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flVf flOORS Of nNAN~A ROOf!

PfRfIDIA•

Contents•

THAR SHE BLOWS!
Party people Miss Guy and Shannon (above) reacting to
Rudy Giuliani's homophobic remarks this week. For more
on MNightmareRudy" see page 44. More pix of nightlife• people start on page 62.
Photo: Erich Conrad

BETTY RULES
Maria Maggenti Drops In On The•

Female Guns n' Roses

page 32

ON BEING BALDWIN
Mark Chesnut Talks To Quincy Troupe
About James Baldwin
page 37

CREW CUTS? FUTONS?
••

BIRKENSTOCKS?
Liz O'Lexa on Lesbian Sacred Cows
page 46
ON THE COVER:
The group Bmy
photographed by TL Littz vs HG, GO, M and W
Signorile Charts Your Sign

page 48

••

Outspoken
Don't Drink Coors!
nce upon a time a community decided that it wasn't
going to purchase a certain brand of beer any longer
because it was clear that the brewers were blatantly
participating in the oppression and suffocation of that
community.
The company suffered great losses.
Ten years later, that same community found itself in the
midst of an overwhelming health crisis in which tens of thousands died - directly due to governmental neglect induced by
the very same hatred those brewers and their kind espoused.
Then came the company's glossy, Hollywood p.r. campaign.

Recently an Out Week reporter ordered a beer at the Village
gay bar Julills' and was promptly served a Coors. God's Love We
Deliver, AmFar, the Gay Rodeo, Lambda Awards of Philadelphia
and Northern Lights are among a handful of AIDS and/or gay andlesbian organizations which have of late had Coors sponsor fundraising events or have accepted direct contributions from the company. The national gay news magazine, The Advocate, hasrecently begun accepting advertising from Coors, as have Long
Island's Equal Times and Wilde Side and Los Angeles' Frontiers.
Equal Times has decided, as it recently stated, that the Coors boycott is over. So has God's Love We Deliver's Buddy Noro.
Since when do a few people in the community suddenly
decide what's right fqr the entire community? How can anyone
say the Coors boycott is over simply because he or she has
decided to take money from the company, accepting Coors'
claims about how the company is now different? And why dothose individuals taking the money consistently tell us that Coors
has changed while there is overwhelming evidence pointing In
the other direction?
A recent OutWeek investigation (issue 2, July 3, 1989) of theCoors Foundations' 1987-88 tax return reveals a $100,000 donation to the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing "think tank";$150,000 to the Free Congress Research and Education
Foundation, led oy Reagan advisor Paul Weyrich; $80,000 to theChristian Broadcasting Network University, run by televangelist
Pat Robertson; $25,000 to the Rocky Mountain Billy Graham
Crusade; $20,000 to Morality in Media and $50,000 to the Ronald
Reagan Presidential Foundation.
"That's only the beginning," says Chip Berlet, who studies
the far-right as a researcher for Political Research Associates in
Cambridge. "Much of [the Coors] family money goes to neo-nazigroups funneled through front organizations. They still have areactionary, even white supremacist view of America. Every beerbought is like buying a gun for these people."
And for every charity dollar accepted from Coors, 100 dollars goes toward killing us. Don't believe the hype. Keep theboycott alive...
...

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OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

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•

Letters To The Editor
To The Editor,
I enjoyed your first issue, and I
hope that you make a go of it. We
need a good gay weekly that actually
gives us the news. By all means, cover
AIDS and any other health problem
that warrants it, but there is a lot ofnews that we just don't get at all in
the Native.
Good luck.
Sincerely, Frank Lilly
New York
The writer served on the Presidential
Commission on HIV.

To The Editor,
From 1986 to early 1988, I was acontributing writer for the New York
Native. The majority of the work I
published in that magazine were bookreviews, written at the suggestion ofthen-Editor, Patrick Merla, a sensitiveand intelligent author and journalist.
When Mr. Merla left The Native, I
decided that my "departure," so to
speak, was also called for. I had nodesire to be associated with a publication that had long since abandoned
common sense, not to mention any
sense of journalistic ethics or responsibility. I wrote and demanded that myname be removed at once from themasthead. (Ironically,' then and only
then did I receive payment for thehalf-dozen or so pieces I'd written.)
I commend Ann Guidici Feltner
not only for her article "Going For The
Gold" (July 17, 1989), but also for her
sanity and commitment to solid, factual and compassionate
reporting on
AIDS and HIV-related concerns.
Out Week is one of the best things
to happen in the New York gay andlesbian community for some time.
Can anyone of us ever again seriously consider reading Tbe Native? What
was
once
a
respected-and.. . ,.,, .." ..,: ,".:.' .,.' ,., "'.. , ,', ,.:.,., :

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OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

respectable - voice in the gay community has become nothing if not a
purveyor of the worst sort of yellow
journalism. We must not encourage
Charles Ortleb and his potentiallymurderous and dangerously misguided theories.
Sincerely,David Craig Austin
New York
To The Editor,
Bravo on a well-written publication for New York's gay society. I findyour journalism refreshing as opposed
to a lot of the trash that's being published today.
There are a few spaces containing
the phone sex ads which could be utilized with still more fine writing on
issues concerning gay New York, yet I
understandthe need for them.
Hopefully, in establishing yourselves
you'll be able to delete those advertisements.
We need an informative, intelligent and reputable magazine to standby. There's plenty of smut in othertabloids. Good luck with future issues.
Sincerely,
Martin Dayne
New York
To The Editor,
I am enclosing two gift subscriptions to Out Week for two friends ofmine, both of them women. I don't
generally take women to boys' bars or
boys' events, and I don't give themboys' magazines. So by doing this I'm
showing some trust in what your editorial in the first issue says about yourcommitment to rectifying the despicable Native's neglect of women. But the
only way I think you can make goodon that commitment is to get womenon the editorial staff, and at the highest levels. This shouldn't have been aboys' venture to which the girls may
or may not be invited to join later. It
should have been girls and boys
together from the beginning. But since
it wasn't, please get some women on
board.
Sincerely,
Douglas Crimp
October Magazine

To The Editor,
I agree with Neil Goldberg(Letters, 7/10/89): we should riot
again soon. However, he· falsely contends that the recent queer riot should
not have targeted Ty's and other bars that our real target is the het world.
My joy increased immeasurably
when the riot hit Ty's. The bars are ahaven for those who have no other
outlet for being gay and lesbian, those
who are closeted, those who are notin the movement. Bars are segregatedby gender, age, race and class. The
ugly or different lose in the cruisingcompetition which is most intense at
the bars.
Bars weaken us as lesbian andgay people. Some bars spit on ourcommunity, pouring Coors and playing Donna Summer. The aesthetic at
men's bars is masculinity: gender roleviolations are punished, not praised.
Segregation in the bars mimics theheterosexual world which oppresses
us, and forces those in bars to oppress
others.
For some, bars can be anempowering escape from the heterosexist world. But for most (who go
only to bars), they fail miserably.
Imagine, for a moment, that all
bar patrons joined the lesbian and gay
liberation movement. Millions would
swell our ranks. And the het world
would have to listen because wewould be millions of people, too
many to ignore. The rights and equality that would follow would comefrom gay and lesbian empowerment,
not heterosexual sympathy.
Those men in Ty's who came out
when we yelled, "Out of the bars andinto the streets, n were justly cheered;they declared their commitment to liberation. They refused to hide in theirprotected enclave; they CAME OUT!
When Ty's and all bars empty out atthe call of liberation, we WILL overthrow heterosexism.
Sincerely,
Darren Rosenblum
New York•Tj
To The Editor,Your brief "Safer Sex Guidelines"(page 64 in the 7/10 issue) doesn't
explain why rimming is dangerous.
Please do so.
Sincerely,
S. Treimel
New York

Editor's note: According to GMHC,
rimming transmits fecal material containing blood, which holds the highest
concentrations of HIV. In addition,
rimming can transmit serious intestinal infections and parasites as well as
Hepatitis B, an extremely dangerous
disease which had begun to seriously
impact on the gay community prior to
the AIDS epidemic and is still a major
threat to our health. Rimming can beenjoyed, however, by using a sheet ofplastic wrap, which prevents directcontact.
To the Editor:
Marching is by its nature a political act. Heritage of Pride views New
York's annual Lesbian & Gay Pride
March as one of the most important

1985, the city relented and issued thecurrent Fifth Avenue permit. Our triumph is symbolized annually by thelavender line painted along the march (,route.
Heritage of Pride is non-partisan.
We do not invite any elected officials
or candidates for office. We do welcome anyone willing to come out insupport of the lesbian and gay community. In light of the twentiethanniversary, we made an exception
and invited former Congresswoman
Bella Abzug, the first politician to
publicly support us back in 1971.
Since 1977, a special women's
contingent has been the first regularsection in the line of march, withadditional preference given regularly
to women of color such as Salsa Soul
Sisters. Salsa Soul was also one ofthree groups honored by Heritage of
Pride on the banners hanging over
Fifth Avenue. These banners proclaimed
Lesbian & Gay Pride &History as well as highlighting milestones in the movement starting with

political statements that our community makes each year. We proudly trace
our roots not only to the Stonewall
Riots, but to the great, peaceful civilrights marches of the '60s. Indeed, we
believe that Gay Pride in New York is
the largest annually scheduled civilrights march in the world and state so
in our ads.
Heritage of Pride thanks Out Week
for its excellent coverage of this year's
Pride events and welcomes a newvoice for our community. I am writing
you simply to clarify some misconceptions reported here and elsewhere,
and to address a few other issues
which may be of interest to your readers.
The annual Lesbian & Gay Pridemarch has had a city permit since thevery first one in 1970. In fact, obtaining a permit was one of the majorachievements of that first year. From1977 to 1984, however, the organizers
were unwilling to continue marchingon Sixth Avenue, so we defied ourpermit and crossed over to Fifth
Avenue. We fought hard and finally inconti nued on page 68

by Daniel

Sotomayor,

I HOPE YOUCAN
UMDERSTAN ~ 11 I-\AS
N011-lING- To 00 Wmi YOU.

I OONT -mINK I REALLYWANT A RcLATION~IP.
.I I-IAVETHIS PROBLEM
WITH IN1\MACY •

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OUTTWEEK

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News
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Conference at Columbia U. Brings TogetherFeds, AIDS MOs and PWAs
by David Kirby
NEW YORK-A small miracle happened the weekend before last at
Columbia University: warring factions
that have battled for years over thetesting and approval
process forpromising new AIDS drugs sat down
for three days of unprecedented
peace talks.
People with AIDS (PWAs), their
physicians and AIDS activists fromaround the country held honest andoften surprisingly candid discussions
with their commonly-perceived
enemy: government agencies such as

the Food and Drug Administration(FDA), the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID), and several pharmaceutical
giants-including
Burroughs- Wellcome, the monopoly manufacturer of
AZT.
They came to argue, refine andultimately promote an idea that isbringing hope to the HIV-affected
community. The idea-communitybased testing of the new AIDS
drugs--hasbeen pushed by AIDS
activists for several years. But only inrecent weeks have the governmentand drug industry come to see it as a
viable alternative to traditional meth-·ods.
The idea is radical because it
allows those most affected by the epidemic to take an active and positiverole in the search for a cure to AIDS.
The 160 participantsfrom 26
cities came to hash out the intricate
problems of conducting communitybased clinical trials (CBCTs), whichempower PWAs and their doctors toinitiate and conduct their own largescale testing of new drugs.

AIDS BIG WIGS AT COLUMBIA CONFERENCE
Photo: Jane Rosett
Leh to right: John James, Stuart Nightingale, Bopper Deyton, Michael Callen, Mathilde Krim, Anthony Fauci, SamuelBroder, Don Abrams and Burton Lee.

8

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

••The goal is two-fold, but simple:-To accelerate the testing of new
drugs for safety and efficacy and thenwin quick FDA approval to market
those that work (or might work) and,-To potentially treat thousands ofpatients who otherwise might nothave access to any AIDS therapy,
while gaining valuable knowledge
about dozens of new drugs that have
not yet undergone large-scale humantesting.
The conference addressed many
problems
inherent
in conducting
community-based trials, and raised far
more questions than it answered. The
New York Times, covering the eventon Sunday'S front page, said participants were in a "concilitory and selfcongratulating mood." Not everyone
liked the Times'rosy assessment, but
few denied that something positivecame out of this extraordinary conference.
It was, as event organizer
Michael Callen said, a "historic occasion." Despite the disagreements, suspicions of motives and years ofmutual animosity, actors in the dramafor the first time sat down together
and took a crucial step toward greatly
expanding the quest for new treatments.
The conference, which was held
CromJuly 7-9 at Columbia's School ofInternational Affairs, was sponsoredby the New York-based Community
Research Initiative (CRI) and San
Francisco's County Community Cono
sortium (CCC), the nation's two leadinggroupsindeveloping
community-based trials of new AIDS
drugs. The event was underwritten by
the American Foundation for AIDS
Research (AmFAR), NIAID and several
pharmaceutical companies.

,. -:::

Are community-based trials better?
There was surprising consensus during the meeting that communitybased trials will be an important toolin testing new drugs, and in manycases are preferable to traditional trials normally conducted by the government, pharmaceutical companies•
or large universities.
Growing demand for new trials is
outpacing the traditional institutions'-.-.

conti nued on page 58
-.-:'

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July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

9

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News
Community Based Trials to
Seek Minority Involvement
Conference Panel Discusses Accessby David Kirby••

NEW YORK-Until now, communitybased trials have largely been thedomain of middle-class, gay whitemen, and there were a preponderance of white men at the conference
itself. Despite efforts by organizers toinclude underrepresented
groups at
the event, very, very few attended.
During a roundtable discussion
by physicians on Friday, doctors said
the next major goal of CBCfs must be
increased
involvementof otherpatients, including women, Blacks,
Hispanics, IV-drug users, prisoners
and hemophiliacs.
"The lack of minorities at thisconference shows how far we have togo. Minorities and drug users are now
the most heavily affected populations
in New York," said Dr. Bernard Bihari,
the CRI's medical director.
The numbers speak for themselves. Bihari said that less than ten
percent of CRI's patients are Blackand Hispanic, even though thesegroups make up more than 30 percent of New York's gay population.
Although nearly half of all AIDS casesin the city are IV-drug users, only two
to three percent of CRI's patients fall
into that category.
"There is a lack of minority doctors. There is a lack of education anddrug treatment in the community.
Recruiting the underrepresented will bea difficult task," he said. CRI recently
hired a minority outreach coordinator.
Jim Eigo, of ACf UP/NY, told theconference in an impassioned speechthat Blacks made up just nine percentof the subjects in all federal AIDS trials, although 33 percent of all PWAs
. are Black. !'It will be the role of community trials to involve these groups
that have not had access to testing
new drugs," he said. Eigo also pointed out that too few people of color

10

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

have access to primary health care,
the normal conduit for enrolling
patientS in a drug trial. "They don't
visit private doctors who would getthem into a protocol. National healthcare is therefore crucial before fullminority participation can become areality," Eigo said.
But there are other problems inrecruiting patients from these populations. Dr. Bruce Soloway, who works
at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Family
Practice Clinic, said many minorities"are not really interested in clinicaltesting. They don't want to be guinea
pigs, they don't want to continue thevictimization of minorities."
This negative "guinea pig" image
came up again during an emotional
panel discussion on minority participation in trials. LeBaron Moseby, aBlack
PWA andmemberof
CRI/Boston, called federally-sponsored drug trials he underwent
inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional FaCility, in Upstate New York, said
prisons were the perfect testing
grounds for new AIDS drugs provided that strict measures are taken toprevent the atrocities
committed
against inmates in past trials of otherdrugs.
"We want to start trials at thefacility. 18.8 percent of the prisoners
are HIV positive," Royster said. "Wehave the data, but no people power.
We need doctors and researchers tocome and monitor trials."
IV-drug users have been excluded from community trials for a number of reasons. John Robles, of the
Association for Drug Abuse and Treament (ADAPT) said many addicts"don't even know they are HIV positive. Like other advocates for drug
users, Robles said addicts "need theirdrug problem treated first-withmethadone-andthen they can moveon to their HIV problem. But wedon't have the people, the facilities,
the money, to get addicts
intomethadone programs, let alone drug
trials," he added.
Finally, Christopher Pitkin of the
National Hemophilia
Foundation
continued on page 70•

ci a Iss atan d sa id .
n,•Black people don ti)i;;\lIili
want your tests, we-'''''}:::::)
don't want to be
your guinea pigs.
We just want thedrugs give us thedrugs and we willfind out which onecures AIDS."
CarmenRoy-.:,,:)\i/} ..,',',....,,,',:--~{~~)]:?!;;:·i\.r:;·:d·-\!?_

ster and Katrina NUMBERSSPEAKINGFORTHEMSELVES Photo: Jane Rosett
Haslip,
PWA in- Dr.Iris Davis of Brooklyn's Bushwick Medical Clinic.

•e L
01 -1stBuilding Bridges with Former Enemies
by David Kirby

financed several community-based trials. "Normally, we get the drug, plus
enough money to cover all operating
costs and even some overhead,"English said. Pharmateuticalcompanies hold an important
key: they
spend millions a year developing new
drugs that need to be tested. Again,
they need PWAs (for subjects) and
PWAs need them (for money anddrugs).
"We in the drug industry realize

NEW YORK-It
was no easy featbringing together so many hostile parties in the war on AIDS. The fact thatso many officials from the federal
government
and the major pharmaceuticals even showed up demonstrates how far community-based
testing has come in such a short time.
The community
organized,
itNEWS ANALYSIS
protested, it yelled and screamed so loudand for so long that, finally, the supposed
powers that be simply had to listen.
"Six years ago we were trying to
expedite new drug approvals in theface of an epidemic.
Now, at last,
there is a new camaraderie
on thepart of the FDA, NIH and so forth,"said Dr. Marcus Conant of the University of California at San Francisco.
"But that camaraderie
was forced
from below. It is the response :to ourpressure, our efforts."
Ron English, a CRI board member and leading community fundraiser, told OutWeek that government andindustry leaders "now want to workwith us because they see us as a united force on the national level. If they
saw us as weak and divided, theywould try to walk all over us.
"But they need our help," said
English. "PWAs don't trust the major
institutions, they only trust their own."
Few would deny that cooperation with the government and industry is absolutely
essential
if new
treatments are to be found. Community-based programs will have to work
closely with the FDA to make sure all
tests meet government standards, andthat the data will be acceptabletogovernment scientists. By keeping therDA accurately
informed,
final
approval of new drugs will be all themore speedy.
The drug companies
can also
playa big role. They have already,Dr. Charles Franchino
30 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10011
212.673.4331
office hours by appointment
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July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

11

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News
that we mustworkwith thecommunity, we must be involved, andwe must be open to changes," said
Sandra Lehrman of Burroughs Wellcome. "You who work in community
trials have a sense of urgency, as compared to the academic and businessworld. Our perspective is sometimes
colored by not having full-time contact
with patients."
Their perspective is "colored" by
far more than simply not visiting with
Joe PWA, but Lehrman's remarks werea far cry from the demeaning
andcounterproductive
rhetoric that wascoming out of the drug giant's mouth
just a few months ago.
The tentative and fragile alliancehas already led to some direct results.
During the Columbia conference, CRI
members held a series of behind-thescenes meetings with Ellen Cooper
and other FDA bigwigs. The directdialogue approach'worked.
According to English, the Belgiancompany Jansen was about to open
an experiment with CRI' to test theeffectivenessof diclazuril against
cryptosporidiosis,
a gastrointestinal

AIDS-related iIInes, but the plan was
delayed by several "unacceptable"
restraints placed by the FDA.
"They were terribly inconvenientfor PWA's, who would have had to visit
the clinic three times a week. They also
said that no one on DHPG [or gancic1ovir, which prevents AIDS-related
blindness] could take part in the trial,"
English said. "Both those restrictions
will now be lifted."
Community-based
groups havealready opened direct talks with thedrug companies. For example, Hoffman
laRoche was about to terminate its own
testing of DOC, a powerful new antiviralthat could be used as an alternative 'to
AZT. "But a community-based group on
the West coast proved the drug's viability
during a trial," English said. "Based onthat data, Hoffman has now agreed not
only to renew testing, but to expand it.
They are the onl.y company currently
funding human studies of DOC, andonly because they listened to us."
Still, there is a cry for caution, forguarding our trust, for not being duped.
"We have to be very careful andremember that many of these people,

despite what they say, have in no way
earned our trust," Larry Kramer, theplaywright and outspoken AIDS activist,
told au/Week. "I'm personally hopeful,but I try to tell everyone that hope is
one thing, deeds are another."Like many government
critics,
Kramer said he still doesn't trust people
like the FDA's Ellen Cooper. "She, morethan anyone else in this whole drama,
controls all the cards of power. She has
not been kind to us in the past. As far
as I'm concerned, the jury is still verymuch out on her."David Barr, an attorney and ACT
UP member, said the new working relationship with government and industry"is the natural product of this wholeprocess. They now realize that we wereright, that we beat them at the credibility market.
"We should continue to work withthem as much as possible," Barr said.
"But we must not let up pressure."''We must always remind ourselves:
Just because they allowed us in the room,
doesn't mean we should trust them. We
must always have our own agenda ...wemust never give any ground."
...

•

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WHITE HOUSE MEETS OUR HOUSE

Photo: Jane Rosett

Dr.Burton Lee (left), personal physician to President Bush, with his wife, Ann Lee, and AmFAR's Mathilde Krim.

