and the Journals
chairman clinked glasses in a glow ofRegardless of gay and lesbian
conspiring, greedy elation.
political convictions, the industry of
My bold moment was stolen by a pleasing the ruling class lurches on in
waiter with absolutely no political congrand proportions. Every night anothVictions, a dashing yet spineless guy
er gala fundraiser makes a few hunwith more interest in celebrity anddred thousand and costs almost as
summer shares than AIDS treatment or much to produce. Every night gay
gay rights. He later begged my forgive- men, who don't realize that gay rights
ness, telling me he simply HAD to don't come served in a fluted glass,serve the big two and get a note to graciously serve those who would prethem inviting them to a horseshoe tour- fer them dead.
~ARMY LESBIAN continUld frolll page 11

Supreme Court decision of "Bowers v. Hardwick" foundthat homosexual acts are illegal.
The court said that if such laws were wrong, gay men
and lesbians had the growing political power to change
those laws, citing a Time magazine report that "one congressman is an avowed homosexual." ('There are actually
two: Barney Frank and Gary Studds, both Massachusetts
Democrats.)
Finally, it declined to question the rationality of the
Army's ban on gays, agreeing that gays are more prone
to commit sexual crimes than heterosexuals, and that
there are compelling reasons, such as morale, for keeping out gays and lesbians.
Ben-Shalom called the court's reasoning "dumb,
dumb, dumb.· She said, "I'm not asking for the privilege
to commit misconduct. I'm asking for the privilege toserve my country.
"Traditionally, one of the ways of showing citizenship is serving in the military. America stands for fairplay. Let us have a chance to show what we can do.·Ben-Shalom, a mother and a public school teacher,is studying to be certified to teach emotionally disturbed
children. She said that if she had not been discharged she
might have joined the regular Army as a career.
Ben-Shalom is a drill sergeant with an Army Reserves
reception battalion, which prepares newly-enlisted soldiers
for boot camp. She was one of the first women to becomea drill sergeant. Her superiors have consistently praised her
as an excellent soldier.
She has never been accused of committing a homosexual act in the service. The Army has argued, she
explained with sarcasm, that because she is a lesbian, "I
have an inherently criminal nature."
But, she said, the regulation banning gays and lesbians is only an administrative rule, and can be changed.
She said that if each U.S. senator and representative
received 100 individual letters from constituents, the rule
could be changed.

ALL-MALEMINI THEATER(Lower Level)
Mon.-Sat.: '11am-11pm / Sun.: 10am-7pm

Ann Stree,

Adult Entertainment Center
21 Ann Straat (btwn. Broadway & Nassatic,St.)
Naw York City / (212) 267-9760
Mon.-Fri.: 7am-11pm / Sat.: 10am-11pm
Sun.: 10am-7pm

LARGE SELECTION OF ALL-MALE
VIDEOS / MAGAZINES / SCREENING BOOTHS
Donations to Miriam Ben-Shalom can 1?e sent to theAngermeier and Rogers Trust Account, 625 N. MilwaukeeSt., Milwaukee, WI 53202, with a note that the donation
isfor her case. She said that if her court costs are eventually paid by the government, any extra money would go
to a defensefundfor other gays and lesbians.

NOVELTIES

• • •
• • •

/ PERIODICALSVIDEO RENTALS/ TOYS / ETC.

/ MEMBERSHIP

PLANS

TOWN ~IIKO MU~S. N:.

