........
~,NEW YORK'S)-2LESBIAN
NDGA~~EW~~1l~JI...'A"~AZ·I~11"-1~-----.,

NEW YORKCITY OPERA
Christopher Keene, General Director,

We've Got 17
Great Sounding Reasons
To Come BackTo
The City This Fall.
II Barbiere di Siviglia
The Mikado
Die Zauberflote
Madama Butterfly
Street Scene
Don Giovanni
La Boheme
Anna Bolena
La Traviata
Mefistofele
Rigoletto
Die Tote Stadt
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Merry Widow
Carmen
The Desert Song
LHeure Espagnole/LEnfant et les Sortileges
1989 FALL REPEKIORY, SEPTEMBER 13-NOVEMBER
La TnlViata(s)Sept 16 at 8PM
Sal
Tue
Sun
Fri
Wed

Sept 19 at 8PM
Oct 8at lPM
Oct 13 at 8PM
Oct 18 at 8p~1

Tue
Sat

Oct 24 at 8PM
Nov
4 at 8PM

Madama BunerOy(s).Slrttl
Fri
Tue
Sat
Sat

xene(s)Oct 6 at 8p~1

Carmen(s)Sun Oct 22 at lPM

OCt 10 at 8PM

Fri
Sun

Oct 21 at 8PM
Oct 28at 2PM

Mefislofele(s)Sun
Thu

Sept 17at lPM
Sept 28 at 8p~1

tDon Gi<Mlnni(s)OCt 27 at 8PM
Nov 5 at 7PM-The D~rt Song
Wed Nov 8 at 8PM
Thu Nov 9 at 8PM
Nov 10 at 8rM
FriSat

Nov 11 at 2PM
Nov 11 at 8PM
Nov 12 at lPM
Nov 12 at 7PM

Sat

Sept 16 at 2PM

Sat

Sat
Tue
Thu

Sept 23 at 8PM
Sept 26 at 8PM
Oct 5 at 8PM

Sun
Thu

Oct 7 at 2p~1
Oct 15 at 7PM
Oct 19 at 8PM

Sat
Sun
Sun

Wed

OCt 25 at 8PM

Tue

tNew ProductiontI:Heure Espagnolel
I:Enfanl ell~SortiIeg~(s)Wed Nov 15 at 8PM
ThuFri

Nov 16 at 8PM
Nov 17 at 8PM

Sat

Nov 18at 2PM
Nov 18 at 8PM

Sat
Sun

Nov 19 at lPM

Die ZauberOole(s)FriSat

Sept 15 at 8PM
Sept 23 at 2PM

Nov 14 at 8rM

Sun

OCt

• Major Revival-Revival

1 at lPM

The Merry Widow
Wed Nov 1 at 8PM
Nov 4 at 2PM
Sat• The Cunning
Little Vixen(s)Sun Oct 15 at lPM
Fri
Sat
Tue

Oct 20 at 8PM
OCt 28 at 8PM
OCt 31 at 8PM

19
La 8oheme(s)Oct

1 at 7P~1

Sat

Oct

7 at 8PM

Sun

Sept 24 at 1P~I

Sun
Fri

Oct 29 at lPM
Nov 3 at 8PM

Tue
Wed
Sun

Oct 3 at 8PM
Oct 11 at 8PM
Nov 5 at 1P~I

Rigoleno(s)Sun

Sept 17 at 7PM

Fri
Wed

Sept 22 at 8PM
Sept 27 at 8PM

U Barbiere di Siviglia(s) .Anna
Wed Sept 13 at 8PM
Sat
Thu Sept 21 at 8PM
Sat
Sat
Sept 30 at 2PM
Thu(s) With English supertitles• The Mikado
Thu Sept 14 at 8PM

Sun

8oIena(s)Oct 14 at 8PM
Oct 21 at 2PM
Oct 26 at 8PM

Program subject to change.

NY State Theater Box Office or call Ticketmaster 212-307-7171
Tickets $12-$47 (Orchestra $37).

• Die Tole Stadl(s)Sun Sept 24 at 7PM
Sat
Wed
Sat

Sept 30 at 8PM
OCt 4 at 8PM
Oct 14 at 2PM

Tue

Oct

17 at 8PM

© 1989 NY CII), Opera

1

N~WS

TH~ARTS

12

Film RelentlessMusic The Frogs
Books Seminar On YouthOn The Cover:
Victoria Starr and Maria Perez
photographed by Scott Morgan

H~AlTH
20

32
34

DEPARTM~NTS
Outspoken· (Editorial)
Letters
Sexomayor
Nightmare of the Week
Xeroxed
Alison Bechdel
Out Of Control (Day)
Look OutOut Of My Hands (Ball)
Gossip watch (Signorile)
Social Terrorism (Conrad)
Community DirectoryClassifieds
Personals
Going Out Calendar (X)Best Bets (X)Crossword (dreco)
HexShot (amrad)

57

58

Books
Co-Dependence and the Myth of Recovery 59

F~ArUR~S

Trouble At Wigstock: See page 12

Gallo's l3b Meeting (Feltner)
Political Science (Harrington)
Positive Ahematives (Lederer)

56

TIlE DEBATE OVER LESBIAN MARRIAGE
Sarah Petitt on the New 'I Do' Phenomenon

page 38

Ashley McNeely Wlws 'Em and Vows 'Em

page 40

Catherine Saalfield Nixes the Knot

page 42

Karl Soehnlein Checks Out The ThirdLesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival

page 44

4

6
6
7

9
24

36
48
50
51
52
61
63
66

COUNT DOWN II
Veneita Porter With More Reasons To Be A Dyke

WIGEREIlA
SignoriIe Goes To The (Hair)Ball

74

79
80

82

This Time Is She For Real?
See pageZ2

page 50
page 54

What's In a Name?
In 1981 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were faced witha dilemma: How could they diagnose the new disease sweeping thegay community without knowing its biological cause? The solution
was to list a number of opportunistic infections that were known tobe symptomatic of that disease and the!1 to say, if a person had one
or more of those infections, that person had the disease. This system
was logical in 1981. It is murderous today. It must be abolished.
It is common.1y accepted that, co-factors aside, the primarycausitive agent of the disease we now call AIDS is the virus called
HIV. AIDS is now known to be merely a late stage of HIV infection.
It is now also known that damage from HIV infection often starts
years before symptoms of full-blown AIDS appear. Many of the millions of HIV-infected people worldwide present a complex andfrightening array of medical problems that can cause serious illness,disability and death without ever manifesting symptoms that satisfy
the CDC's outmoded definition of AIDS.In New York City, for example, a full 35 percent of those hospitalized with HIV-related infections
don't fit the CDC's definition.
Whose purpose is served by arbitrarily dividing those ill withHIV Disease into two groups? The fact is that there is no such division in nature. There is no such division in reality. There is no such
division except in the minds of those who wish to strangle us inbureaucracy, who wish to cloud the real issues, who wish to divide
our community, who wish to deny insurance benefits and housing,
who wish to evade governmental responsibility, who wish to undercount the true scope of the epidemic, who wish to avoid panicking
the straight, white population, who wish us dead. The arbitrary division of HIV Disease into AIDS and non-AIDS, (or pre-AIDS or ARC)
is a sham, a lie, and a disgrace. It's time we demanded its abolition.
Recent advances in the treatment of early HlV-infection withdrugs that can prevent serious, life-threatening complications make itimperative that the CDC's genocidal definitions be abolished. People
are being denied access to potentially life-saVingdrugs because they
don't yet -have AIDS,· and they are similarly denied Medicaid, insurance coverage, hOUSingand a whole spectrum of services and therapies based on an outmoded, illogical, increasingly arbitrary standard.
Women and IV-drug users are particularly disadvantaged because
many gynecological conditions peculiar to women and conditions likeendocarditis peculiar to drug users are outside the CDC's definitions.
There is r:t0 such thing as AIDS. There is no such thing as ARC.
There is only HIV Disease, a disease of the immune system broughton by HIV infection, a condition of dire consequences at any stage
or in any form.
There is today no greater manifestation, either conscious or subconscious, of the direct genOcidal intentions of our government
against us than the perpetuation of the CDC's definitions of AIDS.Our
beleaguered community should take a clear, cold look at this deadly
nonsense, reach a concensus and then act up and fight back. Byabolishing the definition we can help take back control of our lives.
'Y

4

OUTYWEEK

September 18, 1989

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Ml'mner Nallonal A'SoCiatlon oj Securitlf'S Deale"---------------------------------------------OUrYWEEK5LETTERS
When Queens Collide
Too bad the Vii/age
Voice chose to run a hatchet-job, personal attack on
Chuck Ortleb, rather than an
In-depth analysis of a minority newspaper that in thecourse of refusing to accept
the Federal Party line on
AIDS also managed
toabuse and economically
exploit a generation of lesbian and gay writers andpolitical leaders.
Yes, the Native has,principally
throughthecolumns of Leonard Goldstein, brutalized with the furyof a rabid donkey-in-rut
almost every new lesbian
and gay leader with the
exceptionof a few Kochsymps. The absolute unfair

and vicious slander of bravesouls like David Rothenberg,
Andy Humn, Phil Ryan, Deborah Glick, Dave Taylor, Tom
Duane, Barney Frank andthe membership of the Gay
and Lesbian Independent
Democratic Club (GUD) has
left permanent scars in ourcommunity.
But to use publicly
known anti-Native critics such
as Peter Staley, Ann Fettner,
Larry Bush, Larry Kramer andAlan Rosckoff, each equallycontroversial figures themselves in the lesbian and gay
community and each with apersonal axe to grind, to discredit the Native does cause
one to ask what the hell isgoing on here.
There are many of us

who have not bought the
government
line on AIDS;
who have been downrightfrightened and angered by
the arrogant self-aggrandizing of Herr Gallo and his lessthan provable ·science.·

Native.

The Native and the rockmagazine Spin have been
the only two visible places toread a challenge
to the
CDC/FDA/AMFAR/GMHC/
Project Inform monopoly on
AIDSTHINK.
To disagree with HIVtheory does not necessarilymean agreement with the
ASFVtheory but it does serve
one up to being discredited~

6

September 18, 1989

as, at best, 'crazy:
Many of us are holding
on to the small life raft thatfloats a multi-factorial explanation and are thankful forthe persistence of people
and groups like Michael
Callen, Dr. Peter Doesberg,
Joseph Sonneband,
M.D.
and HEALas reported in the
Many of us object tothe experimentationof
unproven toxic drugs on
basically powerless minorities(including unborn babies)
and the highly profitable
marketing of the very toxic
AIr with a proven limited arcof efficacy to both a population healthy except for apositive HIV test result and a
population sick but too poor
to buy the governmentapproved lUXUrydrug.
We are very grateful forthe decade of thought-provoking and icon-shattering·-I....···~*....l'i~"'-articles from the pen of Larry
Mass to John Lauritsen. Even
when we disagreed, they
provoked us into challenging
not only the status quo but
our very own thinking; evenwhen we loathed the gutter
level headlines engineered
to exploit an AIDS-terrorized
public to build circulation.
Rather than crediting
the Native for its mosquitolike persistence you havechosen to swat its publisher ...
Too bad ...or Is it, in thewords of the late Charles
Ludlum, merely a matter of• ...when Queens Collide'"
OutWeek Is certainly
welcomed and most needed in our community. May it
be committed to presenting
the whole spectrum of politics and diversity that Is ourlesbian and gay community.
Jim Fouratt
Manhattan

until the last person who
wishes to create a panel has
done so. It is very important
to us that your readers in thelesbian and gay community
know that the Quilt will behere for the duration. I would
be very grateful if in yournext issue, you could correct
the misconception that may
have been created. Thankyou very much.
Dan SauroDir.of Media Relations
The Names ProjectFoundation
San Francisco

Irs a lie, It's a Sham... .
It is ironic that a few
pages after Larry Kramer tellsof GMHC's reWritingof recent
history Ossueno. 11), there isevidence of ACT UP/NY's
own revision of the AIDS
activist movement. In the article on Jeff Levi's move to

GMHC, there is a reference
to the 1988 ACT UP demonstration at the FDA. In their
publicity material at th~ Mo~- 1::,.
treal conference and In artl-.1
cles in thegay
and .'.
mainstream press,ACT UP/NY";,.
continues to take sole credit
for the FDA action.
In fact, ACT NOW, aqcoalition of activist groups
most
of
the
local
groundacross the country, coordinated the FDA action. Par- work, including organizing
on-site support, securing
ticipants of an ACT NOW
meeting spaces and comconference in July of '88 laid
munity housing, preparing
the groundworkfor thethe CD handbook, and takaction and the ongoinging care of other logisticalcoordination was carried out
details. Many of the key
by ACT NOW in Washington.
organizers
have
never
Much of the planning
attendedan ACT UP/NY
work was done on national
meeting and the over 1,(XX1conference
calls, which,participants came from cities
though long and frustrating,and towns across the country
allowed for continual input
including Chicago, Kansas,
from activists from Florida to
Houston, Atlanta, Miami, LA
California. A small group of
Portland and New York.
activists in Washington did

Small Victory
At A Different
Light
Bookstore I told a man who
was buying the Native,·That's passe. Everybody isbuying
OutWeek:andhanded him a copy which
he also bought. Anothersmall victory for responsible
journalism.
Hal Bramson
Manhattan
Alive and Quilt
I was very surprised toopen the September 4 issueof OutWeek and discover
the article titled "Quilt Calls it
Quits." The headline is misleading and I fear potentiallydamaging
to the NAMES
Project and confusing for
those in the lesbian and gay
community who participate
In the Project. While I understand the need for editing
due to space restrictions, theheadlineleaves a false
impression, and as we know,.
many people never readpast the headline.
..
The NAMESProject does
hove a commitment to continuing the Quilt until the lastperson has died of AIDS, andThis week's nightmare is homophobic artist Mark Kostabi, not because hetold Vanity Fai, that AIDS is "For the better because homosexual men are notactively participating in the perpetuation of human life" or because he told
Pag, Six that "the art world is dominated by gays and that's why there's somuch bad art," No, dear friends, it's because thousands of viewers went into
toxic shock when he stripped all th, way on Robin Byrd's cable show. Jf you
missed it. just be grateful for little things.

September 18, 1989

OUT-.WEEK

7

ACT UP/NY patlclpated
In the planning and promotion of the action. provided
substantial
funding.
andbrought several hundred
participants to the action.
Their contributions
to theaction were substantial. but
their claim as the organizersof the action Is a repeatedInsult to the hundreds ofother activists who organizedand participatedIn one ofthe most effective displays
yet of our rage at government neglect.
The AIDS activist movement Is alive ood well acrossthe country and the FDA
demonstration illustrates thestrength of our collective
action.
Scott Sooders
Washington. D.C.

with a female prostitute.
what would happen? There
would be howls from gay
leaders about a betrayal of
public trust and calls for his
resignation. Remarkably. thegay leadership of this country has been silent about Barney Frank.
As a gay Republican I
ask one simple question. Is
there a double standard forgay Democrats?
Fred Olssen
Manhattan

Photo Finish·Fright.
Cameras.
Action!" (OutWeek. August
28. 1989). an article thatchronicled the depiction ofsafer sex (or the lack of it) ingay porn films since theinception of the AIDS epidemic. made most interestG.O.Plqueing reading. Gay pom actor
The recent revelations
Butch Taylor is quoted Inthat Congressman Barney
John Umlaut's article os sayFrank hired a hustler present
Ing • ... you·d be amazedan Interesting dilemma for
who's died: That. I think. is
Amerlca's gay leadership.
preCisely the point. We
The gay Massachusetts
would indeed be horribly
Democrat admitted that It
amazed.
was a mistake for him to hire
Occasionally. one may
a male hooker and Invite
come across an obituary
him to stay In his Washington
here or there of a wellknown porn star who has
died-Casey
Donovan. J.R.
King. Eric Stryker and. mostrecently. Johnny Dawes. arecasesIn
point-butundoubtedly
many more
have passed away than
we're even remotely awareof. I think an effective companion piece to Umlaut's" articie would be to publish
the photos of those gay
pom actors who have diedduring the course of the epidemic.
similar to what
Newsweek did In August• 1987. Their August loth Issue
apartment where the hustler. gave us a year's photoas It turns out. -tumed tricks.'
graphic toll of all those who
Bamey Frank had beendied from AIDS related causes. from August 12. 1986
an articulate spokesman forthrough July 31. 1987. The
the rights of gay citizens.
emotional Impact of those
However. his stature andIntegrity have been desheadshots was devastating.
A similar piece on gay porntroyed by this incident.
stars would have a sobering
If a straight Republican
Congressman were caught
effect on all of us. but if It

8

OUT~WEEK

September 18.1989

wins a few more converts tothe practice of safer sex. It
would be worth publishing.
Burton Clarke
Manhattan

Return of the Native?
On seeing your magazine on the newsstand forthe first time. my first thought
was: Thank godl Maybe now
there will be real alternative
to the Native's pseudo-scientific ramblings about thelatest AIDS ·Case of the
Week." Imagine my disappointment on seeing the at!cle ·An Alternative Treatment
Reading List· In your Aug.
28th issue. When there arereal proven treatments available. it is irresponsible to continue to publicize quack
therapies and causations
theories. Although they may
be harmless themselves. by
persuading people to reject
those treatments that are
truly effective. serious harm
can ensue.
I hope this is not a portent of articles to come.
Edward Taussig
Brooklyn .

Arrest Development
For me. the real message in Rex Wockner's article
on the Foscarnet
demo(issue9). staged by membersof ACT UP/Chicago. was notin the politics of the pharmaceutical industry and theirrefusal to release promising
drugs. but rather In the polItics 9f how AIDS activists
choose the framework fortheir demonstrations.
Two Important
Issuescome to mind. Should theculmination of AIDS activists'demonstrations a/ways bearrest (or attel'1l>ts at such)?
And. should such ·actlons'
always play to the press? It Is
Interesting to note. that while
the Issuesto which activists
demand solutions Involve
retaining power and controlof our own lives. the demonstrations are often structured
such that power and control
are relinquished.

Think for a moment
about powerful. creative
demonstrations. The thousands of people at New
York's City Hall who participated In a legal picket werepowerful. The twenty IndMduals from ACT UP/Atlanta
who spent a hot summer
afternoon at Circle K convenience stores taking turns
blocking
gas pumps In
protest of the company's·lifestyles' Insurance policy
were also powerful. When ademonstration
Is plannedsuch that arrest Is its only
measure of success. what If
the cops choose not tomake the arrests? Power Is
relinquished. It is no longer In
our control.
And what about thepress? Certainly AIDS activists
have been successful In
mooipljamg them. We haveaccomplished this by being
creative. and oftentimes by
being forceful. It Is certainly
Important that we use thepress to catapult our Issues
into the spotlight. However.
playing to the press is thesurest way to keep that fromhappening.
When
wedepend on the unenlightened media to make a point
for us. we have given up theability to do just that for ourselves.
lost October I went to
the FDA to be arrested. At
the end of an emotionalday. I realized that being
willing to risk arrest In order
to seize control was enough.
In April. I was arrested In
Columbia. S.C.• while protesting Issues of mandatory
testing and quarantine Inthat state. In the meantime.
I have participatedIn
countless other demonstration. some Involving cMI cisobedience. others not. The
common thread? In every
case we were In control. We
retained the power.
The power Is ours. but
only when we retain It. Be
smart. be creative-ACT UPI
linda Meredith
Washington. D.C.

XEROXED
nme. Square.
Max Frankel, Editor

The New York Times
Dea Mr. Frankel:
Donal Henahan's "The
Dark Side of Schubert· Is an
illuminating example of how
The New York Times accepts
and perpetuates
cultural
homophobia and the persecution of goy people In the
United States that issues
from it. Who decided thatthe defamatory theories ofMaynard Solomon should
be distributed to the massaudience of the New YorkTimes Sunday edition?
Solomon, as published In the
Spring 1989 19th Century
Music, in an article entitled"Franz Schubert and thePeacocks of Benvenuto
Cellini: making "one of his
typically imaginative laps:on the basis of possibly
coded letters to Schubert(not from him) suggests"Some Disturbing Things
About Schubert· (NY Times
headline Sunday, August 27,
1989,page 38).
On the basis of thisconjecture Henahan states,-Schubert
may
have
become a child molester, orIn the less elegant police
argot of our time, a chicken
hawk.· Solomon follows up
this charge by accusing
Schubert of seeking his own
physical extinction, merely
because he -acquiredafatal disease. This is a disturbing
exampleof the-blame the victim· mentality one sometimes hears
today In reference to AIDS.
Referring to Schubert's masterpieces, Henahan concludes, "Someday, if theworld lasts long enough,they will be anonymous.·
That Is a preposterous
statementthat complements the absurdity in his
opening paragraph, "Genuine art seeks to shed itself

of its creator, Ideally In timeachieving anonymity of thesort achievedby theauthors of the 'Iliad' or the
Egyptian'Book of theDead. ,. Apart from the silliness of attributing to works
of art consciousness andvolition, his is a profoundly
dehumanizing philosophy ofart.
Henahanseems
ashamed that the gods
require a human conduit for
their gifts. Does he meanthat art should be anonymous, to remove the stain of
having been created by ahuman being? Or is his
piece a prophecy that theworld will enter some bizarre
new dark age that will
destroy our civilization's
near-infinite
capacity for
information storage and dissemination. in the process
ripping apart art from knowledge of its authors? Will the
Mona Usa and the Pieta beanonymous in this new darkage. as well?
The U.S.Supreme Court
ruled in 1986 that gays canbe imprisoned for consensual intimacy In the privacy of
their own bedrooms In Its
Hardwick decision. Gay
people in the U.S. today
have no constitutional rightto privacy or consensual intimacy. That the New YorkTimes would devote somany column inches to
Schubert's homosexuality
and gossip from his peers intoday's intolerant politicalenvironment Is analogous toa Nazi musicologist in 1935
going on about the factthat Mendelssohn was a
Jew. and worse. possibly a
militant Zionist or cabalist on
the basis of conjectural
coded letters to him. (Imake no negative judgement of Zionism or thecabalah. The analogy isthat
both are despised anddefended. just as cross-gen-eratlonal sex Is despised In
our culture but has been an
accepted feature of some
cultures.)
Henahan's Is a sleazy
piece of work. no matter
how couched In the coy
language of academia it Is
served to your readers.
Sincerely.
Campion Read. M.D.