12

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•

News

New York
j

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asses
•
bV Rex Wackner
MUSCATINE,IOWA-The city council
in this Mississippi River town (population 23,000) passed a gay rights ordinance July 6 by a four to three vote.
The ordinance bans discrimination in housing, employment, credit
and the offering of services. It willtake effect July 20 unless Mayor Don
LeMar intercedes with a veto.
No gays or lesbians lobbied forthe measure, which was initiated by
the city'S Human Rights Commission.
The town has no gay organization or
meeting places.
. "I really don't know what I'mgoing to do," LeMar said after thevote. "I could sign it tomorrow, but
I'll probably :wait the whole 14 days
to give the public time to comment."
LeMar said he didn't know if any"homosexuals· had been present during the council debate since "they
don't wear a badge like Blacks, Hispanics or other minorities."
According to Human Rights CQmmission member Beverly Delveau,
Muscatine has never received a complaint of discrimination
based onwhat the ordinance calls "affectional
preference ...
But commission co-ch",ir Kory
Darnall told reporters that the town
needed to take action before suchdiscrimination occurred.
The commission discussed the
proposal for a year during meetings
that Darnall says "couldn't have been
more open. There was no clandestineeffort to push this through," she said.
City Council member
Gayle
Sayles spoke in favor of the ordinanceon the evening of the vote, saying,"Lack of tolerance for others' rights
threatens all our rights."
Council members Larry Kemp,
Jerry Amerine and Jeanette Phillips
also voted for the measure, saying thatsexual orientation is a civil rights issue,
not a religious or moral concern.

aAfter the ordinance's
secondreading in June, Concerned Citizensof Muscatine (CCM) began a campaign opposing the change.
CCM co-chair W. Floyd Scott told
the Muscatine Journal that the newlaw could mean that "a church,school or youth organization could beforced to hire a person who practices
and promotes homosexuality, incest,
adultery, sadism or prostitution towork with children."
But Laura Dollieslagerof theHuman Rights Commission
said
Scott's comments distorted the ordinance by "promoting untrue stereotypes . and giving
an incorrect
impressionthat illegal behaviors
would become legal."
Muscatine is not the smallest
town in the United States to pass agay rights measure; that distinction isbelieved to belong to Alfred, NewYork.
But according to UrVashi Vaid of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, "it's pretty amazing nonetheless."
Iowa City, a university town, isthe onry other Iowa city to protect
gays and lesbians from discrimination.
Across the Mississippi in Illinois,.however, five cities including Chicago-havepassed gay rights ordinances, and neighboring Wfsconsin
has a state-wide gay rights law, theonly such law in the U.S,

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•

•

News
I

•

fur,!' Grows OverMappiethorpe Photos,

by Gabriel Rotello.
pany art that depicts nude women."
WASHINGTON-The House of RepreThe amendment cutting the budget passed by a vote of 361 to 65.
&entatives, reacting to the growing
Representative Dana Rohrabacher, (Rfuror over a publicly-funded homoCalif.), led a floor fight to kill theerotic art exhibit', slashed the budget
NEA's entire budget. The Democraticof the National Endowment for theleadership came up with a counter
Arts (NEA) on July 12th. The amountcut, $45,OOb, was exaCtly',the amQunt the. Endow-,.ment had bu<;lgeted~o sup,port an exhibit by the late
Robert Mapplethorpe,as
wen as anothercontrover,sial show by Andres Serrano. Publicdebatehas:.
.,;raged around the Mapplethorpe exhibit since it.::
was cancelled by Washing- _",ton's Corcoran -Gallery,,\whichcited
pUQIi~ pres.sure and fears of a ,funding
cut-off if it. displayed theg~yartist's ..work.
,. .
'"It's butrageous thatmembers of Congress are"" {fl?·willing ~o ~crificethe- first,amendment for the sake of';political
expediency,",
Urvashi
Vaidofthe
Nation,::tf)
al Gay and Lesbian Task,.~B,tForce (NGtTF) told Out-~:Y!f!(l'.
ihe characterized the
reduction as' a "fineimposed on the NEA" and.. ;}it\':,'c_,':-;,,,.. ,,;,.,:."
called it "absolutely with..
out merit."
Vaid said
that , homo--,phobia, was at the root of
the controversy. "The Map. plethorpe s.how was targeted because of its explicitly
gay, its interracial,:and its
explicitly sexual content,"
she said. "This ,kind of ART OR SMUT?
controversy doesn t accom- Thomas, 1986 by Robert Mapplethorpe.

plan to cut the $45,000, a small fraction of the endowment's total $171.4
million appropriation, as a symbolicgesture. The amendment
will gobefore the Senate in August.
Many House members
whodefended the endowment nonethelessspoke against the Mapplethorpe show.
Charles W. Stenholm, (D-Texas), who
introduced the $45,000 cut, told the
New York Times that "it sends theappropriate message without shooting
and hitting everything in sight."
Leaders of the lesbian, gay andarts communities disagreed, notingthat any budget cut will have a chilling effect on the future funding of
any controversial art, particularly art

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14

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

"

•

•

of a homoerotic nature.
Congressman Ted Weiss was the
only member of the New York delegation to vote against the amendment.
In his floor statement, the Manhattan
Democrat called the idea that there is
no shortage of private support for thearts "a patently false assertion. I invite
anyone who disagrees to visit thehundreds of artists in my district who
are finding the search for funds to bea nearly impossible quest." Weiss said
the Congress was "starting down adangerous path" in critizing and fining the NEA, and stated that "there
are countries around the world thatha ve standards of acceptableandunacceptable art. We call them totalitarian. "The Gay and Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation CGLAAD)issued astatement that said, "We condemn theHouse vote both as a blatant displayof anti-gay bigotry and as a threat tofree expression generally. With museum curators everywhere now underconstant threat of having their aesthetic judgments reversed and punishedby Congress, our art world cannot
help but be sapped of its vitality."
In an interview with OutWeek,
GLAADdirector Craig Davidson notedthat "the most immediate effect is tocause museum curators throughout
the country to start self-censoring in avery dangerous
way. They'll now
avoid anythi'ng controversial
andspeCifically gay-related.
This now
goes way beyond the individual caseof Mapplethorpe."•
Award-winning playwright andnovelist Larry Kramer told OutWeek,"This is a setback and a slap in theface, and another fight that we haveto add to our never ending fight. Public funding affects art in this country agreat deal. If you see how little gay
stuff is financed on any of the public
television stations, it's appall ing.""We need a long-term
planaround this issue," said NGLTF's Vaid,"We were obviously unable to stop
the momentum that built up" aroundthe Mapplethorpe
censorship, "butthis is dangerous. The fear in the arts
community needs to have a politicalfocus."...
-Filed from New York

July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

15
•

•

•

News
•

II

State High Court Issues Historic Rulingof lesbian and gay relationships in the
United States. .
ALBANY-The New York Court ofIn the majority decision, Judge
Appeals, the state's highest court, has Vito J. Titone wrote, "the term famiruled that two gay men living togethIy...should not be rigidly restricted toer as lovers constitute a family, andthose people who have formalizedshould therefore be accorded succes- their relationship by obtaining, forsion rights to a rent-controlled apart- instance, a marriage certificate or anment when one partner dies.
adoption order." He further pointed
The "decision is a groundbreakout that "the- intended protection
ing victory for lesbians and gay men," against sudden eviction should not
said William Rubenstein, the Ameri- rest on fictitious legal distinctions or
can Civil Liberties Union lawyer who genetic history, but instead should
argued for plaintiff Miguel Braschi in find its foundation in the reality of
the case Braschi v. Stahl Associates.
family life. In the context of eviction,
The 4-2 ruling was hailed by manya more realistic, and certainly equally
gay rights advocates as the biggest
valid, view of a family includes two
step thus far toward legal recognition
adult lifetime partners whose relationship is long-termand characterized
by an emotionaland financial commitment."
Braschi shared
a one-bedroom,
rent-controlled
apartment on East
54th Street with hislover, Leslie Blanchard, for morethan a decade.
Blanchard,
whoheld the lease to
theapartment,
died of an AIDSrelated
ill ness.
Stahl Associates,
the real estate firm
which owns thebuilding, initiatedeviction proceed••
mgs
agamstBraschishortly
AS VAUD AS ANYONE'S RELATIONSHIPS
after his lover died.
Gay City Council Candidate TomDuane of the Tenants Unity
Evan Wolfson,
Coalition.
Photo: Jerry Casciano a staff attorney at

By Jim Whelan

-

•

•

16

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Braschi, declaredthat the high court had "examined thereality" of how people live, and concluded that the millions of Americans
who do not fit into the stereotypicalfamily living situation are entitled toequal protection under the law. The
decision is a "powerful tool in widening the opportunity for equal treatment for lesbians and gay men," headded.
According to Tom Duane, aspokesperson for the Tenants Unity
Coalition, and a candidate for City
Council, the decision is a major victory for the tenant community because
it is "far reaching in defining non-traditional families." Duane also said"gay families are as loving and valid
as anyone else's ...that's what this caseis about, and the courts recognize
that."
Duane also predicted the Department of Housing and Community
Renewal will improve the rent-stabilization code to protect domestic partners
livingin rent-stabil ized
apartments from eviction as a result of
this decision.
At a press conference at City Hall
on Monday, July 10, Mayor Edward
Koch expressed
support for the
Court's decision, and for improving
the rent-stabilization codes to reflect
its ruling. .
The mayor noted that only thestate legislature can affect such achange in the rent stabilization code,and that he has urged the state senate
to do so in the past.
The Braschi decision may also be
applied to a host of other legal andcivil rights areas where gay and lesbian rights advocates are currently atwork, pointed out the ACLU's Wolfson.
For instance, the New York State
Supreme Court has heard arguments
and is currently deliberating
Gay
Teachers Association v. New York
City Board of Education. In this case,gay New York City public school
teachers are trying to secure healthContinued on page 74

•

•

News

•
• ereave•eave
Community Reaction Mixed;
Giuliani Attacks plan
By Mark Chesnut
NEW YORK - Mayor Edward Koch
has proposed an executive order thatwould grant bereavement
leave togay, lesbian and unmarried heterosexual city employees whose domestic"partners die. The move is being welcomed by many in the lesbian andgay community as an important step
toward getting the same benefits andcoverage that" are available to marriedheterosexuals. But some also claimthat there are other reasons behind
Koch's proposal, and have criticized it
for not going far enough in establishing economic benefits for the life
partnersof gay and lesbian city
employees.
Koch has said that inorder to extend economic benefits toa wider $?roup of people, funding

would have to be taken from otherareas in union contracts.
"It's clearly a hopeful development for gay people," declared Tom
Stoddard, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education
Fund, pointing out that Koch's proposal could influence future decisions
in the public and private sectors. As
an example, Stoddard cited a current
case, Gay Teachers' Association v.
New York City Board of Education, in
which gay teachers ar~ suing theBoard for health insurance benefits
for their lovers. Trial Court Judge
Karla Moskowitz has requested an
additional briefing on the Braschi v.
Stahl Associates case (see story p. 16),
in which the Court of Appeals decided that the surviving lover of a man••

SHOWING THE POWER OF THE VOTECity Council candidate Dave Taylor(I.)marching with his lover clin Randers.
18

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

who died of AIDS could stay in therent-controlled
apartment that theyshared for over ten years .
But many are asking why Kochwaited until just before the mayoral
elections to talk about domestic partnership. "Nobody brought it to myattention," said Koch at a press conference on July 10. "This is a relatively
new concept." Dave Taylor, an openly
gay Democratic candidate for city
council, feels that Koch's timing is anattempt to win back the gay votes thathy se~ms to be losing. "This clearlyshows the power of the gay and lesbian vote in New York," Taylor said.
Ye~ Koch has take!" pains toemphasize that most of the people
who will benefit from this new plan
are heterosexual. "This has nothing to
do with gay rights," he told the New
York Times on July 10. Koch also
repeated his stand against endorsing•
gay marnages.
Jan Carl Park, one of the mayor's
liaisons to the lesbian and gay community, said that the executive order,
which at this time is still being drafted, should be issued within the next
month. The next step in achieving
equal recognition for same-sex couples in the workplace, according toPark, would be to negotiate with
unions about health insurance andspousal equivalent rights.
The concept of domestic partnership benefits has brought objections
from some conservatives, who fear themove" will cost the city too muchmoney. Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican
mayoral candidate, led one of the most
vocal attacks on the proposal. Giuliani's press secretary, Charles Perkins,
told the New York Post, "At a time
when the city has severe budget problems and we need more cops, it seems
highly questionable to expand benefits
under a program that appears toinclude college roommates." Giuliani's
attack prompted Koch to accuse him of"gay-bashing. ""The cost argument is not a particularly good one against it," TomDuane, another gay Democratic candidate for city council, told OutWeek.
Duane said that there would be no••sudden increase in cost, and that relatively few people would sign up for
any new benefits at first. Duane
believes some closeted gays and lesbians in the city workforce would notwant to come out, regardless of new
benefits. He also pointed out that inmany couples, both partners havejobs that provide their own benefits.
"The statement that the city will
support a proposal on health insurance coverage for domestic partners
is a step forward," said Desma Holcomb, who sits on the steering committee of the Lesbian and Gay Labor
Network, an organizationof gayunion activists. But she feels that
Koch is trying to "placate taxpayers
who would be upset about cost
increases as a result of expanded
health coverage, and playing on thisfear to squelch any further progresson the issue. "Their condition thatsomeone else's benefits be cut inorder to finance giving benefits todomestic partners is a divide andconquer strategy, a way of making
the proposal self destruct," she told
Out Week. Noting that Koch plays up
the fact that it might cost millions ofdollars, she added, "That's anotherway to kill a proposal."
She also charges that Koch has
played down his influence in any
negotiations about health care. But
she says that the mayor has moreclout than he claims. Lesbian and gay
city workers are currently tyring toorganize a· gay committee within District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, which could play animportant role in further discussions.
"[Koch] has already said he will
make health care a priority. And that's
all he can do," said Hudson of themayor's office. "We can go to the cityand prioritize the issue, but we haveto negotiate with a lot of unions.
Hudson claims that because someunions may place greater. importanceon domestic partner issues than others, it is not a simple task.
As for Koch's influence on union
agreements, Hudson said, "ultimately,
we could say we won't approve any
contract that doesn't have [domestic
partnership benefits] in it. But thatwould be tough."...

S.F. Dontestic Partners
B·

Faces Reby Keith Clark
SAN FRANCISCO-When this city's
newly enacted domestic partners legislation went into effect July 5, a loose
coalition of fundamentalist Christians
and Roman Catholic clergy, with an
assist from Phyllis Schlaf\y's Eagle
Forum, filed petitions with 27,122 signatures to force the law onto theNovember ballot for a public referendum that temporarily suspends the
new law until it comes up for a general vote.
The suspension order came fromthe city attorney's office on Thursday,
July 6, following a dispute between
Supervisor Harry Britt's office and city
attorney Louise Renne over when
repeal petitions had to be filed.
Renne's office determined the newlegislation was to have taken effect at
12:01 a.m. on July 6 instead of thewidely reported date of July 5.
Renne said, "What we've determined is that the ordinance is suspended unless and until, one, theregistrar (of voters) decides petition
isn't valid, or two, the voters inNovember pass the ordinance."
The petition drive was headed, at
least
formally,
by long-time
lesbian/gay rights opponent the Rev.
Charles McIlhenny of First Orthodox
Presbyterian Church, and by Rabbi
Lionel Feldman.
In order to qualify, valid signatures of 18,000 registered city voters
are required. The registrar of votersoffice is not expected to complete
verification before mid-July. With over
27,000 signatures, few people expect
the petition to fail to qualify.
Due to a printing error, domestic
partners registration
forms were
unavailable
at the county clerk's
office when the law was incorrectlybelieved to have gone into effect on
July 5. Over 20 couples showed up atcity hall to register that day. In themeantime, the petitions were filedthat afternoon, causing the legal dispute to erupt between Britt's office,and the city attorney.
Britt aide Jean Harris said she
was unsure if the supervisor would
take any legal steps to challenge thecity attorney's ruling. According toHarris, repeal petitions are normallyrequired to be filed before a law goes
into effect. City attorney Renne's
office disagreed, however, and said
the petitions could be filed on the day
the law took effect.
Despite the repeal petitions,
Britt's office remained optimistic that
voters would approve the domestic
partners law which was signed by
Mayor Art Agnos on June 5 after
unanimous approval by the Board ofSupervisors May 22. Harris cited an
April 27 San Francisco Examiner pollthat showed 58 percent of those surveyed in the city favored the new law
with 35 percent opposed and 7 percent undecided.
Harris said, "People in all walksof life who support this legislation aregoing to come together and say theright wing is not going to come into
this town and drag us around by thenose."
Political
consultant
HarveyHukari was less optimistic, however,and predicted that if opponents of thelaw focused on "the economic impact
and what this says about where families are in San Francisco, then they
have an opportunity to win."
What is unclear in all these political predictions, however, is to what
extent the city's large lesbian/gay
community will rally behind the newlaw now that it's under attack. Boththe Bay Area Reporter and San Francisco Sentinel gave the legislation only
ho-hum editorial support when' it wasenacted, calling community reaction
to it "lukewarm" and a "non,issue.·Even the Examiner poll, while' showing 78 percent of the city's lesbians
and gay men were in favor of thelaw, also showed 17 percent of thecommunity here opposed it.
Perhaps even more damaging has
continued on page 74

July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

19

•

News
ctivists
•

ov't
• •
Small Demo Causes Huge Disruptionown

by Cliff O'Neill
WASHINGTON-A
band of 25
demonstrators from the local direct
action group OUT! (Oppression
Under Target) effectively blocked two
entrances to the District of Columbia's
government building, disrupted a district council meeting and lined thehallways of the building with reamsof red tape. The July 11 protest wascalled in response to the District ofColumbia's handling of its AIDS budget. Thirteen demonstrators
werearrested.
Members of the gay and lesbianactivist organization have charged thatthe local government has not spent asmuch as half the money it has set•

aside for local AIDS allocations thisyear. Due to local regulations, allmonies unspent by the end of the fiscal year must be returned to the government. The activists have charged
that the government is purposely
delaying the approval of several AIDS
contracts in order to ease the strain on
the District's overburdened budget.
At a June 29 hearing before theDistrict Committee on Human Services, members of the area's AIDS
organizations and Roger Doughty,
president of the Gay and Lesbian
Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
testified that a number of agencies
have properly submitted funding proposals to the District government,•

NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUALOUT! member protests D.C. AIDS funding delays.

20

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

Photo: Patsy Lynch

proposals which have not yet been
approved.
"Nearly two million dollars in
AIDS contracts are sitting there, awaiting award," Doughty stated in his testimony. "Even if everyone of thesecontracts were to be awarded today,
there's no way the money could bespent in the time left. Contracting
delays have rendered the District'sbudget completely
meaningless.
There's absolutely no excuse for thefoot dragging and budget manipulation of this government."
District Health Commissioner
Reed V. Tuckson has publicly conceded that there ha~'e been hold-ups in
the AIDS funding process and has
pledged to help remedy the problem,
but in conversation with at least one
reporter has added that more district
residents die of heart disease, suicides
and homicides than die of AIDS.
At 9:30 on the morning of thedemonstration, visitors and district
workers were entering the building
and passing through the building's
metal detector when one OUT!
member delayed the line by repeatedly going through the detector
walk-through with metal in
his pockets. At that point,
five demonstrators at each of
the building's
two maindoors stood outside thedoors and clamped themshut using an unbreakablebicycle lock. The demonstrators then chained and locked
themselves to the lock, heldup banners
and beganchanting. "No more businessas usual!" to the dismay andamusement of District workers trapped inside and outside the building.
At 9:40 a.m., police
officers arrived and began
taping off the streets adjoining the door and ordering
all reporters and camera
operators to stand across thestreet, out of sight of thedemonstrators. Inside, police
likewise ordered all those incontinued on page 49

•,

BOSTON- An angry Independence Day abortion-rights rally at the Federal Courthouse turned into a spontaneous, illegal march through the streets of Bostson, and ended in a violent conflict with police, according to Gay Community
News. Organizers ofthe rally estimated over 1,500 people, including many gay men and lesbians, attended. There were
two arrests. Similar demonstrations were held in cities around the nation, as the country reacted to the Supreme Court's
narrow decision in Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, which will return the decision to restrict access to aborPhoto: Marilyn Humphrie~tion in various circumstances to the individual states. - Andrew Miller

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•

•

News
Mass Wedding in Copenhagen?

ties argued that all adopted babies inDenmark come from Third World
nations that would not approve ofplacement with homosexuals.
But Jacobsen says the issue
extends beyond foreign babies, tochildren from previous heterosexual
relationships and children thai gay
and lesbian
couples
conceivethrough non-traditional means.
"We may get this solved," shesaid. "It's important because of children you could call your own. Gay
and lesbian partners should be able
to adopt each other's children."
The only other snag in the newlaw prevents gays and lesbians fromhaving church weddings in the state
Lutheran church. Jacobsen says religious authorities "are very strongly
against" the new law and that
activists will not pursue the matter forthe time being.
Civil weddings in Denmark arelegally identical to those conductedin churches.
Gay and lesbian activists in Sweden and Norway have announcedplans to descend on Copenhagen
October 1 to join the Danes in theircelebration.
-filed from Chicago"Large Reception" Plannedfor 100 Les/Gay Couples
by Rex Wockner
COPENHAGEN-As many as 100 gay
and lesbian couples may turn up at
the mayor's office October 1 to getmarried. That's the day a new law
takes effect making Denmark the firstnation in the world to grant full equal
rights to homosexuals - including theright to marry.
"It will be a major wedding witha large reception here in our cafe,"
said Dorthe Jacobsen of Landsforeningen For Bosser Og Lesbiske,' the
National Danish Organizationfor
Gays and Lesbians. "We don't knowwhat it will be like because the rules
aren't made 'yet, but we expect it tobe performed the same way as a civil
marriage."
At the center of the mass wedding will be 74-year-old Axel Axgil
and his 67-year-old lover of 40 years,
Eigil Axgil. Axel is said to be the first

person to publicly come out of thecloset in Denmark-in 1948. He was£ired the very next day from his job asan accountant in an auto body shop
in Denmark's third-largest city, Aalborg.
. "We have been together 40 years,
and in all these 40 years we were
waiting for this situation," said Eigil.
"Now we find we are as good as allother people. We are very glad we
can do this."
The two men adopted the same
last name in 1955. "'Axgil' is the firsttwo letters of Axel's first name andthe last three letters of my first name,"
Eigil said. "We wanted to tell all people that we were a couple."
Between now and October, Danish
activists plan to continue work on a snagin the new law which prevents gays andlesbians from adopting children.
In withholding that right, authori-•':'(illlll·~lli.;IIIJ·I':;;F.i;.;lillll1;,..... "6ut;gr~lit~st hope, "Yttetpirg ....
"'¢ontinued, "is the fact that Swedg$.
. ."hateto be considered prejudiced. Iti~.
the most ugly thing a Swede Can tie,"}and Sweden h:l$,traditionally played a'}yyry leading. role in the Nordic<;oti~iT' toes. .
.... 'Ytterberg said lobbying:wIFl
begin in earnest in the Fall becau$t'!
.···Swedenshuts
down totally in thf! .
sumrnertime .. We intend to just ke.ip
The process of chang~ng thelaw;;in S:;veden will!pe'slow, howev-nagging
on these basic questions aijd
. er. t\.$. d'ii'e activist >:'explai
oed
it,
get
them
raised in Parliament again::.• ",....."Swedes'Uke'to set upcommittees'atidagain,"he said.
J and.studY everything." But activists '. .
The Swedish media has steppea
say.tqeY;~re cQnfirlent the cnange)up
its editorializing in favor of gay
Wm;hapPel).,.., .,,«'fmarriage since Denmark changed its.."I'riI; ve"fy'careful not to ..put;' Jaws May 28. . .
.
"The liberal-which means. non"socialist-news~pershave bee~
cizing the government for not takitlg
radical enough measures to give gay'couples the possibility to live staple'.'. ':'::".:."