September 4, 1989

OUTTWEEK

71

XEROXED continued from page 9
yourbuilding
toMr.
Popham-not
because it is
to him and not to me. but
because he was a closeted
gay man who used every
wile in his arsenal to prevent
GMHC from issuing sex
guidelines and thus. to mymind. had as much blood on
his hands as Charles Ortleb
and the New York Native
have on theirs for convincing
so many people not to take
AlT and just as there is bloodon the hands of Mr. Jeff Levifor preventing
release ofpromising drugs two years
ago and just as there isblood on my hands for trying
to strangle some life intoyou-child of my youth thathas turned against me andmade me scream out in so
mucli anguish for your awful
failings, your ineptitudes. your
all too tragic frailties at atime when there is no time tobe weak and cowards.
I do not wish to be commemorated in your building. I
am ashamed of the organization that bears the name I
gave it. I certainly don·t want
to be acknowledged by thecurrent cast of characters
who deem themselves thekeepers of the "honor" roll.
No. please leave my picture
down in that classroom. You
don't teach any lessonsthat I
want to be associated with.
And. in dedicating yournew building to Paul Popham.
you are not only kicking me in
the balls. and kicking theother co-founders as weH.but
you are ignoring the valiant
deaths of every PWA who
ever walked through yourdoorways - and to whom
the building shotidbe rightfully dedicated.
In case I have notmade it clear-becauseof
all that I have written above.
I think you are despicable.
And I want the world toknow it. too.
GMHC Responds:
DeaLany,
In response to your let-72

OUrYWEEK

ters of August 10 and 21.
Boad members are inappro1989 to GMHC's Board ofpriate. Our record number of
Directors. I must first express
118 staff and 1.800 volunmy deep dismay at yourteers sue completely comgross misstatements of fact.
mitted to the welfare of
We all understand the frusGMHC. We have attracted
tration engendered by theover 100.000 donors and
AIDS crisis. but your goals
make ~ure that the money
are our goals-GMHC is notdonated to GMHC is usedthe enemy. GMHC's board.
wisely and well. Your attacks
staff and volunteers fight thewould be better aimed at
epidemc with passion. intelapathetic leaders in governligence and a commitment
ment and private industry
that has not faltered in eight
who refuse to face the facts
years. We currently serveof this epidemic.
2.500 clients and have proGMHC shares yourvided services to over 8.100
goals on early access topersons with AIDS. ARC or
drugs and treatments. The
HIV infection; every year the
AIDSAction Council and our
Hotline answers over SO.CXXJ
Medical Information
Procalls and we distribute somegram continually press for725.000 pieces of up-tothis mutual agenda. Dr. Barrydate AIDS education litera- . Gingell was an extraordinary
ture. This year we helped
indMdual who did the workstop 58 repressive bills in theof two people. effectively
State legislature. We havelobbying in Washington. D.C.
built a coalitionof 150while heading up GMHC's
agencies that presses the
Medical Information
ProAIDS community's funding
gram in New York. GMHC
agendaIn Albany.
We
continues to fund that fightfought along side otherfor early access to drugs.
community-based
groupsAfter his death in May, we
and public health experts toimmediately began interstop mandatory reporting
viewing candidates for two
dead in its tracks. We also
positions. an advocate incoordinate an army on ,BOO Washington and a new Medvolunteers that give over
icallnformation Consultant.
Jeff Levi was hired to carry
10.000 hours a month tohelp fight AIDS. All theseout GMHC's policy in Washefforts are housed in a buildington and Dr. Gabriel Torresing that is always full of life.
will serve as medical consulwhose doors open earlytant to the Medical Informaand close late. I recount alltion Program.
this because you seem to
GMHC is committed tohave forgottenthat thegoing anywhere at anytime
work we do is on your agento· Work with any group toda as well as ours. Your perfight on the critical issuesof
sonal attacks on the Board.
early. access to drug therayour assessment of GMHC.
pies. Anyone hired to carryand your presumingtoout this policy will be judged
speak for and about the
fairly on his or her ability tostaff of GMHC make absobe effective in accomplishlutely no sense in the light ofing our goals. Two days after
what GMHC accomplishes
being hired, Mr. Levi attendday in and day out.
ed the Parallel Track ComThe Board of Directors
mittee meeting where heand staff of GMHC haveworked with organizations
nothing to apologize for.
such as ACT UP and Project
Board members
devoteInform in putting together aenormous amounts of time,consensus statement thatenergy and skill to help
presented a unified voice of
GMHC do what it does well.
the AIDScommunity. Mr. LeviYour personal attacks on
advocated on behalf of theAugust 28. 1989