Still No nmes for Gays
Mr. John Darnton
Metropolitan Editor

The New York Times
Dear Mr. Darnton.
I am writing to convey
to you what I believe is a
growing sense of frustration
over the exclusion of lesbian/gay candidates. Issues
and more generally thecommunity·s "electoral presence· in your coverage ofthe upcoming
municipal
elections. As one of the three
representatives of my community who met with Abe
Rosenthal. Sidney Grusen
and others at the Times todiscuss our concerns regarding cover.age. I had confidence. then. that what we
had to say would receive
serious consideration; I retainthat confidence.
Aside from reporting
Mayor Koch's executive
order granting bereavement
leave to unmarried couples(heterosexual and homosexual). the Timeshas paid virtually no attention
to thegoy/lesbian electorate. Evenon the bereavement leave
matter. the Times. alone.
ignored the dramatic meeting. last month. between
Rudolph Giuliani and over 50
lesbian and gay leaders at
which we discusseda variety
of issuesof Importance to ourcommunity and during which
Giuliani affirmed his opposition to bereavement leave
for Qay survivors. All otherpapers recogn~ed the importance of this meeting andgave it extensivecoverage.
Alone among New York
City's daily papers. theTimes has, to date, failed

even to mention that openly gay city council candidates. Tom Duane andDavid Taylor. are running
extremely credible races
against incumbent
Carol
Greltzer (in a district which
Includes Greenwich Village
and Chelsea) and for the
Clinton/Upper
West Side
seat being vacated by Ruth
Messinger, respectively.
I am pleased that theTimes has done articles onotherminoritygroups'attempts to gain representation on the City Council.
especially focusing on how
charter revision may effectthe possibility of electing
more Black, Hispanic andAsian candidates. Aloo Rnder's report on the Charter
Revision hearing at which
representatives of minority
groups testified
on theimpact the redrawing ofelectoral districtswould haveon their representation on
the City Council, made no
mention of the gay and lesbian community's efforts inthis regard. Indeed. FAIRPAC.
the p~litical action committee of the gay and lesbiancommunity • testified that 00
enlarged council with smaller districts would facilitate
our c~rrmunity's representation on the council. Mr. Finder'sfollow-up
article.

Recasting City Council to
Make Room for More Minority Voices. on August 6. again
blatantly ignored the Issueof
gay and lesbian representation, despite the fact that
the
Gay
and
LesbianAlliance Against Defamation
pointed out in a letter to Mr.
Finder our Interest andInvolvement In the process.
Other papers, I havefound. now routinely listcandidate's
attitudes
ongay/lesbianrights whensummarizing their politicalviews. This does not appear
to be the case with theTimes. New. York Newsday
and the Daily News havedone feature stories on theimportance of the gay elec-

September 18, 1989

OUT~WEEK

9torate (as well as otherminority communities) In the
mayoral election. Newsday.
on February 28, stated thatthe goy community
Is -ahighly politicizedgroup.
believed to hove a high rateof voter participation. CI"IdIt
may vote as a bloc thisyear.' No comparable feature story has appeared In
the Times.
I know I am not the firstto raise these concerns. If theTimes treatment of the gay
and lesbian electorateIspremised on a perceptionthat gays are a marginal
group, rather than a -real"minority group. It would behonest of you to admit this. If
not. I hope that between
now and election day thegay and lesbian community
receives coverage corrmensurate with the Impact It hason the political life of this city.
Sincerely.
Virginia M. Apuzzo

Present Tense
EditorTime Magazine
Tothe editor,Your unequivocal rejection of current underground
efforts for testing promisinganti-AIDS drugs Is not borne
our with any conclusive evidence (Time, Medicine, July10). Whether people withAIDS are enrolled In government-sponsored drug trials,
or engaging In the -haphazard use of experimental
drugs'
doesn'tmotter-they'restili dying.
Yes,there will be -mCl"lY
people who will contract thedisease in the future," butthat doesn't mean thosepresently bottling AIDSillnesses should be denied the rightto self-medl,cate with drugsof their choosing. It's called
self-empowerment because
people with AIDS are fighting
for their lives.
Sincerely.
Michael Petrelis
ACT UP/NY

10

O~WEEK

TIme and Time Again
Dear Mr. Petrelis:
Thank you for yourresponse to our July 10
Medcne story. -Drugs from theUndergrOllld." We appreciate
the opporfI.riIy to aclctessyw
thoug,tfU aitidsm.
We recognize that there

Is no easy way to reconcile
the conflicting
pressures
Involved In researching anddeveloping effective AIDS
drugs. On the one hand.
AIDS patients are faced withthe frightening specter ofdeath. made all the moreagonizing by the unbearably
slow process by which new
drugs come to market. Certainly, these patients havevalid concerns that musturgently be addressed. Still.
time Is essential to adequately test the very drugs
that hold the most promise.
The question of the larger
public good cannot
beignored. and we believe It is
important to remind readersthat the FDA's current easingof some rules could havemuch wider ramifications. As
we noted. -the haphazard
use of experimental drugs
may
help
some
AIDS
patients in the short run, but
It will slow down the quest to
discover the best ways totreat the many people whowill contract the disease in
the Mure:
Sincerely,
Elizabeth L Wilson

Time Magazine
Dunne Deal
Hon. Edward I. Koch
City Hall
Dear Mayor Koch:
Since your letter andour last meeting, GMHC hasembarked on a widely publicized campaign to encourage New Yorkersto consider
getting an HIV antibody test
and, If positive, to haveadditional medical testing
and monitoring.
The evidence Is overwhelming thatdrugs such as AZT andaerosolized
pentamidine
can prevent or delay the

September 18, 1989

tic agents such as AIr are
onset of AIDS CI"IdIts related
Inadequate.
Your recent
infections.
announcementof a $7.75
I am pleased that our
million Initiative to expand
campaign has reached so
specialized HIV primary caremany people. GMHC's Hottreatment
programs is aline experienced a 30 perstep in the right direction
cent increase in calls in thewhich we applaud.
ten days after our press
But much more canannouncement.
I underand should be done. We
stand that the City Healthestimatethat between
Department Healthline also
100.000 and 150.000 New
has seen a surge in teleYork City residents who arephone calls and referrals to
HIV antibody positive are
the alternative test sites. At
potential cancidates for AIr
least one radio station has
and/or PCP prophylaxis.
agreed to broadcast
ourMost cannot afford to pay
public service announcefor these expensive drugs
ments for several weeks.
and have Inadequate or no
We understandfromprivate Insurance. Increasyour August 25th pressrelease
ingly Medicaid and otherthat $276,000 is being set
city, state and federal proaside by the city for a multigrams will be called upon to
media public information
bear the burden.
campaign to begin afterWe agree with you that
Labor Day. It iscritical that thisthe federal government
canpoign be irrplemented nmust assume its rightful role
conjunction
with a rapid
expansion of AIDSassessment In the HIV epidemic. Our
Washington lobbyist, AIDS
centers. Equaly mportoot. theAction. Is working hard to
campaign should utilize indiensure special funding toviduals who hove recognition
cover the extraordinary
and credibility n the corrmJexpense of AIDS-related
nitiesyou are trying to reach.
drugs. Along with our colWith the CDC's guideleagues around the country.
lines of PCP prophylaxis and
we are pressuring Burroughs
the announcements
from
Wellcome, the manufacturthe National Institutes of
er of AIr. to make drastic
Health on the effectivenessprice reductions. We will beof AZT In early ARC andvery active again in Albany
asymptomatic HIV infection,
this fall to ensure that the
we hove entered a new era
governor's budget contains
In the HIV epidemic.
Nolonger is a diagnosis of AIDS adequate AIDSfuncing.
Finally, we are pleaseda death sentence.
that the city and state are
Individuals
with HIVcommitted to providing AIr
infection no longer have toand other AIDS-related
sit by helplessly for the firstsymptoms of ARC or AIDS.
drugs to New Yorkers who
cannot afford to purchase
GMHC Is expanding its
informationaland educathem. regardless of whether
tional programs for people
the federal government
with HIV Infection. We see
renews the special appropriour role as one of an inforation that expires In Septemmational resource for medi- . ber. Notwithstandingthatcal. legal and insurance
commitment,
we will do
Issues. We also refer callers
everything
possibletoand our clients to communiensure that the federal govty resources. At present, serernment assumes Its rightful
vices for individuals who areshare of these costs.
seropositive and who wish to
Very truly yours,
have immune function testRichard DJnne
ing and, If appropriate,
Executive Director
Gay Men's Health Crisis
access to chemotherapeu-

After seven years as Chelsea's D~mqc<. op~nly gay candidate for the 3fd' Q'ouneil
Chelsea, Gramercy, Rose Hill, Waterside, Kips Bay,
<

-,

•

VOTS IN THE DEMO¢RATICPRIMARY, TUESDA::;;:)~),

Photo: n. litt

BOTTLE THISI

Polic, subdu, bottl,-throwing skinhead during march to Tompkin~ Square

Gay Bashing·Mars
Wigstock Festival
Hundreds Protest Attack In Tompkins Square
by Gabriel Rotello
NEW YORK-Fourgay men were.
attacked and two of them seriously
injured by assailants wielding lacrosse
sticks and yelling anti-gay epithetsduring the Wigstock festival at Tompkins Square on Labor Day, police andeyewitnesses reported. A fifth gay
man who attempted to intercede wasarrested by police and charged with
obstructing governmental administration when, according to eyewitnesses,
he "tapped"a policeman
in anattempt to point out the assailants.

12

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

The attackers were eventually alsoarrested and charged with assault.
By first arresting
the gay
bystander and not the assailants, thepolice apparently precipitated an
extended demonstration by up to 300
angry lesbians and gays attending the
Wigstock event, an annual outdoor
drag show that attracts thousands.
The demonstrators,
spontaneously
and without organizea leadership,surroundedpolice in the park,
marched to a precinct station, defaceda police car with lipstick and thenengaged in a sit-in demonstration at
Avenue A and 6th Street for over anhour. During one of the marches afurther incident
occuredwhen,
according to witnesses, a skinhead
bystander screamed anti-gay epithets
at the marchers and threw a bottle
into the crowd, striking a protestor.
The protestor was uninjured and theskinhead was arrested.
Love-In Upstaged?
According to eyewitnesses, thepolice acted at first with disregard andcontempt for the gay-bash victims,
several of whom were in drag, butbecame noticeably more attentive
when confronted
by hundreds ofangry demonstrators.
The alleged
attackers have now been charged
with serious assault and weaponspossession charges which carry amaximum penalty of seven years inprison.
However, some spectatorsatWigstock were outraged that a major
demonstration
marred the famous
East Village "love-in.· They charged
activists, particularly members of ACf
UP, with deliberately
plotting to"upstage" the festival. Activists havecountered that those organizing Wigstock were insensitive to the violent
drama unfolding in· the park, and thatthe festival should have been halted
until the controversy was resolved.
In a related development, one of
the injured men has charged that personnel at st. Vincent's Hospital, where
he was taken, magnified his ordeal bysubjecting him to verbal abuse in theemergency room. St. Vincent's officals
are investigating the charge.
Through interviews with the victims, eyewitnesses, the police and theDistrict Attorney's office, Out Week has

Photo: Ben Thornberry

DON'T FUCK WITH ME. FELLAS!

Prot,st,rs dismantl, barricades during Av,nue A sit-in.
September 18. 1989

OU~WEEK .,13

ECCE HOMO
Police display handcuffed Mark Carson in attempt to calm Tompkins Square crowd.
III

I

II~I
I

been able· to piece together the following account:
The incident began in the northeast section ot the park at approximately 6 pm when the four gay men,
Karl Soehnlein, Darren Britton, andAlan Klein, who were dressed indrag, and Stephen Rupp, a friend
from Boston, noticed that several men
were harassing them. The men, someof whom carried large wooden
lacrosse sticks, were mimicking exaggerated effeminate
gestures andlaughing. Then, according to Soehnlein, who is a regular Out Week film
critic, one of the men, Jose Suarez,
22, of 361 East 10th Street, "brushed"
Soehnleinon the nose with his'lacrosse stick. At that point the gay
men verbally prQtested and were met
by increased anti-gay ab~.
According to Klein, who is Soehnlein's lover,the men yelled, "You fucking faggots,
get out of our parle"

14

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

Photo: Ben Thornberry .

snCK'EMUP

Alleged gay bashers Suarez (L), Hasam, and friends immediately after the attack.
Men Attacked, Police Respond
Dozens of people witnessed the attack
Without warning, the youths
attacked with their lacrosse sticks.
Soehnlein was struck in the face,
allegedly by Suarez, who knocked
him down and split open his lip.
Soehnlein was then reportedly set
upon by Kenny Hasam, 19, of 368
East 10th Street, who punched him
repeatedly in the face while he lay
on .the ground. At the same time
Suarez allegedly used his stick to
strike Britton several times in theback, fracturing his shoulder blade.

but no one attempted to intervene·
until Ru Paul, a well-known
dragentertainer, began to scream for thepolice.
.
A crowd formed as the injured
men lay on the ground, screaming thatthey had been attacked and pointing
out their assailants, who remained on
the scene, laughing and joking. Eventually two policemen on mctofScootersarrived and were met by a crowd
which had swelled to about SO people.
Many in the crowd pointed out theassailants to the officers, who did nottake any action and instead began tophysically and verbally harrass someof the 'drag queens in the group.
Gay Man Arrested FirstAt this point Mark Carson, a gay
man who had happened on the scene
after the attack, attempted to alert
Officer Thomas Kidd to the presenceof the assailants. Kidd turned on Carson, chased him down, arrested him
and handcuffed him in full view of
the crowd. Witnesses say that thisevent greatly enraged the crowd.
Two other officers arrived on thescene and, according to witnesses,
attemped to shoo away Suarez andHasam, the alleged bashers, tellingthem to leave before they got into
trouble. However, the crowd surrounded the police and the assailants,
refusing to allow them to pass, andfinally the police arrested Suarez andHasam and brought them to a park
structure where they were alreadyholding Carson.
Carson reports that although he
was handcuffed, Suarez and Hasam
were not. A lawyer, Tom Hickey,
arrived, but it was not until a police
inspector appeared that Suarez andHasam were handcuffed.
Several witnesses made their way
to the stage, a ·few hundred feetaway, where the Wig stock performances were in progress.
They
attempted
to stop the show toannounce that doctors, lawyers andSee WIGSTOCK on page 31

September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

15

NewsCan NYC's Anti-Bias Laws
Actually Protect Lesbians and Gay Men?

Katherine Herzog vs.
The Parks Department
by Rachel LurieNEW YORK-Gay bashing is all too
common in New York City's parks,
but..when ~arks Department officials
are accused of doing the bashing by alesbian employee determined to go
through city channels to stop it, justice can prove as elusive as finding a

NEWS FOCUS
gang of thugs the morning after a batwielding frenzy.
Over five years have passed
since Katherine
Herzog, a Parks
Department employee since 1983, first
filed a complaint about the anti-gay
atmosphere in her office. This week,
a hearing opened, not on the stillunresolved original complaint, but on
charges of retaliation against Herzog
for filing the original accusation.
In 1984, Herzog, then an executive secretary, wrote a letter to her
boss, then Deputy Commissioner on
Budget and Management
BarbaraGunn, objecting to anti-gay jokes andwhat she saw as a hostile atmospheretowards gays In her office. But Herzog's letter to her boss was met withan explosive backlash: when Gunn
told Herzog to start pounding thepavement for another job, Herzog
headed Instead to the Commission on
Human Rights to see about filing aformal complaint. A few months later,
Herzog formalized the complaint, andWithin weeks she found herself
moved to a desk In the basement,
assigned Sisyphean tasks and thenchastised for not completing them,and finally shipped off to the Depart.
ment's Prospect Park office, what she

18

O~WEEK

calls "the Siberia of the parks world."
Since her transfer, she has received no
merit increases, promotions or bonuses, despite recommendations for themby her supervisor.
Seeing a Lesbian AroundThe claim charges that Gunn tolerated, and laughed at, a joke about agay man with AIDS, and was overheard complaining about a neighborhood "turning SWishy· while imitatinga "stereotypical gay male.· Herzog
claims that Gunn was uncomfortablearound her, and made her day-to-day
work life unbearable. "The bottom
line is, there was a real uptightstraight woman who was freaked out
by seeing a lesbian around." Herzog
says that Gunn told her, "It's myhang-up [her lesbianisml, but I'd like
you to work somewhere else.·
Herzog originally filed her com. plaint under Executive Order 4, thelegislation issued by Koch in the
opening days of his mayoral tenure In
1978, which extended anti-discrimination measures for city employees toinclude "sexual orientation or affectional preference.""I was brought in ceremoniously
as the first E04 case," Herzog said,
adding that the HRC promised swift
movement on her complaint since theagency, widely criticized for its long
delays, had "no backlog of E04 cases. H
But Instead of moving quickly,
the case got Increasingly more com·plex and received less legal attention.
Herzog added five addendums to her
original complaint, adding Parks Com·missioner Henry Stern and Parks
employee Anthony Canceillerl as
respondents
In retaliation compo·

September 18, 1989

nents. In Februray 1988, the HRC
found "probable cause" for Herzog's
charges of retaliation starting from thetime Herzog initially wrote the letterto Gunn, and that "the retaliation continues to the present."
Flowers from Gunn
Throughout
the controversy,
Gunn has maintained that Herzog wastransferred and denied promotions
and raises because of poor work performance.
But the findings of the
HRC show that Herzog "was highly
regarded by her supervisors· before
the complaint
and in that timereceived a 14 per cent merit increase,a promotion and even a lavish bouquet of flowers from Gunn with anote saying: "thanks for all the help
and the great job you've done in thepast year.-1ove, Barbara."
Shortly after delivering the flowers, Gunn first pressured Herzog toleave, accusing her of coming on toher, and telling her, ·Your lifestyle
makes me uncomfortable,' according
to Herzog. When Herzog made It
clear that she was staying put, theretaliations began with Herzog's transfers first to the basement and then out
to Brooklyn, which added three hours
to her communtlng time. Parks Commissioner Henry Stern entered thecase when he denied Herzog a promotion and pay Increase recommend·
ed by her supervisor,
Brooklyn
Borough Commissioner Julius Spiegel.
Both Stern and Gunn deferred
any comment on the case to the City's
Corporation Counsel attornles. Tom
Roberts, a Corporation Counsel attor·
ney on the case, explained that there
Is nothing final In the probable cause~decision. "It shows that there is sufficient evidence that there may havebeen a Violation, the hearing is tomake a finding.' He likened the probable cause finding to an indictment.

Mystery Memo
But Herzog's victory in the retaliation charge was brief. On the same
day that the commission issued its
decision requiring either a settlement
or a hearing with the corporation
counsel representing the respondents,
another memo was released which
discussed the investigationof theoriginal discrimination charges.
This memo, dated February 19,
1988, was delivered to the Mayor,
with copies to the corporation counsel, the HRC, and respondents Stern,
Gunn and Cancellieri. But Herzog,
who had already waited over four
years for the HRC to presents its findings to the mayor (its main charge in
E04 cases), was not allowed to see it.
"Everyone got it but us,' said

Herzog's attorney Mary Dorman. "It
was a joke. They claimed that 'interagency privilege' should override Herzog's right as complainant." Herzog
and her attorney only fou.nd out
about it when it was inadvertently
mentioned during a deposition for the
retaliation hearing. Tom Crane, seniorCorporation Counsel attorney on thecase, did not return numerous phone
calls from Out Week. Roberts, Crane's
assistant, was not yet working on thecase when the memo was released,
and declined to comment on it.
Katherine Franke, a staff attorneyat the HRC, called the suppression a"political decision," that it is the job of
the corporation counsel "to protect
the Mayor and have as little as possible get out about what was going onin Gunn's office."
In May of this year, 15 months
after the document was written, theHRC drafted a strongly worded decision releasing the memo to Herzog.
The Commission noted "this pro-ceeeding has been pending for morethan four years. Such a delay trivializes the complainant's interest in vindicating anti-bias norms ....Delays ofthis nature in resolving complaints
will not be tolerated by the Commission in the future."

Polluted, Hostile Atmosphere?
The memo outlined the results of
the investigations, into both the original discrimination claim and the retaliation claims. While it found "probablecause" for the retaliation, it was lessdefinitive regarding the discrimination
charge. While the investigation foundsome "corroboration ...that the Department was a place in which remarks,
gestures and jokes hostile to homosexuals were regularly expressed,' it
did not "uncover the degree of antigay behavior that must be found inorder to support the accusation that apolluted, hostile atmosphere existed
in the Department.'
Herzog and her
See HERZOG on page 72

Photo: IL. Litt

EWSIVE JUSTICE

Katherine Herzog. September 18, 1989

OUTTWEEK

17

News

Drug Giant Defends
AZT's Price
Advocates auestion Ethics, Accessby Cliff O'Neill
WASHINGTON-Without
expressly
ruling out the possibility of a future
price reduction, the Burroughs Wellcome Corp. balked at demands that it
lower the price of its costly anti-AIDS
drug, AZT, during a recent meetingwith representatives from four AIDS
activist organizations.
Responding to a two-page joint
letter from 16 lesbian/gay and AIDS
organizations, representatives from thedrug company met Sept. 5 with staffersfrom the Lambda Legal Defense and
Education Fund, ACf UPINY, the AIDS
Action Council and Gay Men's Health
Crisis at the company's Raleigh headquarters. Joe Whitehead, executive
vice president of corporate affairs, andDr. David Barry, vice preSident incharge of research, represented theinterests of the drug company.