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OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•

lives," Ytterrberg said. "That is quite achallenge to the social democracy ofthis country because this sort of thing
has traditionally been in the socialdemocratic field."Gay, lesbian and unmarried heterosexual couples in Sweden alreadyhave some basic rights not affordedby other nations, including tax breaks,
inheritance rights and access to social
services.
"But it's the lowest possible levelof official status between two people," Ytterberg said. "It gives you certain very basic minimum rights."
Last year Sweden became thefirst country in the world to extend
domestic partnership rights to gay
men and lesbians.

-filed from Chicago.

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T"""'~ID OOOM ..

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July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

23

•

News
nres

on

•
•
Inuesln•Ins

by Keith Miller
Echoing last summer's scorching
August unrest, media attention is once
again intensely focused on Tompkins
Square Park in the East Village, as riot
police and park officials continue toengage in a tug-of-war with thehomeless and their supporters. Last
year, a demonstration against a park
curfew ended in a full-Scale riot thatleft· scores injured, as journalists captured police heating demonstrators onvideo tape.
Parks Department officals said
that the trouble again began to brew
early in June of this. summer when agroup of homeless living in Tompkins
Square erected shelters in the south
and west areas of the park. Reacting
to this shantytown, and to others likeit around the city, the Mayor's office
put into effect a new city law which
prohibits building Structures in cityuareparks. On July 4th, approximately
5,000 people gathered in Washington
Square Park, where the Homeless
Clients Advisory Committee planned
to burn the American flag to protest
the plight of homeless people. This
group clashed with a gang of skinheads who called the group "faggots
and Communists" and chanted "burnthe flag and we'll burn a fag." The
police' shut down the park at 6 p.m.
and the two groups -marched to
Tompkins Square: Park where they
were peacefully dispersed. En route,however,skinheads
reportedly"
trashed the offices of the Anarchist
Switchboard on 9th Street between
1st and 2nd Avenues.
On Wednesday night, July 5th, ina torrential rainstorm, 10 policemen
were hurt and 31 people were arrested as 100 police in riot gear swarmed
Tompkins Square Park and razed the
•

•

•

•

TOMPKINS TUG OF WAR

Photo: Peter LeVasseur

Police evicting B homeless man from the East Village park.
24

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

tattered village of wooden structures
and. cloth tents that Deputy Parks
Commissioner Alan Moss called a"cover for drug dealing and prostitution." The strategic maneuver was
extremely well planned, and reliedheavily on plainclothed troops. "Thepolice have more savvy, which isscary," protester Garance Ruta told
Out Week. "They shine spotlights into
the eyes of the crowd, then two plainclothes cops grab someone and dragthem behind the police line where they
instantly disappear. No one can see
who was arrested, who arrested themor what is happening to them next.
On Thursday, July 6th, the riot
police gathered again and swept thepark of the structures that had beenrebuilt. 200 to 300 angry and confused people were displaced from thearea as parks workers tossed unattended possessions
into garbage
trucks. By Saturday, July 8th, in aseemingly unending circle of tear
down, rebuild, tear down, tents once
again bloomed in the park. Early in,the afternoon,a grou p of 100
protesters gathered in front of theEast Fifth Street police station before
moving on to Tompkins Square.
Then, shortly after 6:30 p.m., riot
police and park workers appeared
and pulled down the re-erected tents.
Protesters scurried to erect several
more tents which, at 9:00 p.m., officials promptly removed.
By Sunday, July 9th, the tents
had reappeared. At 9:00 a.m., several
dozen pol ice and park rangers
shrieked a wake-up call on whistles
rousing the 50 or so people sleeping
in the park, and quickly removed
their temporary structures. The police
evacuated the park at 11:00 a.m. andsoon thereafter, the structures reappeared. "We will keep it up ...until themessage is out that you can't build
structures in the park," said Deputy
Chief Charles Reuther of Patrol Borough Manhattan South. Keith Thompson, a 32-year-old homeless man andpark resident for the past year said,"It doesn't matter if they keep taking
them down. We're just going to keep
rebuilding them:...

In Our Own Hands•
by Risa Denenberg
he right wing is gaining previously lost ground in its
present promotion of thesexual values of marriage, monogamy
and forced motherhood. In the early
1970s, if a doctor presumed to ask mewhat I used for birth control, I simply
replied, "I sleep with women.» In thefeminist clinic where I worked as a
lay-health worker, I felt free to informclients of my lesbian preference andpolitics. In fact, I was often vocallyarrogant that my list of health problems had nearly disappeared
after turning to women forsex. For me, sex with men
had resulted in an illegal
abortion, birth control blues,
many pelvic infections, andherpes, as well as physical f\m~1~~;;••
abuse and partner-rape.
In thosedays,
thewomen's liberation
movement was fleXing its muscles
and gaining turf for all
women. Now, as we are on thethreshold of losing access to abortion
services, lesbians have again become
increasingly faced with obstacles andbarriers which can destabilize, interfere with and undermine our health.
Women's health care in the U.S.
has been the bastion of sexism. Some
reforms have occurred under the pressure of an activist women's healthmovement. But all women suffer theeffects of sexism in health care. Still,
for lesbians, the heterosexist model is
imposed over the sexist treatment that
all women are subjected to.
Heterosexual assumptions pervade most health 'care settings. No
questions about sexual preference
exist in the health histories we fill out.
We are asked instead about our birthcontrol method (which also presumed
that if we do sleep with men, birthcontrol is still our responsibility). We
are tested for infections that are•

Hospital a lesbian was harassed, beaten and arrested by hospital security
guards because she was trying to
advocate for and support her lover "who had been raped and was seeking
medical care in the emergency room.
Other responses include crude andignorant remarks, probing the lesbianclient for irrelevant details of her sex
unlikely to pass by woman-to-woman
life, pressure to have sex with a malesex. Speculums are pushed into ourvaginas without any knowledge of practitioner, or an undue tendency toperform gynecological surgery andwhat we allow or desire to penetrateus there. Bisexuality is not consideredrefer lesbians to psychological services. Lesbians are also refused serat all.
The specific needs, questions and vices, such as artifical insemination, by'concerns of lesbians are rarely raised many doctors.
The NYC area is fortunate to havein such settings. Lesbians can and dopass certain infections back and forth, two health care facilities that are lesbian-oriented. The St. Marks Women's
particularly yeast, trichomonas andchlamydia. Herpes and warts can also Health Collective and the Community
be transmitted. But to address issues Health Project serve lesbians, bothwith limited hours and number of appOintment slots.
The situation is much moredire in most communities.
Often there is no way, otherthan word of mouth, for alesbian to even hear abouti¥E_::::~:..IiI]t.t'~:_'£..• I. :·:;~af&L'~·J·'
AII•• Hbji¥1~~#:;\m?·-·-·-····
an informed, gentle or supportive practitioner. Even
feminist-oriented
clinics,
such as the one I worked
in, often relegate lesbianof prevention and effective treatment,
health care to a special night anda grounded knowledge of lesbian sex- commit the bulk of their resources toheterosexual
women's
issues.
ual practice 'must exist. Sadly, ourcommunity itself lacks this basic data; Additionally, very little has been writcertainly practitioners have no idea ten to inform or empower lesbians inwhat we're doing sexually unless they matters of health.
Lesbians have been at the front of
ask and we tell. There are also gaps inliberationand healthmedical information. Can the HIV women's
activism for many decades, often
virus be transmitted woman-to-woman
invisibly. Lesbians have been fighting
by sex? Does chronic fatigue synfor reproductive rights, against coerdrome affect lesbians disproportionately? Lesbian invisibility hides thesecive sterilization, within the AIDS
questions and stands in the way of activist movement, and around manyother critical issues. As repression
finding answers. Lesbians may havespecific mental health concerns relat- becomes• an increasingly present feaed to past or present sexual abuse,ture of our daily lives, lesbians arebattery, eating disorders, substancebeing shoved backward and are havuse, body image, sexual difficulties or ing to redouble our efforts to remaininternalized homophobia. Lesbians
visible, alive and proud of our accomoften lack resources and access toplishments. We must continue to push
health care services.
for our own issues of access, and with
The response to the lesbian client others in fighting all forms of heterois often heterosexist, even violent. For sexism, sexism, racism, c1assism andexample, last year at St. Vincent's
other repressive attacks.
...

i;i~llflll"flll'llfi;lli!lli~r'\II~ltlllf~1IIIIIJIII!(ftlllll;li_,,'oW_', __July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

25

,

•

P·olitical Science•••by Mark Harrington"People think they dis my person
By stating my skin is darkly packed
I know this so I point at a-tip
And he states "Black is Black'"-De La Soul, IIM.eMyself and /"'".

'n

Chicago researchers to see how effective various m:ilaria treaments were.
Juveni.\e offenders and retarded people in Pennsylvania were exposed to
an influenza v;lccine and then injectedwith the influenza virus. Some, thosein the "control" group, were justinfected with influenza with no vaccine. The New York Times of March 5,1945, hailed these abuses as proving"just how completely this is everybody's war.".
After these abuses were publicized,
clinical trials started to be regulated by
the U.S. Food and prug Administration{FDA). Potential subject's were required
to be informed of the potential risks andbenefits of partic;ipating in clinical trials.
All studies had to be approved by anobjective Institutional Review Board
1

'--

••
•

•

•

n the bad old days, poor people
and people of color were themost likely to be treated as•
guinea pigs in scientific studies. The
most notorious was the Tuskegee
syphilis experiment.
Beginning in
1932, this United States Public HealthService(PHS)-sponsoredstudy
observed the progression of syphilis in
399 African-American men in Alabamafor four decades. They received notreatment
whatsoever
for their
syphilis.
This provided "useful scientificdata" on the course of untreatedsyphilis. It also led to neurosyphilis,
blindness and early death in some of
the men. The PHS scientists justified
this study at the outset because treatments for syphilis were lengthy,
expensive and didn't always work.
They lost this excuse after 1945 when
penicillin became available as a quick,cheap and effective
treatment forsyphilis. Nonetheless, this cruel, genocidal study continued until· 1972.
This was far from the only ethicallapse in clinical studies. During WorldWar II, the U.S. Government sponsored extensive trials seeking new
drugs fQr dysentery,malaria andinfluenza. They sought treatments fordiseases which American servicemen
were likely to encounter in the war

26

OUTTWEEK

c:::
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•

~'" _

~

...1 .,.... --,.,.---'

overseas.
(Im3). to ensure that subjects were adeDysentery trials tQ(jk place in . quately protec.ted.
retarded residents of an Illinois. These' reforms
reversedthe,...institution and at the New Jersey State
demographics of people in and out of
Colonyfor the Feeble-Minded.
trials. Where previous studies had
Psychotic backward patients wer~ " useq ·idstitutionalizc:!d people, poor
infected with malaria by University of '~6ple'aridpeople of color, now they

July 24. 1989•.<. '.~,:. '. ,~..

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•

tended to use patients who were welleducated enough to sign the informed
consent forms, and who had doctors
affiliated with the prestigious medical
schools where most research takes
place.
The reforms had another effect.
While they were designed to protect
human research subjects from unethical treatment in trials, they also quarantined outside the drug testing
system the disadvantaged people they
were supposed to protect.
The result is that today, in New
York City, where 33 percent of thepeoplewith AIDS are AfricanAmerican, only 9 percent of those participating in federally-sponsored trialsof new AIDS drugs are AfricanAmerican. The same discrepancy
exists with women (85 percent of
women with AIDS are women ofcolor) and with Latinos.
. The de facto racist nature oftoday's clinical tri'3:l~ystem, whenwell-connected, well-educated white
gay men have access to promising
new treatments for AIDS, and poorlyeducated,economicallydepriyed
women, children and people of cplor
are allowed to get sick and die without access to new AIDS treatm,ents,
cannot be solved by reforming the
drug testing system alone. It requires athorough overhaul of the nation's
entire health care system. For people
cannot get into clinical trials, wQich
are the avant-garde of the health caresystem, if they lack the most b~sic
access to health care of any kind. I
The solution
to resolv:ing
America's medical apartheid is toestablish community health clinics inall neighborhoods
which lack ade,quate health care. Today, poor people
use municipal hospital emergency
rooms to obtain primary health care.
They have no other option. Mayor
Koch's policy of slashing hospital budgets and closing hospitals is just one
symptom of the overall decline ofhealth care in America. And now,
New York City is proposing to close
its budget gap by expropriating a $30
million surplus (obtained by slashingstaff and services) from the city's
Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Health care is a right. Pump up
the budget.
...

•

.

(hip Duckett Presents MARS NEEDSMEN/Parties for Men EverySunday at MARS
Go-Go Boys/Live Bands/Five Floors of Fun and Roof/with OJ'S
Michael Connolly, John Suliga, and Lorry Tee/DJ Perfidia Camps Out on
the Third Floor/at Mars/13th St & West Side Highway/691-6262/from 9:00p.m.
July24,1989

OUTTWEEK27

•

for renewal this fall. Representatives
from these and other controlling agencies were present at NYCCRM'spublicforums, a healthy indicator that somepretty powerful people understand thelink between who controls and regulates cable technology in NYC andwho's allowed to actually appear on
elevision has long been criti- mingo Manhattan's public access facili- the screen.
cized for its one-sided eleties remain underfunded and underWhen the cable franchises comement: communities have no staffed. The PEG possibilities are still up for renewal this fall, they will do
feedback and the "what you see is largely unexplored due to lack of pro- so amidst a storm of complaints fromwhat you get" mentality prevails.
motion by the cable companies.
the public about poor service, bad
Cable broadcasting promised a way
NYCCRM,the New York Citizen's reception and inadequate
access.
out of this unbalanced state of affairs. Committee for Responsible Media, is NYCCRMmembers plan to meet withCable television's scaled-down techan advocacy group seeking to change
the aforementioned
governmental
nology and increased channel capacity the direction of cable access. Contain- agencies to offer their input. One
offered programmers and consumers
ing a wide range of interests andhighly cont' >ted issu~ will be thethe chance to see more diverse types opinions, from cable programmers to companies' .ailure to live up to theof TV reflecting a wider range of opinmedia activists, the committee recently minimal Equal Employment Opportuions. And then there was the issue of held a series of discussions and work- nity standards. The companies havecable access, where individuals--(supshops at Downtown Community Tele- yet to respond to inquiries from the
Bureau of Franchises regarding theposedly) anyone even lesbians and vision (DCTV), explaining the whogays, could make a TV program and and how of public access and· cri- matter.
have it aired.
tiquing the current situation. The
The lesbian and gay community
group is being taken seriously by the must become part of the cable franUnfortunately, Manhattan's cable
powers that be: the Burrough Presi- chise review process, working withaccess facilities (these are literally
mini-production centers where indident's Office, which is responsible for NYCCRMto ensure that censorship of,_..~.--..,~
lesbian and gay programviduals and groups~
can go to access low- :.::.:..:.::.,'.:'~""....
.
. _.--.~?~.... ming will not take place.
• .• '. •~::.~.:.:
If our input does notcost, high quality.:/:1::.:.\....
.
k.• •equIpment to rna e.
'~.:.:.:.:..\.:.....
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become a regular part of.
T V prot h elf own: :..: :.
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the agenda of these inde0°·0° 0° 0° 0° 0° 0° .•• 0° 0° 0° 0° 0". • L~..
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pendent and governmentgrams) are found .. to.0° .0°.0°. ,. 0° '. •.'.
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ca bl e f rane h lses were •.':.":':.:::.:.::'.:.:.:.:-.;"'•" 0".• 0°• 0° ••••
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our interests will be lost.. ..... ' .. ' " .. 'amid the clamorofParagon back in 1970, '::::'::.:::,,::'::':::':'::':~', .', .. ,'. .,.,
"minority" voices being
several promises were ~.':':'.::'.:.:.:':'.::.,:.:-.:,..".. '..
' .'.'.'.'.'
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rna de to t he Man hat- '.:,.:...':.,,':,:.':.':1•." ....' .' " .,..
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not just a p'l-ssive state oftan commumty con- .....
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being, it i~ a weapon'.' " '.' '. ." ,'.~
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These inch.lded un i- "::':..:::.::.::::::::::.\ '.
.
(II:'-\ 'I:I!
communities by controlversa I servicea:...:.''..'..
':,..;.;:....:...
._~_ areas were to' be--.------.
-_., .
. ling groups: in this caseprogrammers
and marwired with cable), diketers who decide who is to be seenverse programming, and Public Educa- establishing an independent accesstional and Governmental(PEG)
corporation to oversee the set-up of and heard on cable TV. Hopefully, lesbians and gays will join with NYCCRM
access. Twenty years later these mini- community access facilities citywide;
and others in coalition to fight formum promises remain unfulfilled.
the Bureau of Franchises (whose
Harlem, the Lower East Side and otherdirector is appointed by the Board of genuine public access in Manhattan.
underprivledged areas remain largely Estimate) and the Office of Telecom- This means better service, well maintained, affordable facilities, and espemunications, the two agencies which
unwired. Both cable companies are
actually oversee the franchise review cially fair and equitable distribution of
owned by American Telecommunicacable itself, including those "hard-dotions Corporation, a division of Time process; and the cable companies
reach" areas.
...
Inc., ensuring homogenous programthemselves, whose franchises are up

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OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989••

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

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•

ook at your paycheck. Did
the government
take out
again for non-lethal aid? Is
the crime rate going up in your neighborhood? Do you think your phone isbeing tapped? I:Iave recent Supreme
Court civil rights decisions caused you. pain? Are you w0rried about the
deficit? Acid rain? The Greenhouse
Effect? U.S. foreign intervention?
Would you agree that there is a
Problem?
You know what the Problem is,
don't you? Heterosexuals. I have evidence.
Everywhere you go, there theyare. Walking. Talking. Kissing. Eating.
Drinking. Buying things. Going weewee. Disgusting. I even saw one voteonce. After it came out of the little
booth, it winked at me and said,"Hubba hubba."
I've been watchingthem foryears, now. Oh, they start off innocently enough. As babies, straightpeople are often quite cute. Many ofthem, how6!ver, tend to cry all nightand drool a lot-thefirst signs thatsomething is not right.
As heterosexuals grow older, they
watch TV for hours; afterwards, they30

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

Commentary by Susie Day
go outside to play. Boys build toy
skyscrapers and run choo-choo trains
through tiny tunnels, while girls lookon and make little mud doughnuts.
Then they all go into their houses andeat red meat.
And it .doesn't stop there. Many ofthem learn to read, in order to keep
up with the latest heterosexual
thought and fashion catalogues. Soon,
all they think of is getting a place of
their own and holding down a job, sothat they can procure members of the"opposite" gender with whom they
can have frequent and pleasurable
sexual relations.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE IN
THE MESSWE'RE IN TODAY!!!
I admit they had me fooled for awhile. At first, they appeared to bejust another harmless majority group.