statement's principles at themeeting and GMHC wholeheartedly endorsed the consensus statement. joining
with 17other organizations toreflect a unanimity of opinion on how to proceed withearlier access. The spirit ofthat statement and its showof coalition strength is aprime exampleof how
GMHC has worked and willcontinue to work with otherorganizations in the politicalarena.
GMHC is on a steadycourse that allows us to constantly evaluate and change
our prograns md polcy \\/hen
qJpropriate in lig-,t of evolving
poIilicd situations md scientificprogress.We O'e open to constructivecriticism md we often&.Jrvey the people we serve tofind out hOlN we cm do more.
The services we provide andthe advocacy work we do O'edesigned to accomplish the
SCJOO gods for wlich you strive.
No one can disagreewith your anger and frustration at the impossibly slow
pace of our government's
response to the epidemic.
ACT UP has been successful
and is making a vital contribution to the fight against
AIDS.GMHC believes diverse
groups need to exist within
the AIDScommunity to meetthe needs of diverse populations. We also believe that byworking together each individual group can become
stronger. Our funding to over
21 other organizationsisproof of our commitment tohelping and joining othergroups in a coalition thatcan speak with a united
voice. That is the voice ourgovernment needs to hear,so that it realizes it must deal
not only with our different
strategies. but respond to ourcommondemands
foraccess to drugs. treatments,
researchand services.
Together we can fight thereal enemies-bigotry. apathy and AIDS.
Joy Tomchin, President
Board of Directors

iNEWYOBK1..StESBIAI'NANID,GA'fNEWS
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YES. Please ent~r'~y' subsc~ption to OutTWeek.

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Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery of first issue.

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ow,o 1f

prepared by Rick X
with information fromThe Gay & Lesbian Switchboard of
New York
For more information or referrals, torap, or to volunteer, call the GLSB
daily, noon to midnight, 212-777-1800

AN
Send calendar

Items to.

jOint finances; at the Center, 208
W 13 St; 8 pm; 718/802-0162,
7181756-1548

Rick X, Going Out
Box 790
New York, NY 10108
Items must be received by Monday to be Included

In the follow-

Ing week', Issue.

CENTER SPORTS goes to Yankees vs. Oakland
Athletics;
7:30 pm; $16 & $21; 62()'731O for
membership
FRIENDS OF RU1H MEssINGER
Mass Meetingand Mailing,with appearancesby Ruth andDavid Dinkins; at DC 37, 125
Barclay St, Room 1 (A,C,E toChambers St; 2,3 to Park Place);
6-8:30 pm (come at 6 to meetRuth); RSVP 268-1746

INTEGRITI/NEW YORK Episcopal service and program,with
Officer
Vanessa
Ferro,
NYC
Police Department Liaison to the
Lesbian and Gay' Community,
talking about her work; at St.
Luke in the Fields, 497 Hudson
St (btwn Christopher and Grove);
7:30 pm; 718n20-3054

FI///A'.--,-'----

-

-

-

-"'

,

STEPHEN HOLT SHOW presents
Scott de Freitas,
young blondhunk Andy Dixon on As theWorld Turns, romping
at thebeach in Connecticut; Manhattan
Cable Channe117D, 9 pm
EAGLE BAR Movie Night: lJaIr-

gerous L1t1ls_s; 142 11th Ave

WOMEN ABOUT Wels Ecology
Center camping
trip; throughSept. 4; 35310073, 201/481-0440
GAY FA1HERS FORUM Monthly
Meeting,with potluck supperand program; at the Center, 208
W 13 St; 7 pm; 473-9046
MEN OF ALL COLORS TOGE1HER Consciousness-Raising
Session: NYC Racial RelationsHow I IJve and Survive; at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; 7:45 pm;
222-9794, 245~366(at 21 St); 11 pm; 691-8451
GAY
MEN
OF
AFRICANDESCENT UlW, Love, Wills andDesire:Legal Workshop
andClInic; discussing gay parenting,partnershipagreements,
estateplanning, wills, health and life
insurance,
power of attorney,