After a three-hour meeting, AIDS
activists were left largely disappointed
at what they viewed as the company's
reluctance to reduce the price of the
drug for which Burroughs holds an
exclusive patent. Currently, AZT can
cost up to $8,000 a year.
MA Few Steps Backwards""Unfortunately,
we got reallynothing out of them,· stated David
Barr, staff attorney for the Lambda
Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Gay Men's Health Crisis lobbyist
Jeff Levi said, "We were hoping theywould share with us some indication ofwhat factors go into determining theprice, and some indication that theprice would ultimately go down. They
did neither. They even went a few steps
backwards, suggesting they weren't
sure price reduction was a mechanism

for obtaining greater access."
However, Burroughs Wellcome
public relations spokesperson ThackBrown called the meeting "productive,·and insisted that the company had not
ruled out the possibility of a pricereduction. "'That's not a decision which
has been made,· Brown stated "At thispoint, the company is looking at all of
the options that are available to it todetermine what is the most appropriate

COSTUEST DRUG IN HISTORYAZT capsules
Photo: Rink Fotoand most effective thing it can do given
the changing circumstances.·
No Other Drugs
Burroughs Wellcome has defended its high pricing of the drug as a buttress against future losses when otheranti-HIV drugs are made available. But
three years after AZf was approved by
the Food and Drug Administration, no
other anti-HIV drugs have been
approved, and the price has not comedown substantially.
AIDS activists and advocates havealso suggested that the company's
price for the drug is artificially inflated. The U.S. government did much of
the research on the drug, cutting thecompany's research costs considerably. Burroughs Wellcome has categorically and repeatedly refused to
explain its pricing mechanism for the
See An on page 72

18

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

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

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

News
AZT, Condoms, and the Polymerase Chain Reaction

Robert Gallo's
Annual Lab Meetingby Ann Giudici Fettner
BETIiESDA, M~The
invitation-only
get-together held by Robert Gallo's
National Cancer Institute (NCO laboratory each AUgust is a preview of thescience that will dominate AIDS
research and treatment during theNEWS FOCUS
coming year. Protected from the freefor-all atmosphere that now accompanies the international conferences, 150
researchers from many different institutions exchanged the results of theirbasic and clinical research last month.
The many tricks of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are becoming wellenough understood to translate into
the aggressive combination therapies
that were discussed over the six daysof the mini-conference.
Samuel Broder, recently named
head of NCI, who described current
AIDS therapy progress as "the functional eqUivalent of an open flame
torch, not an incandescent light. You
can use an open flame torch for illumination to lead you out of thewilderness,but you can also getburned very easily.· Broder told QYl:~
that there is no drug on thedrawing board that does not cause
Significant side effects. But he addedthat he is confident that these sideeffects can be managed successfully.
Explaining that ·we have almost
1,000 drugs in the test tube to see
what they will do against the AIDS
virus,· Broder pointed to earlier fears
that An would be too toxic to use.
·The whole point,· he insisted, "isthat we will come up with drugs
against the virus; the question is how
long a' person can take them, what

20

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

are their side effects, and for how
long will they work."
Many of the coming trials will bebased on AZT in smaller or alternating
doses to moderate its toxicity and tolessen the probability of the development of drug-resistant isolates of HIV.
Mark Wainberg of Montreal's McGill
University described AZT-resistantstrains of HIV as being responsive toother anti-virals such ddi and ddc. The
latter caused concern at last year's lab
meeting because of severe peripheral
neuropathy, a side effect that Brodersays now can be minimized, and possibly circumvented, with lowerdoses
or built-in rest periods.
Other reports of particular interest:• The effectiveness of condom
use in preventing HIV transmission
was underscored by studies of wivesof hemophiliacs: 81 percent inconsistently using condoms became infected, while eight regular c~ndom users(since 1979) remained virus-free. Buta joint study by the Centers for Dis-BY INVITATION ONLY
Robert Gallo
Photo: NCI Photoease Control and Abbott Labs also
showed that a number of the women,
when evaluated with the new PRC(polymerase
chain reaction) test,
showed that over four years, six of 13
who were consistently antibody negative are positive for HIV genetic material, but not the whole virus.
Abbott's research director, JeanPierre Allain, one of the study's
authors, concluded that HIV may frequently be transmitted from hemophiliacs as a "silent" i.nfection with nosigns of illness. Allain questioned
whether or not, in the absence of thewhole virus, the women qualify as
being HIV positive. These results may
mean developing "a new set of standardized criteria for what constitutes a
positive PCR test,· Allain declared.
• In New York City in 1982, lessthat 30 percent of gay men with AIDS
survived 18 months after diagnosis.
But between 1986 and 1987 nearly 63
percent survived longer than one anda half years, according to Broder. This
improvement appears to correlatewith the introduction of An and withearlier diagnosis and preventive therapy with aerosolized
pentamadine
against PCP and better managementof herpes infections.
• The toxic effects of AZT, as
well as the resistance of some patientsto the drug, are being circumvented
by its early use in asymptomaticpatients, at the lower doses possible
when An is used with a variety ofother substances. Combined with thepowerful antibiotic gentamicin, thesoluable CD4, with alpha interferon
and a host of other drugs (including
various growth factors) An and its
cousin ddI, were shown to potentiate
one another'S effectivenesswhile
diminishing negative effects.

K

E

V

\N

EST

• High-dose ddI is going into
Phase II clinical trials since preliminary patient studies have shown
improved overall well-being, weight
gain, restored immune response to
antigenic challenge and falling levelsof p24 (that part of HIV indicating
active infection) after six weeks on
ddi, with patients experiencing few
major side effects (the bone marrow
suppression
often caused by AZT
does not occur in patients treatedwith ddI). The rationale for early
treatment was reinforced by an asmuch as 50 percent increase in numbers of T-4 cells in patients starting
ddl therapy with a count of 200 or, I'
more T-4 cells.
..
• The nucleoside analogs (ddi,
ddc, etc.) have been shown to effec. ,.
..
tively interrupt the activity of the hepatitis virus in Peking ducks (thenatural animal disease is a model forE.,. .,..
" '''its
filii PIlI, SalII8,JaClIlli, ,human hepatitis B), the leading causeworldwide of liver cancer and cirrho1129 FLEMING ST., KEY WEST, FL 33040 (305)294-6284
sis, (chronic carriers are estimated at
between 200-300 million), and a serious problem for many infected with
HIV. The effects of these drugs on II
dually-infected HIV patients is being
studied now.
• Judah Folkman of Harvard University presented evidence that the·spindle- cells of Kaposi's sarcoma
are vascular smooth muscle cells
which, becauseof dysregulated
immune messages, are allowed to
grow in an unrestrained
fashion.
Recent findings by NCl's Shuji Nakamura of an abnormal form of fibroblast growth factor, suggest that thespindle cells themselves may be creatCharming. Newly Renovateding the abnormal blood vessel develBrownstone Conveniently
opment characteristic of KS. Folkman
Located in Chelsea
10 Room Inn
opined that ·we may be able to help
• All Room. H.".
Piano BarKS- with the new information.
W•• hlng F.cllltl ••As the barometerof current& Restauranta.th
progress in AIDS, the Gallo meeting• Contln.nul Br•• kf•• t
was inadvertently summed-up in the
135 Gough Street
Includedpunch line of a scientist's joke, which
San Francisco, California 94102• Single $50 • Double $65 • Suite SID
ALL TAXES INCLUDED
concerned a molecular biologist who
415-621-0896
spent the four years of his marriage• W.ekly R.t •• Upon Request·sitting on the side of the bed telling
Advance Reservations Suggested/
his wife how great sex was going to
COLONIAL HOUSE
be. - In the same spirit, after years ofiNN
promises, basic research is beginningto payoff in increasingly sensible
CHELSEA
approaches to treating AIDS-related
318 West 22nd St.. N.V.C. 10011
illnesses.
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212-243-9669

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September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

21

News

Did she or didn't she?

Setting the Record
Straight on Sununer
by Rex Wocknerand Andrew Miller
Did former disco diva and iconof gay men Donna Summer really tellgay fans during and after her concerts~hat AIDS was God's punishment of
their lifestyle, that God created Adamand Eve, not Adam and Steve, that
God hates homosexuals?

NEWS FOCUS)

THAT TIME IT WASNTFOR REAL

Donna Summer

22

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

The gay press rediscovered theSummer controversy this summer as
gay clubs faced the decision of bucking a six-year-old boycott to play cuts
from her new comeback album,
Another Place and Time, recorded for
Atlantic Records.
But some activists are complaining about what they call a disturbing
trend appearing in recent news stories. The trouble, they say, is thatthose statements
continue to be
attributed to Summer without proof,
attributed quotes, or a definitive transcript of an audio or video recordingof the incidents.
Summer became a huge musicalsuccess story in the late 70s, during
the height of disco music's popularity.
Her outrageous attitudes and downand-dirty lyrics celebrating sexuality
were enormously popular among gay
men, who initiated her rise to musicalsuperstardom with their support ofconcerts and recordings.
Summerperformed at the anniversary party of
New York City's Studio 54 when it
was a predominantly gay club.
When the original stories of Summer's anti-gay remarks surfaced in 1983,
a gay community boycott of her

records, which extended to a ban on
the playing of her old albums at gay
clubs, nearly ended her career, which
had hovered for years at the top of thecharts.

Dedicated to God
For her part, Summer, a bornagain Christian who dedicated her
new album to God, says she neversaid "those horrible things .. In a July
interview with The Advocate, anational gay and lesbian bi-weekly
magazine, Summer stated flatly, "I did
not make that statement. I never said,'If you are gay, God hates you,'"
In a second interview several
weeks later with Hot Wax Music
Report writer Jeffrey Wilson, Summer
again denied saying "anything about
God giving gay people AIDS. You
can't imagine the pain that has causedme, especially because of where I
started,· Summer said.
So who is right? Are gay writers
guilty of repeating rumor and innuendo, or does Donna Summer have aselective memory, particularly when it
comes to record sales?
Chicago artist Michael Kutza was
willing to go on record.
"I was at one of her last concerts
at the Holiday Star Theater in Merrillville, Indiana, in the fall of '83,· Kutza
told OutWeek, referring to a concert
in suburban Chicago.
"She was terrific, and at the endof the show said, 'If any of you wantto talk to me afterward, I want to tell
you about my life.' About 500 people
stayed and she came out in her little
tux and without her wigs and started
talking about finding Jesus ..
According to Kutza, a gay man
near the stage screamed, "I love you,
Donna,· and Summer asked him if he
was gay. When he said yes, Kutza
said that Summer told him, ·'1 canhelp you change your ways. AIDS isyour punishment
and you mustchange your ways.' She said this on
stage to 500 people,· Kutza said.
The Chicago artist's recollectionsof the Indiana concert were backed up
by Chicago architect Dan Earles. Earles and Kutza do not know each other.
·She came out and gave a little
speech' that was totally inappropriate,
Sa, DONNA SUMMER on pag 30

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September 18, 1989

OU~WEEK

23

Out Takes

Looking fora few goodheteros
NEW YORK - The American
Civil Liberties Union has accused
the military of violating the U.S.
Constitution by selectively prosecuting lesbians and gay men for
sodomy. The ACLU made its contentions in an amicus curiae brief
filed with the Navy-Marine Corps
Court of Military Review on behalfof Corporal Barbara Baum, one of·severallesbiansconvictedofsodomy following a 1988 investigation at the Marine Corps' Parris
Island base in South Carolina. Baumwas sentenced
to one year inprison, and served more than six
months in jail before being released.
She is appealing the conviction.

According to the ACLD's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, the disgruntled ex-boyfriend of Baum's
lover reported the two women to
the military in 1986. Although a fullinvestigation followed, no action
was taken by the Marines until
1988, when the military began what
the ACLUdescribes as a "witchhunt"
for lesbians on the Parris Islandbase. Baum and three others were
court-martialed, and several dozen
women were administratively discharged in connection with theinvestigation into alleged lesbianactivities at the base.
The ACLU maintains that heterosexual soldiers are not prosecuted for private, consensual sexual
activities which take place off-baseand off-duty, although the military's
sodomy statute aplies to both samesex and heterosexual sex acts.
"Had Corporal Baum been
engaging in sodomy with a man,she would never have been prose-

Dykes to Watch Out For

24

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

cuted," said ACLUstaff attorney Bill
Rubenstein. "Although the Marines
like to say that 'a Marine is a Marine
24 hours a day,' only lesbian andgay male Marines are held to such astandard."- Andrew Miller

Just say
Nancy II
DENVER - Opponents of a
two-year-old Colorado law banninganonymous HIV testing claim thatso many people are using falsenames when taking the test that thelaw has become a mockery andmust be changed.
Reverend Julian Rush, directorof the Colorado AIDS Project, isseeking the support of the Denver
Board of Health and Hospitals inamending the law during the next
session of the state legislature,claiming that many people areafraid to take the test. "Let's quit
playing games," he told the board.
"Those people may be exposing
others to the HIV, or foregoing
medical care altogether." The board
has been a major influence in thepast on public health legislation.
In an odd compromiseatanonymity, the legislation deliberately does not require identificationfor HIV test-seekers, although it
does require everyone being tested
to give a name. As a result, people
taking the test often give fakenames, the most popular being former first lady Nancy Reagan andThomas Vernon, the director of Colorado's state health department.
Rush had no hard statistics for
his August 28 presentation to the
Health and Hospitals Board. But
Doug Wollard, a city health officer
who also volunteers with the Colorado AIDS Project, said that "probably nine out of ten people"
undergoing testing at public clinics
in Denver use someone else's
name.
-Keith Clark

Bolder in
Colorado
BOULDER - County healthofficials here launched a six-week
AIDS awareness and testing program August 23 aimed at groups
who are· at high risk, particularly
gay men and IV-drug users.
Anne GuHfoile, director of theadult health program which oversees the county's AIDS program
said health officials were initiating
the campaign because of recent
developments in the use of AZT in
helping to stave off the onset of
AIDS-related symptoms among people infected with HIV, She also said
ceceot changes in policy by AIDSm i i'i a tt

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September 18, 1989

OU~WEEK

25

Out Takes
organizations which are now urging
people to take the HIV antibody
test were an added factor in the
county's campaign to encourage
more people to be tested.
"So many people can have thevirus and not know it," Guilfoile
said. She added that the county
offers HIV testing without charge,
and that it does not check IDs,
allowing
peopleto be tested
pseudonymously.
A mandatoryname reporting law in Colorado
makes anonymous HIV-testing illegal, and all positive test results areautomaticallyreported
to state
health officials.
The Boulder county healthdepartment
is one of a handfularound the country, including New
York City's, that offers a needleexchange
program for IV-drugusers. Since the program started
here in May, 22 people
haveenrolled.
- Keith Clark

26

YeS on S

CAROLE MIG DEN

Photo: RinkOUrYWEEK

September 18, 1989

SAN FRANCISCO - Because
Californians regularly have dozens
of propositions
to wade througheach election day, state and city officials have taken to giving them
numbers and letters (respectively) tomake reference easier. And througha fortuitous stroke of assonance andalliteration, San Francisco's proposition to keep that city's domestic
partners law on the books wound
up with the letter S, to the delight ofsupporters,
who
immediately
launched the "YeS on S campaign."
Led by local Democratic politicalactivist Carole Migden, a campaign
benefit bash on August 28 raisedsome $30,000 for the cause.
However, Rep. Barney Frank(D-MA), one of two openly gay
members of the House of Representatives, who had been scheduled toappear at the kickoff party, was a noshow. Frank's own"domestic partnership" arrangementwith a male sex
worker whom hehired as a personal
assistant and who
ran a prostitution
service out of theCongressman's
Wash., D.C. home,recently made national headlines.
Migden, tongue
flfmly in cheek, saidof Frank's absence,"I guessFrankdecidedto stayhome and take careof his own affairs,
so to speak."The San Francisco law, passed
unarumously by the
Board of Supervisors and signed by
Mayor Art Agnos,
has been derailed
by a referendum

move sponsored by fundamentalists,
including Phyllis Schlafly. The ordinance would permit unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples
to register their relationships with thecounty clerk. City employees would
thereby become eligible for various
but limited benefits already available
to spouses.
-Kdth ClarkandAndrewMJDer

Oh Diy God
CHICAGO - Plans by several
California Lutheran churches toordain sexually active homosexuals
to head a new lesbian and gay ministry project were expected to cause"a major conflict" at the week-long
Chicago convention of the 5.3-million member Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) in lateAugust.
But to the surprise of the 1,042
delegates,
the blow-up
neveroccurred, and the ELCA's interim
guildelines opposing ordination of
non-celibate gays were referred tocommittee without decision.
The Reverend Jim Lokken, aspokesperson for the pro-gay California congregations, has promisedthat his church, St. Francis Lutheran
Church in San Francisco, will ordain
26-year-old Jeff Johnson this fall"with or without the blessing of thebishop."
Northern California synod Bishop Lyle Miller has responded that"congregations do not declare whois or is not eligible, [and] Mr. Johnson is not an authorized candidatefor ordination."
Although convention delegatesbypassed the gay ordination decision this year, the confict willundoubtedly re-emerge when Johnson starts his job.
During an unofficial forum on
lesbian and gay issues at the convention, Johnson was quoted by the
Lutheran press office as saying thatsince ELCA does ordain celibate

I

I

,.;

gays, the real issue "is about our
relationships, and whether or not
the church will say that those relationships can be healthy, and that
we can bless and celebrate them in
our midst, even among our clergy.
Another gay and lesbian presence at the convention
wasLutherans Concerned, an international organIzation of gay Lutherans. The group staffed a literaturetable and confronted conventiongoers with pro-gay
banners,
badges, posters and slogans.
- Rex Wockner

Violence•
survivorssoughtNEW YORK - Claire Goodman
produced the video tape, commissioned by New York City, that iscurrently used by the police department in its sensitivity training aboutbias crimes that involve gay men
and lesbians.
Now, with the help of a grantfrom the Paul Robeson Foundation,
Goodman and co-producer Anjie
Rosga are making a filin about "thedifferent ways anti-gay violence isused as a method of social control,and enforces homophobia in different cultures."
Rosga, the principal researcher
on the new project, said she issearching for survivors of "interrelationship battering, family violence,
suicide, . attacks by peers andacquaintances, as well as strangers,
either personally or through a lover,family member, or close friend,"
and guarantees the confidentiality of
any inquiries.
Because white men are most
likely to report violence against
them, the filmmakers said they areespecia,lly interested in reaching out
to people of color and women.

NEWYORK- Nearlv 100ACTUPers picketed for an hour in front of the Human
Resources Administration (HRAIbuilding on Church Street on Tuesdav, Sept. 5, toprotest what the AIDS activist group called ·that agency's bungling of service.
intended for homeless people with AIDS: The activists were joined bVmembers ofAnger Into Direct Action, composed entirelv of'homeless or fonnerlv homeless plOpie with HIV-related illnesses, who are all clients of or rejected applicants to thecity's AIDSCase Management Unit. which is administered by the HRA.
In a press statement, ACTUP described the Unit as ·understaffed, chronicallyunderfunded, with a backlog of some 365 cases; and unable to serve the population for whom it was established to advocate.
Two me:'!,Bob Rafskv and Charles King, were arrested fOr obstructing traffic
when demonstrators decided to march to City Hall. After the arrests, demonstrators·
brieflv blocked traffic on Broadwav. The protest dispersed after a riot squad wassent in to remove the demonstrators from the park next to CityHall.
- T.L.Litt and Andrew Millef
Photo:IL LittSeptember 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

27

Out Takes
Those interested can write to
Rosgood Productions,Box 994,
Stuyvesant Station, New York, NY
10009.
- Andrew Miller

Erin gay
bragh
DUBLIN - Lesbian and gay
activists in Dublin, Ireland are calling for international help in forCing
their federal government to implement a December 1988 European
Court of Human Rights decision
overturning
the the country's
sodomy law.
The Court itself has no legislative power to demand acceptanceof its rulings, but the nations whoare signatories
to the European
Convention on Human Rights ordinarily modify their laws in accord
with its decisions voluntarily.
To date, however, the Irish Parliament has not introduced the necessary legislation, and activists with
Dublin's newly-formed
Gays andLesbians Equality Network believepressure from international activists
will speed up the process.
Activists are particularly hoping
for letters to Prime Minister Charles
Haughey from Irish immigrants in
Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australla - demanding that gay sex belegalized and that anti-discrimination protections be enacted.
"A lot of lesbians and gays haveleft here to escape oppression andwe'd like them to organize and su pport our struggle," said the Equality
Network's Kiernan Rose. "A victoryfor lesbians and gays anywhere is a
Victory everywhere."
Rose and others say that governmental
foot-dragging
on thelegislation is understandable
when
placed in the context of the conflicting values that make up Irish
society.
"There's
truth to thestereotype that Ireland is very con-28

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

"

I

I

i
I

GLEN'S KIERAN ROSE (LI WITH FELLOW ACTIVIST CATHAL O'CIARRAGAIN
Photo: Rex Wocknerservative," explained Rose, "but at
the same time we are an antiimperialist nation with a traditionof justice. We are a country ofcontradictions."[To assist the Equality Network's
fight, write Prime Minister Charles
Haughey, T.D., Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2.
Send xeroxes to Gay and Lesbian
Equality Network, c/o GSD, Community Services Project, 13 Christ
Church Place, Dublin 2.)- Rex Wockner

MD+HIVFBI?

-SAN FRANCISCO - In what
civil libertarians called an unfortunate precedent for the way confidential
medicalinformationishandled, U.S. District Court JudgeCharles Legge dismissed a lawsuit
by a San Francisco
doctor who
charged that the FBI had cancelled
its agents' appointment
with him
last year because he had been diagnosed with Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS),an AIDS-related cancer.
The FBI stopped
sending

agents to the physician, identified
only as Dr. John Doe, for examinations, despite testimony from epidemiologiSts citing U.S. Centers for
Disease Control health-worker guidelines that labelled the risk of HIV
transmission from doctor to patient"Vanishingly small."Legge's ruling overturned a preliminary injunction, issued by him in l$S8,
which ordered the FBI to resume sending agents to the physician.
The FBI has refused to say how
it learned of Doe's diagnosis, and thephYSician's attorneys are charging
that the agency threatened to disclose the information to other governmental agenCies.
Because the doctor was notdirectly employed by the government, Dr. Dow lacked technicalground for his suit, according toLegge, who wrote that the FBI acted"in the exercise of their legitimate
governmental responsibilities," andthat the agency "had a duty to beconcerned for (its agents') health."
Legge ruled that Doe's right to privacy had not been violated by the FBI's
investigation.
Under California law, disclosureof specific medical infonnation about
people with AIDS is forbidden.
Spokespersons
for the FBI
declined to comment of the ruling.
-Keith Clark

LOOKING FOl1AN
APARTMENT, OR A
SHARE?

PWA

is convicted
rapistSEATTLE A
formerschoolteacher
was sentenced
September 1 to a six-month prison
term and two-year
psychiatrictreatment program after pleading
guilty to charges that he raped andsexually molested one of his students after being diagnosed withAIDS.
In handing down the decision
against 20-year-old
David Adlhoch,Superior
Court JudgeCharles Johnson emphasized that
he was limited by a special sentencing law for sex offenders thatstresses
psychiatrictreatment
rather than jail time. With credit
for time already served, Adlhoch
could be released from jail in 30
days or less.
The teen-age boy involved,
now sixteen, begged the judge to
give Adlhoch the severest sentence
possible. "I really don't want anybody else to go through this," theboy, whose
identity
was not
revealed because of his age, told
the court. "If you let him go, he'll
do the same thing again. He'll do it
more cleverly. You won't catch
him, maybe."
Adlhoch pleaded guilty to single counts of third-degree statutoryrape and third-degreechildmolestation for sexual contacts hehad with the youth shortly before
and after his fifteenth birthday last
spring. He resigned
from theNorthwest School, where he hadtaught dance and math since 1985,
when confronted with the charges.
The filing of charges against
Adlhoch hit the private school particularly hard because the students, parents and faculty had
rallied arou nd him after he wasdiagnosed with AIDS late in 1987.