They stayed in their place. The media
portrayed
diem favorably.
Heck,weren't we all "just people?"
Then things started to get bad.
My application for modelling school
was turned down; they wanted someone whose posture
was a little"straighter." Several of my friends
were "laid" off of their jobs. A nuclear
family moved into our neighborhood-andrents skyrocketed.
So I began to look around. I realized that what I had been watching
was part of a carefully orchestrated
plan. "They're taking our jobs," Ithought, "buying up acres of land on
the QT; forming heterosexual corporations; merging. They can teach in our
schools, work out in our gyms andthere's nothing we can do about it."Or was there? I got some facts.
• Did you know that heterosexuals Comprise at least 90 percent of the
population?
• Did you know that the earth is
now groaning with over 50 billion
straight people, each of whom wants,
above all else, to "survive"?
• It therefore follows that at least
90 percent of all muggers, thieves, pickpockets, slumlords, fascist dictators, and•• Burn their records. How many
people who don't have to spend any Man and a Woman which they watch
time in jail for their part in thefor hours with ghastly expressions of copies of "This Girl is a Woman Now"
must be destroyed before the world
Contragate scandal are HETEROSEXU- sated catatonia on their faces. Morefeels safe again? Let's find out!
AL!!!And more are appearing every day! than one lesbian has found a funny,• Close their sports complexes
Why has this been allowed to little "drain stopper" in her lover's
and shopping malls, notorious heterocontinue? Do we want our art criti- knapsack, which, upon closer quescized, our food processed,
ourtion ing, was revealed
to be a sexual "hang-outs."• Urge them to seek professional
weaponry assembled by this type per- diaphragm.
help. Remind them that this is for theirOh, yes. There may be someson? Think! I did.
Through careful, inductive reagood heterosexuals. High-minded Iib- own good. Also remind them that it isa great opportunity tosoning, I have discovdevelop
socialized
ered that there is a vast
medicine.
conspiracyof Militant• Feel free to come
Heterosexuals who seek
up with your own solutotalitarian control of thetions. Or draw from the
ENTIRE WORLD. They
successesof others.
want to make everyone
How
did
Sigourney
like they are! And you,
Weaver get rid of thethought it was the CIA...
Big Mother Space Alien,
Recent studies havefor example?
shown that when hetIf all else fails, ask them to thinkerals who endeavor to take responsierosexuals
go out on dates, they
about the crime rate and the deficit;
bility for their shortcomings
andmaintain certain rigid sex-role stereoabout Supreme Court decisions anddiscourage foul play amongst theirtypes. This is NO ACCIDENT. Theirpeers. But would you want Alan Aida the Greenhouse Effect. Give them an
behavior is being constantly moniultimatum: do they want to be part ofto marry your lesbian lover?
tored by their Militant Heterosexual
the Problem, or part of the solution?
president, Big Breeder. "Big Breeder
Ignoring the Problem won't make
Then get them to give you their payis Watching," is a standard admoniit go away. Here are some suggestions
for direct action:
checks.
Ttion to the nonconformist ___________~tr" ioht~ersokn. You can imagine the terro~ it l~ii;~f.~/~~~~~~~~~~§~~~~~~~~~~IOVO es.
:.:;.::::;;:
u;,,·Occasionally, some unfortunate
THE BEST IN GROOMING FOR ALL BREEDS OF
soul snaps under the pressure of lifelong programming. People like this
DOGS AND CATS
can be seen shuffling about their
A-.. '¥
r.::?\
A.
lawns in bedroom slippers, mumblingincessantly the three fundamental cre'-"~dostaughtto themby the929-8236
Breederhood: (1) Freedom is Marriage;(2) War is Winnable; and (3) Ignorancej
is a Nice Home in the Suburbs.
164
Christopher
Street
NYC
10014
Soon, if we are not careful, we
~~
~
~.~~
-4l-t~'.ds?!;·._~_..'6
will be like that. Pod people. They're
waiting, you know-just waiting for a
few more of us to go over to theirside.
You see, heterosexuals
arerequired to date as often as they can.
They form sexual alliances with everybody-EVEN homosexuals!!! Yes! HETEROSEXUALS TRY TO RECRUIT
DECENT GAY MEN AND LESBIANS
INTO THEIR DEPRAVED "LIFESTYLE."
And they're succeeding!
More and more hapless victims
are appearing
every day. Sales ofhomoerotic videos have plummetted,
while increasing numbers of gay men
are bringing home such films as A

90 perce.nt of all muggers,
thieves, pickpockets,
slumlords and fascist
dictators, are HETEROSEXUAL!! !

, '*

*

July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

31

•

Style and Substance,
Beauty and Brains,
Cultural Activism at its Whacky Finest•or all the pol itical successes ofthe feminist movement in the
1970s,
feminist
culturalactivism has rarely surfaced
into the mainstream of American society. There is the committed alternative
community of women's music which
provides a supportive artistic and economic environment for female performers, but its cultural impact on theworld at large is decidedly limited. At
the other end of the spectrum there isthat oft-changing pantheon of female
rock and pop stars whose worldwide
visibility is matched only by theircapacity to turn every sexist stereotype about women performers into a
cultural imperative.
In between, there isn't really thatmuch to choose from. Oh yes, Tracy
Chapman or Suzanne Vega or Michelle
Shocked, some might say. But there
still aren't many places for the adventurous and. demanding girl or boy to
go to get good music, good looks andgood politics with just the rightamount of irreverent, even bitchy andsexy, verbal and musical moxie.

32

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

by Maria Maggenti

Unless of course one has a chance to famous Edinborough Theater Festivalsee, hear and experience one very big last summer. They are featured artists(along with Ethyl Eichelberger) on the
exception to all the rules the whackyand sassy trio, Betty. Or, as their press
HBO television series Encyclopedia
packet modestly states, "Betty: Three .. where they wrote 27 songs andwomen ... a couple of songs."
recorded everything in 11 days. Their
Betty , three women and a couple
diverse audiences-gay,straight,
of songs, is indeed an understatement.
Black, white, old, young, women,
Bitzi and Amy Ziff, twin sisters,
men and little kids and their grassand six-foot-one-inchtall Alysonroots support is the envy of any politiPalmer (aptly referred
to as a cal organizer. And all this without a"Glamazon") arrived in New York just recording, a manager, an agent, a
six months ago from Washington, D.C. business manager or a public relations
where they established a large andfirm. They do all their own businessdiverse following in three years of live in addition to their creative work,
performance.
They've played forthough New York became the city of
everyone from Mayor Marion Barry to choice when they realized that ultithe Gay Bowlers' National Convention
mately, to do everything they want to("Halloween 1987," says Alyson, "mendo ("A record contract,
an Offran up and put money in our cleavBroadway show, an On-Broadwayages") to the National Pro-Choice
show, a film, more songs"), they had
March on Washington this March.
to get more professional support.
Betty was born on Valentine's
I go through the press packet to
Day in 1986 and has since traveled all try and find a way to describe themacross the United States and throughand what they do. The packet isthe British Isles including a month
replete with clippings from the New
long gig at the South Bank Theatre in
York Times ("an amusing litany of
London last winter and a show at theerotic innuendo from a postpunk fem-

T
(Alyson) and swagger (Bitzi) on stage as the three of them do a slithering
inist perspective")to the jewish
Herald in England ("Bon bons for one can easily imagine what it would and swollen go-around of typical one
beautiful,bawdy Betty") to thebe like if Wigstock were a girls-only night stand pick-up questions. In Fun
Girl (for people who need people)
Washington Post ("Wordplay with
event. All three women have hair that
Barbra Streisand fans are treated to a ,.
showers of trademark tight [but twist- defies both gravity and fashioned) harmonies") to somerollicking and ro.cking
compilationof everything I couldn't
readsong from Funny Girl.
because it was in Russian.
Women can be strong and
And then there's theEvery set opens with "I'mmusical version of Lewis
a Girl Watcher," a fast and sexy, volatile and vibrant,
Carroll's jabberwocky; afunny version that immevery funny It's Gotta be
diately introduces Betty'S
entertainSodomy in honor of thesophisticated harmonies
ing. No
SupremeCourt;
Go("tight as spandex," said
Ahead and Split Mr.
Variety) and a capella
Amoeba Man, completefinesse with just a hint of
their trademark hilarity and erotic sug- logic curls, curls and more curls in with scientific explanation; and woven
in between, around and within all of
shades of blonde, deep brown andgestion. Their work has been calledburgundy respectively. But it isn't their their original songs there are the three"rockapella," though they've recentlyof them, laughing, bantering, dancing,trademark hair or their very goodtaken on "raucousapella" to describe
their special (no, really, I mean spe- looks or their sexy exuberance that rocking out and completely engaging
the audience in a tantalizing web of
ignites the stage. It's actually theircial) combination of intricate harmusic. Bitzi says they're the Guns 'n Betty-ness. This isn't just singing,monies, electric bass, keyboards,
Roses of cabaret though their sound is crooning and swooning this is a totalcello, percussion and cabaret stylecross-talk creating a whole that is decidedly more heavy "mental" than show.
To see three strong, sexy womendizzily greater than the sum of its heavy metal. Bar Talk Duets could
also be heard as Bartok Duets, the full on stage (two Jewish women and one
parts.
Black woman, no less, in these racialTo see them waltz (Amy), saunter
meaning of which is slyly developed

vulnerable andholds' barred!

~.'"

,..
,

,

,

.

.

":':',

':-.

-.:.

'-

..:.:

,
Photo: T. l. Liti

THE -GUNS AND ROSES" OF CABARET
Bitzi and Amy Ziff andAlyson Palmer of Betty.

July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

33

•

•

"No holds barred," interjects Amy.
"Don't just get up there and sing'cuz anybody can just get up there
and sing, don't just get up there andjust play your iristruments, but get up
on stage and say, 'For the next hour,
I'm gonna make you forget about
everything in your life except fun,'"continues Alyson.
"And we'll take you away," adds
Amy, "no holds barred."This summer Betty will be taking
people away from ordinary life allover the country. In addition to athree week run at the BerkshireTh¢ater Festival Quly 7-22) where they
will be performing a midnight show("it's the first time they've ever done
that," exclaims Glamazon Alyson) andwriting the music for Caryl Churchill's"Cloud Nine," Betty will also be in
Photo: n. litt
Boston, Provincetown, the Michigan
Iy divided times) pulling the world
ered the entertainment capital of the
Womyn's Music Festival, Chicago andapart and putting it back together
world (unless one considers the Oliverback to New York for the Women in
again with their voices, their cello,
North hearings). "But," says Amy, "you Jazz Festival. In addition to all the perdrum machine,
electric bass andknow, in D.C. with all the politics and· forming, Amy has just finished a bookclever lyrics certainly cuts a wide
repression, there's really nowhere to which includes some of the groups
swath across the dismal late 1980s
lyrics as well as her on-stage monoturn but to creativity and expression.
logues (the women-in-prison-movies
entertainment landscape. For heaven's
It was actually a very vibrant and supsake, Bush is President, the flag is portive place for us as performers."routine has got to be seen to beclose to £lying on the Constitution,
Even in New York one finds fans from believed), and the three of them are
and Madonna has decided that wearD.C. and Betty has a particularly large scouting for the right producers and a
ing a collar and sipping from a bowl
following in the gay community andrecording contract, not to mention aof milk like an animal is a form of among women of all kinds. "We'rebacker for their film.
women's liberation. • So where the hell standing up for all kinds of identities
Betty isn't easy to peg-theydid Betty come from?
don't £it into anyone
category,
I recently met with Betty inwhich is their charm and their
their East Village apartment on the Madonna
has decided power. But is the world ready for
hottest day of the year to drink.Betty? The three of them together,papaya juice and ruminate
on that sipping from ajust being who they are, provide a
women, music, New York and, of bO\N1of milk like anvision of the future which people
course, Betty herself. Or, themwould never expect to find in the ~animal is a form of
selves.
entertainment world. Oh and add a"It's rained every day since we \Nomen's liberation.
couple of songs-maybe
a blues
moved here," says Bitzi of the burversion of "Petticoat Junction" or agundy curls and delicate gold nose
propulsive list of titillating taboosring. "But grey skies are gonna clear
hopefully ... as gay women, bisexualwith electric bass-andone gets theup!" asserts Alyson, whose beauty is women, straight women and for men
feeling of some kind of magic.
Tmore than just a bit distracting. In too, the main thing is that women can
New York, they've played at The
be strong and sexy, volatile andBetty will be performing at Mars in
Knitting ,Factory, The Bottom Line, . vibrant, vulnerable and entertaining.
New York City on July 30, Nightstage
Mars, The Gay and Lesbian Pride Rally No holds barred!" explains Amy.
in Cambridge, Mass., on July 29th andand PS 122 among other venues.
Seeing Betty live one knows thereat Town Hall in Provincetown
on
Aside from enthusiastic audiences,
are no holds barred. "We love enterAugust 29th. For more information on
New York has created the possibility
Bettyrules Productions, including ttainers. We love people who get upof meeting other women performers
shirts and the mailing list, write to:there and put 00 a show," says
and having a peer support network.
Bettyrules Prods., p.o. Box 1319, New
Alyson.
Washington D.C. isn't exactly consid"Go for it," interrupts Bitzi.
York, NY 10011.

34

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•

NEWSSTANDS:
MIDTOWN--WEST SIDE
42nd St. & Broadway SE
IRTMezzanine 42nd St. & Broadway SE
BMT Mezzanine Uptown 42nd St. &Broadway SE
40th St. & 7th Ave. SW
40th S1. & Broadway SW
39th St. & Broadway SE
42nd St. & 6th SE
42nd St. & 5th NE
42nd St. & 5th NW
42nd St. & 5th SW
57th St. & 6th SW
57th St. & 6th SE
Subway Mezzanine 57th St. & 7th SW
56th St. & Broadway SE
55th St. & Broadway NE
55th St. & 7th NE
Smoke Scene 54th St. & 7th NE
53rd St. & Broadway NE
44th St. & 7th NW
Port Authority Lobby 8th Ave
42nd St. & 8th Ave SE
UPPER WEST SIDE
8th Ave. bet. 52nd-53rd
57th St. & Broadway NW
60th St. & CFW NE
66th St. & Broadway NW
69th St. & Broadway SE
71st St. & Amsterdam SW
72nd St. & Amsterdam SE
72nd St. & Broadway SW
72nd St. & Amsterdam SW
74th St. & Broadway NW
Candy Store. Broadway bet. 76th-77th
79th St. & Amsterdam SW
83rd St. & Broadway NW
86th 3t. & Broadway SE
86th St. & Broadway NW
75th St. & Amsterdam
90th St. & Broadway SE
99th St. & Broadway NE
110th St. & Broadway NE
Subway Downtown 116th St. & BWay SW
104th St. & Broadway NW
96th St. & Broadway SW
93rd St. & Broadway, midblock W
Columbus bet. 86th-87th
Columbus & 75th St. SE
74th St. & Columbus SE
72nd St. & Columbus SE
Candy Store, 69th St. & Columbus W
Columbus bet. 68-69 E
54th St. & 9th Ave SW
9th Ave. bet 42nd-43rd St.
LOWER EAST SIDE
12th St. & Third Ave.
2nd Ave bet 9th-10th St.
2nd Ave. & 9th St. SE
3rd Ave bet 9th -10th St.
Lafayette & St. Mark's SW

St Mark's & 2nd Ave SW
2nd Ave. & 5th St.
1st Ave & 1st St. NW
Civilization 78 2nd Ave
Ave A & 7th
23rd St. & 3rd SW
24th St. & Lex NW
22nd St. & Broadway SE
Park Ave South St. & 21st
3rd Ave. & 20th St. NE
WEST VILLAGE
Paper And Things, Bleeker between 10th St.
& Christopher
Alternative Card Shop. 85 Christopher St.
Greenwich Magazine. Hudson & Perry
Buscamp, 54 8th Ave.
Village General, Horatio & 8th Ave.
Chelsea Papers. 8th Ave. & 18th St.
La Boom. 23rd St. between 8th St. & 9th Ave.
7th Avenue between 23rd St. and 24th St.
Pisces. 7th Ave. & 22nd St.
7th Ave. between 15th St. & 16th St.
Subway. 7th Ave. & 14th St. SW
220 W. 14th St.
90 Greenwich Ave.
60 Greenwich Ave.
130 7th Ave.
113 7th Ave.
Sheridan Square Island
Parsley Sage. 7th Avenue & Barrow SE
Sullivan & Houston SW
6th Ave. & 3rd St. NE
164 W. 4th St. at 6th Ave.
6th Ave. & 8th St. SW
138 W. 10th St. off Greenwi ch
6th Ave. & 11th St. NE
488 6th Ave. & W. 12th St.
110 University Place
Hudson News. 753 Broadway

EAST SIDE MIDTOWN
27th St. & 3rd Ave. NE
2nd Ave. bet. 34th-35th St.
34th St. & Lex SW
34th St. & 5th SW
42nd St. & 3rd Ave. SW
42nd St. & 3rd Ave. NE
32nd St. & 5th Ave.
32nd St. & Broadway PATH
34th St. & 6th Ave. SE
34th St. bet 5th-6th Ave
36th St. & Broadway NW
36th St. & 6th Ave. SW
28th St. & Lex NW
28th St. bet Lex-3rd Ave.
33rd St. & Madison SW
37th St. & Madison NW
42nd St. & Madison NE
40th St. & 3rd Ave NE
59th St. & Madison SW
53rd St. & 2nd Ave. SE
50th St. & 2nd Ave. SE
2nd Ave. & 48th St.

3rd Ave. & 49th St. NW
3rd Ave. between 50th St. & 51st St.
53rd St. & 3rd Ave. SW
57th St. & Lexington SE
54th St. & 1st Ave. SW
UPPER EAST SIDE
1st Ave. between 57th St. & 58th St.
Cosmos Stationery, 58th St. & 1st Ave. SE
Lexington between 90th St. & 91st. St.
86th St. & 3rd Ave. NW
86th St. & 3rd Ave. SW
3rd Ave. between 91st. St. & 92nd St.
Laurie's Card Shop. 91st St. & 3rd Ave.
Lexington & 96st. St. NE
Lexington between 79th St. & 80th St.
Lexington between 63rd St. & 64th St.
Franky's 1st Ave. between 60th St. & 61st St.
1st Ave. between 62nd St. & 63rd St.
1st Ave. & 66th St.
1st Ave. etween 68th St. & 69th St.
1st Ave. & 71 st St.
1st Ave. between 73rd St. & 74th St.
1490 1st Ave.
79th St. & 1st Ave. NE
York Avenue & 79th St.
1st Ave. & 82nd NW
S&M Grocery, 1st Ave. between 86th St. &87th St.
Don Diego Tobacco. 1st between 86th St. &87th St.
2nd Ave. & 94th St.
2nd Ave. between 88th St. & 89th St.
86th St. & 2nd Ave. SE
86th St. & 2nd Ave. NE
86th St. between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave.
2nd Ave. between 83rd St. & 84th St.
2nd Ave. between 82nd St. & 83rd St.
79th St. & 2nd Ave. NE.
2nd Ave. & 72nd St. NW
Neo Boutique, 2nd Ave. & 72nd St. SE
2nd Ave. between 69thSt. & 70th St.
2nd Ave. between 60th St. & 61st St.
59th St. & 3rd Ave. NE
60th St. & 3rd Ave. NW
3rd Ave. between 71st St. & 72nd St.
3rd Ave. between 78th St. & 79th St.
3rd Ave. between 83rd St. & 84th St.

,

BOOKSTORES:t

Coliseum Bookstore 57th St. & Broadway NW
Shakespeare Books 81st & Broadway SW
Papyrus 114th St. & Broadway
St. Mark's Bookstore 12 St. Mark's Place
Wendell's Bookstore, 8th Ave. & 12th St.
Spring Street Books, Spring between
Thompson & W. Broadway
A Different Light. Hudson St. at Perry
Oscar Wilde Bookstore. Christopher St.

IF YOU DON'T SEE n; ASK FOR IT.
IF THEY DON7 HAVE n; BUG THE SHITOUT OF THEM.