74

OUT'YWEEKCONGREGATIONBETH SIMCHAT TORAH Last day to enternames In the Ylskor Book of
Remembrance,
to express love
for those who have died but
remain fresh in memory; 9299498

FIRST ANNUAL EAST COASTLESBIANS' FESTIVAL at a "beauti- .
ful private camp in Western Massachusetts,"
through Labor Day
Monday, Sept. 4; info 718/6433284
ASIAN PACIFIC LESBIAN NETWORK First National
Asian
Pacific
LesbianRetreat,throughLabor Day Monday,
Sept. 4; in Santa Cruz, CA;
415/221-7922

NEW YORK CITY GAY MEN'SCHORUS Auditions,in preparation for its 10th anniversary season; openings in tenor, baritone
and bass sections; 7-10 pm; 6917590

COLUMBIA GAY AND LESBIANALLIANCE First Friday Dance,
open to all; free refreshments insocial lounge downstairs, dancing upstairs; Earl Hall, Columbia
U. (#1 train to 116 St & Bway);
10 pm - 2 am; photo IDs todrink; 85+1488, 854-3574

September 4, 1989

2
STEPHEN HOLT SHOW presents
Scott de Freitas,
young blondhunk on As the World Turns,
romping at a beach in Connecticut; on Manhattan and Paragon
Cable Channel 16C; 11 am
CREATIVE FAIRES, LTD. New
York RenaissanceFestival,
open every Saturday and Sunday
(plus
Labor
Day
Monday)through Sept. 17; in Sterling Forest, reachable Via Short Line Busfrom -Port Autholity (736-4700),
Iv NYC·10:15 am, Iv Sterling Forest 6:1.5 pm; $12 adults/$10
seniors/$5
kids age 6-12; info914/351-5171

LU.....
T E'M ....
B' E K"

3

CREATIVE FAIRES, LTD. New
York Ren~ssanceFestival, see
Saturday, Sept. 3(LABOR DAY HOLIDAy)
CREATIVE FAIRES, LTD. New
York RenaissanceFestival, see
Saturday, Sept. 3
LADY BUNNY AND FRIENDS
present the 5th Annual
Wlgstock, the nation's leading wig
and drag extravaganza, in Tompkin's Square Park, all day andnight; 7th St and Ave B

GAY AND LESBIAN ALLIANCE
AGAINST DEFAMATION Monthly Meeting; today and every first
Wednesday; at the Center, 208 W
13 St; 8 pm; 966-1700
GAY AND LESBIAN INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS Pre-Victory
Celebration
with openly-gay
City Council candidatesTom
Duane and David Taylor; at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; 8 pm; 4750271
A DIFFERENT LIGHT BOOKSTORE presents Ken Mandelbaum and his video tribute to
the work of Michael Bennett,
coinciding with the publication"Of his A Chorus Line and theMusicals of Michael Bennett; 548
Hudson St (btwn Charles andPerry); 8 pm; free (limited seating!); 989-4850
EAGLE BAR Movie Night: Last
Temptallort of Christ; 142 11th
Ave (at 21 St); 11 pm; 691-8451.. :;:;:.:.'~ :..;.: ~:.;:.:.. ~ .·.:::·;:·:·.:z.·::·:.~¥~:
O!O!.~o!"-"_.~_~_._6-':_.;?'~"'_~,,-,,~_._.".'.".'. _.•..