-Keith ClarklUES-FRI AT8PM
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OUTTWEEK

29

DONNA SUMMER froID page 23
about how she'd been saved by God
and how homosexuality is a sin,· Earles told OutWeek. "She was real
derogatory. I walked out before she
was done talking and haven't listened
to her music since. I can't understandwhy gay bars are playing it."

Adantic City

Ufe before AIDS
"Since the very beginning of my career
I have had tremendous support andfriendship from the gay community. It
is a source of great concern to me thatanything I may have said has cast me
as homophobic. All I can ask for isunderstanding, as I believe my true
feelings have been misrepresented·
But by mid-1989, Summer's communications with the gay community
had grown more defensive and insistent"I did not say God is punishinggays with aids [sic), I did not sit with
ill intention in judgment over yourlives," she wrote to ACf UP on July
I 26, in response to a demonstration at
I Red Zone, a club in Hell's Kitchen
which held a promotion party for
Summer's new album. "I haven't
stopped talking to my friends who aregay, nor have I ever chosen myfriends by their sexual preferences.

A third concert-goer who says
Summer made homophobic remarks
in 1983 is New York City freelance
writer Jim Feldman, whom the Vi/lage
Voice assigned to review Summer's
just-released album She Works Hardfor the Money, and her concert in
Atlantic City.
"At one point she was making
some comments about boy/girl couples or something, and some gay man
raised his hand," Feldman said. "Shesaid, 'Oh not you. After all, God made
Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,'
A hush fell over the concert for a-Never turned away·
moment, and then she said, 'Oh, but I"We have too many good memolove you anyway,''' Feldman's reportries together to live in this state ofon the concert, including Summer's
unforgivenness,· Summer continued.
remarks, appeared in the Voice's July "I never denied you or turned away,'
5, 1983 edition. Feldman wrote, "I but in fact you turned from me. If I
suppose her born-again
status is have caused you pain, forgive me. It
responsible for her sanctimony, but was never my intention to reject you'l
her mean-spirited homophobia was
but to extend myself in love. I know
particularly inappropriate
becausethat some of you really need me now!
without us, Donna Summer wouldn't
because you've written and told me
be playing anything in Atlantic City so. Can't we just forgive each otherbut the slots."for this past confusion?"
Also in the crowd at the Atlantic
Summer then quoted extensively
City concert was Tom Danna, editor I from the section of the New Testament book Corinthians that is freof the Long Island gay newspaper
Parlee, who said he also remembers
quently read at weddings.
Summer's comment. Danna and FeldFor a community used to hateful
man were not at the concert together.
remarks, boycotts, and the endless.
"Yes, I remember the 'Adam and I striving for political rectitude, theEve, not Adam and Steve' thing,·
release of Summer's latest album has
Danna said. "She said it right there on unleashed a wave of emotions rangstage during the concert.·
ing from ambivalence to anger, all
According to Feldman, Summer
related to her former status in the
more or less admitted making thecommunity, and the good associations
anti-gay remarks in a written "retrac- many gay men have with her voice.
tion" issued in 1985 following objecDuring Boston's Gay and Lesbian
tions to her partiCipation in a New
Pride Week celebration this summer,
York City AIDS benefit. The "retracactivists disrupted an outdoor partytion" later appeared in the Advocate.
I hosted by The Gay Rights Grass RootsFund when the DJ played a song
·Support and Friendship·from Summer's new album. A brief"It's very difficult for me to scuffle broke out after protesters
believe this terrible misunderstanding
shouted "shame,· and attempted tocontinues," Summer said at that time. , remove the record from the turntable.
II

i

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30

OUTYWEEK

September 18, 1989

But others in the community, forwhom Summer's music represents
happier times, are not willing to let
go of Summer at all. "All thosealbums came out before AIDS, or
before AIDS was thought about. Now,
people want to dance to her because
it reminds them of that time before
AIDS,· said Marc Berkley, a club
entrepreneur who used to promote
the exclusive and immensely popular
gay New York dance club The Saint.
"For the over-25 crowd, the music,
especially old music, is all we have left.
Our friends have died, the clone lookwent out, but whenever we hear anold song, we can say, 'Oh I remember
dancing at Flamingo or Twelve West or
the Saint,'· Berkley said, referring togay dance clubs popular in the late 70s
and early '80s. "It reminds them ofwhat life was like before AIDS.·-Up-synch to Donna·
Berkley also cites Summers enormous popularity, and the affinity thatmany gay men found with her music.
"Because she sang about sex, and gay
men love sex, Donna was the ultimate disco diva, the ultimate idol.
Every queen, no matter how butch,
used to lip-synch to Donna Summer
in the bathroom mirror.
"People also weren't willing tobelieve that she stabbed us in theback by saying such things, just likemany who idolized Rock Hudson
couldn't believe that he was gay,·continued Berkley, concluding, "Politically correct music is ultimately very
difficult to have.·
Berkley also down played theimportance of the boycott on her career,
attributing her decline to changing tastes
in music and to her own bad choices inrecord companies and producers.
There are clearly other factors
besides the truth-value of Summers
remarks affecting the Donna Summer
decisions of lesbians and gay men.
But it is unlikely that the whole community will make its decision in unison. Some will choose to forgive andforget, confident of Summer's future
support, while others will continue tocall for a boycott of her work, adding
lying to gay bashing on their Donna~mmer.l~~\Start your week off right!.

now on your
newsstand ail

MONDAYSW1GSTOCKfrom pag.15

large numbers of people were needed
to help free Carson, who was being
held by police in the park structure.
Many complaints have been madeabout the unwillingness of Wigstockorganizers to allow people access tothe microphones
to make theseannouncements (see sidebar), but theannouncements
were eventually
made.

Sit-In At Precinct
A large crowd then surrounded
the structure where Carson was being
held, and some climbed atop a policecar. The police removed Carson to the
9th Precinct on East 5th street, and the
injured Darren Britton was taken by
ambulance to St. Vincent's hospitalwhere he was further harassed by hospital personnel (see sidebar). Soehnlein refused treatment at the scene.
A large crowd gathered at the 9th
Precinct building to demand therelease of Carson, but he had been
moved to the 7th Precinct on Pitt

Street in an apparent attempt to outmaneuver the crowd. The crowd thenmarched to the intersection of Avenue
A and 7 Street and began a sit-in
demonstration.
During a second
march back to the 5th Precinct building the crowd was verbally abused bya skinhead on First Avenue, whoallegedly threw a bottle, striking
Adam Smith,-a_marcher. The crowd
surrounded the skinhead, who wasarrested and handcuffed by the police.
The protestors then returned without
incident to the Avenue A intersection.
Police estimate the crowd at thispoint to have grown to 300, while
many witnesses claim it was 500 or
more. Fifty police officers in riot gear
were deployed around the scene. The
protest ended at approximately 9:30
pm when Carson, who had been
charged with obstructing governmental administration, was released andescortedby police back to thedemonstration.
Additional charges against thetwo alleged bashers are pending

before a grand jury. The case is being
handled by the department's
Bias
Incident Investigation Unit. Althoughrpany people present have expressedanger at the actions of the first four
police officers on the scene whoarrested a gay man before the alleged
assailants, no one has yet filed formal
complaint charges against the police.
David Wertheimer of the Gay and lesbian Anti-Violence Project told OutWeek that if it were determined that"there was a failure on the part of thepolice to provide protection to the
Wigstock celebrants, that would beinexcusable.»
But, he continued,
many gays and lesbians "think thatreporting complaints is a waste oftime as long as the Civilian Complaint
Review Board is under the control of
the Police Department.»Those who witnessed possible misbehavior on the part of the police cat!
call the Anti-Violence Project at 212807-0197 to register complaints andhave their information documented.

September 18, 1989

OUTTWEEK

31

Political Science

Interview with a
Corporate Vampire
by Mark HarringtonG

lassdiamonds
and cantilevered concrete trapezoids
stick up amidst the hilly
woods of North Carolina. The building looks like a set out of 2001: A
Space Odyssey. There is a large reflecting pool which could by dyed
blood red in a demonstration. This isthe building that AIDS built-the U.S.
headquarters of Burroughs-Wellcome
Co., the giant multinational pharmaceutical company which five crucial
AIDS drugs: AZT (for HIV), acyclovir(for herpes), pyrimethamine (for toxoplasmosis), Septra (for PCP) and leucovorin (to protect the bone marrowfrom toxic drugs).
In January 1989, Peter Staley andI met with Burroughs
Virologist
David Barry. He said a number of revealing things about his attitude topeople with AIDS, corporate profits,
coming treatment trends, womenwith HIV, Africans and BurroughsWellcome itself.

Heartless?
D.B.: We will have multi~rug regimens. The patients will all be receiving aerosolized pentamidine, possibly
fluconazole, acyclovir, suppressive
doses of pyrimethamine, leucovorin,so you're going to have four or fivedrugs for the Ois and two, three ormaybe four drugs for antiviraIs.
Peter S.: And for $100,000 a year
you'll be able to keep 'em alive forthe rest of their lives.

·,YOUI Money"ol YOUI Life
, If anyone has won the war 01) AIDS so far, it's Burroug~-Well;~m.ei!~e'pharmaceutical giant profits from six factors which PIPP up AZ'T's artifi~ja~IY
bighRrj~:,1{1) The seven-year Orphan Drug monopoly, which runs out in 1992;

D.B.: (Coughs) Well, you know, I
don't know what the exact cost willbe, but there's no question mUlti-drugtherapy is expensive. I suspect the regimens we'll end up with will be somewhat Significantly less expensive thanthe leukemia regimens and somewhat
significantly more expensive than theregimens for tuberculosis.
Sexist?
D.B.: What we are hoping to do
is take women who have reasonably
advanced disease, and treat them fortheir U1nesswith AZI', and take careof them. They will be counseled tohave an abortion, first of all. Many ofthem refuse. Unfortunately, many ofthem are the most Qisenfranchised ofthe population,
it's often because
they're Hispanic in background,
Catholic in religion and so on. So wehave a lot (laughs) of ethical, religious
questions.
Racist?
D.B.: Eventually we may do similar studies in Africa, but we really ethically can't do them in Africa until we
obtain a lot of clinical data here, because they are very sensitive to theconcept that we not use Africans as
guinea pigs.
[Translation: We carU use Africans as
guinea pigs until w~ve used someAmerican mothers of color as guinea
pigs first.)2)The 17-year use patent, which e,xpiresin 2005;
3) The 70 percent tax writeoff 'On all An research expensesj
4)1he multi-million Federal i'pv~trpent in AZI"sdevelopment (inveqt$~'
with National Cancer lnstitute funds in 1964, discovered to have anti-H1V'~ct~vity at the Ncr in 1985, apd test<1din t~ousapds of people.cpy th~~a~ .
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases);'
w""
....

r

( 5) The $45 million subSidy for AZT Jar people who aren't eligible
Medicare, Medi9tid 9r priVate insurance, .~•.subSidy whichexpfres'\'io:\~pt:,
ber;
..
y.
6) The unnecessarily high dose (1500 mglday), w.hich v.fas so toxic ti!tlr
the people with AID couldn't tolerate An -and now it tums out 500 mgldfiy~ •.just as effec.~ve and much less t<;>xic..N<,. The cos~ of AZf are thus Paid by>anyone wh~ pays
premiums or health care costs. ~e profits are privatized in the gr~~x h~~'of BUIToughs-Wellcome.
..
"'. . ,;;> ",32

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989.-MarkH,!i;inttJ!":<::::tf#:;4Mi ~r:':~t@1:}:;

D.B.: The worst thing in theworld we could do in Africa is giveaway a bunch of AZT, OK? They can't
afford five cents' worth of choloroquine to treat or prevent malaria, OK?
What price do you think we'd have tocharge for AZT to make it available in
Africa? Zero. That's the price. In
Africa, price is a moot point. It's unaffordable at any price' including zero.
[Translation: _W~ll never give it awayover there except if we can profit elsewhere from research done there.)s.. CORPORATEVAMPIRE, Pili. 3S

-

DEMONSTRATE against the murderously highcost of AlT. TIle rnost experlsive cirug EVER.
BE THERE.
New YorkStock Exchange
Broad and Wall Streets
Thursday, September 11th 12 NoonACT UP, ·HHi·A Hudsoll St rPt't, Suitt' G4, NYC 10014 (212) !J8!J·I1l4

Positive Alternatives

Needles that Heal:
AIDS and Chinese Medicine
by Bob LedererCan a 5,OOO-year-old medical
system help treat a "brandnew" disease syndrome like
AIDS/HIV? You bet. Traditiona I Chinese Medicine (TCM),
whose best known component
isacupuncture,
is increasingly being
used by people with AIDS, ARC andHIV+ worldwide. Some employ it as acomplementary therapy with various
pharmaceutical drugs; others use it
alone or strictly withnutritional and other
holistic approaches.
Preliminary research is
beginning to show pasitive results.
Many Western doctors believe that TCM isan unscientific form offolk healing with only
a placebo effect, or at
best, limited usefulness
in alleviating
acutepain. But a brief look,/'at the growing Iitera.
ture on this complex
medicalsystem..
which
includesacupuncture,
herbs, heat therapy,
massage, exercise and diet, among
others - shows a highly scientific approach meticulously developed andrefined through thousands of years ofclinical experience.
Limited space allows only an
overSimplified explanation: TCM isbased on the principle that all human. disease (literally dis-ease) is caused by
an imbalance in the body's energy
flow, which moves along invisible
pathways called meridians connecting
each organ to the others and to surface
points on the skin. Cfhe existence of
meridians has recently been conftrmed

34

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

by newly developed ultraviolet photography.) By stimulating these surface
points with acupuncture needles, heator massage, energy blockages can beremoved, allowing a gradual and gentie rebuilding of the body's innate
healing ability. Herbs, diet, and exercise provide nutrition and oxygen to
restore proper functioning of particularorgans and organ systems.
Medical literature has increasingly

demonstrated acupuncture's effectiveness in such actions as reducing fever
and increasing production of such immune system parts as T- and B-cells.
Acupuncture has also been shown torelease endorphins, brain chemicals
which alleviate pain, induce restfulness and produce the well-known"runner's high.· According to a study
by Elizabeth Sommers, a Boston
acupuncturist and public health expert, "a broad variety of pharmacological effects on immunity have been attributed to acupuncture, and current
research suggests that the endorphins
playa critical role. Overall, the body's

ability to withstand infection ...is enhanced by endorphins' effects."
As to Chinese herbs, Sommers
notes, "A variety of immunomociulatory!immune system stimulating) effects
have resulted after using herbs, induding improved T-cell function .... Research has demonstrated that certain
herbs have specific anti-viral activity [including against HIV]and further work is
being done to more fully understandI the mechanismof theiractions."
What have been thereal world results with
PWAs and HIV+ people?
TCM clinics in New
York, Boston, Chicago,
San Francisco and Los
Angeles have amassed
considerable experienceusing
acupuncture
and/or· herbs. Unfortunately, their shoestring
budgets and the medical
establishment's hostility
to researching non-Western treatments have prevented systematic studiesof the results. Clinical trials of herbs
are underway in three U.S. cities togather more data on the effectivenessof specially designed immune-enhancing herbal formulas. (Chinese herbs
are usually administered in formulas
combining several, rather than justone at a time.)
Neverthel~,
preliminary studies
and large quantities of anecdotal evidence-which
contrary to Western
medical myth, have proven valuable in'suggesting AIDS research directionrhlive led to some tentative conclusions.
According to Michael O. Smith, M.D.,
Director of the Lincoln HospitalClinic in the Bronx (with aseven-year track record in AIDS!HIV
treatment), "lTCM) frequendy provide(s)relief of symptoms and oonditions ass0ciated with AIDS and chronic infectious
disease. Most patients report a reduction in fatigue, abnormal sweating, diarrhea, and acute dermal [skin] reactions
after four to frve treatments. Some patients have had a 15- to 20-pound
weight gain and are able to return tolong hours of work. Those taking
chemotherapy often report a decreasein such side effects as fatigue, nausea
and weakness.· And Sommers adds,·Chinese medical treatments generalIy...improve certain aspects of theiroverall blood counts and chemistries....
Neurological conditions can respond favorably to acupuncture stimulation ....
Even repeated bouts of pneumocystis
pneumonia can sometimes be managed
more effectively, with shorter periods of
hospitalization resulting and decreased,
severity of the illness.· And while far
from all people with AlDS/HN experience these benefits-thosewith advanced AIDS seem to have the least
physical improvements-thegreat majority report enhanced calmness and asense of well-being, helping provide
the clarity to make other key life-preserving decisions.
TCM is not a panacea
for
AIDS!HIV and none of its practitioners promote it as such. But with orwithout drugs, it has helped many
people. What is needed now is thepolitical will to thoroughly study it
and make it more affordable and accessibl~particularly
in public hospitals serving the poor. To those topics I
will return in future columns, as well
as a discussion of acupuncture's powerful, proven ability to detox people
from addictions to heroin, cocaine,crack, alcohol and nicotine.
Two New York City acupuncture
clinics particularly geared to low income people (and with physicians on
staff) are located at: Lincoln Hospital,
349 E. 140th St., South Bronx, (212)924-7744 x252 (Tues. only). BothI have a sliding scale and accept Medicaid. ,For medical references on any
points· in this article, contact the author c/o OutW.k.
...
Acupuncture"

CORPORATE VAMPIRE from page 32

Egotist?
D.B.: We're egotistical enough tothink we can do it better than anyoneelse. We're the experts in drug regulation and getting drugs through. We
have to show the FDA how to get
drugs through rapidly.
Profiteer?
D.B.: All of our drugs make aprofit. But I can't tell which is more
profitable.
[Trans/ation: We're making money
hand over fISt on AZT, but we're also
making a killing on acyclovir.)
CaUous?
As we were leaving the building,the VP for corporate communications

took my arm and said, "Just think, ina few years we'll all look back on thisand ...•
I snapped back, "Not all of us
will be around to look back.·
In April, Peter Staley went back

WILLIAM B. DeBONIS D.D.S.
Quality, Personal Dentistry
Suite 704
200 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019(212) 333-2650
Office Hours by ApPOintmentOnl

with three other activists and barricaded themselves inside a Burroughs
office. The corporate
SWAT teambroke down the wall to get them out
before the TV cameras arrived.
The AZT market has multipliedwith the announcement that low-dose
AZT delays progression to AIDS inpeople with early ARC or no symptoms. The federal subsidy will expire
on September 30.
On August 30, 16 AIDS groups
called upon Burroughs to lower its
price. The company convenedaSeptember 5 meeting with ACf UP,
AIDS Action Council, GMHC and
Lambda Legal Defense. The corporateline was unchanged since January.
You CanDo

Boycott Burroug~s'over-thecounter products Neosporin, Sudafed
and Actifed. And go to the demonstration at the New York Stock Exchange
at noon on Thursday, September 14 at
Broad and Wall Streets.
'Y

MILDRED KLINGMANPSYCHOTHERAPIST
NY STATE LICENSED
EXPERIENCED WlfH
LESBIAN & GAY CONCERNS(212)362-7664
79th & BROADWAY,. I' _ i_I _U_. =_25_1_

Dr. Charles Franchino
30 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10011
212.673.4331

office hours by appointment
September 18. 1989

our..-WEEK

35

~

o

cONTROL~~oCommentary by Susie Day
By the time you read this I will
have written it. Also, the Democraticand Republican primaries will haveselected opposing candidates to run
for mayor of New York
City. So, by the time youread this, you, as a lesbianor gay person, may bethinking, "Electoral politics. They frighten me.
Even if David Dinkins
wins, this city will stay therichest, meanest city westof the Atlantic. Bigotry,
greed, brutality, corruption"-and
here,
you
begin to sob openly"What's in it for me?
Maybe I should just sell
my futon and move onback to Allentown. Uhhuhh-uhh ..."
Oh, for pity's sake, lesbian or gay
person, cheer up. Electoral politics
don't have to be so glum and competitive. The FBI has been tamperingwith your reality again. The truth is,
the mayoral election has already been
held. I, Susie Day, have been electedmayor of New York City. Do notworry, lesbian or gay one; as mayor, I
pledge to do everything in my power
to eliminate homelessness,white
supremacy, gay oppression. The patriarchy will not take place-not
while
1m Mayor.
At this point, you are probably
thinking,"That stupid Susie Day is not.the mayor. She is a miserable cipher., who thinks she has an amusing idea
for a column-remindme to laugh.
I

36

O~WEEK

September 18, 1989

You've got to know things as mayor.
You've got to wear nice suitsj speakwith assurancej affect heterosexuality .... Susie Day knows nothingj she
has none of these attributes. Why, if
she can be mayor, I can be mayor."