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

35

•

•

•

•

inhumanity to man, inhumanity in the

OutWeek's Mark Chesnut talks to Quincy way men treat other men, the way
people treat other people, I think that
Troupe About the Lives, Loves and Losses of he was talking about a very soothing,loving relationship that should happen
James Baldwin
and I think he was right.
by Mark Chesnut

Mark Chestnut: It must have been
hard for you to do that final interview
since you knew it would be the lastinterview with James Baldwin.
Quincy Troupe: Yeah, it was hardbecause Jimmy was a good friend ofmine and· it's always hard when agood friend dies, but beyond him
being a great friend of mine, he wasalso a great spirit-a great spirit-not
just for African American people, but
for American people and the world
because the message that he always
carried-veryclear, very healing, anultimately healing message. And sowhen you know someone that great isgoing to die and not be around any-

36

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

more, it's a very sad occasion.
Me What was his main message?
QT I think his main message wasthat the world, especially the UnitedStates, had to heal its racial wounds,
at the core, rather than putting Bandaids on it-that's
like putting Bandaids on cancer. So you don't want to
put Band-aids on cancer-you have totake it out and ultimately if you dig itout, there's a heal ing process thattakes place, and we will become one
nation, rather than a nation of factions
and divided situations that we havenow. So I think that message was avery good one. And beyond that,
injustice in the world, you know, war,

Me When you did that final
interview, how did you decide what
you wanted to talk about with him,
what he would talk about when hehad such a full life and he did somany things?
QT I knew Jimmy very well so I
knew some of the things that• he liked
and some of the things he felt strongly
about. Also, I tried to give him questions that he could really deal withbecause of the nature of the illness
and because of how weak he was,and wouldn't tax him too much. I got
a lot of questions
together,butbecause he was ill I couldn't ask themall. I think it was important to ask him
about the present
conditioninAmerica. The way it is now. Since
Ronald Reagan was the President, that
included him. I thought it was very
important to ask him about Toni
Morrison. I thought it was very important to ask him to talk some about
Miles Davis and Norman Mailer. I
thought it was very important to talkabout what the whole movement that
had come into being since he had left,
the whole idea of yuppies.
Me He did not like the idea of•
YUPpies.
QT: No, he didn'tlike theidea-he didn't like it at all. And that
includes black and white yuppies.
Some people call them buppies, somepeople call them yuppies. What's the••difference? White or black, it's ayoung urban professional. It's not somuch that he disliked them, it's that
he disliked the attitude that theybrought to the whole thing.
MC And what was that attitude?
QT: Well, he felt that they were
just in for money, just for money. And
advancement, and this whole thing,
they weren't going to bring anything
to America, they were just greedy.
And that's basically what he thought.
And it turned out to be true. I thinkthat's what Tom Wolfe talks about in
Bonfire of the Vanities and Sherman,that characterhe has in there,
Sherman is the personification of thatimage. Just out for himself, that wholething. And that's what Jimmy did notlike.
MC: How open
was James
Baldwin about his homosexuality? Iknow he did some interviews where
he addressed this, but it was notaddressed very frequently.
QT: Well, I'll say this about
Jimmy, when I first met him, I knew
right away he was a homosexual.
MC: Did he tell you?
QT: I could tell, but I had beenaround a lot of homosexuals because
I'd been in the arts and you have a lotof people like that in the arts and so it
never bothered
me-because
I'm
not-it never bothered me that that's
what a person was as long as that's
what they were, you know, and they
did something. So it didn't bother me
at all that he was that way. I had
grown up with a couple of guys who
Iived across the street from me in St.
Louis who were homosexual. It's kindof a strange thing because when
you're growing up you say "what isthis, what's happening with thoseguys, why are they like that? Why dothey walk like that?" That's a normalkind of reaction when you're growing
up and you see everybody else doing
something else. But after a while you
get to a point where they were nicepeople, they were allright with me,
you know what I mean, and that wasit. So I had grown up with these twoguys and so when 1 met Jimmy andothers who were homosexual after
that, it didn't bother me as much as it
bothered everybody else. I've always
believed that people have a right todo whatever they want to do. Whatthey want to do. So with Jimmy,.
Jimmy wasn't the kind of person whocame up and flirted with everybody,he didn't flirt with everybody, hedidn't come up and just do that, he
had whoever he was with and he waswith that person and that was it. So
therefore a lot of people didn't know
it. Because he never approachedthem. He never approached them in a
public way. He always came with
who he came with and that's who he
was with. And he left with them. In
public he wasn't the kind of personthat showed all that kind of affection
to somebody in public. He didn't dothat. But the people who knew him
well knew it. He was not someone
who wanted to try to hide it, now. He
didn't try to hide it. He didn't talkabout it that much, he thought it waspart of his private life.
MC: Did he ever ask for or
demand acceptance from you or any-.
l?ody else based on his homosexuality?
QT: No. Because the people that
he was around, like for example
myself, we never gave him any grief,
we never brought it up. We neversaid, "Listen, you're this way, so therefore you're this." We'd never say anything like that. I mean, I don't know
about other people, but 1 know I
didn't. And I know Toni Morrison
didn't. Most of the people who reallyadmired him, who were close to him
didn't. Baraka didn't. Miles Davisdidn't. So,·1 would imagine that he didget some grief from some people. But
he didn't get it from us, so therefore

THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE

Baldwin with Lucien Happersburger in Switzerland.
July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK37

•

how much. I know he wrote it up in
the mountains • of Switzerland at his
friend Lucien Happersburger's housewhom he was having a homosexual
relationship with at the time. And atthat time that's where he wrote thebook at. Lucien is a Swiss painter who
I met when I was there.
MC: Giovanni's
Room caused
quite a stir, especially from the publishers. That was the book theywouldn't publish originally in the
U.S.-he had to go to England to sellit. What sort of reaction did the llIack
comrpunity in the U.S. have regarding
Giov\anni's Room and Baldwin's treatment of homosexuality?
QT: Well, I think Black people arevery conservative.
And especiallyabout issues like homosexual ity.
Nobody wants to-a lot of people
basically for the most part don't wantto admit that it exists. And that goes
LIVING THE DREAMback to Africa-you go to Africa rightCharlton Heston, Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin and Marlon Brando during
now, you can't find anybody who will
the 1963 March on Washington.
admit that there is any homosexuality
in Africa-or
the West Indies. But
he didn't have to do certain things.
Me How did he find France?
there is. So that's just a part of the
Me In the Village Voice interview
QT: France was a little better.
Black community. So the book, I don'twith Richard Goldstein, he identified
Paris was a lot better. It's hard toknow for certain, because it was pubhimself as a homosexual, but not gay. explain. I Iived in Paris. And the
And Goldstein wrote that Baldwin
lished in 1948 and I was born in 1943,
French people are a lot more tolerant
traced much of his acuity and pain to of things like that. They understand it. but I would imagine that when it
the nexus of racism and homophobia.
came out that there was a very, very
They're a little bit more civilized thanDo you agree that that brought him a we are. They're not as macho as wenegative response, and it was probalot of pain?
.
are. This country is a very macho
bly controversial, nobody probably
country. And those kind of things theywanted to talk about it and those peoQT: Yeah. I think it brought him a
lot of pain. I think one ofple who did like it probably wouldn't admit it at
the reasons he left the
He left the United States
United States was becausethat time, just like other
Americans. But especiallyof the fact that a person
because a person vvho vvasin the mack community it
who was Black, who wasBlack, vvho vvas radical, vvho
radical, who was homosexis like that.
was homosexual
at theual-at the time, in 1948,
Me It seems also inthe book Giovanni's Room
1949, that was just ridicutime, in 1948, 1949, that vvas
lous. That was a ridiculous
there is very little positive
just ridiculous.
-configur.ation. To have a
representationof the gay
person who's Black, radical
community.
It seems ingeneral that he picked up more on theand homosexual, I mean that's ridicu- just thought they were aberrations,lous, that's far out front. So I think
here.
negative or painful side of being gay.
MC: When
I was readingthat the pressures he got were just too
06 you think he found any pleasure
Giovanni's Room that made me wonmuch for him, at that po.int.
in his sexual identity at all?
Me When did Baldwin leave the der how much of that story, which
QT: I wouldn't want to say fortakes place in France, was based onUnited Sates?
him, but I would imagine he did
his own experiences. Do you havebecause he was a joyous person. But
QT: 1948.
MC: And was it because it wasyou have to understand, you're talking
any idea?
impossible for him to be Black, gay,about 1948 again, you're not talking
QT: I know some of it was based
and radical in this culture?
on his own experiences because of about today. 1948 was a very painful
the fact that he told me. I don't know
QT: That's right.
time for homosexuals. You weren't

38

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•talking about being in the closet,
you were talking about being underthe basement. Underneath the basement floor.
Me: Like going to a mental
hospital or going to prison.
QT: You were talking about
going to prison-you
were talking
about a criminal act. You were considered crazy. So it wasn't anythingthat was joyous, it was somethingthat was painful. I mean, now, you
could say it could be, it probably is
joyous for a lot of people, but forJames Baldwin, again, I'll go backto the whole thing of being Black,radical and homosexual, it could
not have been joyous. And he wasconsidered ugly. I never considered
him ugy, but other people did.
Me Physically ugly?
QT They considered him physically ugly, Black, radical, homosexual, and a writer.
Me So he didn't have much inhis favor in 1948.
QT: He had nothing in his
favor. And he was poor. And hedidn't have a college degree. You
can add up all kinds of things, youknow, he'd been left on the street
by his father. So, you know, there's
all kinds of things in that equation,•
so it couldn't have been a joyous
thing for him. It couldn't have beena joyous thing to be living. Period. I
mean, in 1948, it was not joyous formany Black people to live. Just if
you weren't homosexual.
If youwere just living in the United States.
It still isn't. But it was less joyous
then. Now add that on top of all
those other things. I mean, if every
Sunday you went to Church, went
to work every day, did not have apolice record, worked hard, dideverything you were supposed todo, were an Uncle Tom, it was stilla pain in the ass to be a Black person in the United States. Now add
on top of all that other stuff. So heleft. It was painful for him. It had tobe. He talked about it a lot, but it
had to be real painful. And that's
where a lot of his work came from.
However, in his lived life, in his
relationships with friends, he was ajoyous person. He was beautiful.
He had great fun. He was a joy toyears, James Baldwin was pleased
with what he did during his life, withhis writing, with his success?
QT: Oh yeah. I think he waspleased. I think he was pleased witha lot of things. He was not pleased
with the fact that because of his
stance and because of the way hewas, the American public and theAmerican publishers began to neglect
him as a writer-they refused to give
him publishing contracts.
Me: In his final years theyneglected him?
QT: Yeah they did. They weretired of hearing what he was talking
about. They had said we had moved
beyond all of this.
Me: Did he ever feel he was fully
accepted as a Black, as a radical, as ahomosexual, as a writer?
.
, QT: I would probably think not. I
mean, for example, Gore Vidal is ahomosexual and he's a radical andhe's a writer, and he's a white guy,
and he's fully accepted. But I don't
think James Baldwin was accepted,
and James Baldwin was a greater
writer than Gore Vidal, and Gore
Vidal has said that. But James
Baldwin is not accepted. And if that's
the case, you have to look at it interms of race. Because they've both
got the same kind of resumes, theonly difference is one is white andone is Black. And so Gore Vidal.makes millions and millions of dollars, buys villas in Southern Italy,

be around. We all miss Jimmy. We
miss being around the joyous personthat he was. He was a great person to
be around. He had a lot of fun, a lotof laughs, a lot of big lies we callthem stories, tall tales. He told somegreat lies. Everybody loved to bearound Jimmy and talk to him, so we
all miss him. So he never let whatever
it was he felt about being what he
was get in his way of anything. But I
know in 1948 it had to be painful.
Me Did he ever have a long-term
relationship with anyone?
QT: Lucien Happersburger.
He
had a great relationship with him. He
was the love of his life, I think. And
then Lucien, Lucien was on both sidesof the equation, so then Lucien decided he was gonna go with this woman.
And he went with this woman.
Me When was this?
QT I'm not sure exactly when it
happened,but there's a picture ofthem in the book.
Me This relationship took placein France?
QT They met in France.
Me How long were they together?
QT: I really don't know, they
were together for a while. But thatwas someone he really liked. Lucien
was a great person. I liked Lucien
myself, as a person, when I met him.
He lives in Switzerland now. A lot of
fun he is, a great person.
Me Do you think in his final

,
{"

.

.••-."",•A JOY TO BE AROUND
Baldwin. (2nd'rm left) with aunicy Troupe (center) in 7985.
July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

39

•

~

goes all over the world, and gets million dollar advances on his books.
Baldwin didn't.
Me So you think that Baldwin's
problems came more from racism
than from homophobia?
QT: Yes. I think so. A lot of it
came from racism. And the fact hesaid what he said, the way he said it,
and when he said it. Gore Vidal has
said some really penetrating things
too about this country, and nobody
wants to pay attention to it. I mean,
we're a country that really, like I said,
likes to put a Band-aid on
cancer. We don't want to dig
it out. And I use those examples because they're bothreally good wriers and they'reboth homosexual and they'reboth radical. And one wasfamouslong beforetheother-Baldwin
was famous
before Gore Vidal was.
Me: Maybe the fact that Vidal
came into being a little bit after
Baldwin helped Gore Vidal. It was
already almost chic to be gay.
QT: Baldwin opened the door sothat he could come in.
Me: He was taking a chancebeing who he was in 1948.
QT: He was. He was out front.
But like I said, it's always the messenger that they slay. You bring the message to them first and you make themstand up and look and they get madwith you. Then everybody else cancome and say it later but they're madwith your ass.
Me: How
was
Baldwin's
reception in the Black community,
given the community's conservative
background regarding homosexuality?
QT· Well, I think that with Jimmy,
that's the strange thing with Jimmy.
People love James Baldwin. Black
people love James Baldwin, and I
guess because of the fact that hewasn't all the way out there hitting on
everybody. He wasn't ~nning aroundhitting on little kids, he wasn't running around hitting on everybody. He
had his person with him. He wasalways himself. And he was speaking
out about the issues that concerned
African Americans. He was putting hislife on the line, going down to all
those marches. So you couldn't say
nothing about that-you
have toadmire that. If you were conservative,and you might not like the guy
because he was homosexual,
but
you're not putting your ass on theline, and he's out there walking thatpicket line for your ass, then you've
gotta have some respect, 'cause you
ain't doing nothing. And most people
who dislike homosexuals, what is itthat they dislike about them anyway?
They think, well these guy are weak,
they won't fight, they're sissies.
Me: They believe stereotypes.
QT: Right. And here's a guy

Black people are very
conservative abouthomosexuality. People
don't want to admit that itexists.

40

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

who's not like that. Here's a guy
who's gonna take the police blows.
He's cursing out the police. He's got
his finger in their face. You have tosay, wait a minute.
Me When was it that he said, "I
may be homosexual, but I'm not a
faggot?"
QT: Well, I ain't gonna tell you
who he said that about, he's a goodfriend of mine. But that's what hesaid.
Me Baldwin said that to someone who said something bad about
him?
QT: Yeah. But he wasn't talking
about him being a homosexual. He
was talking about something else.
And he just kept putting him down
about this, that and the other thing.
But it didn't have anything to do withhomosexuality.
And so Jimmy toldme, you tell your friend, I might be ahomosexual, but I ain't no faggot and
if he keeps saying that shit about me,
I'll kick his ass, or I'll have somebody
else kick his ass. That's not the imageof what you think a homosexual person is. And James Baldwin was notthat image. So therefore in the Black
community, Black people saw him asjust a person who was homosexual
who was just an ordinary person.
Because he never came in and tried
to seduce anybody. Like I said, he
always had whoever he was with

with him. So people knew. So, unlike
some people I know, I know somehomosexuals, friends of mine, eventhough they know I'm not homosexual, they're constantly hitting on me.
Even when I'm with my wife. It canbe just like a woman who's hitting on
me. It's the same thing. You know,
I'm with a woman, I'm with somebody, why you doin' this to me? So
he never made anybody uncomfortable. And that's what I like about
James Baldwin, and I think a lot ofother people like that about him.
MC: When you were putting
this book together, how did you
mean to represent James Baldwin,
what sort of an angle did you wantto get with the book?
QT: I wanted to get every
angle of James Baldwin. That's why
I included
the interview
withRichard Goldstein. I sought out apiece like that, as a matter of fact, I
asked a lot of people to write about
his homosexuality. I asked them to dothat, because I felt it was a very
important part of his life. And nobody
did it.
Me Why was it hard for you tofind that sort of piece?
QT: I commissioned some pieces.
And I asked them specifically to write
about that part of his life. But theywouldn't-theywere a little afraid to.
I don't know why. And so then I had
to go out and find Richard Goldstein's
piece. I had to search through allthese pieces.
Me Had you read that interview
before?
QT: No, but I was looking forsomething like that, and somebody
said, "you know Richard Goldstein
did a piece on his homosexuality,"and I'd met Goldstein, I think once,
I'm not sure. Anyway, I called him on
the phone he said, "Yeah," and I said,"well, could you send it to me," andhe said , "sure" and I said , "we'regonna pay you," he said "you're
gonna pay me?" I said, "Yeah." So wegave him what we gave everybody
else. So, but I wanted that aspect of
his life in this book, as well as all theother things that he was involved in.
Me If James Baldwin were alive
right now, what do you think hewould be doing?
QT: Writing.
T•Obituaries,

Writer Gary Baker, 27,
Founded LAN Magazine
Gary Baker, writer, journalist and editor, died of AIDS-related complications
on July 3, 1989. He was 27 years old
and lived in New York City. He wassurrounded by his family at their home

Mrs. Jean M. Baker of Tucson, hisbrother, Andrew J. Baker of Washington, D.C. and by many close friends
and colleagues. A memorial will beheld at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center at 208 W. 13th Street, Sunday July 30th, at 2 p.m.
•,<

Robert Wren, Gay Scolarand Activist, Dies at 61\

in Tucson, Arizona when he died.
Gary was a 1984 cum laude graduate of Columbia College, where hepublished award-winning fiction in
the Columbia Review. In 1986 hebecame one Of the founding editorsof LAN Magazine. Though diagnosed
with AIDS in early 1987, he wasnamed its editor-in-chief that same
year. He remained active in publishing, and continued to edit the magazine until the very end; under his
leadership LAN become one of themore widely distributed
personalcomputer publications in the world.
It was Gary's ideal to continue
leading a full and productive life, andthrough numerous improvements andsetbacks in hi~ physical condition, henever allowed his illness to up-stage
that dream. His p(ofessional zeal was
an inspiration for his colleagues andto other people with AIDS. He wasalso an active supporter of the PWA
Coalition, Body Positive and GMHC
Gary had completed a series ofnovels at the time of his death, themost ambitious of which dealt withthe theme of universal plague, anobvious parable for AIDS.
He is survived by his mother,

Robert Wren-a gay scholar, activist,
and writer died June 11 in a planecrash in Hawaii. He was 61.
. Wren was professor of English at
the University of Houston. He servedon the steering committee of theNorth American Man/Boy Love Association, and was an informal advisor
to the gay and lesbian student groupat the University.
After earning a doctorate at
Princeton in 17th century drama,
Wren built a reputation as a scholar of
African literature. For a time he lived
in Nigeria, where he sponsored anumber of youths through college.
Under the pen name "Robert
Cambell," Wren wrote short gay fiction. An anthology of his work, Singularities, was published by Acolyte
Press, Amsterdam, the week he waskilled.
.' Toward the end of his career, Wren
became interested in the history of sexuality. He left unfinished _a book abouthomosexuality in 18th century England.
Wren and 11 others died in acrash of a Scenic Air Tours flight from
Hawaii to Maui. Wren was visiting the
University of Hawaii in preparation
for a Fulbright fellowship in Indonesia
next year.

Bob Damron, of Damron's
Address BOOks,was 61
Bob Damron, creator of .Bob Damron's Address Book, died June 20 of
AIDS-related complications. He was
61. Damron's gay guide differed fromothers in providing lists of cruisy toilets, interstate rest stops, public parksand other such places where gay men
meet for anonymous sex. As such, thebook contained listings for hundredsof smaller cities and towns with noovert gay life. Damron also owned
several West Coast gay bars, including
the San Francisco Eagle. He died in
the family home in L.A. where helived with his brother.
-Rex WocknerWriter Geoff Mains Dies
Geoff Mains died this week of complications from AIDS. It was a uselessdeath, but not a wasted life. He was acontributing member of society, agiver, a person who should have had
the opportunity to continue serving,
but that opportunity was not to be his.
He was an environmentalist, witha PhD to prove it, and a writer withthree books to his credit. The last one,
Gentle Warrior, .The Knights Press had
the privilege to publish. One thingthat kept Geoff fighting these last few
weeks was to see this book in print,
to know that his ideas, beliefs andphilosophies would live after him.
Twenty four hours before his final
unconsciousness, his copy arrived andhe knew the pride of accomplishingwhat he had set out to do.
Geoff himself was one of thosegentle warriors, part of the leather
community
in San Francisco. He
believed in the touching, caring kindof love that everyone needs. And men
being men - masculine, tough, funny,
all the things a man, a human being,
can be.
-Elizabeth G. Gershman

July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

41

•

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UT

MY

...

OF
HANDS

BY BRADLEY BALLI

Dear Brad,
This problem could have multimillion dollar consequences sol am
unable to use real names. I work forthe nation's leading weekly news:
magazine which recently announced
its intention to merge with a major
communications corporation. In thepast month, however, another communications corporation has initiateda hostile takeover of my company.
Additionally, a large electronics conglomerate has also attempted to takeover my company. Curiously, my exlover is employed (albeit in a lowlevel position) at the nation's number
one television network (which isI__

owned by this same electronics conglomerate) and has business dealings
with both of the aforementioned communications corporations. I just can't
help feeling that somehow he's
behind all of this. You see, he neverreally got over our break-up in 1984
and it would be just like him to try to
thwart my company's peacefuL merger
with another company. If I am right inmy suspicions, how can I convince
him to accept our separation and tolet everybody get on with their new
lives?,-Mr. T.L.
Dear Mr. T.L:
How sad it is when a relationshipgoes awry and a couple begins using
their companies as pawns. Obviously
your ex-lover still holds a lot of. unresolved feelin s for ou (and I sus ect. _•"It's an ill-conceived political give away, " said ill-conceived political nightmare Rudolph Giuliani, the jagbashing, queer-baiting mayoral candidaie. He wasreferring to Koch's plan to grant bereavement leaves togay and, lesbian couples and unmarried heterosexuals.
We're going to need bereavement leave if this succubus
gets elected .

{:,'

.

:.
,:..

.:.:..
.

.

"-'

44

-

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

you have some for him as well). In
order to coftclude this situation once
and for all to everybody's satisfaction,
why don't you take him to a very
expensive restaurant and propose agenerous cash settlement? I'm also
positive that he will accept thoseterms without enmity and will leave
you and your corporation alone.