;:;::::•••••••• :,:~••~o!.!o:-•••••••

'Best BetsDANCING FOR MEN & WOMENWOMEN-PREFERRED DANCINGMONDAYPrivate EyeS 12 W 21 St. 212/206-7770 (preppie; male strippers, 2-4:.i• till midnight).
----1"Mars Westside Highway at 13 St. 212/691-6262 (mixed crowd,
Monday nights began this summer)

TUESDAYTUESDAY"Love Machine
Underground)

Broadwayat 17 St.

212/254-4005(at theHatfield's 126-10 Queens Blvd., Kew Gardens, Queens
718/261-8484

WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Club Lafayette 428 Lafayette St 645-6479(Scott Currie & R. Couri Hay)
Private Eyes 12 W 21 St 206-7770 (Dallas and Sanker'S CLUBBAD)
Spectrum 802 64 St. Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (free admission all night)

THURSDAY"Boybar 151/2 St Marks PI 212/674-7959 (has a new wave drag show)"Copacabana 10 E 60 St 212/755-0610 Oast .1lJU.of the month has
Susanne Bartsch party)"Mars Westside Highway at 13 St. 212/691-6262 (mixed gay/straight;
Thursdays gayer than Fri & Sat)
Spectrum 80264 St Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (free admission all night)

FRIDAY"Boybar 15 1/2 St Marks PI. 212/674-7959
Columbia Dances Earl Hall, 116 St & B'way 212/854-3574 (1st Friday
of every month)Funk, Inc.. 428 Lafayette St. 645-6479"Mars Westside Highway at 13 st. 212/691-6262(mixed gay/straight)
Private Eyes 12 W 21 st. 206- mo (preppies and young professionals)
Spectrum 802 64 St Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (mlf strippers)

SATURDAY

Bedrock 121 Woodfield Road, West Hempstead, 11516/4~9516
Bedrox 316 W 49 St. 212/410-5887

THURSDAY
Bedrock 121 Woodfield Road, West Hempstead, 11 516/486-9516
Club Lafayette 428 Lafayette St. 212/645-6479 (Shescape,"Downtown Girls")

FRIDAY
Bedrock (West Hempstead, IJ)
Tracks 531 W 19 St. 212/627-2333 Oast Friday of month)
Cheeks 2000 Long Beach Rd. Island Park, 11 516-431-5700
Octagon 555 W 33 St 212/947-0400 (Shescape)Visions 56-01 Queens Blvd. Woodside 718/846-7131

SATURDAY
Bedrock 121 Woodfield Rd., West Hempstead 516-486-9516
The Center 208 W 13 St 212/620-7310 (2nd and 4th Saturdays, &special events)
Club .Lafayette 428 Lafayette St. 212/645-6479 (Shescape event,'Summer Saturdays")
Silver llnIng 175 Cherry Lane, floral Pk, 11 516-354-9641 ( a.k.a"The Lining")
Stan (836 Grand Blvd., Deer Park, L.1.5161242-3857)
west 610 610 W 56 St 212/410-5887"Boybar 151/2 St Marks PI. 212/674-7959,"Mars Westside Highway at 13 St 212/691-6262 (mixed -sayrstrllight)
Private Eyes 12W 21 St. 206-7770(Club Chicago for Men, preppies)
Sound Factory 530 W. 27 St. 643-0728(non-alcohol, House music)
Spectrum 802 64 St Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (guest performer night). Bedrock (West Hempstead, 11)

SUNDAY

MHers a: Hers" at Downtown 666 Broadway at Bond St 212/9791500 (every other Sunday only)"Mars Westside Highway at 13 St. 212/691-6262 (Chip Duckett'S "Mars
Needs Men" night)

Lads 130 West Pond Rd. CRt22) White Plains 914-683-5353
ParadIse 15 Waverly PI 212/696-5555 (a.k.a. ·Club Paradise")

SUNDAY"Pyramid 101 Ave A 420-1590 (Hapi Phace and Drag + VarietyShow)
Spectrom 802 64 St 718/238-8213 (show; free admission)

EVERY NIGHT

EVERY NIGHT

CUbby Hole, 438 Hudson Street 212/243-9079
Duchess n, Sheridan Square

Monster 80 Grove St. at Sheri.c!anSquare 212/92+3557
Tracks 531 W. .19th-E2/627-2333 (exc. MQN)

All Phone numbers are area code 212 unless othelWise indicated.