Exactly. You can be mayor. We
can all be mayors, together. In fact,anyone who is even a little psychically battered from this city's growing
racism, homophobia, woman-hating
and all-around attitude problem has aright-yea, a duty to be mayor.
Of course, you can't become
mayor until you get elected. Living in
the 80s, after all, means working
within the system for social change.
So first, you need a campaign. Callingfor strict new anti-crime measures is asure-fire campaign strategy. Why notpropose an upstate work camp for
brutal cops? And don't forget to makeup little buttons and pamphlets foryourself. Slogans such as "I Like
Dyke," and "Queen for Mayor" areappropriate. Just be yourself.
If sagging morale is a problem,
you may want to take a public opinion poll before your election. I did.
Like the mainstream pollsters, I interviewed a group of pre-selected people, and asked them questions deSigned to elicit certain pre-determined
responses. Everyone in my therapy
group said I was a shoo-in.
Once you feel sure of victory, it
is time to hold your election. Here iswhat you do: Find a place where you
can be alone with your thoughts. If avoting booth is unavailable, a crowded subway car will do. When you areready, spin around three times, flap
your arms like a chicken, then, while
trying to touch the tip of your nosewith your tongue, say, "Now I am themayor." That's it. You've won!
Show emotion. Accept.
Next morning, have a little
ticker tape parade for yourself
all around your apartment. My,
that was fun. Now, sit down atyour breakfast table and pickup the newspaper. Read thatthe city of New York has provided only 62 beds for an estimated 5,000 homeless city residents with AIDS. Slam yourpaper down on the table andsay, "Not while I'm mayor!" Be
commanding.
After all, just
who does Ed Koch think he is?
Now put on your mayor
suit and call the other self-elected New York City mayors together fora conference. This will have to be amighty big conference. There shouldbe all kinds of people there, of all colors, sizes, sexes, shapes, ages, astrological Signs. The ideal Stevie Wonder
concert.
OK. We're at the conference.
Keynote speakers are David Dinkins and Ruth Messinger. Childcare
is prOVided by Tom Duane andDave Taylor. Things are looking
up. Oh, don't think we all likeeach other right away. This is New
York, please remember.
Feelings
emerge. Then factions. For awhile,
it looks like all the mayors hate all
the other mayors' guts. Research
See OUT OF CONTllOL on page 78

rn

"I

Ronnie Eldridge's long andunwavering commitment toliberal values, her very
sophisticated understanding ofpolitics, her first-rate analyticalintelligence-thesequalities
make her a great asset for
those of us who want tocontinue the fight for humane,progressive government. She
and a City Council seat will go
exceedingly well together.

housing, primary care clinics,
am p~oud of my 20day treatment centers and caseyear hlstory ofmanagement staff.
support for full
"I will sponsor domestic
equality for lesbians and gay
partnership legislation tomen. As Special Assistant toprovide unmarried partners,
Mayor Lindsay, I served as theincluding lesbian and gay
first City Hall liaison to thecouples, the spousal privileges
lesbian and gay community;and benefits granted married
secured the first Executive
U.S. Rep. Barney Frankcouples. I'll increase funding
Order protecting the rights offor the human rights
lesbian and gay city workers;
helped draft the first lesbian and gay civil rights commission so that complaints of dislegislation; coordinated the efforts of the City'S crimination can be aggressively investigated.
This will help ensure that Local Law 2 isPolice Department and the Mayor's office toproperly enforced.
arrange the first gay pride marches; and"I am a longtime friend of the lesbian andbrought together the NYPD and members of
the gay community to work to end police
gay community. I will continue to be a vocal
harassment in the wake of the Stonewall
advocate and spokesperson for lesbians and gay
rebellion.
men. I look forward to working with you and"As Director of the New York State
representing you in the City Council from theDivision for Women from 1983 to 1985, I
West Side's 4th District."fought for lesbians and gay men, people withAIDS and lesbian and gay adolescents. I also
actively served on the Governor's Task Forceon Lesbian and Gay issues.
"As a member of the Women and AIDS
Resource Network (WARN), I know too well
the desperate shortage of AIDS prevention andhealth services. As Council Member, I will leadthe fight for greatly intensified AIDS educationand outreach to women, drug abusers,
adolescents, and gay and bisexual men. I will
also fight for expanded services for persons
with HIV / AIDS, including scattered site"

Ronnie Eldridge
FOR CITY COUNCIL

Lesbian Marriages

Tying the Knot (Noose?)
Sarah Pettit on the Current Phenomenon
In a climactic scene from last years
film Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close
approaches the window of Michael Douglas' serene, suburban home. Peering
through the pane, she is witness to a
moment of conjugal bliss and familial
unity: crouched on the carpet before thehearth, husband and wife sit in rapture as
their daughter receives a birthday bunny.
Averting her eyes in a blaze of mortification, Ms. Close leans into the low-lying
shrubbery and has a good chunder.
While this film might not command
our attention for any other compelling
reasons, the above-mentioned celluloid
moment is, indeed, jarring. It collects ina rather succinct and frozen instant the
many ambivalences or resistances -that. happy, heterosexual unions can elicit.
On one side of the pane rests the ideal,
the archetype, with all of its codes, compromises and rewards. On the other,horror, refusal and fear tremble andwretch in disgust.
Marriage, family, monogamy, thewarm bosom of domesticity-they'rebound to land some of us in the livingroom, some of us in the bushes and someof us perched on the sill in indecision.
So, what of lesbian marriage? Is it
an entirely different set of questions,another kettle of fish so-to-speak, or do
we inevitably confront a similar constellation of issues? To answer these riddles
and more, I turned to the ever-eager andable members of the sisterhood. They
prOVided answers and insights, while
also exposing this issue to be the complicated merging of opinion that it is.
Lesbians have been packing up andshacking up as long as I can remember.
In the last several years, however, there
seems to have been a profound subterranean shift. In 1987, I was invited to myfirst lesbian wedding. It was held in a
middle-sized Eastern town with a progressive gay community. On a sunny
Saturday afternoon we gathered in the
proud mothers backyard. Her daughter,a restaurateur in her thirties, was to wed

38

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

a woman of a similar age, a professor
and the mother of a young son. Having
never attended any such ceremony, I
had few expectations, but found myself
moved by its simplicity and honesty.
The assembled
friends and family
looked on as a rabbinical student aided
with the exchange of vows. Several
guests were encouraged to add words
and thoughts, much in the form of anopen meeting. Afterwards, a large party
with food and dancing was held at therestaurant. Little over a year later, I
heard the couple had split up. One
woman retained thehouse, the son continued to visit with his"second- mom, therest dissolved.

M·

More recently,
two young urban professional
acquaintances tied the knot.
Their marriage, however, entailed no pub-

their bridesmaids was a woman who had
been
the lover of one of the
betrothed-after
a number of years ofmonogamy, they had agreed to a periodof non-monogamy prior to the wedding.
As with the two couples cited earlier,their stated commitment is to now joined
in an exclusive, closed relationship.
Speaking recently with two friends
who have become engaged after a year
and a half together, I sought to unearth
some of the intricacies of these arrangements. They cited a similar array of concerns and expectations
as the other;.1./

before, it is the vital and sustaining support of the community of friends whichmost matters to the marriage. Amy corµmented, "Friends are validating. They
help to reinforce a commitment. Whenit comes to the marriage she imagines "aromantic image. We're all up on a
mountaintop. We've hiked up and we'refeeling on top:
Does one turn at this point andwretch into the shrubbery? One can, butthat is to view things too narrowly. These
gals are not wrapped up in some pert,
Stepfordian happee homemaking bonanza. They are saucy,
irreverent and liketo show a lot of
midrift. As Amy
added,"I'm noftharrlage, ,ami y, monogamy, t e
b
f d
· ·t
warm
osom 0omestici
y th ey 're boun d tid
f·
0 an some 0 us In
th /..
f. the IVlng room, some 0 us In
e
b h
d
f
h d
US es an some 0 us perc e on
the sill in indecision·

lic ceremony. There
was an exchange ofrings, a commitment
to monogamy, and a shared down payment on a co-op. After a year's time, thisunion too dissolved into adieu. As withthe other marriage, there was not a great
deal of legal or financial settlement necessaryj having never been ·officially·
sanctioned as a couple, there was notransaction reqUired to unbind them.
The loosing of ties seemed, rather, tooccur more profoundly on the private
and personal side.
What marks both of these lesbian
marriages is the rapidity with which they
were embarked upon. In the last year, I
have encountered several couples who
have married or become engaged, butthey have done so after a longer
acquaintance. This past spring, two were
married just prior to their university graduation. In a campus, college.-fundedsocial club, they stood in similar black
gowns and exchanged vows. Among•lesbian newlyweds. Amy and Ivonne
found each other after some searching.
In their relationship is, undoubtedly,
something rare and unique which compels them to look more closely at longrange commitment and devotion. They
want to make a statement, to engage insome sort of ritual, which will identify
their bond as serious and exclusive. As
in the other cases, exclusivity implies
monogamy and entails the sharing of anapartment and the splitting of financial
burdens.
What is interesting and complex
about their arrangement, and their anticipated wedding, is the degree to which
it turns out from itself and its exclusivity
to engage their friends and community.
Shortly after exchanging rings (which,incidentally, they wear on the rightrather than the left hand), they held aparty for their closest friends. Here, as

crunchy-chewy. Of
course, we expect
diffkulties. It's hardto plan past thenext day, but I
believe in ritual, in

ceremony. I thinkgay ceremony passes and surpasses
what straights do, because it must ofnecessity be spiritual. It says, I love youwith aU my heart.
And spiritual it must continue to be
until the legal landscape of this country
changes to include gay marriage (don't
hold your breath). At the present time aUof these marriages, these ceremonies,
are no more than the construction of theparties involved. They are rituals andvows based on agreements between two
women, which carry no legal weight. As
can be seen, they vary in their degree ofsuccess. But this, on the other hand,
may be their virtue. Without the chainsof the legal dimensions, they do perhaps
more realistically allow for the forming
and dissolving of bonds as they occur.
These commitments are· sustained aslong as they work and seem not to getbogged down in the impropriety ofadmitting they can fail.
~ft

September18, 1989

OUTTWEEK

39

Lesbian Marriages

•

arrle
by Ashley McNeely
If you can believe it, my lover got down on her knees, presented me with a ring and asked
me to marry her. Actually, I gave her one too. And actually, she did not ask me if I would"marry" her, but if I "would love her forever." The question was rhetorical. She wasn't nervous, wondering whether I would answer yes or no, because we both knew the long
future of our relationship. But she did ask me, and I her, in the spirit of ritual and ceremony, in which abstract concepts such as "eternal love" are made concrete throughhuman actions. To place a ring on her finger, and to have her place a ring on mine,
was to believe in our commitment, and tell the world to believe in it too.
It's not easy for two gay people to create a lasting relationship in a homophobic world. Although we both see this relationship as permanent, are we "married"?
Very little around us endorses our love. No one is saying, "congratulations!
Good luck to you!" Even when I showed my mother my new rings, she
looked at them as if they were some kind of joke. Who do we think we are
anyway, playing at marriage like it's our prerogative? This kind of
response, more familiar to me by now than any kind of jubilation, hasmade me more and more certain that the statement my lover and I
make to the world is both personally and politically crucial.
Although we may borrow some of the marriage terminology, we do not embrace the traditional definitions of the wolds
we use. Or, rather, we cannot, because we do not fit into thenarrow scope of their meanings. Marriage, in accordancewith the law, must be between a man and a woman. The
institution of marriage is predicated on the productionof children with shared genes. As infuriating as thisheterosexist notion of marriage is, I find it to be
strangely beneficial. It helps me to define what I
do not want to be, that is, part of the traditional40

OUT~WEEK

September 18. 1989

socialcon
struct ofmarriage,
laden
with
power dynamics,
inequalities andsexual roles. From
this I have learned
what I do want to behappy, in love, secure,fmancially independent and aparent. How and when I do
this is another question altogether, but one thing is for sure:in order to achieve these ends I
need a permanent partner to help
me. And a permanent, loving, sexual
relationship between two people in thisworld is called, despite my semantic difficulties with the term, a marriage. So, call memarried.
Lesbians have few positive role models
right now in the
pursuit of happy marriages. If we are paving
the way for future lesbians, than I am glad. Our
choice to marry will probably
not gain us the benefits available to heterosexuals-insurance advantages,
tax breaks,
reduced family fares, social sanctions--in our lifetimes. I hopethat our neighbors, co-workers
and families will become enlightened as a result of knowing
us, but I can't count on this. What I know our marriage willdo, on a personal level, is allow us to differentiate this relationship from previous ones in our lives in terms of commitment, trust and love through the promise of monogamy. And
it will provide a secure base from which to face an extremely
hostile world.
Although gay rights laws such as San Francisco's and "NewYork's domestic partnership initiative would provide the firststep in public recognition of gay relationships, this kind of law
might also create rifts in the gay community. As it stands,
we're all .out in the cold, so we're all fighting for acceptanceand respect from more or less lhe same vantage point. But
stipulations '.~ch as length of the relationship and proof of
economic interdependence could create a hierarchy like thatof the dating-engagement-marriage progression for heterosex-

uals in which each step is Increasingly validated. I
certainly don't consider my relationship more likely to
succeed than that of another couple who chooses not towear rings or have a ceremony. I know that I have to go
through the rituals that will encourage us to work throughthe hard times. With so much against us in the world, at least
we will have made vows that I can hold on to. This is what
will make the difference for us, not laws.
We are now in the process of planning a wedding, which
will really be a big anniversary party with some vows thrownin, even though we exchanged the rings two years ago. But
did our spontaneous, private exchange that night constitute a
wedding? Yes, because we made promises then that we plan
to keep. But also no, because it was not public, nor particularly spiritual, both of which we want our wedding party to be.
Weddings represent the coming together of two people in the
public eye, just as much as they are a private union. The combined good will of the congregated family and friends provides the groundwork from which the couple can build. We
have already started to build a life together, we have put a lotof energy into each other and now we feel we deserve to celebrate this fact.
But by having an actual wedding we place ourselves in atheoretical dilemma: we want our relationship to be recognized as serious, yet by doing so are we potentially perpetuating the assumption that married relationships are the only
valid relationships? How do we get around this? The ceremony
will include only very few people, and the emphasis will beon the party. We will write our own vows. We will both wear
pants. Our parents won't pay for the festivities. We don't
intend to go on a honeymoon, nor do we expect gifts. We
won't publicize the event excessively beforehand or mark it asa major turning point in our history together.
Certainly a wedding will
not change the basic tenents ofour relationship- honesty,
equality,
compassion
andmonogamy.
The long-term
prospect of the latter, the coreof a traditional marriage, is notthreatening to us. The tumult ofaffairs is exhausting and unfulfilling when compared with thegreater (though sometimes moreterrifying) intimacy of a committed relationship. In addition to the fact that I rarely, if ever,see another woman I'm attracted to, I wouldn't want to risk
losing my lover's trust. For her, sexual expression is the ultimate confidence, and a potential affair, the ultimate betrayal.
I respect this in her just as she respects certain needs ofmine. This is why our relationship works, and why I alreadyconsider myself married. The wedding itself is just frivolity, if
you look at it this way.
The conflicts presented here between the positive aspectsof marriage and the dangers of assimila~ion define one of the
major challenges in my life right now. Our desire for a romantic celebration cannot be separated from the political implications of our actions. But this struggle, within the gay
community and against the patriarchal construct, helps us all
to move toward a world where diversity is celebrated rather
than feared.
...

What I know our marriage will do, on a
personal level, isallow us to differentiate this relationshipfrom previous ones

September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK41

Lesbian Marriages

Just Sav'No!
by Catherine Saalfield
I've been away all weekend in thewoods with my lover, mid-summer. It's
really hot, sweltering and clearly anotherdifficult Sunday night transition for all of
us: me, the woman I just spend this intimate relaxing time with and her otherlover. We are trying to work out what itmeans to us to do things differently, totry a difference which makes sense in
our separate lives. And it is a commitment. We are forced to do it without
knee-jerk responses to social conditioning. In other words, it's never goodenough to cull examples from Hollywood dictates, pull punches from inappropriate sexual hierarchies, or relax
into the patterns of Mdesirable but insensitive Casanova,· Mreliable but nagging
Wife,· Mfunbut unimportant Affair." Oursheerexhaustion,
four-capsuleheadaches, impromptu tantrums and somuch anxiety reflect our lack of rolemodels and an overwhelming dearth of
support. Even Mcomrades· in other struggles casually and destructively play us
off each other with no regard for thetime and love put into our work.
Indeed, sometimes I feel like Sisyphus
pushing another damn rock up the hill.
This afternoon, our car ran out ofgas before we even left the farmhousefor the city. So, we're a couple of hours
late back into town, again. She's preoccupied with her tardiness and explanations when we say goodbye in front of
my house. Transitions are no one's forte,and I'm wretched into those all-toofamiliar tailspins over quickly rearranged
puzzle pieces. Nonetheless,in thescheme of things, this is where andwhen I step out. She's got a night aheadof her with someone she hasn't seen ina while, and undoubtedly more work to
do. I've got loftmates but no one ishome right now. The first phonemachine message blares into a quiet

Photos: IL. Litt42

OUfYWEEK

September 18, 1989

room, breathy, frantic, a dyke: "This isfor anyone, for all of you, even for justone, is it...Iike...it is OK for a P.C. person
to ...Iike ... be married, to ... like ...want ahouse in the woods with 2.8 kids? I
wanna ask you is it fucked up, is that it?
You tell me what's goin' on. Ok?" Good
questions. Yeah, they cross my mind
now and then, but I'm still convincedthat validation-for"the qest that I've
got"-can be achieved by other means
than marriage.
Why do lesbians in the late 80s
want to get married to each other? Is thisthe only road to acceptance? Community
support? Parental recognition? " Whatare..~.-.~First of all, marriage is embedded
within heterosexuality, property relations,dependence, monogamy and traditional
parenthood, all of which affect women ina particularly debilitating way. People
should really read Gayle Rubin's seminal
essay called The Traffrc in Women (title
stolen from Emma Goldman). Now granted, this was written more than a decadeago, but I fear a refresher course is inorder. As Rubin looks at the intersection
between the work of anthropologist
Claude Levi-Strauss and Sigmund Freud,she goes about investigating "how does afemale become oppressed as a woman?"
She finds marriage and gender, boldly
organized around the exchange of women(in the marriage system) to be at the rootof sexual oppression. Although over theyears, the details have evolved into insidious rumblings of compulsory monogamy,
her basic analysis still rings true.
Legal wedding ceremonies, and theresulting "marriage," resonate withunobstructed ties to the state. Nineteenth
century bourgeois trends made marriage
not only a convenience but a necessity.
Heterosexuality
and the traditional
nuclear family is now all about property,
all about economic and political arrangements: the shared income, the sharedapartment, "charters to rights of domicile
and landas it were. What alreadyshould be a relic of heterosexuality is
fast emerging as contested ground forqueers and it bothers me. But it's aboutsocial validation, community support
and cultural benefits, and we just want apiece of that pie, right?
Sure, and the premise of state
acknowledgementmasks as emotional
legitimization for both women and men.
Despite various sexual orientations, we're
all on an ambiguous quest for social validation. Why do many young lesbians andgay men wait to come out to their parents (or whomever) until they are in astable, long-term, monogamous relationship? Why do they feel so unjustified forhaving open or shore (overnight) relationships? Why do we try to prove to thebigger-than-Iife mandates of society that
we are no different, that we can be justlike everyone else? Especially for women(and some previously-straight-and-married-now-Iesbian-women may recognize
their struggle in this one), why do wepanic so, crunching ourselves up to fit
into traditionally oppressive structures?

use,·

,~
they getting from the promise of exclusivity (with or without legal recognition)?
What meaning does it have when it's notlegal? And how does it affect (or moreaccurately, disaffect) the rest of us?
Besides, didn't feminists in the 70s
already attack the institution of marriage(its traditional sexual, politi~l and economic prerequisites) in their commitment to end sexual oppression? I know
there are more than the three of us challenging the prescriptions and idealism of"The Cosby Show" and MFamilyTies."
Has the conservative backlash of the
Reagan era and the crisis of AIDS
doomed alternative possibilities?

Dykes who are older than I am andwent through the experience of compulSA)ryheterosexuality, the expected marriage, and the necessary divorce, havemuch wisdom about uphill battles
against socialization. One can't deny thatwomen-who
are SA)easily dismissed as"useless" by this culture-havea need(consequently, a desire) to be accepted,
to escape disrespect and violence. The
role set out for women is a cultural

mandates are inextricable within such
legally sanctioned unions.

• • • •

At most of the weddings I haveattended (aside from my mothers) rings
were not exchanged, green cards··were.
(Incidentally, in Australia gay and lesbian
relationships are recognized without themarriage drama for immigration purposes!) Even without green card or visa
transactions, weddings Oike funerals) area business, big business.
People fly in from all overthe place. Videos are
made. Lots of money isspent, usually as much as
possible. And afterwards
the bank accounts are
merged, the mortgages areshared,and so on. I
haven't been to a lesbianwedding ...yet. Sometimein November I'll make apilgrimage to San Francisimperative of "femininity": subordina-·
co for the marriage of a close hightion, passivity, sacrifice. Who wants to school buddy. We came out at the same
be left alone, grow old alone, be called time, different colleges and she's chosen
ugly, aggressive, difficult, selfish, unlova stable, long term thing, a committed,
able? And, even if you haven't been
monogamous relationship with a woman
straight or legally married, anyone can about ten years older. The ceremony will
identify with the fantasy: touching satin probably be made .up of close friends, aand imagining your wedding dress (bil- smattering of family members. TheylOWing, very long tail), the ceremony . already have their two rings. We've had
it out over this one before (and now
with loads of flowers (even in yourhair), the spotlight on you, oh SA)much we're doing it on the pages of OutWeek).
• • • •
attention, the climactic kiss, the Happiest
Day of Your Life.
The fantasy of marriage is one
These psycho-social pressures make thing, the reality is another. And romanus start bad relationships (of all gendertic ideals fall short even for straightcombinations), make us stay in bad rela- folks. They are up against the sametionships, make us settle for (almost)
morals and traditions as the rest of us:
anything. Is this compulSA)ry coupledom
women are only valid when connested
to a man, or when seeking,.
or compulsory heterosexuality? Perhaps
I've got two arguments on my hands
a "mate.' (In a similar vein,
here. One could be about heterosexualithe Center for Disease Conty (as a detrimental prerequisite for, andtrol keeps HIV epidemiolotprescription of, marriage) and the other gical records on womenmight be about monogamy (as not only only when they are associthe imperative for marriage, but a repres- ated with a man, or whensive model for everyone). Nevertheless,they are mothers.) But marI'm not sure they're that different. Any riage doesn't work to allow
argument against marriage is an attack
straight women any moreagainst the institution of monogamy. So independence, self-determimy focus here is marriage because it's nation, or confidence thanmore concrete and it influences every
they are allowed otherwise. In fact, itcomer of the cultural terrain very clearly. limits those things even further. The
Marriage, which forces direct ties to the wedding ring isn't a viable promise orstate in tenns of inheritance, property co- guarantee. Monogamy is no more ramownership. and legal contracts, alSA)cre- pant in marriages than outside of them.
ates gender relations (i.e. the sexual
The divorce rate is soaring. And there
division of labor). The sexual-economic
are plenty of still-married couples who

would be better off apart. Trust, stability
and legitimization don't seem to emerge
from these formalized unions. It's hell to
get it together in the first place, and thenusually more painful doing the paper
work to get out of it. Emma Goldman
said, "Marriage is the antithesis of love,
and will necessarily destroy it." I not
only believe her, but I know that theemotional stress of a break up doesn't
adhere to any barometer of the state or
church recognition.
So, lesbians going on with pragmatic rationalizations for how they will dothis differently doesn't satisfy me. Marriage isn't just a word, but rather awhole system of values. We all witness
how the family unit gets targeted for
consumer items. Pick a TV advertisement, any advertisement. For example,
you'll see parenthood, the nuclear family, the "happy homemaker" and herhome improvement ideas, and kids withinnocuous and irrelevant presents a la
Fisher Price. And women are the ones
~ocially positioned to administer thefamily's consumption. What kind of aworld are we trying to reinforce?
OK, SA)I went to the "Children in
Our Lives" conference in Boston a few
years ago. Lots of yuppied dykes with
their perfect children, plenty of toys,
swimming iessons at two years old, tennis at three, the ideal kiddo. One plenary talk, though, vehemently punctured
the atmosphere. Angele Bowen, a grandmother, a Black woman, stood up andsaid if she had it to do again that she
wouldn't have any kids. She said she
couldn't stand seeing lesbians SA)eagerly
participatingin consumer
culture,couldn't stand the nuclear family units