Dear Brad,. Like so many people I neverthought I'd be writing to you, but thisproblem is so strange I'm not sure
where else to turn. Every night when I
come home from work I could swear
that everything in the apartment isn't
exactly where it was when I left.
Lydia, my roommate, says she doesn't
notice anything different but she said
the same thing about that noise in the
I walls last year. I'm convincedthat
while we're out of the apartment allday, the furniture is moving aroundand when it hears us coming home it
hurries back to its position but,because it's furniture,
it doesn't
remember exactly where to go. I've
tried to catch it in the act-likeI'llpretend to leave for work and thencome right back in-but
I think it
knows I suspect something. Not socoincidentally,
I tripped over theottoman last night. Lydia says I'm acting crazy but even she can't explain
why I couldn't find my mother's~UI-brooch yesterday morning and then it
was right on top of my dresser where
I'd looked only about a hundred
times. Does any of this sound plausible to you or do you think it's
poltergeists?
BOTHERED
Dear Bothered'
Put your mind at ease. This is achildish prank of those elves who
were supposed to be at my apartment
working on this column last week
while I was on vacation. We are,unfortunately, embroiled in a wage
dispute at the moment. (I guess they
think I'm being paid in precious gems
which is, most assuredly, not the case.)
I've spoken quite sternly to their representative about this. He apologizes forincluding you in their little altentiongetting caper and· promises to leave
you and Lydja alone until this arbitration is satisfactorily concluded.
T

TI .

By Micbelangelo Signorlle

hen great events crashupon our consciousness and demand an
explanation cooked on short order,
the menu never runs beyond threechoices: the loud official version, thelow murmur of the few who dispute it
and the whispers of the gossips.
Gossip is generally closer to the truth
than either of its competitors, and its
explanations are almost invariably themore persuasive."
This quote is ripped off from
Murray Kempton at Newsday. I realizethat the whole idea of beginning sucha column with a quote is an idea
ripped off from Liz Smith (but hey,
she's done some ripping off in her
time, too) but I find it necessary todrive the shit espoused in this quote
home to readers who tend to trivialize•
gossIp.
Gossip is controlling this country!

But let's get back to Liz. Oh, let's!
Last week I was oh-so-excited
because Liz's office called to say that
Liz was sending a letter (yes, I thought
it quite strange too - her office calling to say she's sending a letter. Much
like when the palace calls to say thequeen will be contacting you, don't

you think?). But that was a week ago, politics of it right here into the record.
and as yet no letter has arrived (it was Every single AIDS sufferer'S story is
not a crank call because I called her just as poignant!)" Aside from the use
office back to confirm that they had of AIDS "sufferer" (we'd like to seejust called me to say that Liz would be person with AIDS), I'd say Liz's analy-,sending me a letter. Maybe I should . sis, especially for Liz, is pretty politisend a letter saying I'll be calling to cally correct (I mean Esquire had tosay that I'll be sending a letter which
wait until it found a rich white woman
will ask why Liz's office had called to with AIDS, while there have been
say she'd be sending a letter. No? Or thousands of women of color withmaybe we should just forget all of this AIDS?- but that's another column).
letter/telephone
shit and fax everyBut actually, all of the speculating
thing). From what I gathered in theis useless. I've no idea why Liz wasconversation
with her "office," Liz writing or calling or faxing or whatevshe never followed
wanted to "respond" to something I'd er, becausethrough. Was it all just a threat? Somewritten about her. Well, as I canploy to put a scare into me? Whatremember, there were only two things
kind of a sick game is this?
in this column about Liz Smith. One
Now, if I had received the letter,and especially if it weren't (as I imagine
it wouldn't be) for reprint, then I'd nothave said a word about it (and obviously wouldn't have written any ofthis). But since it didn't arrive as
promised, I feel compelled to discuss it.
Goddamnit,
Liz! Where's thefuckin' letter! Just send me that letter!

;"'",~,j-:,

whole column dealt wi(&·:.Liz's
deci/l~:':~.;.
sion that Sandra Bernhard ,-,~. andMadonna aren't really muffing, but are
simply pretending they are dykes. In
another column I wrote abQut how Liz
had, nine years later, suddenly cometo the realization that AIDS is a major
health crisis facing America today.
I would speculate that Liz was
not contacting
me aboutthe
Sandra/Madonna-lesbian
item muchthe same way one dgesn't stir up
muddy water one has to drink.
Perhaps. thc::n,Liz
wascalling/writing about the AIDS item. In
fact, from a recent item in her column,
I'd say that Liz is suddenly walking on
egg shells a bit regarding AIDS. She
writes about Esquire's choice for"Woman of the Year," Allison Gertz,
saying, "the beautiful 23-year-old
whose story was recently in Tbe New
York Times. (She contracted AIDS thesame way everybody else has - accidentally - but there is no denying
her story is poignant. Yes, let's get the

Not to stay on Liz's case, but beweary of items in her column which
read, "Many readers want to know
about the movie Kevin Costner is filming in South Dakota ..." The translationof such items many times is: "lowesomething to Kevin Costner's publicist, since he gave me a hot piece ofdirt, so I'm mentioning Costner andhis new film as a payoff." ... Newsday's'1nside New York" column reveals
some big changes and shake-ups at
the Times: "New carpeting! This wasdeemed important enough to merit a
memo from executive editor Max

continued on page 68

July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK45

es anacre

ows
by Liz O'Lexa••

1. Crew cuts: No lesbian has evertold another that she looks like amarine gone A.W.O.L.; because it's ok
to .look like a man as long as you'rerejecting The Man's standard of beauty.
2. Goddess symbols: Hey, we'rein touch with the power of the
Matriarch if we can recognize all thesymbols that signify "female" and candraw little labyrises on our personal
computers.
3. Possessions valued solely for
their portability: Goddess knows, withall the homophobia lurking around in
the world, we couldn't dream of living
in one place too long.
4. Futons: Although they're worshipped for their portability, Lesbian
Invisibility
is the result of futons,
becausethey allow the world to.believe that women don't really doanything in bed since no ope everhears the bedsprings creak in a lesbian household.

46

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

5. Therapy: We know that thepatriarchal,
homophobic
world hasdone a number on our heads, and theonly way to deal with it is to shell out
a third of our weekly salaries to the
local lesbian therapist,
who is, ofcourse, the only person capable ofdealing with all this oppression
werace, and who will rrot screw us over.
6. Anger: Tread lightly, for thepolitically aware, morally superior lesbian is angry, though the less-aware
lesbians who might slip up and gethappy once in a while shouldn't takeit personally when they're given alitany of reasons to get angry.
7. Coming out: Think about it,
how do we know you're really a lesbian if you're not out...?
8. Being coupled: Same as above.
9. Bisexual bashing: In this case,we know they're supposed to be les•bians, but, they're the enemy until
they're converted and repented.
10.. Going back to school: Once
you've done your level best to subvert
the patriarchy,
it's ok to join it bylearning to play by its rules, acquiring......................................

to:::;.:;.:= w;; ,:;; ;,,:;:;;:::'

11. Barrier-free, sign-interpreted
events: Hey, the point is to be accessible, so it doesn't matter if the event
itself actually has anything to say tomobility- or hearing-impaired women,
and it really doesn't matter if they
can't afford to attend.
12. Politically Correct behavior:
We wouldn't be a legitimate subculture if we didn't have our own set ofreactionary, strangulating rules to live
by ...
13. Politically Incorrect behavior:...And if our subculture really is distinct and legit, then we have to ostracize those who refuse to fit in.
14. Lesbian Standard Time: We
can't oppress our sisters by demanding that they be on time, which is apatriarchally-revered
value just Iike
responsibility, respect for other people's schedules, and consideration.
15. Separat ism,
but
notSeparatists: Although some insist that
separatists are insufferable bitches to~.
:;4'fi~'r\work with, we should all agree that~,*,t"'*JdI:'d.
.J,.
""7~Tr"~'~'..""tIl.,\\. .».1.. .l.
~,F~·A~~~'~.I.~J
separatism
is a praiseworthy
step~~t-:r.:,.Jot'-,p.';: ...""
t_'" " '0'"'';;,t"l::'fii,"""""'"
_.'1'
".~
:t.
. . .. _.4!f.-, . i. :.•••••. ••':!i'.:.
atoward building a more egalitarian,.,r- "J,.:!
_w. },j ...to........ _..... .._m .. _....
, '\;.
!t".
matriarchal world.
to..,
'~'
_.. ~- . .
..>J::»..,...
....';:._......
,._.':"l'A....
........ .
'/:::_' .....-:...
~-#'tc, (~"-::p,~-::; ~~:~' ..,':w ~~,~~,..
.s~.r
16. AI children: This may be a
~ J~"';~":j"(;_~ ii"¥' <, « r t' ···.,v~(j·' ')more recent sacred cow, based on the:!"J~~~1~'..
'~f'\'[Ir.i!
r".J\:~"I·d' '\ .
""'3. ~.".
premisethat lesbians
have the, .~.,'.
•
Goddess-given right to fulfill their natural female role as childbearers, but
it's been around long enough foreverybody to know it's more cool tohave a kid via turkey baster than a kid
via a previous marriage.
its knowledge and becoming part of
17. Meetings: It's the process thatthe professional system you used tocounts, not the fact that more than ten
hate, because then you can share thedykes in the same room can neverskills you've learned with your sisters,
make a decision ...
for an appropriate price.
~

<J,

,

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•

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_,

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•

to

to

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. ..

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to_

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I

18. Consensus: ... Because it's
every lesbian's sacred duty to impede
decisions on the basis of her own personal hurt feelings, and we have totake care not to contribute to one
another's opression.
19.
Downward
mobility:
Shopping at the Goodwill and working a minimum-wage "movement"job
is still cool if your daddy is leaving
you a significant chunk of change in
his will, and if you've deliberately
chosen your lifestyle as a politicalstatement rather than remaining lower
class all your life after having beenborn that way.
20. Birkenstock
and Reebok
shoes: Those lesbians brave enoughnot to be downwardly mobile arefinding it "fashionable" to reclaim the
middle-class roots of· the women's
movement by wearing expensive
though politically correct designer
brand names.

21. Sobering up in Twelve Steps:
Hey, we can't change this disgustingworld we live in, but we can push all
our sisters on the wagon by tellingthem they're powerless, then turningthem on to a Higher Power (which is,of course, going to make everything
all right in the next world or life, notthis one).
22. Writing in anti-grammaticalforms: Real lesbian feminists don't
edit, they just assume that if something is incomprehensible it's beyond
the scope of their experience.
23. Pot lucks: Goddess knows it
would scandalize the world if westarted appearing en masse in restaurants, so we cluster in each others'
homes to indulge in foods we'd nevermake at home, and pass around gos--..;

sip we'd find scandalous in any othersettting.
24. Back packs: Lesbians always
look like they're running away fromhome because we know we can't. leave all our personal papers lying
around in this impersonal, homophobic world, so we have to carry themaround with us at all times, whichmakes us feel terribly important.
25.
Softball:Competition,
assigned positions, uniforms and lotsof sweating this is the lesbian community at its finest. T-Reprinted with permission from
Lesbian Contradiction, Summer 1989.

• •1 e Ine tor ever
.. ..

..
'I

traAt least 3 out of 10 gay Americans arealcoholics, and still more suffer from otherforms of chemical dependency. Now, at last,
there's a practical handbook for dealing
with this problem: a step-by-step guide
written by a gay recovering alcoholic,addressing the specific needs of lesbians and•gay men.
"Wis-dom that can help eaclrif'us?'-Don Clark, author ofAs WeAre"1 hope this-bookS healing gluries will reachmillions?'-Ned Rnrem

The Twelve-Step]ourney of Recovery from
AddictUm.for Gay Men and Lesbians
Harper eJ Row,

I

San Francisco

July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

47

.

•

ot
POP ICONS:

Madonna, Streisand, Summer, Ross, Stacey Q,
Expose, The Cover Girls, Belinda Carlisle,
Sybil Bruncheon and various singers on the
caharet circuit, such as Sharon McKnight

HABITATION ASPIRATIONS:

Wants to move to Chelsea hut his lover isthinking
they should opt for Hohoken,
Brooklyn Heights or Caroll Gardens

BATHROOM REAOING:

Out Week, The Voice, My Comrade, Playguy,
Interior Design. HG, Architectural Digest,
Vogue, Italian Vogue, Details, GQ, M, Vani~yFair, Esquire, New York Times Magazine, W(Redbook, if very apolitical)

BRAGS ABOUT:•

knowing the entire score to "Merrily We Roll
Along"•IN THE CLOSET:

15 white hutton-down shirts for nights at Don't
Tell Mama

CELEBRITY SCHMOOZING:

vaguely rememhers Rollerena

WON'T EAT:

Anything in any restaurant east of 2nd Avenue
south of 14th Street

NIGHTCLUBBING:

Mars, The Copa, Boy Bar, Red Zone, Love
Machine and any West Village bar

NEWSPAPERS:•

likes the Nell' York Times Magazine because"the print doesn't come off on your fingers."

CONTRAOICTIONS:

does Ecstasy on the nights he doesn't go to
the health spa.

GUILTY ABOUT:

being consistently
tions .

GETAWAYS:

went to Venice, with day cruise to Corfu

VOTEOFOR:

forgot to register

WILL VOTE FOR:

Dinkins••

48

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989

late for restaurant reserva-

continued from page 20

the hall away from the door, but wereless successful.
After all ten of the demonstrators
were arrested, the bolt still held thedoor closed. Although the door handles to which the bolt was attachedcould be taken off with a screwdriver,the police called the fire department
to dismantle the door. About ten minutes later, one OUT! member handed
the key to the bolt to the police.
Later, inside the District Council
chambers, OUT! members disrubted aCouncil meeting, while other members wandered the halls of the build109, taping flyers on the building'S
wall, windows and doors with redtape. Silently, and with little attention,
they placed big red tape crosses•

TI
across doorways, stairwells and elevator doors.
Secretaries were startled as they
emerged from their offices to findthemselves
being photographedbehind the red tape exes. After ten
minutes of taping, two D.C. police
officers ordered the demonstrators
to stop, one of them angrily breaking through the tape with his billy
club.
The officers then dragged OUT!
members Aimie Zourn and Shaun
Burger down the halls and down thestairs, one police officer smacking
Burger on his buttocks while tugging
him down the marble steps.
"Spend the AIDS money!» theychanted as they were dragged.
"Spend the AIDS money!»

Television
crews
quickly
descended from the Council chambers to interview the demonstrators
who passionately explained why they
were there. Sweaty and visibly shak·en, Burger quietly told a television
reporter, "Yes, we want to be arrested. People are dying.»
After ten minutes, the two werelifted off the floor and carried to aholding room, where they remained
until more officers, again wearing
rubber gloves, arrived to take themaway.
The initial ten protesters werecharged with violation of a disorderly conduct statute, a minor violation. Charges on the other threedemonstrators
were not availableTat press time.

-mEN l WO~ UP!!

"""

.
•

July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

49

•

•

•

Film

,
•

•

rlen

san

overs

by Tim Allis
friends love each other and still sleep
together in the m.orning?" would
have been as legitimate.
Anyways, that's too bad because
it's not a bad film, and it's about
people, not rats, not bats. When
Harry (Billy Crystal) met Sally (Meg
Ryan) at Michigan State, he, was on
the prowl and she wore lots toomuch eye shadow because it was the
mid-70s. They shared a ride to New
York, he tried to sleep with her andpsychoanalyze her, and failed. She
formed a thorough dislike for him,
and they said goodbye, apparently
forever. A few years later they meetagain~ and again, until the inevitable
happens. Their separate lives dovetail with each other until what was
the least likely scenario - their

here's something cloying
about the ads for this filmthat is guaranteed to keep
most of my friends away. "Can two
friends sleep together and still loveeach other in the morning?" they ask,
sweetly, coyly, dumbly. I'm not surewhat's least appealing-thequestion,or the way it's asked, which presumes a univeral yes or no. "Can two

-,.-

/
•

•

•

NOSHING IN WOODY ALLEN TERRITORY

Carrie Fisher, Meg Ryan and Lisa Jane Persky.

50

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

being happy together - becomes a
viable if far-from-storybook outcome.
Rob Reiner, who has provenhimself an exceptionallysensitive
and inspired director, particularly
with Stand by Me and This is SpinalTap, here enters Woody Allen territory, a world of semi-neurotic wannabe love birds being funny-sad-funny
to a Gershwin tune. His partner is
Nora Ephron, who wrote the screenplay and who seems to know allabout New York and our neuroses.
In counterpoint
to Reiner's morevalentine-I ike approach to love, she
has not lightened up on the potential
horrors of coupling, giving Crystal adead-on tirade about divvying up
tacky posses ions after a break-up. To
her credit, most of the time the dialogue sounds like those smart conversations we think we have in real
life. As Sally's match-making friend,
Carrie Fisher is a hoot, a great smart
ass, total N-ew York-but
wait a,
minute. Would she really (even in
the early mid-'80s) pull out a rolodexof bachelors and negotiable married
men at a girls' lunch?
Unfortunately
there are too
many little leaps of common sense ina movie that sets itself up as emotionally realistic. Personally I find it
hard to imagine Sally falling forHarry, largely because I don't think
Billy Crystal makes for a romantic
lead. We're to believe his countenance compounded with his bullish-

ness actually wins over this lovely
woman? And Meg Ryan is lovely;
funny and wise and pretty. Watchher.
The movie's brush strokes arebright, the finished canvas is pleasing but uninspired,
and theframe old couples telling the storyof how they met and fell in love-is
cute, sometimes too cute. I'm notheartily recommending this movie,
but it's better than its ads. And at
least people talked.
T

EMOTIONALLYREAUSlIC?
Billy Crystal as a romantic lead in ·When Harry Met Sallf. ...
•A public service of the National Institute on
Drug Abuse and the Office for Substance
Abuse Prevention.

t•Theater
DeadlyPerformanceby Teny Helbing

and motivation, or perhaps he's justtoo busy being prolific to look back atwhat he's written on the previous
page.
His sloppiness and lack of ability
become truly dangerous, however,when he attempts to tackle what thepress release calls "the moral and ethical aspects of sexual conduct, particularly in today's awareness of thedevastating results of promiscuity"[sic). The play is set in 1982, and you
assume that it was simply written thenand that no one was gullible enoughto produce it until now. While that
actually may be true, the reason for
the time frame becomes apparent
when the porn-star-brothersleepswith a homeless teenage girl who's
been wandering around the property,
periodically delivering monologues tothe audience. From the blotches on
her arm, we are to conclude that she
has Kaposi's sarcoma (an opportunistic infection of AIDS), which she supposedly
contracted
fromanambisexual
friend, and has now
passed on to the porn star, as if thecondition were as easily transmissible
as the dap.• Kvares' treatment of those"rrioral and ethical aspects" the press

on aid Kvares may have written over 55 plays and be
one of Off-Off-Broadway's
prolific playwrights, as his program
bio states, but if Orient Beach is any
indication, he neither knows nor haslearned very much about playwriting.
Set in a Long Island beach home,
the play concerns a speech teacher
and his sculptresswife who are
expecting a visit from her porn starbrother and his current girlfriend andco-star. Hubby doesn't like brother's
way of making a living, and the girlrriend decides to put the make on her
host, much to the wife's disgust.
That's what passes for dramaticconflict, but Kvares' characters are so
inconsistentin their
behavior, 'and the playwright demonstrates so
Iittle grasp of the basics
of his alleged craft, thatthe plot m? kes little difference. The first act
passesfrom sunset
through dinner to bedtime in the space ofabout 20 minutes, while
the female porn starorders her boyfriend out
of h\,!r bed one minute,and th'en sits on thebeach and complainsthat he's not fucking her 'the next. The two
women scream at eachother in the first act andthen go skinnydipping,~ogether in ,the. second.
kvares seems not totcare a whit for dramatic"THE DEVASTATING RESULTS OF PROMISCUITY"
staples Iike character

release mentioned consists of a coupleof screaming scenes filled with medically inaccurate information. A much
more skillful writer might present such
scenes to demonstrate the deplorable
situation of people who behave insuch an ignorant and prejudiced fashion, but here, they simply reflect 'theplaywright's own ignorance and prejudice.
Frequently with plays as bad as
this, critics like to say that the actors
rose above the material, but that's not
the case with this cast. The performances are so bad that the Terry
Schreiber Studio, which has apparently rented their space to this cc.mpany,
might be wise to insist on protecting•
its reputation with a program disclaimer disavowing any connection to
the production.
A horrible, dated, badly acted
play with medically inaccurate information that fosters ignorance and prejudice-why would anyone bother toproduce such a work? That this is avanity production becomes patently
obvious when you see the playwrightsitting in the first row of the performance, happily guffawing at lines thatno one else finds funny.
T

•

•

-

Gisela Bruckner and Michael Philip Del Rio in Orient Beach.