• (TVs welcome)76

OUTYWEEK September4, 1989

leI track statement .... Of course GMHC
LEVIcontinued from pag.10
director of GMHC, told OutWeek that 'is ~omg to take a different tack thanW; do. We send people down inLevi is "an effective and articulate
strategist who knows D.C. He may
buses on an ad hoc 1laSi~Ywo~. not be an expert on the drugwith insiders. Both approaches are _.
approval process, but he is certainly~
We would never have a. . perSon like they do."an expert on AIDS in general. GMHC
• Levi, for his part, told OutWeek,
has always had a strong position on. treatments. I take what Larry says seri- "My record speaks for itself.... I have
ously, but I must say I don't underalways supported fast tracking. In thisstand this one. Jeff has always been a position I will be representing GMHC,
team player who will continue to be which I will do with pride and confion this issue. He knows financing anddence .... I have asked them to find inaccess issues as well as anyone," he my record any evidence that I am notsaid. Kramer responded "that's ridicu- supportive of fast tracking. I'm notlous. Levi is tempered by no one. He even sure my position is much differis a loose cannon.
ent than ACf UP's."
Qrvashi Vaid, who replaced Levi
Levi will work two days a weekat NGLTF reacted angrily to criticism lobbying the Food and Drug Adminisof Levi. "I believe Jeff will do a supertration and the National Institutes ofjob representing the lesbian and gay Health to hurry the development andcommunity in the fight for access to accessibility of promising AIDS treatexperimental treatments. He knows
ments. According to GMHC he will
the business inside and out. Having
push for implementation of the parallel
worked with Jeff for over six years, I track system for access to promising
think it is completely unfair to characAIDS-related drugs and therapies. (Parterize his work as cow-towing to any allel tracking permits the use ofgovernment agency. It's particularly
promising experimental drugs for life
outrageous for Larry to compare him threatening illnesses while scientific
to Jesse Helms. He's on the same side'clinical trials are ongoing, offering earas ACf UP, Project ~nform and Larry lier access to treatments for people
on this issue." Vaid pointed out that with AIDS and HIV-related conditions.)
Levi, as executive director of NGLTF,
In addition, Levi will work ingave his blessings to her and fellow
conjunction with the WashingtonNGLTF employee Sue Hyde's partici- based AIDS Action Council, (AAC),
pation in the .october 1988 ACf UP which is also funded in part bydemonstration at the FDA headquarGMHC. He will also continue consultters in Rockville, Maryland. One of ing work for other AID and lesthe protest's demands was a speedierbian/gay organizations
othHC
drug approval process.
and eVI ec ute to disclose howmuch he will be paid.
~
U-

OUT TAKES continued from page 30

IVlSOrycommluee nean
•

.

'-

:worKlOgemer as we OIQ 00

cases, has appointed Ann Bradley as
its Director of Public Affairs.
Previously,
Bradley was the
Public Information Officer with theLos Angeles County Public Library,
one of the five largest library systems
in the nation, and, more recently, apublic affairs manager at the California State University in Los Angeles.
"Silence does equal death,"
Bradley said. "Public information at
NGRA will keep the human rights
achievementsof lesbians and gay
men prominent in the media and, ultimately, the conscience of this counroe paral- I_ try."- Andrew MiUer

--.

--

um

A public service of th~ National In~titute on ~Drug Abuse and the Office for Substance
~
Abyse

78

OUT"'WEEK

September 4, 1989

Prevention.

_\..

-----l.Oln(

OutWeek Crossword
by Phil Greco
Edited by Gabriel Rotello
7.
8.

9.
10.