._-

iii

-

... S

riddled with awkward and exclusive
notions of privacy, purity and property.
She suggested we explode this value
system and make our homes reflect thediversity of the world around us byacknowledging extended families includSee JUST SAY NO on pag8 78

September 18. 1989

OUT~WEEK43

In the Face of Increasing Censorship,
the Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival Forges Ahead

BALLAD OF READING GAOL BY RICHARD KWlENTNIOWSKI

by Karl Soehnlein"Welcome to 65 films that will neverbe funded by the National Endowment
for the Arts."
This in-your-face-jesse Helms greeting opens next week's Lesbian and Gay
Experimental Film Festival. The sevenday event blatantly challenges recent
federal attempts to brand gays and lesbians ·obscene," and proudly presents
work that is "experim.ental"-atermwhich makes some people shudder, butwhich the festival's organizers take great
pains to demystify.
"I'm interested
in documenting
emotions," explains filmmaker Jim Hubbard who is co-organizing the eventwith author Sarah Schulman. Both speak
about the festival without the academic
detachment
usually heard at these
events. For Hubbard film is vital when it

44

OU~WEEK

September 18, 1989

"has something to do with my life andthe filmmaker's life. What I do and what
I film are the same thing."
And if there's one thread that holds
the festival's diverse offerings together,it's the creation of gay visions by gays
and for gays (see accompanying article).
"There's an audience out there that's
hungry for images," Hubbard maintains.
"It's just a question of reaching them."
The success of the festiVal-two years ofsold-out houses-indicatesthat they're
doing something right.
Hubbard and Schulman created thefestival together over three years ago.
Both saw a need for venues to showcase
non-narrative gay film, but there werealso personal issues at stake; Hubbard's
ex-lover, filmmaker Roger Jacoby, haddied of AIDS, leaVing behind a large
body of rarely-screened work. Schul-man's lover was also an experimental
filmmaker facing problems with getting
her work seen.
Experimental
filmmakers
oftenmoan about an unresponsive public, but
Schulman blames the language of film
theory for its problems. She rails against
what she calls the "benign intellectualism" which characterizes much cinemaspeak. "If you say, 'My film is about
gender investigation of the female gazein media,' well, that doesn't mean anything. But if you say, 'I broke up withmy girlfriend and it's changed the way I
see women's bodies'-which
could beexactly the same thing--."it's a more honest statement and it lets people in." Hubbard and Schulman pay special attention
to explaining films through program
notes. In addition, when a film is particularly "difficult," an effort is made toinform the audience beforehand.
They've learned all of this from mistakes, as Schulman freely admits. Hubbard's own filmmaking is a perfect
example. Shooting mostly in super 8
and without sound, and then hand-processing each role of film, he creates
poetic documents which are far fromconventional. Last year, during a screening of one of his films audiences got
restless and hostile. Schulman faults
their own presentation of the work as
the problem. "If the lights go down andthe film comes up and it's hand processed and silent, people start getting
aggressive, and uncomfortable, and they
start talking to the film. But if you start itout by saying, 'Now you're going to seea hand-processed film. This means thatthe filmmaker developed it himself sothat he could use the color to express
certain emotions he couldn't express if it
was developed in a lab. And it's silent
because of this, and it's this for this reason ... then they know what they'rewatching and they can build a relationship with it and they like it." Doesn't allthat explanation
insult an audience?
Schulman thinks exactly the opposite:that audiences have been taken for
granted for years by elite film theories.
"The language of criticism is ridiculous, and all the rhetoric around it istotally meaningless. It obscures feelings
and it tells people 'This work is not foryou. on She and Hubbard take up thechallenge of creating an audience that is
a diverse community, not a select groupof the avant-garde in-the-know. "I havea strong sense of obligation to the gay
community,» Schulman states. Hubbard
agrees. "We try to create a safe place for·gays and lesbians to come and see films,
and we try really hard to give people acontext in which to see the work.»
The festival is the product of theirdual commitments. Working for six: ormore months each year with no support
staff, Hubbard and Schulman seek out
and screen hundreds of hours of film in
preparation for the event. They eachtake a minuscule amount of money forit-lastyear's labors worked out toabout a dollar an hour.
Similarly, the festival's $8,000 budget is tiny for an event of its size. Funding for the festival is primarily from the
New York State Council on the Arts,
which actually raised its contribution
from last year, no small fact in this ageof oppression (Kitty Carlisle Hart, chair

HOME AVENUE BY JENNIFER MONTGOMERY
September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

45

the NEA has never been a crisis. There are several films by people
strong supporter of gay with AIDS (both living and dead), andmany of the films simply point to theprojeas. Schulman elaborates, "Right now the NEA way AIDS has transformed the meaningof nearly every gay and lesbian image. A
is a completely censoringorganization. It does not case in point is Artie Bressan's Gay USA,
fund lesbian culture ... which depicts the strong political
Robert Mapplethorpe was response to Anita Bryant's gay-pashingcrusade in 1977. The film is, in Hubrepresentativeof whatkind of gay people get bard's words, "thrilling to watch, butfilled with naive enthusiasm and expecfunded: white gay men
tation that things are going to be so
who have an arts audience, who are situated in much better.· As the festival's opening
night show, Gay USA sets a tone of boththe upper class.· The
iron ic truth is that artists celebration and introspection.
Both Hubbard and Schulman areare fighting to maintain acommitted to bringing lesbians and gay
standard that is alreadymen together through the festival. For
unacceptable.
the most part, films by men and women
Becauseof this,Schulman sees the Helms are integrated on each program. As aamendment
having a lesbian, Schulman has specific reasonsfor this curatorial decision: men, for theminimal effect on indimost part, don't come to see women'svidual artists. The real
FEmVAL CO-ORGANIZER JIM HUBBARD
films. It does go both ways, though, as
power of this pendingof the council, has even sent word that legislation will be seen at the level of ·she explains, "This year we have an
she will show up for one of this year's exhibition. This very festival theoreticallyincredible film about rape Qennifer
screenings). Schulmll,n and Hubbard
Montgomery's Home Avenue) which isposes a threat to its host, the anthology
have never applied to the National
really important for men to see, and weFilm Archives, which is dependent upon
Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an act of federal grants for part of its income.
have a really great film about jack-off
self-censorship that speaks to the state
Despite increasing government cen- clubs (Philip Roth's BoysILije), which isof federal arts funding even before the sorship of art, the festival has continued
great for women to see, too .... This interecent MapplethorpelSerrano hubbub.
to grow and in the process the effect of grated programming mirrors Schulman's
The threat of the Helms Amendment
the AIDS crisis on filmmakers' work has observation that "the whole gay commupassing-which
would ban federal
increased. The first year of the festival nity is going co-ed. There's a lot moremoney for, among other things, "homo- contained only one film about AlDSj last personal relationships between men anderotic· and "sadomasochistic· art, and year there were a handful. This year, as womenj there are more political relapenalize organizations which sponsor
tionships. When the day is over, theSchulman and Hubbard agree, the entire
such work-has
obscured the fact that festival seems to be influenced by the boys go with the boys and the girls gowith the girls and everything's fine. But
it's really a more mixed community.'
Despite the personal satisfaction forboth Hubbard and Schulman, the burnout level is high. They will soon bejoined by a third organizer, a solution to
the problem of too much responsibility
for two people to handle. Both wereconsidering the possibility of backing off
from the festival next year, but the NEA
situation has changed that. "We have an
obligation to keep going,· Hubbard
sums up. And we-a community under
seige-havean obligation to show up
and support gay and lesbian artistic
endeavors, now more than ever.
...
The Third New York Lesbian and
Gay Experimental Film Ff!stival open
Monday September 18and runs throughSunday, September 24, at Anthology.Film Archives, 32-34 Second Ave. (onFILMMAKER JACK WATERS, FESllVAL CO-ORGANIZER SARAH SCHULMAN AND FILM- Second St.). Tickets $5. Festival Pass $40.

MAKER PETER CRAMER .
46

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

Photo:ll. litt

Info: 212/865-1.499.

DREAM & DESIRE BY TOM CHOMONT

September18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

47

LOOKOUT

Photo: IL. litt
MWhois Mark?" you asked, as 300 people blocked traffic on Avenue A, chanting,MWewant Mark'" Mild-mannered Mark Carson, 35, was arrested while trying to prevent a
gay bashing at Wigstock (see news story page 12). He's OutWeek's bachelor of the week
and so much more: his sideburns were featured in 7 Days, he hosts the fabulous and thetrendy in his East Village apartment (of course), and to top it off, he's an AIDS activistas wellas an actor and writer. Says tall, dark and handsome Mark of his whirlwind week: Ml'mstill
looking forward to next year's Wigstock'-John Umlaut

48

ourTWEEK

September 18, 1989

LUUKUUT

AN ESTIMA TEl' 18perce.nt of the 130,000 male

sheep in the UnitedS~~it'sreported, have no interest whatsoever, in female'$heep ..

While we understand and feel not a bit sheepish about condoning the behavior of 18 per cent of our woolly friends. asreported in a recent Sunday edition of the San Francisco Examiller/Chronicle. we do have a few questions:1.ls there a connection between the wool from these sheep and Calvin Klein's winter collection?
2. What of female sheep with no interest in males,' Are there in fact. none. or (as we suspect) is the oppression of ewes
and the invisiblity of lesbians in the sheep community merely being perpetuated by Examiner/Chronicle reporters?
3. Are these sheep accepted into their flocks as equal. productive members of sheep society. or are they ostracized byolder. fundamentalist sheep with dyed-in-the-wool ideas about mating?
. - Andrew Miller

September 18, 1989 OUT~WEEK

49

o
BY

Dear Brad:
Like so many people I neverthought I'd be writing to you but myfriends and I are having a kind ofproblem and need an objective opinion. You see, several weeks ago thisterrible storm closed down all theroads around here. We couldn't getout to buy groceries and all we had in
the house was a bag of Doritos, twocans of caffeine-free Diet Coke andhalf a roll of chocolate lifeSavers that
had been buried under the sofa cushions since God knows when. Needless
to Say, even with scrupulous rationing,such limited supplies didn't lastlong-actu?-lly no more than a few
hours. By the second day of this wewere all naturally feeling rather peckish and I'm afraid everybody's tempers
were somewhat fragile. Well, Randy(who, I might add, is Evan's friend,
not mine) started whining about thesituation and saying that he nevershould have left Manhattan - not likehe hadn't been whining about anything and everything from the minutehe arrived. I told Randy as calmly as
was possible that we were all in thesame predicament and didn't need to50

OUT'YWEEK

September 18, 1989

UT
·N J!J.'1 . .lI.J

MY

OF
HANDS

BRADLEY

BAtthear any more of his eternal griping.
Then Evan said I was taking my own
hunger and frustration out on Randy,
since it's a well-known fact I can't tolerate him for more than a few minutes
at a time, but that his was not an ideal
moment to pick a fight. So I saidmaybe everybody might be interested
in knowing that I'd seen Randy sneak
an extra lifeSaver when he thought
nobody was looking. Randy, of course,
became very defensive but I inquiredthat if there were five Life Savers to
begin with and four of us and we ate
only one apiece then would somebody, namely Randy, care to explain
what became of the fifth one? Randy
got all red in the face and said maybe
I was just accusing him in order todivert suspicion from myself and how
did we know there hadn't been an
entire roll in the first place? Then
Dwayne, ever the little peacemaker,
said he couldn't believe we were arguing about a fucking LifeSaver and I
asked him if he'd prefer we go back toarguing about Sunday in the Parkwith George. Dwayne said we needed
to focus on the more immediate problem which was getting food. So Evan

(who's always been jealous over thefact that Dwayne beat him out for a
spot in the national company of
They're Playing Our Song) asked
Dwayne if he had any brilliant solutions since he obviously had such an
astute grasp of the immediate problem
and Dwayne pointed out that there
was more than enough meat on Randy
to feed an emerging nation. We had toagree on that and after a quick vote (31) we ate Randy. Well, wouldn't you
know, the very next day they ~eared
the roads and we were able to drive
into town! Now we're feeling sort ofguilty about Randy even though there
was no way of knowing at the time.
Do you think we did the wrong thing?
-ScottDear Scott:We are all of us capable of saying
or doing certain things in the heat ofcertain moments that we might later
regret (the Christmas of 1980 immediately leaps to my mind but that is, I
suppose, another story). Notwithstanding our community's long andcherished tradition of devouring one
another in the spirit of conciliation, I
must say that you all showed remarkably poor judgement in resorting tomajority vote for the sake of expedience. The fact that there was one person-you
didn't say who-who
disagreed with the proposal as statedindicates that the interest of an
involved party were arbitrarily disre.
garded. It is for this very reason thatgroups should always endeavour toarrive at consensus in any decisionmaking process. I well understandthat some people tend to find consensus tedious and time-consuming at
first, but with experience we all cometo realize that it is the only truly
acceptable means by which to reacheqUitable solutions. And aren't equitable solutions what everybody wants?
Think about it next time.
~

TI

By MichelangeloP

Slgnorlle

erhapsWilliam Norwich(Daily News) has been
studying at the Jesse Helms
School of Censorship? Or maybe hephysically doesn't see or hear certain
things? Or maybe he suffers fromtemoporary amnesia? Or maybe he's
just a stupid, self-hating, homophobic
asshole? By golly, I think that's it!
It was Norwich, you see, whowrote a glowing column about photographer Patrick McMullan's birthday
dinner party at MK (days after theparty took place) and somehow forgot
to mention the highlight of the dreary
evening: When moi shoved a tub of
butter in artist Mark Kostabi's face.
Even if he didn't see it himself, didn't
he read about it on Page Six (NewYork Post) the next day? I guess not.
But it's funny how he remembered toboldface
every do-nothingandnobody-pretending-to-be-sombody
who attended the affair. And funny
how he remembered to write about
McMullan's baby, the photographer's
all-new, little stamp of heterosexuality.
And funny how Norwich remembered
to give everyone a plug for his or her
next project. Then, I suppose, theoccurrence of a political act - andthe only excitement of an otherwise
slumberous evening - just simply
slipped his mind.
Por quite obvious reasons we'd
think Norwich, of all people, would
call out a homophobe when he sees
one. But, you see,. our dear, little
Billy boy was still mentioning
Kostabi's name long after the artist
made his anti-gay remarks.· And then,suddenly. when Kostabi is pounced
upon by a protestor with a tub of but-ter at a party Billy omits the entire
sequence in his reporting of the occasion in his column. I, for one, have
had enough of this sleaze bucket who
ducks from any sort of controversy
and puts his head in the sand at a
moment's notice. He praises theseassholes, gives them publicity andglorifies them while they carry on in
their murderous fashion. In Avenue
magazine Norwich says, "I see myself
as a moving community
bulletinboard upon which people insist on
posting notices.· Not MY community!

Or YOURS, for that matter, Billy. But
I suppose you might not know whata shithead you've been. So perhaps
we should tell you.
I propose a Gossip Zap. Afterreading this column call Billy Norwich
and tell him that you've had it with his
self-hatred and homophobia, you've
had it with his hiding, you've had· itwith his negligence, you've had it withhis worshiping and glorifying the very
people who are killing and oppressingus. Leave him a sweet little message.
Dial-A-Shithead: 212-570-2249.
...

GOSSIP ZAP!
DILLYI

ZAPI~:: 212·570·2249 ::~~~:DILLYIDILLYIDILLYI

ZAPI
ZAPI
ZAPI

Call
ZAPI
BILLY
.
BlLLYIZAPIDILLYI
ZAP! N0 RWI CH BILLYIZAPI.
. DILLYI
ZAP!
ZAPI

212 570 2249
•.

•

ZAPI

BILLYIDILLYIDILLYIGOSSIP ZAP!
. September 18, .1989

OUTTWEEK

51

Social Terrorism

Photos by Brich Conrad'UDDERLY' STUNNING
LorllUII Hogg III Wigslock

FLASH IN THE PANCREAS
Wigslock vision

2MUCH
Thllil Twill8 ., Cop.c.bllnll

MUMMY. MAKE IT GO AWAY
Dixill III Wigslock

52

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September 18. 1989

COUNTRY COUPLE
Glllindllllnd Michlllli of Kinky GBrlinky III Cowgirl HIIII of Fllmll

BY THE TIME WE GOT TO WIG STO CK, WE HAD HAlf A MILLION HAIRS
D8gmar On8ssis blisses out

CHIC TO CHEEK?
Derek Meen 8nd Chip Duckett 8t Wigstock~~~.':':'~~'UPSYNKA AND DEVOTED FANJohn Epperson 8t Cowgirl H811of F8me

BOO BOO PI 000
K8thy 8t Love M8chine

LIP SERVICE
Floozy blonde 8t Wigstock
GOOD MORNING MRS CALLAHAN
Prep8ring 8 Wigstock doo
GOOD REEFER, MAN
George W8yne loving it up 8t Wigstock.

September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

53

Once upon.

time ...• "",Uy, the doy bef",e Wi8"""k, I needed. wig;. feot
akin to finding a Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve. Where, oh, where was I to find a
hairpiece on the eve of the BIG HAIRFESTI"Try the guy selling junk on the street at St. Mark's and Third,· a friend shouted
as he raced down Avenue A clutching his new black fall. "I think there's one left."
But there wasn't.
So, I wouldn't get a wig. Big deal. I stumbled along and happened upon aman who sells tie-dyed clothes on the fenced-in front steps of his' tiny basement
apartment next to Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place.
"Gee, they're all so beautiful," I oozed, my eyes sparkling. "But it would be justsuper if you had wigs, sir.""Just one moment, young man,· he replied as he scurried into his humble
home.
I was suddenly uplifted. "You shall go to the ball!" exclaimed my friend, Ben,as jumped in jubilation. The handsome older man came back with a box full ofwigs in every conceivable color - aqua, orange, emerald, lavender, ruby! And for
only eight dollars each (friends were paying up to 20 bucks at Woolworth's on 14th
Street). I bought a gorgeous powder blue piece. The man threw in a kerchief ofmagical pink chiffon! (I couldn't help but wonder that perchance Prince Charming
would dance with me in Tompkins Square Park. I would then have to run off
before the stroke of twelve, but of course I'd lose my wig. He'd then go from tenement to tenement the next day to see whose head the wig fit on.)
The next morning, the day of Wigstock, four of my friends needed wigs. I tookthem all over to my Fairy Godfather of Wigstock. But he wasn't there and neither
were the tie-dyed clothes, My friends crept down the stairway and rapped on thethe huge gate-encased glass doors of his basement abode. A moment later heappeared, handing them colorful, frothy wigs through the iron gates.
We skipped off to the wig ball, all aglow. Thousands were already in the midst
the annual end-of-the-summer-blast which had us reveling in liberation, freedom of

by Michelangelo Signorile

54

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

Iboughtagorgeous
powderblue•
p,ece.
The manthrew.. Photo: Ben Thornberry
expression, cross-dressing, love, peace and all that stuff. We joined in. I canremember dancing, and singing and touching so many wigs. Everyone had partakenof magical fairy elixir. Queens took to the stage one after another, some simply
embracing the fun of drag, others realizing full well that theirs was a form of entertainment that was, beyond a doubt, a powerful political act. The park seemed as if itwere ours as we joined hands and hairpieces in celebration, of a what was so far amagical and uplifting day free from all the horrors, the hatred, the bullshit that we
encounter every day.
And suddenly everything changed. The coaches turned back into pumpkins.
The horses back into mice. And someone lost his glass slipper - and his beads and
wig and hat. Actually it was two people. The clock struck midnight in the form ofan announcement: "Two queens have been beaten up."
And the bullshit was pouring in again; so abundant is it that it can't be dammed
off even for a day.
From there it was massive confusion. Crowds. Screams. Cries. Cops. People
doing the wrong thing, the right thing, anything, nothing.
We were back to thestreets, chanting, waving fists. And all of the wigs were off the heads, shoved into
bags until Steve Spinella ordered tham back on as hundreds sat in the middle of
Avenue A: ·We're here to celebrate wigs and cross-dressing! Put your wigs back on!"But still, in all the hysteria and madness, as skinheads tossed bottles and thelike, I I~ my wig somewhere. No Prince Charming has buzzed my door holding it.
And I have this feeling that even if I went back to the Wig Fairy Godfather's, someyuppie would answer the door holding a cordless phone and telling me that I'm
crazy and that no Fairy lives there.
T

•
Ina

kerchiefofmagicalpink
chiffon!

September 18, 1989

our'WEEK

55

Film

Relentlessly So
by Peter Bowen
Relentless. Directed by William
Lustig. Written by Jack T.D.
Robinson. Produced by Howard
Smith. Presented by Cinetel Films.
Released by New Line Cinema.

While politics makes strange
bedfellows, police stories
make even stranger bedfellows of co~pecially
undercovercops-and criminals. In police stories,
as well as in our own policed reality,
cops and criminals find each other not
only looking over each others' shoulders, and following each others' footsteps, but more often than not invadingeach others' spaces to such a degree
that almost any policed space becomes.