52

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•

Books
Restoring Us
To Sanity
by Eva Yaa Asantewaa

tatistics tell a grim story: One
out of every ten Americans isc hem ica II y-de p en den t.
Among gay men and lesbians, thenumber rises to three in every ten.
The health-conscious '80s have shone
a harsh light on addictions and compulsive behaviors, revealing the steadyerosion of lives both celebrated andcommonplace. But there's been hope,
too-a virtual growth industry of treatment programs, therapists, support
groups, and an abundance of recovery
materials (from official Twelve-Step
program literature to mass market selfhelp books and tapes).
Of course, gays and lesbians,
people of color, and others marginalized by society must search long andhard for self-help books that acknowledge their existence and particularneeds. Fortunately, a major publisher-Harper& Row-hasmade oneeffort towards correcting this imbalance.
AcceptingOurselves,bySheppard B. Kominars, Ph.D., is frank
talk from a compassionate insider.
In 1976, Kominars nearly died ina freak accident, and then he got
hooked on drugs and alcohol he used
to dull his pain. Married for over 20
years, a father of three, eventually hefound hope for survival in honesty
with himself and with others, theoverturning of denial. With the support of other men and women Iike
himself, he would come out as chemically-dependent-andas gay.
Accepting Ourselves discusses
each of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics
Anonymous that help mil;ions of alco-

holics remain sober and moving along
the challenging path of recovery one
day at a time. Just as the ideas andpractices of AA and the AI-Anon family groups have inspired numerous
spin-offs (Narcotics Anonymous,
Overeaters Anonymous and Gamblers
Anonymous,to name a few),
Kominars' clear explorations of thesteps and useful suggestions can beadapted for use by lesbians and gay
menrecoveringfromany
addictive/compulsive
condition orfrom the trauma of a childhood in a
dysfunctional family. Lovers, friends,
and family of recovering gay men andlesbians also need the sensitive
insights of Accepting Ourselves.
Isolation, self-hatred, denial, living in a lie all fuel chemical addic-

CLAIMING THE GIFT OF YOUR OWN
LIFE. Accepting Ourselves author
Sheppard B. Kominars.
tion and compoundthe damage
wrought by compulsive behaviors.
Internalized homophobia-irrational
shame for who he is, guilt for what
she has done-sends the addicted gay
man or lesbian back to the drug or
behavior of choice for consolation, fornumbness and forgetting. Mercilesscriticism of himself and others alienates the addict from the very people
who could offer the most genuine
support other gay men and lesbians
who know each curve and bump of
the road. In the programs, they say,
"We will love you until you can loveyourself"-a crucial love in a societythat hates and oppresses.
At the meetings, one can release

long buried anger, admit confusionand fear, and ask for help. Kominars
shows how the steps lead the recovering person from arrogant self-will to·surrender and trust in something
greater than the isolated self. At thispoint, the addict may begin to look at
her "defects of character": Kominar1i
wisely renames them yesterday's "survival tactics· which may not serve
today's recovery. As the steps continue, they encourage taking responsibility for oneself and one's actions,becoming committed to a relationshipto spirit and to the community of
one's peers.
From the'days of Bill and Lois
Wilson (founders of AA and AI-Anon,
respectively), recovering people havebeen finding spiritual nurturance, eachin his or her own unique way. Not
everyone takes comfort in traditional,
patriarchal beliefs, nor is this reqUired.
Kominars quotes Helen K., recovering
alcoholic:"1 do not have an in-quotes 'G-OD'...when 1 take your hand and weconnect with each other, then I'mstronger .. .1 will not say that 1 am
no good, and that I must be filt.::dwith another being in order to be
good. Because I am good, and you
arc good. You are my God and 1
am yours .. .! need all the gay men
and iesbians in these programs,
because together· we recover our
spirit. •Accepting Ourselves is offe.ed in
the spirit of these healing, affiJmative
words. Kominars writes, "We are eachremarkable because we have endured
the devastation of addiction, and thedaily struggle with recovery.· Hereflects, "We embrace each other forexactly who we are, the way we are."Noting that the crisis of AIDS has
drawn our community together asnever before, Kominars hopes that theexample of the Twelve-Step programs
will create greater acceptance fordiversity within the overall gay andlesbian community. For Kominars,
recovery has been the way back fromvictim hood and exile. To his gay
brothers and sisters, Kominars extends
an invitation: Come claim the gift ofyour own life.
...
•

July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK53

•

Comedyreeon
by Jonn Wasser

•

•

•

,

ew York City is awash withindividuals parading themselves before microphones
attempting the art of standup comedy. Few succeed. How often
have you and yours ventured to aclub, dropped several hard-earned
bills and walked out feeling shortchanged? Once seems more thanenough.
It is therefore refreshing to locate
three young and talented performers
whose comedic dexterity and skill willkeep audiences laughing in the aisles
for a long time to come. Not all theirmaterial currently works, and each act
demands a director's attentive touch,but watch out when these three eventually hit their stride.
Whether it's "Millie,"-a capitalistic Caribbean woman who's "Coming
to America" to seek her fortune or
the girl who discovers that "Hair isPower," Hazelle Goodman creates
heartfelt and witty characters. A deftcombinationof Whoopi Goldberg
sprinkled with LilyTomlin and a dashof Jane Wagner's feminism thrown infor good measure, Goodman's 60
minute set at Eighty-Eights includes
wry social commentary and hilarious
trips north of 1l0th Street.
With her expressive face and 360watt smile, Goodman charms her way
into the audience's heart. "Big is In"
touches upon the joys of possessing aluscious bosom among other usefulbodily parts. While Goodman's figure
doesn't approach Dolly Partonesque
proportions, it's to her credit that she's
able to manipulate her agile body tosuch a degree that the skit emerges awtnner.
Goodman packs an emotional
wallop when she touches upon New•

HAZELLE GOODMAN
Goldberg, Tomlin, and a dash of Wagner.

54

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

•~York's fallen angels. There's the blind
woman searching for love, and Trisha,
the inebriated mother who accidentally harms the one person she truly
cares about. AIDS solemnly pokes in
its ugly head as another mother helplessly struggles to come to terms withher youngest
son's illness. It's apoignant
characterization
anddeserves
greater
exploration.
Additional audience exposure will no
doubt help.
"Get a Grip," shouts Julia Brothers
to the Nubians, her term for those religious cults who believe populating a
subway station is their divine birthright.
Nubians are not the only group withwhich Brothers finds fault. Her midnight monologue at the West Bank
Cafe accosts New Age enlightenment
groups, subletters and the health foodmaniacs who permeate our society.
An actress familiar to Off and OffOff-Broadway audiences, Brothers has
recently switched gears and has begun
developing an act. Tall, with medium
length blond hair, Brothers doesn't
approach the stage like many of her
peers. She instantly takes command.
Anger is the glue holding her together.
No sooner has she settled herself on
stage when suddenly the glue begins
oozing, dropping its liquid solution on
several well-known victims. No New
York comic seems to ignore Donald
Trump, but when Brothers places him
side by side with the Reverend AI
Sharpton, it's the billionaire's nightmare come-to-Iife. There's a wonderful bit when Brothers finds Ronald
Reagan's face on the bottom of her
frying pan. The evening's
biggestlaugh comes at political hopeful Ron
Lauder's expense. I cannot divulge ithere but suffice to say that it involves
Lauder, the homeless and his mother's
beauty care products.
Brothers is a keen observer andcomedian but she'll need to better
structure her act if she wishes to moveinto larger venues. The pacing seems
more harried than hurried and thelulls arrive at awkward moments. Still,
she possesses a remarkabletalentwhich should serve her well in any
medium she chooses to conquer.
I'm convinced
there's a fullOcdged comedian lurking inside MarkAlan waiting to fully expose himself at

the proper moment. Alan's show atEighty-Eights is a melange of versatilesong-styling, wonderful ditties andhilarious impressions. The 1989 MAC
Award winner for Outstanding New
York Club debut for this show, MarkAlan evokes memories of one's neurotic brother Creal or imagined) as hemakes his way onto the cozy stage.
He's definitely at home in the spotlight and Zigzags through his set making the transitions from ballad singer
to comedian with graceful aplomb.
He's at his wry best conjuring up
potential Broadway replacements:
Tina Turner as a maniacal, foot stomping Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes,
an on-target Gwen Verdon returning
to the "Chorus Line," and that dynamic, chart-topping duo, Willie Nelson
and Julio Iglesias attempting to saveChess from an early close. He also
receives chuckles singing a wonderfulsong concerning "Sy and Bee," twopeople who meet through a computer
dating service.

Two serious ballads, Neil Sedaka
and Howie Greenfield's"The Big
Parade" and "You," both culled fromJane Oliver's "Chasing Rainbows"
album, seem out of place in a witty
evening devoted to both high and'tow-brow comedy:
Between the songs and routines,
a slew of cartoon characters put inappearances alongside the venerable
lady herself, Ms. Katherine Hepburn.
It's a zany touch and Mark-Alan
doesn't miss a beat. Once he trusts his
comic talent, drops most of the ballads and adds new material, he'll
emerge as a major contender on the
cabaret scene.
Hazelle Goodman can be seen
8:30, Saturday evenings at EightyEights (228 w: 10th Street).
Julia Brothers performs Saturday
evenings at The West Bank Cafe's midnight sbow (407 W. 42nd Street).
Mark-Alan
appears
Fridayevenings at 8:30 at Eighty-Eights (228
W. 10th Street).
...

GRACEFUL APLOMB
Mark-Alan.
July 24, 1989

OUTTWEEK

55

Performance•••

by John Wasser
oily Levi returned to theHarmonia
Gardens to atumultuous ovation and aten minute production
number.
Taking their cue from Mrs. Levi,
those divine divas in La GrandScena Opera have also decided to
pay us a return visit. Led by the"traumatic soprano" Vera GalupeBorszkh (Ira Sim, the company has
decided to "sink Verdi" and otheroperatic composers at the Ballroom,(253 W. 28th 51.) until July 29th.
Like the divas they poke fun atand other "women" who have preceded them, La Grand Scena Opera

./

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Company has come a long way
since I first caught their hilarious
act eons ago at the Duplex. The
characterizaitons,
especially Bruce
Hopkin's
gin-swigging,batontwirling hostess, Sylvia Bills, havebeen refined to a tee. The vocal
performances are technically adept
and their exaggerated
gesturesremain insanely accurate.
My favorite scene is a comical
duet from Humperdinck's
Hanseland Gretel. Two aging singers,
Dame
Emily
Post-Morddum(CharlesWalker) and Gabriella
Tonnoziti-Casseruola(Keith

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TRAUMATIC SOPRANO AND DEVINE DIVAS
La Grand Scena Opera Company.

56

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989•

Jurosko) reunite with the help of
our evening's hostess for one final
operatic fling. The results are hilarious.
Althoughwell-paced
andexpertly
directed,
the evening
seemed a trifle lengthy. Siff andCompany might ponder adding aninte rm iss ion. Th is wou Id makesense given their next logical stepshouldbe a full-blown
OffBroadway production. If Terrence
McNally's "Lisbon Traviata" canmove to the Promenade
Theater
this coming October, so too should
La Grand Scena Opera Company ....

•

•

•

NORTHPORT VILLAGE-Shareapartmentw/ one other gay male.
(living room, kitchen, bath), own
bedroom, one block to beach,situated in village with everything. 2
miles to URR. Available immediately.
$450/mo. plus 1/2 electric. Call Joe:
516n54-4996.

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Track lighting specialists. Designs,
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THER.IRTAnONS(The world's only politically active,
five-voice openly gay a capellamen's singing group) are looking fora bass. Strong musicianship andflexible schedule required. We havea large following, bookings, andplans for an album. (212) 219-1672~

PROGRAMMER:Midtown consulting
firm seeks freelance programmers forcontract work. COBOLexperience
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experienc'e a plus. Gerry 265-3355.

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Swap experiences
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Watch or take part in demos. Learn
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Write for info: NYBC, P.O. Box 457,
Midtown Station,lNY, NY 10018

OutWeekreserves the ri~t to endthis offer at any time without notice
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APARTMENTCLEANING
APARTMENT RENTALBOOKSCARPENTRY
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ORGANIZATIONSCOMPUTER SERVICESCONSTRUCTION
COIFFURE CUTTINGDOG GROOMINGELECTROLYSISFLORISTSFOR SALE
FURNITURE
GARDENING
HELP WANTED••OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

57

•

•
•

HISTORIC TAlKS continued from page 9on the status of their patients. Smaller
cities with a lower incidence of HIV
capaCity to conduct them, according
infection could adopt smaller-scale,to many advocates for PWAs.
even more decentralized protocols for"These [community-based] trials
testing drugs in their communities,
are s'o essential because clinicalaccording to conference participants.
research in an academic setting can"There is no formula. Each communinot handle the volume," AmFAR'sDr.
ty is unique and must design protoMathilde Krim, a leading advocate forcols that best suit their needs andmore drug testing, told OutWeek. ''The
abilities for testing a product," said
basic research they do is good, but
Barbara Park, a management consulthere is a tremendous backlog' oftant hired by CRI.
drugs, combinationsof drugs andDespite th~ir differences, all proother options that have so far gonegrams have' certain essential compoz
untested.
The community-basednents in common. Every <;:BCTmust .
groups will be able to do this."have an administrator "to design proIn fact, community testing groups
tocols, coordinate data collection andwere responsible
for the rapid.assUre the quality of the trial," accordapproval of aerosolized pentamidine,ing to Thomas ~,Mitchell, lidminisJrator
an agent that can control pneumocys.
for the Ccc. Each group must hire a
tis carinii pneumonia (PCP) which
project director, a medical director, akills more AIDS patients than any
trial coordinator, a research nurse,
other opportunistic infection.
research assistants and' pharmacy
CBCTs have other advantages
How a commun'ity-based clinical trial'
technicians. Frank Busichio of CRI
over traditional approaches. to drug
is conducted:
says that each protocol must also
testing as well. They directly involve
The notion of private doctors _,testing have a "work group" of three to six
private physicians and PWAs in the
new products on ~heir patients who
people "who have just one task: todesigning, reporting and sometimes
have MDS, ARC,'ot are seropoSitive is ' focus on the experiment and nothing
analysis of an experiment. ,'Many
PWAs have been distrustful of govern- .revolutionizing' th.e way h~lth profeselse."
All protocols must be submitted
ment and indu$~~y,·making recruit- . sionals vie~ c1ini~af drug trials. But
a,n Institutional
Review Board
ment a real 'problem. "Establishment"' recent vows by the federal gove'rn- ., .~?
ment and' pharmaceutical cbrripapie~',' '(IRB). IRBs can be set up within a.scientists, often .faced with. a' shdrtageof subjects and guided' by motives
to .supportcommunity-based
efforts'-Community testing group, or the\~.,.t_•"".
,group may confer with IRBs of other
other than'curing AIDS, have ~en far ,wHlilot , gO... unchallenged by sometoo slow in testing new drugs, accord- .sectors. of tlje academic and research'i!lsti~utions,suc:;h,as hospitals affiliated.
.' ~ing to Krip1.
establislJment; who for years have,with the program (CCC uses the San
the .concept.
CBCTs' mu.st ' , Francisco County General Hospital). It
Ron Epglisq, a board member of derided.
",
therefore foll.ow'li strict set of ~ientif-'
usually takes about two months for a
CRI, told,·OutWeek tnat CBCTs""areic guideline.~" with an extensive' netprotocol to be writtten, .rewritten andbecoming, competitive ~ith"largeuni"''i'~t.
'work of cqetkpoints along the ,way,approved by an IRB and ultimately,
to ensur~ the, experiment
meets'
the FDA or state-level health agencies .
. patientS' if~~ds while producing· reli:' . pilfing this process, doctors would be
able dafll'about the trial.
.
recruitirig patients so that a large pool
Conference participantsJaid outof eligible subjects is available when
detailed roadmap for successful trials,
the trial begins.
during a ~ionon Friday.
Community-based groups must
: To begin with, they said all din'i- . .also consider legal matters: A good,. cal trials must be governed by a pro"gay-sensitive" lawyer is essential totocol, designed .by doctors (and often
many programs,
Busichio
said.
~heir. patients), to ·test several aspects
William Johnson, attorney for CRI,of any given prodqct. Each protocol ~ said he has worked to incorporate
mU.$t
be expertly written 'and. rpust
CRI and get its tax-exempt status,.
ta~e into account dosages, adversesought government agency licenses
effects, length of the trial and so on.
'for certain trials, drafted the eRI's by• •CRI has a centralized
cliniclaws and wrote contracts for personwhere many tests are conducted on- 'nel and drug companies that provide-site, whiie CCC in San FrancisCo
has a
the product to be tested.
T•
decentralized program, with individuConference organizer. Debbie Lerine.
al doctors reporting to the consortium
Photo: Jane Rosett
versities for testing new products. We
are now taking funds that would havegon(! to those institutions. But there isone big difference between us: foruniversities,
research is their business.
,
They will drag out tests as long as
possible. But we are people whowant to go out of business,"he said.
•"We want answers.",. .
"There is a large pool of patientsclamoring to be put on a testing program. ,They are the ideal basis forlarge-scale community trials," said Dr.
Donald Kotler of 51. Lukes Roosevelt
Hospital.
'"Many drugs that were being
bandied about i.n 1982 are still being
bandied about today. The scientificcommunity has not been able toprove if these drugs work. Community-based trials could have, done thatby now," Kotler claimed.

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July 24. 1989

OUTTWEEK

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Pop Shots

Photos by Erich Conrad

FRANK?! HE TOLD ME HIS NAME WAS HARRY!
Jo-Jo and Kurt po.nder the nature of betrayal at Boy Bar
SOMEDAY, WE'LL BE A FEATHERYOU PUT
Diandra at Love Machine
YOUR LEFT FOOT IN
YOU LIFT YOUR RIGHT FOOT UP
Dance instructor Chip Duckett (c.)
and students at Mars

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Tough guy Mona Footat Love Machine•, •READY FOR MY SPANKING, MR DEMILLE
Kathi Nichols looking for love at Love Machine

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62

OUTTWEEK

July 17, 1989•

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Photos by Erich Conrad

Pop ShotsZEES LEEPS,ZIS SKEEN,
LIKE SILK,NO?
Party goers at
CircusMaximus•

HEY, HEY~WE'RE THE FLUNKIES
Monkee 100,kalikQs Lovee, Sebastion
and Anybody at ~dve Machine,;;.,

SKY ROCKETS IN SIGHT
Members of Dee-Light vogueingon St Marks Place•THE GIRL CANT HELP IT
Video artist Richard Metzger
and vision of loveliness at MarsOH AUNTIEFEM,IT COULDNTHAVE BEEN
A DREAM

•

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Visionary'. James St Jamesat Circus Maximus
j

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64

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989•

TAPE AT ELEVEN
Tribute to video artist Nelson Sullivan
atthe Alice statue in Central Park

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•

prepared by Rick X
with information fromThe Gay at Lesbian Switchboard

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Monday to be Included In the· ""lOllowlng wcck's Issue.
- ...
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(Editors Note: 'Ibis calendar is acompendium of anything in the
York area that may be
Grealer New,
of interest to gay, lesbian and~lpeople. Itemsaregenerally•
notexcludedonmoral,
philosophical, political or aesthetic
grounds. How.ever, commercial
ventures, especially those withlimited appeal or requiring largeexj>enditures, are included at thediscretion of the editor.
•'Regularly held meetings oforganazatwm will be listed when
they are of interest to the public•
and when details about the
programs are submitted. Whensendinganorganizational
newsleller, please identify which
events should or should not belisled in these pages; otherwise, aprivate potluck dinner in anapartment may become a publicaffair. Please provide contact
numbers which are suitable fornon-memben
to call.
t•
Finally, for all the mistakes,
cutr,ent and future, regarding
places, tImes, and phone numbeys,anil for all ihe lives ruined by such
Im'Ors,the editor begsforgiveness.)
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UNIVERSITY"'~"'L ....
~,GAY.'~&:LESBIAN 'UNION"'!l!:-'. ,.' '. .
. ariQ GMHG-.Mayoral Forumon~t'AID~/HIV'in
NYC; with..~.,".",' ..
D~Yid 'Dinkins,
RichardRa¥jt~b,Harrison
Goldin
,".
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" OUTTWEEKCALENDAR(confirmed); also invited are
Edward Koch, Rudolph
Guliani, Ronald Lauder;Richard Dunne, Exec. Dir.
GMHC, will moderatej with
Dr. Mathilde Krim, AMFAR;
Dr.
Ana
Dumois,Community Family PlanningCounciljLouis
Grant,•
Community
Research
Initiativej
Debra FraserHowze, Black Leadership
Commission on AIDS; Bruce
V1adeck, Exec. Dir., United
Hospital Fund; panelists will
ask the candidates "hardhitting questions;" at NYU
Law School Vanderbilt Hall,
Tishman Auditorium,
40
Wash. Sq. South (corner of
MacDougal)j 7:30-9:30 pm;
807-6664
CLGR Domestic Partnership
Legislation,
working
meetingtodevelopstrategies for introducing
and passing city and statelegisl ation
toprovidespousal rights to those who
do not have the benefit of"legal" marriage;
at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; 8 pm;
627-1398

NEW YORK ADVERTISINGAND COMMUNICATIONSNETWORK Annual Shorts
Party, with "yards and yardsof foodManganaro's
celebrated 6-footers;" andentertainmentby the 3Dollar
Bill
TheaterCompany; at the Center,
208 W 13 St; 6:30 - 9:30 pm;$10
members/$12
nonmembersj 517-0380
EAGLE BAR Movie Nite:
Alien Nation; 1/2 pricedrinks from 10-11 pm; free
popcornj movie at 11 pm;
142 11th Ave at 21st St; 6918451

GREATERGOTHAM
BUSINESS COUNCIL Forumof Openly Gay Candidates,featuringDavid Taylor,runningfor
Ruth
Messinger's vacated seat inDistrict 4; Tom Duane,
GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS opposing Carol Greitzer in
Disctrict 3; Tim Mains ofMen
Meeting
Men
Rochester, facing a toughWorkshopj at the Center,
re-election bid for an at208 W 13 St; 8 pm; free;large seat; and Keith St.
807-6655, TDD 645-7470
John, running in Albany's
CENTER STAGES goes to second ward to defeat an
Largely New York, at the 51. . incumbent who reneged on
to support
James Theatre, 8 pm, $45; a pledge
defeated
Gay620-7310(pay CENTER Albany'S
STAGE TICKETS, 208 W 13 Rights Bill; also appearing isDavid Eichenthal, who is
ST, NY, NY 1(011)seekingto,deposeincumbent Councilmember
HANDS ON Hand Jobs
Noath Dear; at the Center's
Party, "advanced techniques
Network Room, 208 W 13
in the manipulation of theSt; 7 pm; 546-7475 (days) ormale genitalia;" at Cellblock,
28 Ninth Avenue (below 14 Jerry 246-4100, 431-7220
St); 9 pm - 2 am; BYOB;$10