SOLUTION IN NEXT WEEK'S OUTWEEK ON SALE TUESDAYACROSS

1.
6.
10.
13.
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19.
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28.

30.
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41.

80

She played Queen Christina

--

Hari

Bisexual poet McKuen
Utopian
Gay Republican Terry
Gay Persian poet __Nuwas
Gay composer
This: Spanish
Insects
Martha __-- show
Org. headed by Hoover
Sicily mt.
Author May

--

42.
43.
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47.
48.
50.
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54.
58.
62.
63.

64.
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66.
67.

Viewing
Actor Turhan
Grant and Elwes
Constellation
Pine
Singer Vicki
Thought
Robert or Alan
Porn's Ford
Gay choreographer-- TzeSkill
Gay writer Gide
Essence
Poet Crane
Wares

Boot

Gay in China: a cut ____Kampf
BygoneComposer who may havebeen gay
The __
CoupleHaingS. __--OUT'YWEEK

DOWN

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

September 4, 1989

Rub
Summer drinks
Torn__
California
Palm leaf
Gay actor

11.
12.
14.
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23.
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Priestly garments
SailorCuckooPro
Heed
Film with Sting
Persian coin
Spoil
Prefix: three
Gay geniUS Leonardo
Darts
Gay artist Rosa
Escape
__
bear
Fresh
__
Ryder
Star of Querelle
Rocket__of the Loon
Boor
Actress Samantha
Borough (abbr.)
Poetic contraction
Egypt's Anwar
Cigarette
NY Native__of Lesbos
Gay actor JamesGod of love
Jewish month
Aintstones' pet__
Ray
Dannemeyer
Arden and Harrington
Echelon (abbr.)__
Gershwin
Word with 47 Down

SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLE
ISSUE

'I 10

82

OUT'YWEEK

September 4, 1989

Cable Network
Thursdays

Pride & Progress

August 31

10:30 pm

• Gay Week in Review• Act-Up• GCN Close-Up• Sports• Lavender HealthRichard Dunne's Farewell Party
The AIDS Establishment

Speaks Out

Larry Kramer Speaks Up
11:00 pm

The Right Stuff
Gay Sports from LA• Naming Names• All About Women• Media Watch• Staying Out• Around the Country

Razor Sharp

Sundays

Men & Films

September 3

11:30 pm

Reviews of male erotica along withinterviews behind the scenes with film stars

Beau Beaumont

Mondays

Be My Guest.

September 4

10:00 pm

Sybil Bruncheon hosts a panel gameshow with surprise guests.
Frankie Loves Johnny An original gay
soap opera.

Sybil Bruncheon Meets The Joker
Episode #12
Fantasize With Me

Gay Cable Network
32 Union Square East, Suite 1217
New York, NY 10003
Phone 212/477-4220
~

(UtIt

Shows It All

7t4 epA/t,

CIeYe Jones

Robin Tyler

0

0

Sally Fisher, Creator the AIDS Mastery• The Experience Seattle • Morris Kight'

0River City Democratic Club, Sacramento0Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Assembly at Microsoft

National Gay & Lesbian Spirituality Conference, Oct. 6, 7, B, Washington DC'

The Experience San Francisco'

0

MECLA

0

Haney Fierstein •

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Become an Individual Sponsor
by contributing $50, $100, $250, $5q.o, or more, lend your name.

Become a SponSOring Organlzallon
by contributing $100, $250, $500 or more, lend your name.

.Ir InICOD '-Shirl ~~~~~~Iircal or write to order yotJ'S now!

IIATIOIIALCOMIIiG OUTDAYiFor Information call or write

TlkeYour lell SlePI
whatMr that may be, in the process ofcoming out

PO Box 15524 Santa Fe, NM B7506(505) 982·2558

fullyPartlclPlle

in a National Coming Out Day eYeIlt in your community

Co·Chairs: Rob Eichberg, Jean O'leary
National Coordinator: Pi!o Bueno