-KILLERS ARENT BORN,"

Judd Nelson

56

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

criminal, and the police--in order tomaintain order-must act as criminals.
In one such clumsy pas de deux, police
act as gay men in order to entrap themin public bathrooms. Some gay men
respond by dressing up their fantasies or partners in police uniforms.
The policing of desire and the desirability of the police suggests to what
extent each group must know-perhaps too intimately-themodus
operandi of the other. This is not to
say that I-or any other gay/lesbianperson-mightwant to "know" thepolice, let alone join their ranks, butrather to note that "queer" and criminal sensation which the very presenceof the police seems to inspire within
me. It is then a profound historicalirony that the order which the police
so relentlessly enforce is matched
only by a criminal order which suchpolicing by necessity creates.
In
thislight,
William Lustig's Relentless might havebeen a clever commentary on the relationshipbetweenthe police
and their discontents.
Following the tagline"Killers aren't born.
They're made. "-it is
the police, or more
precisely an abusive
police father, which
made the specific killerof this film. Raisedas we are shown by aseries of misty-eyedflashbacks- by abrutalanddisciplinarian policeman,
Buck Taylor Oudd
Nelson) mobilizes hischildhoodof discipi ine to engineer whatmust be the most complex suicide in film history. At the film's start,
Buck-who
was refused admittance into

the police force by a psychiatrist wholabeled him too crazy (or perhaps not
crazy enough)-decides
to reactivate
the police's interest in him. Aftersearching the phone directory for victims with names similar to his own,
Buck murders them by forcibly assisting them in killing themselves. In one
case, for example, Buck surprises ahandsome young man by his shower-making a suggestive gender twist
on the traditional female shower victim-and then forces the unfortunate
boy to stab himself with his own
kitchen knife.
Just in case the murder/suicide
theme isn't clear, Buck signs his murders by leaving behind the phone
directory page with a challenge to thepolice scrawled on it. As planned, thepolice track Buck down, first as
potential victim, and then as probablesuspect. Thus his suicide killings provoke the police finally to kill him.
Like his father, who had been gunned
down by criminals, Buck becomes acriminal precisely in order to begunned down by the police. Andeven more appropriate to this criminal economy-where
police andcriminals are almost interchangeable-Buckis gunned down by apoliceman, Sam Dietz (Leo Rossi),
who must step outside the law inorder to enforce it.
Rather than provoking a twisted
examination of the pathology of thepolice/criminal mind, Relentless unfortunately settles into a rather blandpolice buddy story. Here the New
Yorker cop (recently transferred andnewly promoted, detective Dietz) andhis older, mellower L.A. partner, Bill
Malloy (Sam Rossi) exchange nasty
glances and tired NY vs LA cliches
beforethey
finally
makeup
and-while not kissing-make a date
for a baseball game. That is, of course,
before homewrecker
Buck shoots
down Malloy and then goes after
Dietz's happy family. When Buck's
targets change from the anonymous
public to the personal world of friends
and families, Dietz takes up his role asa public guardian with a personal
See RELENnESSLY SO on page 78

MusicWicked Warts

by Jim FourattP

icture this: You're flipping
through the used record
racks at Sounds on St.
Mark's Place and comeupon some clearly queer cover art.
You freak. There it is, big as life: A
PINK TRIANGLE pinned on the best
little boy in the world, a tow-haired
eight-year-old Wally Cleaver clone.
The LP's entitled It's Only Right andNaturaL You flip it over and see written inside of an inverted pink triangle
a listing of song titles including:"Homos," "Dykes are We," and "Beena Month Since I Had a Man.· You, ofcourse, buy it and run home to getsome "culture.», But what you bought is a sickjoke; as deadly as a virus and asvicious as bat swap. What you get are
14, short, stupid, adolescent songs
that portray gay men as sex-crazed,
drug-addicted,
masochisticchildmolesters; gay men totally unconcerned with either their oWn health or
the health of others ...and women as
cock-hungry competitive faux fags.

It's a hateful misrepresentation of
gay & lesbian lifestyle clothed infolksy home-recording drag by two
self-identified het white brothers from
Milwaukee (...they could be Guns 'nRoses wannabes strutting in theirspandex and lipstick at the Cat Clubor the Ice-T/Niggers With Attitude(NWA) set disowning lesbians andgays of Color and upping the Machoante among Black youth alreadyunder identity siege).
"Funny," you say .... Some gay
writers have even-suggested it is a rallying call for gay supremacy, or foundit's homophobia PUNK in humor.
Wrong.
This is a dangerous record inyear 10 of the AIDS crisis. While therock music industry has yet to mounta major rock AIDS benefit, a leading
alternative record label has chosen to
crap on the besieged gay community
with The Frogs. While Michael Callen,
Charlie Murphy, David Lasley, theFlirtations and Blackberri, all openly
gay musicians, are either label-less orrelegated to self-distributed ghetto
albums, Homestead Records promotes
in the press-andon college

radio-this toxic artless waste of vinyl
and we are again set up as a community de-personalized and defined in
sex-negative
Iconography.
A Sam
Kinnison joke to soothe the sexual
tensions of a falling-from-power classof gay-bashers and women-haters. It'sa sick twist on blackface: Hets POSingas homos.
The truth to how this record
came about is a real lesson in homo
hatred. The two brothers (and I don't
give a fuck about their own sexual
confusion .... Roy Cohn and J. Edgar
Hoover were obsessed with dick too),friends of the cow-turd shaped Cosley,
the head of Homestead Records, knewof his fascination with dick size andhis loathing of homos and his fear of
rap from his writings in fanzines andthe Village Voice. So they made ahome recording song-demo about fags
and Blacks and sent it as a present toGerard: an aural study of men in their
twenties stuck in a confused adolescent mind set of the fear-of-difference.
Cosley took it seriously. He musthave thought it just the perfect retort
to the Jimmie Somervilles, the Boy
Georges and all those ACf UP-typeself-affirming-Iesbian-&-gay-safe-sexpositive beauties. Cosley insisted overthe brother-s' weak objections onpressing their demo onto vinyl. After,of course, exorcising the racist material(white male het-identified liberal rockcritics would have certainly objected).
What was left became The Frogs LP, atotally unsympathetic, cruel affirmationof Helms-think to sure up the homophobia of grown-up "boys."
Don't waste your precious green
on this creepy crap. Better yet, go out
and buy Williams S. Burroughs' Wild
Boy. Billy-boy fantasizes a war planfor gay avenging angel gangs hellbent on het-bashing the likes of The
Frogs and Gerard Cosley.
Never Again....lt is only right andnatural.
...
FYI: Gerard eosleyc/o Homestead Records
Dutch East India Trading
P.O. Box BOO

Rockville Centre, NY 11571-0800

September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

57

BooksThe Young and the RecklessThroughout the novel is a strainof melancholy in Barbino which
prevents us from writing him off asa heartless monster. Barbino, yousee, was one time in love. But
Giacomino-a member of a prominent Italian family-is afraid to bebYJohn Wing
seen in public with such a notorious "fmnocchio," and Barbino must
content himself with furtive encouneminar on Youth is a disters at night "when there were no
turbing
lessonin thewitnesses." Inevitably, Giacomino
vagaries of love and deceit,
opts for a hetero life and giveswith a young Italian narrator as
Barbino the ax. It becomes the traubeautiful as he is corrupt. Publishedmatic event of Batbino's life. "To bein Italy in 1984 and now translated
able to see Giacomino again,"
into English, Aldo Busi's first
Barbino writes years later, "nownovel is a sensuous experience,that he is going to university,
at once seductive and cruel.
how elegant and good looking
Busi's language is oddly ruminaand triumphant he will be, if
tive for a novel ftlled ·with unsaonly I could do something 'tovory characters; his sentences
have my revenge for my reviled
have a· Proustian refinement
adolescentlove." Love andwhic~ almost dazzle the reader
hatred are inextricably mixed in
into enjoying the reckl<;ss hero,
Barbino. He gets his revenge,
Barbino. Like a hardened Don
but it does nothing to lessen his
Juan, Barbino plays with thepain.
affections and illusions of the
The richest part of the novel
older men and women who aredescribes Barbino's childhood intaken in by his youthful charms.
a poor Italian village, the son of
Yet his desperate disregard fora ne'er-do-wellfather and atheir feelings masks a pathologimother who seems to do nothingcal self-hatred. Hurting these.. but scream; his older brothersdeluded people becomes his
like to invent ways to tortur~
pastime. "When I think I love
him, one time dropping a snake·someone I at once begin to hate
down his shirt which bites ·him
him and to find in him a thoudozens of times. In his late teens,sand defects and incompatibiliBarbino quits home for Paris,ties," he observes all too clearly.
sleeping on park benches, hookThe strange thing though-and. ing for money, going for days
this is without a doubt Busi's
greatest achievement-isthat no PROUSTIAN REFINEMENT
without food. He is involved
Photo: Fausto Giacone briefly with the student rebellion
matter how cynically Barbino is Aldo Busiin Paris of May, 1968, but is
portrayed, he somehow wins thereader's sympathy, though poly to
he becomes obsessed with a priest annoyed with the pUritanical attilude
mock ·us for our romantic naivete. It
who forces him to sneak into his of the revolutionaries with regard togay sex. No one ever measures up
is as if the reader, too, becomeshouse
throughthe servants'
entrance. One man whom Barbino to Barbino's expectations("My
another one of his heartbroken victhinks will make the perfect sugar lovers are always more mediocre
tims. It is perhaps the flrst case of
daddy turns out to be a penniless than me .....). His life dramaticallyliterary cuckoldry.
unproves when he gets taken up by
The
recordof Barbino's
crook and even steals Barbino's
S .. RECKLESS on pall.n
unpleasantness
is long, stretching
meager savings.
across Italy and France. By the endof the novel he is busy making
plans for his assault on England. In
Milan, he is a sex worker, spends
most of his days in bathhouses andpublic lavatories indulging in his
favorite activities; anonymous sex
and squashing the mosquitoes thatcollect near the steam pipes.
Barbino has a veritable genius for
chOOSing the wrong men. He is
fond of a seedy voluptuary who
drugs him unconscious before sex;
and another who likes to beat him
and lock him in a cabinet. In Paris,

S

58

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

BooksTaking Responsibility
by Sarah SchulmanDespite the recent flood of gay
self-help books in the chain
stores, the tradition of gay
and lesbian underground publishingflourishes. While some forms of queer
writing have recently been permittedcommodification,some will neverbeen seen in B. Dalton's window.
Whether it's poetry chapbooks in editions of fifty, My Comrade for the
drag-set or xeroxed political pamphlets, gay and lesbian writing
remains primarily a grassroots event.
It would be hard to be alive today
and not know that 12-step programs
have widespread appeal within the gay
community.
Since virtually every
homosexual has been told at sometime in his or her life that he or she isbad, the average gay man or lesbian
has learned well the craft of selfdestruction. In recent years more andmore communal effort has been madeto identify and stop abusive behavior,particularly alcoholism and drug abuse.
These programs have become so
popular among women that the recent
Michigan Women's Music Festival, anannual gathering of 6,000 lesbians,
offered extensive 12-step meetings in
the follOWingcategories:
Alcoholics· Anonymous(AA),
Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA),
Survivors of Incest Abuse (SIA), Smokers Anonymous(SA), Narcotics
Anonymous (NA), Overeaters Anonymous (OA), AI-ANON, Debtors
Anonymous(DA), Sex and Love
Addicts Anonymous(StAA), CoDependents Anonymous (CODA) and
Generic 12-step meetings six times a

Hagen goes on to dissect this definition, focusing on the word "oppressive,·and attempts to re-<iefme"cO<iependency" according to the tenants of feminism.

She concludes that "co-depenclence" is aday. So, in a culture in which comingeuphemism for internalized oppressionout is considered an act of mental
health, anonymity has re-entered the. in intimate relationship>.
foundations of many women's lives.
Internalized oppression occurs
12-Step and the language of recovery
when the subordinate takes in theare influencing lesbians in a big way.
beliefsof the dominator. The dominantgroup defines meaning, morality andBut clearly it has spread beyond physvalue, permeating society with images,
ical addictions. Now 12-step is being
institutions, structures, laws and cusused as a way to "recover" from emotoms wbich re-enforcethesedeftnilions.
tionally destructive patterns as well as
physical ones. Both are referred to, inIn this way we come up withhouse, as "addictions."
such social distortions as gay people
While clearly AA is the only sys- being "narrow" while heterosexuals
tem that works for millions of people
are "universal" or lesbians live in "awho want to stop drinking, only time ghetto" while straight women live inwill tell if applying that program to "the world." Hagen posits that "corelationship issues like "co-dependendependency" is a more acceptable andcy" will have the same effect.
benign term than "internalized oppresKay Hagen, a writer from Georgia, sion" even though they share many ofhas published a pamphlet in Samizdat the same definitions. For example, aform under the series heading Fugative woman who defers her needs to the
Information. Her piece articulates a needs of men, defines herself in relaclear and informative critique of the 12- tion to others, sees herself as a victim,
step movement and its impact on the denies her own feelings, is "a woman
lesbian community. Hagen, a selfperfectly socialized
into a maledefined Adult Child of Alcoholics,
supremacist society." Such a woman
spent five years in an ACA program
knows that defying these behavioralthat she says "affected me almost as limitations means being punished in a
profoundly as my personal awakening
wide range of.·ways from physicalto feminism"
fifteen years ago.
abuse to being ignored or shut down.
However, she viewed her feminism
Calling this condition "co-dependency"
and ACA experience as distinct from is a de-politicizing use of the language.
each other until the term "co-depenCo-dependence is no accident.
dence" was introduced into the canon.
Nor is it a disease, nor an individual
The phrase was coined initially tocharacter disorder....When we do notrecognize the relationship co-depenrepresent men and women who weredency has to the dominant culture
involved with lovers or family memwe risk falling prey to another aspectbers addicted to alcohol or narcotics.
of our training in which we accept
It has since taken on a broader definipersonal responsibility ...in a culturetion as behavior that supports anotherof dominance, (where) the oppressed
person's more obviously destructiveis always atfault.
patterns. Hagen zeros in on the definition proposed by Robert Subby, a
The book Co-D€pendent No Morefamily-systems therapist well-known. by Marie Beattie is now finishing up
in the co-dependence
field. He
two years on the best sellers' list.
describes it as:
Critical literature on the subject has
only begun to appear. Hagen's slim
An emotional, psychologicalleaflet is a strong foundation for aand behavioral condition that develops as a result of an individual's promuch larger discussionthat will
longed exposure to and practice of a
ineVitably surface wherever gay peoset of oppressive rules which prevent
ple fight only their personal "disease"an open expression offeeling.
and not the culture's as well.
T

September 18, 1989

OUTTWEEK

59

COMMUNITY DIRECTORY--------------

IFor information on listing your non-profit organization, call Tom Eubanks at 685-52771
A.c.Q.c.
AIDS CENTEROF QUEENS COUNTYSOCIAL SERVICESoEDUCATIONoBUDDIESCOUNSElING'SUPPORT GROUPS
Volunteer Opportunities(718)896-25OO(vofcl)(718) 896-2985(TDD)ACT UP(AIDS CNlition tID Unl ... h Po_r)
496A Hudson Street, Suite G4 NYC 10014 (212)989·1114
A diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united inInger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS
crisis. General meetings Mon. nights 7:30 at theCommunity Center, 208 W. 13th.
ARCS (AIDS-Rellted Community Service.)for Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan,
Ulster and Westchester counties. AIDS education,
cJi.ntservices, crisis fntarvention, support groups,
case management, buddy and hospital visitor program.
214 Central Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606(914)993-0606
838 Broadway Newburgh, NY 12250(914)562-5005
AlDSli .. j914)993-D607
BAR ASSOCIATION FORHUMAN RIGHTS
Lawyers Referral
Service for the Lesbian and Gay Community
Full Range of Legal Services(212)459-4873
BAR ASSOCIATION FORHUMAN RIGHTSFree Walk-in Legal Clinic Tuesday 6·8 pm
Lesbian and Gay Community Center
Ground Aoor
BODY POSITIVE
Ifyou or your lover has tasted HIV+,
we offer support groups, seminars, public forums,
reference library, referrals, social activities and up-todate national monthly, "THE BODY POSITIVE'(S1!ilyear).
(212)633-1782.
2095 Broadway, Suite 306, NYC, NY 10023
COMMUNITY HEALTHPROJECT
208 West 13th Street NYC, New York 10011
For Appointments and Information (212)675·3559
PROVIDINGCARING, SENSITIVE AND LOW COSTHEALTHCARESERVICESTO THE LESBIAN AND GAYCOMMUNITYCONGREGATIONBETH SIMCHATTORAH
NY's Gay and Lesbian Synagogue Services
Friday at 8:30pm
57 Bethune Street
For fnfo. call: (212)929·9498.
EDGE
For the physically disabled Lesbianand Gay Community. P.O.Box 305 Village Station
New York, NY 10014(212)989·1921
FRONTRUNNERS
A running club for lesbian and gay athletesof all abilities.
Fun Runs of 1-6 miles held every Sat at lOam
and Weds. at 7pm in Central Park and !Wary Tues. at• 7pm in Prospect Park.
For information: call (212)724·9700.

GAY MALE SIM ACTIVISTS
Dedicated to safe and responsible SlM since 1981.
Open meetings w/programs on SlM techniques,
lifestyle issues, political and social concerns. Also
special events, speakers bureau, workshops,
demos, affinity groups, newsletter, more.
GMSMA-DeptO,496A Hudson St Suite 023, NYC
10014. (212)727-9878.
THE AJND FORHUMAN DIGNITY
National Gay and Lesbian Crisis line
'AIDS 800" 1·800-SDS·GAYS
Educational Resource Center; Positive Images Media
Center; NY State Arts Program
666 Broadway Suite 410 NYC, NY 10012(212)529·1600
m

GlAAD
Gay & Lasbian Alliance Against Defamation
80 Varick Street, NYC 10013(212) 966·1700 GlAAD
combats homophobia in the media and elsewhere bypromoting visibility of the lesbian and gay communityand organizing grass roots response to public anti-gay
bigotry.
Call theGAY MEN'S HEALTHCRISIS HOTUNEFORINFORMATION ON SAFERSEXAND HIV-RELATEDHEAlTH SERVICES,AND FOR INFORMATION ON ONETIME, WALK·IN AIDS COUNSELINGSERVICES
212-807-6655
212-645-7470 (TDD)
MON.-FRI. 10:30a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
SAT.12:00to 3:00 p.m.
HEAL
Health Education AIDS Uaison
Weekly info and support group for treatments for AIDS
which do not compromise the immune system further,including alternative and holistic approaches.
Wed 8pm.
208 West 13th Street(212)674-HOPE.
HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE
for lesbian and gay youth. Counseling, drop·in center(M-F, 3·6pm), rap groups, Harvey Milk High School,
AIDS and safer sex information,referrals, professional education.
(212) 633·892O(voice)(212)633·8926 TTYfor deaf
LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSEAND EDUCATIONFUND
Precedent-setting litigation nationwide forlesbians, gay men and people with AIDS. Membership($35 and up) includes newsletter and invitations to
special events. Volunteer night on Thursdays. Intake
calls: Hpm Mon thru Fri (212)995·8585
LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY SERVICESCENTER
208 West 13th Street New York, NY 10011(212) 620-7310
9am-llpm everyday.
A place for community organizing and networking,social services, cultural programs, and social events
sponsored by the Center and more than 150 community
organizations.
LESBIAN ANO GAY RIGHTSPROJECT
of theAmerican Civil Uberties Union
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS/WE'RE EXPANOINGTHEM(212)944·9800, ext 545

LESBIANS AND GAYS OFFlATBUSH
Brooklyn's social organization for both gay min Ind
lesbians.
P.O.Box 106, Midwood Station
Brooklyn, NY 11230(718)859-9437
LONG ISLAND ACT UP
P.O.BOX 291
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
Support us for change on Long Island.
(516)338-4662 Nassau(516)997-5238 Nassau(516)928·5530 Suffolk

NATiDNAL GAYAND LESBIAN TASK FORCE
is the national grassroots political organization for
lesbians and gay men. Membership is$3O/year. Issueoriented projects address violence, sodomy laws,
AIDS, gay rights Ordinances, families, media, etc.
through lobbying, education, organizing and direct
Iction.
NGLTF 1517U Street NW, Washington, DC 20009.
(202)332-6483.
NORTHERNUGHTS ALTERNATIVES
Improving Quality of life for
People with AIDstHlV.
THEAIDS MASTERY WORKSHOP: Exploring thepossibilitieS of a powerful and creative life in the faceof AIDS.
Call Jack Godby (212)337-8747

NYC GAY & LESBIAN ANTI· VIOLENCEPROJECT
Counseling, advocacy, and information for survivors ofanti-gay and anti-lesbian violence, sexual assault,
domestic violence, and other types of victimization. All
services free and confidential.·
24 hour holline (212)807-0197
PEOPLEWITH AIDS COAUTION(212)532-0290
Holline (212)532-0568
Monday thru Friday 10am·6pm
Meal programs, support groups, educational andreferral services for fYlNA's and fYlNArc's.

PEOPLEWITH AIDS HEALTHGROUP
Underground buyer's club importing
not-yet-approved medications and nutritional
supplements.
31 West 26th Street 4th Aoor
(212) 532-0280
SAGE:
Sanior Action iA • Gay Envilllnment
Social Service Agency providing care, activities, andeducational services for gay & lesbian senior citizens.
Also serving over 160 homebound seniors and older
fYlNA's.
208 West 13th St NYC 10011(212)741-2247

ULSTERCOUNTY GAY AND LESBIAN AWANCE
Meets first and third Monday of each monthat 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church on Sawkill Road in
Kingston.
For information, call (914)626-3203.

ANSWERING SERVICES
NYC'S RNEST
CAll FORWARDANSWERING SERVICEIS
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ELeV~«~uruiH8B/mo.
Village Renters(212) 2193772

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All new 1 BR Apts.

$950/mo.
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APARTMENT CLEANING
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We are available 7 days and evenings.
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APARTMENTS FORRENT

Village Renters

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1300 sq. ft. $1200/MONTH
Village Renters

EAST VILLAGE Studio $675, 1
BR $850
2BR $1200, 3BR $1700/MO.

MINT(212) 219-

MEN & BONDAGE?
Swap experiences and fantasies.
Watch ortake part in demos. Learn
the ropes with experts and novices.
Write for info:
NYBC, P.O.Box 457, Midtown Station,
NY, NY 10018.
GAYWRESTUNG!
For real/fantasy/fun. Hot men/action.
Infopak$2: NYWC/59 West 10th
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(212) 219-

Gramercy Park

All New

Studios, 1, 2 BR $800-$1500mo

3772

CLUBS

3772

2BR$1300 MO
Village Renters

NORTHPORT VILLAGE
Share apartment w/ one other gay
male. (living room, kitchen, bath), own
bedroom, one blockto beach, situatedin village with everything. 2 miles to
LlRR. Available immediately. $450/mo.
plus 1/2 electric. Call Joe: 516/754-4996(212) 219-3772

Village Renters

2nd 8t 5th

HUGE

LOFr $l000/mo.
Village Renters

Chelsea
1st AVENUE(212) 219-3772

Your very own room in a sunriy, 2 BRapartment on the Upper West Side.
Near subways, parks, and 167 Chinese
restaurants. GM to share with GM or F.
Roof rights. $500/month + 1 monthsecurity. Available September 1. No
smoking, dogs, Republicans. 662-9330,
leave message.