July 24, 1989

of Ne\1 YorkFor more infonnation or referrals, to rap, or to volunteer.
• call the GLSB daily, noon to midnight, 212·777-1800

GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS
Eroticizing
Safer
Sex
Workshop; at the Center,
208 W 13 St; 8 pm; free;
807-6655, TOO 645-7470
CUCARACHA WAREHOUSECABARET presents Holly
Hughes, 429 Greenwich St,
8:30 pm, $6; 966-8596
DAVID JONESOPERAENSEMBLE Arias for AIDS,
Benefit Concert for GMHC,
at Trinity School, 139 W 91
St, $10, reservations
andinfo 749-4364

MEN OF ALL COLORSTOGETHER
Racism,Homophobia,
Loss and
Love, an Evening of Poetry
and Music; addressing
important issues, membersof the theater world and thelesbian and gay community
will perform original works
for a lesbian/gay
andinterracial audience; at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; 8 pm;
222-9794, 245-6366
GAY MEN OF AFRICANDESCENT MeetingandDiscussion: More gay men
and lesbians have died fromchemicaldepencythanfrom AIDS; with Paige
Cook,socialworker/psychotherapist;inthe Charles Angel/People ofColor Room at the Center,
208 W 13 St; 8 pm; 718/8020162, 718/756-1548.

continued on page 68

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WOMEN ABOUT Canoe
camping on Mullica River,NJ; two days; 353-0073,
201/481-0440
WOMEN ABOUT Raspberry
picking in Colt's Neck, NJ;
353-0073, 201/481-0440
WOMEN ABOUT Vegetarian
Q;nner and miniature golf inQueens; 353-0073, 201/4810440

ASIANS AND FRIENDSFAIRPACBenefit Party: The"Don't You Want My Love;"
NEW YORK Trip to Stokes
Pines Invades the Grove; at and Roschelle
Fleming
State Forest, NY; picnic in . the Cherry Grove's new Ice singing "It's Not Over;" 802"a tranquil,
beautiful,
Palace, OJ Warren Gluck,
64th St, Brooklyn (N train to
wonderful
spot
fordisco diva TBA; midnight;
8th Ave stop in Bay Ridge);
barbeque,volleyball,$30 includes water taxis;
718/238-8213
swimming, hiking or just . 727-1291
plain relaxing;" 595-0188•
THE ANNEX (next
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GAY
AND
LESBIAN CELLBLOCK)Hot Ash Party,
ALLIANCE
AGAINSTfor cigar-smoking men and , WOMEN ABOUT Storm
DEFAMATION Benefit party their admirers; 673 Hudson
King Art Center; 353-0073,
in Bridgehampton;withSt (btwn 13th & 14th 51); 10 201/481-0440
cocktails
andhorspm; 627-1140
d'oeuvres,andGrucci'WOMEN ABOUT Surprisefireworks; 7 pm; $100 up;
hike; 353-0073, 201/481SPECTRUM DISCO presents
966-1700
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'Debbie
Jacobs,singing

LETTERScontinued from page 7

GOSSIP WATCH continued from page 45

the Stonewall Ri<;>tsin 1969-pretty
Frankel. In it, Frankel hailed theradical stuff for the world's mostarrival of the new bl ue rug thatfamous thoroughfare.
replaced the 'dirty' orange one tramFor many years, the march haspled upon by staffers. Frankel also
also had a special section for
implored the troops to keep theirPeople of Color. In 1985, thedesks clean since the simulated wood'
National Coalition of Black Gays & complements the new carpet so niceLesbians chose the Gay Pride march,ly." This is the man who runs the city
in New York as offering the bestdesk at "the paper of record ........Not
visibility for its first public outing.
always so astute, however, "Inside
In 1989, nearly 20 groups marched
New York," on another day, wrote
in this section.
about Sukhreet Gabel posing n.ude for
Sober Together is by far the
My Comrade/Sister!, calling it a gaylargest single marching contingent
magazine and expressing some surand the AIDS-related groups now
prise at why she'd be posing for gay
form the largest overall se~tion inmen. They obviously didn't real ize
the march.
.
that the whacky mag is a gay and lesThe idea of the lesbian and gay
bian magazine, and that, as weird as it
community
rejoicing in its own
may seem, a lot of dykes want toexistence was a revolutionary one
catch a glimpse of Sukhreet (Query:in 1969; it still is in 1989. The indiHow many lesbians actually do wantvidual participationof each andto see Ms. Gabel in the raw?).....Sorry
every person makes the march sig- Jim Revson (Ne ws day), but yournificant, both in our personal jourdescription of the organization People
neys tow;lrd liberation and in the . Taking Action Against AIDS just didn't
struggles of our community
seem to fit the name of the group:
against AIDS and against the rising"Everywhere you looked, there were. tide of anti-gay violence. Ours is atents. There was a huge white tent forpath without end; there will still be
the live auction of furs, fashion anda need to march after AIDS is confamous memorabilia, a smaller tentquered and after everyone hasdoor for the silent auction and Bay
come but. Every June we march to
Boutique, two drinks-and-eats tents
celebrate our h,istory, to affirm whoand a blue band tent." Maybe thewe are and to find the courage toorganization should change its nameshape who we may become.
to People Taking Cock~ai/s AgainstII) sincere love and pride,
AIDS?.....
Lester Pierce
Note to William Norwich at The
Executive Secretary
New York Daily News: Can't wait for
Heritage of Pride, Inc.
you to come back from vacation. Missdishing you.
T,

68

OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989,

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MINORITY INVOLVEMENT from page 10

spoke on the special needs and problems of that community. Pitkin, a
PWA who unknowingly infected hislate Wife, said hemophiliacs "have nothistorically taken part in communitybased trials." He said hemophiliacs
often are eliminated from many protocols because they are also taking
drugs to control their hemophilia.
"But now, we are pushing forchange," Pitkin said. "Of the 20,000
hemophiliacs in this country, 10,000
are I-p~,positive. Of those, 1,000.
.
AIDS and 60

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OUTTWEEK

July 24, 1989

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FAMILY continued from paue 16
He has lived for 20 years in theinsurance benefits for their lovers with- apartment he shared with his lover,the leasee, who died in July of 1987
in the terms of Board of Educationof an AIDS-related illness. Braverfamily health insurance plans.
man's case is being decided in the
The Braschi decision also comesat a time when Mayor Edward I. Koch Appellate Term' of the State Supreme
Court and according to Jim West,is preparing an executive order to give
Braverman's attorney, the judge has
municipal workers in domestic partner
relationships bereavement leave rights. held off awaiting the Braschi decision
before deciding this case.
The executive order would serve toWest was more cautious in his
supplement the' Court's ruling that
enthusiasm for predicted affects of thelong-term gay relationships constitute
Braschi decision. The attorney said ita family. Lee Hudson, director of the
Mayor'~ Office for the Gay and Lesbian "definitely gives us renewed momentum," and opined that the lower
Community, said the Braschi decision
will "influence a change in the defini- courts will regard the decision as agreen light to rule in favor of tenants.tion of the immediate family, and thein these cases. But the battle is not
executive order gives further testament
over, he cautioned. "The landlords
to the integrity of gay relationships."
will fight this thing with everything
Bernard Braverman, a person
they have," West said.
with AIDS living in Chelsea who has
Judges Judith Kaye and Fritz
been fighting eviction' from his own
Alexander joined Titone's decision;
rent-stabilized apartment, greeted theBraschi decision with relief. "If I bad . Judge Joseph Bellacosa wrote a separate but concurring decision. Dissentto move to Queens or Brooklyn, I'ding were Judge Stewart Hancock, Jr.,
be up the creek," he said. Braverman
was recently released from the hospi- . and Judge Richard Simons, who
authored t~e dissenting opinion.
tal and is recovering from a bacterial•..,.
.
pneumonIa.
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been the clear opposition of anotherleading gay public offiCial, healthcommissioner Jim Foster.
Foster, in testimony against thelegislation, said he would have been
forced into bankruptcy if he and hislover had been registered as domestic
partners. Foster's lover of 12 years
died of AIDS in 1985 and he told thesupervisors his partner would have. been ineligible for federal benefits
programs if the two had been registered as domestic partners.
The economic questions Foster
raised have left serious doubt in theminds of some lesbians and gay men
over whether the new law is what theywanted or not. And community indifference to the law would be a clear
disaster at the polls in November.
But even consultant Hukari conceded the fundamentalist and Schlafly
attack on the legislation was "likely to
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July 24, 1989

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WERE WE CRUISING?
Marlin Beach Disco,Downstairs, Saturday
7/1/89. You: Light blue
shirt and shorts. Me:
Brown hair, moustache,glasses,
black 501s,
pink "Boatslip· t-shirt.
Wish I had spoken to
you then. Maybe it's not
too late. Drop me anote. Dan, P.O. Box 729,
Huntington, New York11743.
LOW MILEAGE GM
1951,5'10",
140 Ibs.,no n-sm ok er /drin k e r,
live outside city; workNYC. Seeks slowly
evolving
friendship/lover.
Davies,Box 1055,
Chelsea Station, NY NY
10011.

<,,

PUERTO RICAN
WANTED
Must be professional,
masculine,
betweenages 20-40; relationshipdesired. I'm 35, 6', allAmerican looks, dominant,non-smoker,
ready to settle down-photo/phone appreciated--P.O. Box 8197, JAF
Station, NY,NY 10116.
GWM,
41, 5'5, 148 lb.,•
seeks companionsofroughly similar age andheight who appreciateclassical music, history,
religious ritual and art,
international
affairs,
progressive
politics.
For spiritual communion, physical affection
and very safe· sex.
Write: P.O. Box 7674
FDR Station, NY NY
10150.
REAL BATMAN SEEKSREAL ROBIN
Holy partner!
Let's
ditch Gotham City andconcentrateon eachother! YOU: sharp mind
& looks, 20-38, a winner
who deserves the best,
enjoys cuddling, laughing, old movies & fresh
popcorn, comfortable•

76

OUTTWEEK

in jeans, tux or a cape.
ME: solid 6' showbiz
pro,
185,
dirty
blond/sea-green
eyes,young 44, handsome,
hung,
hot,
hunky,
happy, a roMANtic
catch.
Share
safe
adventuresat dream
BatCaves
in NYC &P'town. Unmask thisCaped Crusader & discover your hero, top
pal, protector, defender,
teacher, lover & more.
Zap letter & photo now(BOTH required): POB
1704, Provincetown,
MA. 02657. (NOTE:
Jokers and Riddlers
pleaseapply elsewhere. Try Geraldo.)
ASIAN GAY MALE
interested
in travel,
aesthetics and a relationship sought by tall,serious,sensitive
GWM, early
40's.
OutWeek Box /000
NEEO A SPANKING?

Attractive guy, 43, 6',
160 Ibs, will put you
across his knee, pull
down your pants--andunderpants--andspankyour bare bottom till•
you promise to behave.
Am into fantasy--notpain. Good with beginners.
Box 1316 FDR
Sta, NYC 10150. Seek
trim guys only.
GWM, 35, 5'10, trim
beard, balding. Mature,
togethe~ independent.
Enjoy GWM workouts,
beach, arts, architecture, history. Looking tomeet guy 30-45 withsimilar interests andattributes. P.O. Box 379,
NY,NY 10101.
VERY AFFECTIONATE
GWM, 41, 5'9, 170,
stache, furry, attractive,
seeks smoother guy 3050 for relationship. You
have a great sense ofhumor, enjoy musicaltheatre, cabarets, travel, long walks, talks,

July 24, 1989

hugs & kisses. Let's get
acquainted. Send letter,phone & photo to: P.O.
Box 7116, FDR Sta.,
NYC 10150-1909.
EUROPEAN
BUSINESSMAN
attractive w/m 45, 6'1,
175, commute between
Paris-NY often, will
host gdlk w/m 23-30,
educated,cleanshaved,
slim,
for
civilised stimulatingnights of good drinks,
food, conversation,(safe) fun. POB 8324,
NY 10150-1918.
WHIT E MALE, 38,
5'6, 140, muscular,
healthy,
discreet,youthful, attr., seeks
muscular-beefy man forsafe mutual times, bigarms a t, prefer men
30-55. Box 783, NYC
10008.

LOOK NO FURTHER..
. GWM, experienced
friend and lover seeking same. I'm easygoing,
sensitive,
romantic,
intelligent
and witty. 44 years
young, 5T', 142 Ibs.
Beautiful blue eyes,
curly brn hair, moustache. I'm sensual, sexually vers and into safe
sex. Interested in perf.
arts, film, books, dancing, music. Jogger.
People watcher
andnaturelover. Yourph/photo!lettergets
mine, Box 2004, NYC
10009.
GWM 29 br/br healthy,
good sh.ape, romantic,
many interests seeks
younger GM for friend,
poss. relatnshp. BDM
Box 305 Blkn, 11240.
Send letter & phone. All
answered.
•

OVERZEALOUS DYKE,
young of year, firm in
loin, seeks big haired
girl for a nonstop
bonanza. Psycho bambis, hungry monsters
and dullards need noteven try. OutWeek Box
1001
WM, 44, look 30, 5'8",
160, seek
black,
Hispanic or Asian guy,
20's to 40's for fun
times.
Let's shareaffectionate
experiences, safe mutual j/o,light s/m scenes
orwhateverwe canimprovise.
If you'remuscular, a plus. No
drugs. OutWeek Box
1002
OLD-FASHIONED. SAFE
sensuous& erotic"daddy-enemas:
assplay & more given with
TLC. I cater to shy guys
& beginners. Also want
to share your childhood
experiences. Rick, P.O.
Box 45, Caldwell, NJ
07006.

ARE YOU AN ANIMAL
during sex? Want tobe? (I mean literally)
Hypnosis might give thefeeling. Let me changeyou. Letter/photo
toD.H. Box 350-148,
Booklyn NY 11235-0003.
•

AFTER THE OFFICE
Handsome,
healthy,trim, 5'10", 145, 40
Brooks Bros. type livingin midtown wishes tomeet male exec. forsafe sensual fun after
theofficeor atlunchtime.
POB 1197
NYC 10156.
TEAM COACH:
do you want to act out
your sweaty
lockerroom frat hazing, footand other fantasies
with a hot WM, 33, 6'1",
185, very handsome,masculine, and works
out? Then tall guys
write to meet for yourreal explosive action.
Bobby, P.O. Box 304,
Village Station, NY NY
10014.

CHUBBY CHASERS
WANTEDby tall, handsome
chubby with lots tooffer--into
all safe
scenes--fromlatins toslaves, wanted photoand pix, P.O. Box 430 NY
NY 10018.
STRICT DISCIPLINE
sought from someone
who knows its value.
Spank, strap, paddle,
whip, crop or switch
my buns to a good redcolor while I'm tied
down crying like achild. GWM 38, 5'1",
183, br/br, good shape.
SS, no drugs. Can
reciprocate.
OutWeekBox 1003
MILDLYKINKY
GWM, 52, attractive,
5'10",145,versatile,
risk taking, seeks hotsex, fun, relationship,friends, enjoys politics,
co·nversation,
walks,
movies, much more.
P. O. Box 173, NY NY
10023.
MARR/BI/GAYS:
Getting enough/any?
Me neither! Masc, ripe,
hlthy guy sks ss. M- Th
NYC day tim/early pm
mutualfun; wkend
Hamptons
outdoorwoods & beach romps.
Write your hlthy fantasies /needs to Bob,
Box 871, SAG Harbor,
NY 11963. Cum on, let's
go for it!
WHITE MALE COUPLE
early 40's healthy, fit,nonsmokers, looking to
expand social circles
seek other male couples (age unimportant).
We enjoy the theatre,
restaurant dining, traveling and, most important, friendship. Please
reply to P.O. Box 1636
NY,NY 10185-0014.
Hot, handsome, GWM,
47, 5'9", 155, br/br,
moustache,healthy,•youthful. smart, masculine, mu.~cular. Seeksa ttr. , bright, healthconsc, well-built men
for hot safe sex. Send
phone & photo to Jim,
P.O. Box 20100, NY NY
10017-9992.
TALL.SLlM,CUTE GWM,
23, activist, tv personality, writer seeks radical
hunkcomrade.
Interests: films, reading, cable tv and the
Pyramid on Sundays.
Photo/phone:
OutWeek Box 1006

D!Jx 1004

Female: to spend timeI,

FANTASTICROMANTIC!
Handsome, intellectual
and witty man, 34, darkbrown hair & eyes(slavicl, moustache, 170
Ibs., 5'8". Into arts &honesty. Seeking dating
relationship with man,
25-42. Open to possibilities. Write P.O. Box8272, FOR Station, NY
NY 10150.
LONG-HAIREDBOHEMIAN,
relationship oriented,
looking for big-brothertype. 30, 5'7", 140 Ibs,
beard. You be 30-40,
sane, creative, able tocope with impossible
schedule.
OutWeekBox 1007.

COMPLICATED GUY
wants simple life. Me:
S'S", 130 Ibs., blondish,p1ssionate. You: smart,funny, honest. Beard a+. Any race, any temOutWeek
perament.

Leave YourFREEAD at(212) 308-2525

going to shows, country, just being friendly,
etc. I am 49, 5', 135 Ibs.
OutWeek Box 1005

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July 24, 1989

ourTWEEK

77

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To calculate the cost of your ad:•

1 bold headline + 6 more lines @ $15 for personals, $30 for other classifieds (minimum) =•+additional lines @ $1 per line for personals, $2 per line for other classifieds =Run this ad for-

additional issues @$15 per issue (1 to 25 lines) =•Give me'an OutTWeek Box # and forward my mail each week formonths @ $20 per month•

Telephone verification charge: (if your phone # appears in ad) @ $10.00 =•TOTAL ENCLOSED:

•

•

•

Fag Flicks

6. Ogle7. Eastern title
8.
Edwards
9. Prevent
10. Bird
11. Angle
12. Employer
13. Challenge
21. Lift
23. Increases
25. Pop
27. White and Dailey

by Phil Greco
Edited by Gabriel Rotello\'1iT

28. Day

....

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Night

30. Word with den & lock
31. Flower
32. Faction
33. Farm tools
34. Con35.

Like it Hot

36.

sex
38. USA, comb form
39. Den42. Compass pt.
44. Useful47.
Bar
50. Archaic verb suffix
52. Word in Chinese menu
54. Lasso
55. Filmmaker Kenneth
57.
-lilies
58. Foolish
59. Sagas
60. Facts
61. Enough: poetic
62. Baxter or Murray
63. Some Pleasure Chest items
64. Sea bird
65. Command

70

7.
SOLUTION IN NEXT WEEK'S OUTWEEK ON SALE TUESDAY•ACROSS

1. Detective
5. B&D type
10. Desirable man
14. E.g., Weena
15. Protection
16. Director Robert
17. Lock
18. Denoted
19. Hebrew letter
20. Gay movie, with 22 Across
22. See 20 Across
24. Indian princess
25. Johnny __26. Romanian gymnast•
29. Pansy
34. Govt. agcy.
37. Hooligan
40. Comb. form from Ares
41. A dvise and __43. Forster film
45. Uptown theater co.
46. Amen•80

OUT ... WEEK

July 24, 1989

48. Gay and Jane, for short
49. Brawl
51. Fragrant root
53. Server
56.
Arnaz

60.

68. Norma __Venice (2 wds.)(2 wds.)64. The Boys in
66.
Domini67. Concur

SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLE

69. Happy

70. Star in 35 Down
71. Rends
72. Arm bone
73. Frightens
74. Common contraction
75. West and Quetsal

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•

,

-

Hot Shot by Erich Conrad
Photos by Lizzerd Souffle,•.-,

ROBIN-BYRD, the Barbara Walters of sleaze, is hosting a new show called "Menfor Men" on Thursdays at 11:30 on Channel J. During the probably brief moment intime before the Reagan-Boshers black it out, gay men can watch their favorite
porn stars cavort au natural on public access.
,,Byrd is currently on location in New York filming "WithoutYou I'm Nothing" withworld-class lesbian icons and bitchin' party animals Mad~nna and Sandra. Look
for them in your neighborhood.

•

And as you media mavens may recall, rumors have swept the gossip pages linking
Byrd in marriage to super wimp Barry Manilow. It seems the Liberace of blandproposed to Ms Byrd at Grace Jones' birthday bash and then confirmed it on the
Tonight show. When asked to comment, Robin replied, "Read the papers:' We'drather watch the birdie.
,
Robin Byrd can be seen on Manhattan Cable, Channel J, vyednesdays andThursdays at 11:30pm, Fridays at 1:00am and Satu~days at U:OOpm.

•

•

•

•

82

OUTTWEEK

July 24. 1989•salutes••

Turn on our programs every week
on Manhattan Cable, Channel 23 (J)Thursdays

Pride & Progress

1030 pm• Gay Week in Review• Act-Up• GCN Close-Up• Sports• Lavender Health

11:00 pm

July 27
The Fight for Domestic Partner
Laws for New York CityThe Right Stuff• Naming Names• All About Women• Media Watch• Staying Out• Around the Country

Sports in Los Angeles

Sundays

Men & Films

July 30

11:30 pm

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

Lee Baldwin gets shaved

Mondays

Be My Guest

1000 pm

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

July 31
Sybil--"Ed Norton" Visits
Frankie--"The First Time We MadeLove"

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

•

•

•
•

•

•

orted
~Denmark.

enaJ<a_Denaka.

Vodka. 40% and 50.5%Ale. byVoi. (80 and 101 Proon.lmported-',."".""

,-::

',""

by Denaka Import·Company, Lake Success. N.V.@1989.