Village Renters(212) 219-

HAIRY MEN/ADMIRERS!!
Uncensored explicit adlists.
Bears/trappers, 100's hot men, a mustll
Infopak $2: HAIR/59 West 10th St./NYC
10011.

3772
3RD AVE

BROWNSTONE/RENT
STAB
Track Lighti~g_.

Expos brick
Village Renters$li95/mo.

(212) 219-3772

3 WESW4~¥PSON
Apartment for rent
Village Renters(212) 219-3772

NOHO

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3 RMS ONLY$1300
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10th & Horatio St
Studios 1 8t 2 BRs
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ACE Contractor 8. Crew
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Village Renters

LUXAPTS""""'.'.""'."'"

c.".ntr f • Eleclric.l • Sheetrock'Ap.menta· Loft•• Sto...
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Christopher Street

4RM $1375 MO

CONTRACTORS

ST. MARK'S

41/2
RMS

2BR $1550/MONTH
Village Renters(212) 2193772

CLASSIFIEDS
Continued on Next

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tWeek
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ATT: Mr. Scott
(EOE)

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LATEST POSTERS
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HELP WANTED

nt crime. MSW preferred. Salary $30K plus benefits. Send cover letter
resume to:
Executive Director.
NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence
Project
208W. 13th St NY. NY 10011.
men and persons of color encouraged
pply.

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ANSWERING SERVICE
Gay-owned ans. servo seeks respons ible,sociable phone person. $6.25thr. to s tart
Please call Elizabeth at (212) 645-3535.

DIRECTOR OF CLIENT SERVICES
Client intake and assessment, cmanagement, clinical supervision. quassurance reviews. liaison to so
service agencies for small commu
based organization serving survivors 0-

REAL ESTATE-DISTINCTIVE DECO APARTMENTS
Fully renovated apartments in the art
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Beautiful. newly renovated 2BR coo .,lots of light. $160.000. Maintenan :e:$471. Call Tony Czebatul, Walscott C(212)460-9999

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Please call Phillip (2121308-0870
Leave message.

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RVING THE GAY COMMUNITY OF
MANHATTAN
Buying. Selling Real Estate.

Call Tony Czebatul.
(212) 460-9999
WALSCOTT CO,-

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PI yments to:
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Suite 167 Dept
496-A Hudson
New York, NY 10014

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upportive individual & couple therapy
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GB & BRITISH
GBM, age 30, 5'11·,
135 Ibs., lonely in NY
seeks GWM top withor wfout moustache.
Honesty more important than looks. No
games or drugs. Writebox 149, NY, NY
10185.
SUPERHUNG WM,
35, good looks, average build, looking forguys hung super longor thick for safe fun.
I'm in midtown and amvery discreet. Scott,Box 6559, NYC, NY
10163.
DHB-DECENTHUMAN BEING
wants to share happy
times and not so
happy
ones
with
another DHB. Not into
drugs/smoking.
I'vebeen told I'm handsome, caring, sensitive, sensual and hot.
I'm 6'/172/LtBr/LtBr,
33, trim, smooth, muscular build. Prefer
GWM, 20-28, ·boyish·
and cute and wants to
grow. Enjoy conversation, museums, beach,work-outs at gym, OffBroadway plays andsafe hot love-making.
Send detailed letter wf
photo/agel phone: Box5432, Flushing, NY
11354. This may be
our chance for a great
future together.
REGULAR GUY
GWM, 38, seeks similar for relationship.
Avg
looks/build,
decent, stable, shy.
Like theatre, classicalmusic, blonds. Closet
Romantic,
more
turned on by chest
size than cock. Honest
letter and photo(amustl) to P.O. Box3182, Ridgewood, NY
11386.
I'LL TAKE MANHATTANI
Californian, GM, 25,
bl/bl, sensual, moustached, intellectual,mature, non-attitudinous, romantic fordays, self-aware but
notself-absorbed
seeks Manhattanite,25-35, with similar
qualities for whateverd!lvelops. Any race orhealth status. No closet cases or Republicans, please. Letter,phone to Outweek
Box 1169
LITTLE BROTHER
Write homel GW couple 30 (6', blonde,160) & 34 (6'1·, hairy,185) both very hand-

66

OUT'YWEEK

September 18. 1989

some, loving, fun, &HIV- seek younger kid
brother for fun andsensuous nights athome and on thetown. We can oller
emotional support (no$), hot times, affection,& some ·home cooking·. You are huggable, hot, healthy,
handsome (& together).
Photo/phone(Don't tell Moml) to:
POB
1955,
NYC
10025.
UNIQUE
OPPURTUNITY
How would you like tostrip, kneel before me,
and place yourself
under my direction?
Am looking for someone who knows hisplace (bottom) and
who is obedient. You
must be willing to do
as you're told. Your
stats are unimportant
to me-your attitude
isn't. If willing to
explore,write
toPOBox 292, NYC
10024.
SERIOUS FUN
wf GWM, 32, 5'10·,
very slim, long brown
hair.
Reasonably
attractive, reasonably
intelligent, outrageous
sense of humor. Passions include films,
books, dramatic landscapes, spicy food,lively conversation,
long kisses. Seeking
facsimile of soulmate,28-40, ideally slim,
clean-shavenandsexy (I know it's subjective, but we can
explore the matter.)
Ph/ph to: Outweek
Box·1172LESBIAN WANTED
Tall, good looking,healthy, straight WM,
35, seeks lesbian or
lesbian couple foradventurous sex. Will
do whatever to please.
Interested? Outweek
Box 1174
BROADWAY BABY
Attractive, furry, cuddly, GWM, 41, 5'9·,
170Ibs.,
Br/Br,
w/stache, seeks special, allectionate guy,
3Oish-50ish, for friendship/possible relationship to take in the new
Broadway, Off B'way
seasons together. Youlove musicals (maybe
even collect original
cast albums),
andenjoy comedy, drama,
cabaret, too. Also likecountry walks, brunch,music, film, etc. Ifinterested
write
w/phone and photo (ifpossible)o to: P.O. Box
2509, Times Square
Station New York, NY
10108.
PASSIONATE
about great literature,ballet, classical music,
safe sex, theatre, film,
intellectualchat.
GWM, 29, 5'9·, 155 #,BI/grey, seeking thatsincere someone who
can be added to thelist of passions. Letterwith descriptionofyourself and your reasons for being should
elicit a response.
Pleaseincludeaphone number. Photooptional. Outweek Box
1176
GF, 39, SEEKS
mail order bride. Mustbe cultured, intelligent,
with a good sense ofhumor. No Holly Nearfans. Outweek Box
1178
MALEfMAIL ART
exchange. Your hot
male images (drawings, collages, etc.)
get a fistful from P.O.
Box 447, New York NY
10012. Lers have fun,guysl
WOODSIDE PUSSY
5'7·, 210 Ibs., 45 years
old, GM, loves to suckcock and get fuckedwith bags by black andwhite guys 30-60. Not
necessary to be handsome or slimltrim. Bi,
married o.k. I'm HIV
negativefsafe. Wri'te
desires to: P.O. Box4547, L.1. City, NY,
11104.
NIHON
Japanese boyfriend
wanted by GWM- 27,
tall,
dark,
slim,
smooth, soft-spoken
individual, long-haired,creativemusicianlearning Japanese.
AimashoKa?
Outweek Box 1181
GWM, 38, RUNNER,
VEGETARIAN
loves art, music, outdoors, travel, HIV(-).
Seeks GBM, 25-35,
healthy, with similarinterests to seek andshare mutual physical,
emotional, and spiritual growth. No drugs/
booze/ci g arelles.
Photo/ letter please.
Outweek Box 1182
SINCEREGM
PROFESSIONAL
healthy 20- sought byhandsome
GM
Kyotoite, 35, 5'11·,
160 for monogamous
relationship, any race.

Ph/ph to P.O. Box1502, New York, NY
10185.

phone to Box 1114 Old
Chelsea Station, New
York, NY 10011.

LOOK NO FURTHER
GWM, experienced
friend and lover seeking same. I'm easygoing,
sensitive,
romantic, inlelligent
and Witty. 44 years
young, 5'7·, 142 Ibs.
Beautiful blue eyes,
curly
brown
hair,
moustache. I'm sensual, sexually versatileand into safer sex.
Interested in perf. arts,
film. Photo/letter getsmine. Box 2004, NYC
10009.

MUTUAL BENEFITS
Companionshipsought for physicaland intellectual stimulation by attr WfM, 44,
6'1·, cosmopolitan
show-biz executive.
Seek WfM, 23-29(tallerthan 5'8·),
clean-shaven, goodbody/mind. Graduate
students, actors, professionals-oiler
dinners,
Broadwayshows, theatre. Expect
truth. Sex (safe).Travel
possible. Ph/ph, P.O.
Box 8324, New York,Ny 10150-1918.

WOODSTOCK
changed my life. I'm
45, 6', 185, professional, warm, intelligent
and like blues andbicycling, rock andreading, movies andtheatre. Looking for
30ish, bright, loving,
attractive man. P.O.
Box
325-0,
NYC
10108.
CULTURED GWM,
26, European seeking
GF for friendship andpossible
marriage.
Both can be mutuallyconvenient. Outweek
Box1144
BUILD A NEST?
GWM, 43, 5'10·, 160
Ibs., generally considered intelligent andhumorous with wide
range of skills andinterests, reasonably
successful,lots ofgood friends but currently without the capstone, that special
someone. Seeking apartner interested in
the slow explorations,joys and agonies ofbuilding a nest. Let's
start communicating
and see where it
leads. Outweek Box
1145.
BARK LIKE A DOG
GWM, 34, who barks
like a dog on all fours
and eats from a dog's
dish. Send phone
number, P.O. Box 266
NYC 10002.
FANTASY?
I want 2 B crazy inlove. I'm tall, dark,handsome,
smart,
good gymbody. So
what's the problem?
I'm 52 in an ancient,dry relationship andhave a fetish for very
attractive men with nofacial hair. If you're 2540, into SS sans poppers
andyou'vealways wanted a PIT
Daddy, send photof

STUCK LIKE A PIG
Let this 24 yr. old hot
farm boy use his farmtools to work you intoa frenzy so I can hear
you squeal. Send letter witha gooddescription of yourself
and describe how you
would like to be breeded. Outweek Box 1149
NEED ASPANKING?
Attractive guy, 43, 6',
160 Ibs., will put you
across his knee, pull
down your pants--andunderpants--andspank your bare bottom till you promise to
behave. Am into fantasy-- not pain. Good
with b~ginners. Box1316 FOR Station,
NYC 10150. Seek trim
guys only.
GUPPIE
26 year old GWM
attempting to live theyuppie lifestyle. 6'2·,
175, blondish hair,
beard and moustache.
Non-smoker, healthy,
in-shape. Considered
to be good- looking,romantic, stable, professional. Seekin GM,
28-40 with similar
qualities for quiet dinners,
movies,etc ...Please send letter including photo andphone number. Outweek Box 1152
WANTS
PATRONICHUM
Aging writer, hairy,
irascible, seeks warmhearted, brainy, nonsmoking amanuensis
and/or patron/ provider/slut in exchange
for grudging affection,
kinky vanilla sex, andglimpses of immortality. P.O. Box 1251
Canal St. Station, NewYork 10013.

PATIENTLY
waiting for a GWM,
35-49, attractive, educated professlonall
executive,
seriousabout commitment,
introspective but funloving with a good
sense of humor, and
who actually has timein his schedule tomeet new people andpossibly develop a
relationship.
I'm a
GWM, 43, br/haz,
5'10", 150, glasses,
gd-Iklng, Intelligent,
professional, HIV neg,
Midwestern values.
Try not to take myself
too seriously. Write
with ph/ph to Box
1858, Madison Square
Station, NYC 10159.
VERYHDSM&MASC
30, 6', 160, blond,stralght-actingl
appearing, successful
proll, warm and verbal, Yuppy-type (w/out
the attitude) with AIIAmerican looks andan Irresistible smile.
Enjoysthemorerugged aspects of lifehiking, camping, skiIng, gym-as well as
the city. Seek similar
proff, hdsm and masc,
together guy for friendship and fun and sen-suous times. POB
20489, NYC 10025
24 YEAR OLD GRADSTUDENT
Into Shakespeare,music, and politicsseeks friend for weekend bike trips. Send
letter and phone # to
QJtWeekBox 1133.

MUSCLEMANIA
Horny WM BB, 34,
S'T, 155#, 44c.,33w.,
16a.,hndsm, hlthy &built like a brick seeks
BB buddies for sis, titplay and body worship. Ph/ph to Box1165, Chelsea Station,
10011.
BODYBUILDER
5'10",
195,42,
49c.,33w.,17a., seeks
other muscle studs
built like me or betterfor hot muscle action.
Photo appreciated.
Rick, 496A Hudson#H24, NYC 10014.
GWM, ITAUAN, 25
Good-looking,
nice
guy looking to makefriends. Live on L.I.,
work on Wall St. Want
to meet other niceguys who are Interested In a sincere, discreet
andcaringfriendship, lunches,PERSONALS CJFTHEWEEKEDUCATORlWRITER
Lesbian Professional: 35, 5'3", slim,
nice-looking, immaculate. Mature,
rational, strong, responsible, yet affectionate, warm, compassionate. Wouldlove to meet a feminine gay professional female, 27-36, who is also
attractive, very slim, healthy, graceful,intelligent (a mustl), responsible, honest, loving, sensitive, romantic andsentimental. No bi's. P.S. Please be
99.9% of these qualities to reply. Honesty is sacred. Notel phonel photo.
OutWeek Box 1189.

LITTLE BROTHER
Write homel GW couple 30 (6', blonde,160) & 34 (6'1", hairy, 185) both very
handsome, loving, fun, & HIV- seek
younger kid brother for fun and sensuous nights at home and on the town.
We can offer emotional support (no $),hot times, affection, & some "homecooking". You are huggable, hot,healthy, handsome (& together).
Photolphone (Don't tell Moml) to: POB
1955, NYC 10025.

dinners, movies,
walks, hanging out, orjust doing nothing
together. Would like tohear from all-any age,race. Married, bi o.k.
too. Write with photoand phone- you've got
nothing to lose-penpals o.k. P.O. Box 483
Wall St. Station, New
York, NY 10268.
TWO HOT GUYSIGood-looking
white
top, 33, big cut tool &bottom, 29, smoothwild ass. Looking for
2IDr more guys for hot
sex in various combinations.
Short onwords, long on action.
State your preference
and lets get It on.
Photo, phone a must.
Tom, Box 950, NY, NY
10021.
CULTURED TRADE
I love to be tied up
withoperasandwhipped into a Broadway play, or evenlashed Into a goodmovie. I must beforced to drink Margaritas and submit to finecuisine. I need someone to discipline mewith love and friendship and bring out thebest in me. I will will·
ingly reciprocate. I'ma good looking GWM,
38,6', 190 Ibs., brown!
brown ,mouSlache,seekinga similar
GWM. Send me yourphoto, phone number
and a letter telling me
about yourself-andoutlining your masterplan to make me reallyslngl Reply to JNP,
P.O. Box 39, Planetarium Station, NY, NY
10024.
BRIGHT, BLUE-EYED
Healthy, affectionate
GM, 47, 5'10 1/2",
160, anxious to meetother trim GM Interested in committed relationship. Enjoy music,
books,
performing
arts. Prefer serious
men with a sense ofhumor. Balding, o.k.
Send letter, phone andphoto (if possible).
QJtweek Box 1100
EVERY INCH A MAN
with extra inch where
it counts... plus hunky,
hairy chest, magic
nips, solid 6', 185 Ibs.,
very young 44. Hot,hdsm big brotherl top
pall protectorl defender/ rescuerl teacher/lover & more. Seek
special guy 20-38 toshare life, laughs,
hugs, NYC fantasies
plus waterfront dream-

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I
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youwouldexpectfrom
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500 HUDSON STREET(at Christopher St.)New York, NY 10014
24 HRS .
• MAGAZINES. NOVELTIES• PERIODICALS. TOYS. ETC.
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~.~

.,'

. '.

September 18, 1989

OUTTWEEK67

rhouse: Go 4 it w/bothletter & picture: POB
1164 NYC, 10159.
(OK--so I'm choosy,but SO ARE YOU!)ing and romance. No
drugs
or
heavy
drinkers. Photo or honest. Outweek
Box
1105

whatever life has tooffer and wants to giveit. Photo and phone a
must. Outweek
Box
1112

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

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

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

ONE DATE AT A
TIME
GWM, 30 years old
and look 30 years old,
5'5", 130 Ibs., goodface and body, brown
hair-balding,browneyes, HIV+, creative
bright healthy sex.
Have usually been abottom but don't haveto be. Drug and alcohol
free-except
cigarettes and coffee. I
am looking for an intelligent, masculine man30 to whatever-for dat-

GAY BLACK MALE
35,5'11" seeks GM for
possible relationship.
Seeking honesty, sincerity and commitment. Interests arevaried. Please only
serious replies. Write
to OutWeek Box 1111
TOPOUALITY
Handsome, healthy,safe, secure, successful, fun-loving, generous, bi-coastal GWM,
40, 5'9", 155 Ibs., inshape, seeks relationship with a smooth,sexy younger guy (1833), blondes and greatbuns a +). I'm ready tosharelife'sgreat
adventures with someone who likes travel,
the arts, the gym,

FEMME OF CENTER
GWF, 47: GuinevereseeksLesbianLancelot to bring me
dragons to play with.
Are you butch of center non-smoker/drugs?
Love animals? I willanswer all responses.
OutweekBox 1114

COMPANIONSHIPGWM, 34, 5'11", 180,
brown hair, eyes,
moust., good Ikg. I'm
sincere and passionate, seeking same.
Enjoy movies, museums, shows, prof.
sports, music, nature,
massage, sex. No timefor egotistical people.
Don't care if you're

muscular or in shape.
Prefer moust., 30-60,
but not nec. Reply
Itr/photo. Please don't
respond if not sending
photo. P.O. Box 269,
70-A Greenwich Ave.
New York, NY 10011.

Siebold,
P.O. Box
1503, D-7012 Fellbach, West Germany.

active participant in thejoys and sorrows ofmost of the 20th Century. Short bio andoptional photo would
be real nice. Cheerio.
Outweek Box 1130

METAPHYSICS?
eth material? GWM,
6'2", 165, cute, br/bl,
29, seeks fair-haired
peer int. in same, plus
art, politics, fun, E. ViiI.
Let's create a reality
together,
w/music.
Ph/ph, please. Bruce..
all answered. Outweek

MANHATTANITE,
BIWM, 21. I'm cleanshaven,sensual,w/fuller hair, interests
still basic 4 now(punk/R&B/rock, theVillage,occas. xdress) seeking very
similar guys (mainly
white/Oriental)
from
16-23 w/natural looks
not so male-ish. Nonsmoker/non-addict
helps. A letter andphoto from you could
spark a good friendship for starters. Out-UNCUT DOCKERSGWM 39, 5'8", looking
for large overhang toaccept my fat 8" tool. I
am not a body builder
and you need not be
one either. If you wantyour foreskin worshipped this ad is foryou. Please reply toweek Box 1126

autWeek

FRIENDS WANTED
We are two German
boyfriends in the late20's, with many interests, handsome, smart
and uncomplicated.
We are looking for new
friends in the age
between 25-35 years.
New York area preferred. We live in thesouthern part of West
Germany. Please reply
with photo to: Peter K.

OCTOGENARIAN
In excellent physicalcondition, seeks ·company of GWM (18 to30).
Reasonably
secure financially andpsychologically, political activist who isinterested in sincere,lovingrelationship(platonic or otherwise)with GWM well-versedin the arts, world traveller who has been an

HIV+BOTTOM
Attractive GWM, 33,
Br/Br, slim, glasses.
Seeks:
Dominant,
handsome GWM, 2840, who can satisfy the
fantasies I have alone
at night. Must be
smart,
finanCiallysecure and not uptightabout his or my antibody status. Companionshipand moredesired. Let's explore
together. Outweek Box1131

Box 1128

ORANGE COUNTY,NY
GWM, 31 yr., 5'7",
chunky, brown/green,
Italian/German bottom,
tired of all B/S, bars,
games, etc....Iikes outdoors, quiet nights andgood conversation-

Box 1129IPERSONALS
CONTINUED
ON PAGE 70

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OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

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"Dia' Direct On 6400"
Local and Nationwide

III COfml 0 INI OBMA liON

12121 ·lfi5 3437

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No oredlt

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seeks--Tnteliigent,affectionate, goodlookIng man between 25 &35 yrs. with sameinterests for friendship& possible relationship. Serious please
only reply- Call John(914)986-1523. Sunday-Thursday. After
6p.m. only.
WORK MY BOTTOMOVER WITH ME
in long slow sessions.
He's hot Italian BB,
30's. I'm 30's, lanky
and hung. If you're
attractive, hung, verbal
and ready,sendphoto/phone to P.O.
Box 150, Prince Station, NYC 10012.
A FINE CATCH
and still not hooked.
Cleancut GWM, 32,
5'10", 145, developed
mind and body, lusty
and lustful yet warmand caring, masculine
not closeted, seeks
lasting companionship. Photo/phone to
OutWeek Box 1134.
GWM, WASP, 26
180 Ibs., 5'11", BIIBI,
healthy, masculine,
well-built, looking foryoung, muscular (1828) guys for hot safesex (condoms). I liketo be both dominantand submissive. Facefucking, role-playing,butt-fucking, let's get it
onl Also into threesomes, light bondage,
trying new things. No
drugs, no pain. Send
note about yourself:
photo appreciated. Inshape and young necessary.. OutWeek Box
1135
SERIOUSMOONLIGHT
GM, 36, 6', 145, inshape, attractive, creative, monog. radical
seeks non-smoker for
wild romance. LeI's

now!. P.O. BoX 1251,

seeks hot sex, Tun,relationship, friends,
enjoys politics, activism, conversation,
walks, travel, movies,
much more. P.O. Box
173, NYC 10023.

Canal Street Station,
New York, NY 10013.
QUIRKY LESBIAN
GWF, 27, would like tomeet very bright, funny
woman who possesses natural femininity.
Older women, please
don't be shy. Please
sendphoto,
notbecause I'm picky but
because I thoroughly
enjoy fotos of folks I
don't know. I'm notbeing facetious. I'm
fascinatedby thatwhich is traditionallyconsidered boring, i.e.
staring at the ceiling,reading phone books,
calling pre-recorded
messages and dialing
international operators. Loathed When
Harry Met Sal/y .....
Write to OutWeek
Box1t51

STUDENT NEEDS
HELPI
Ivy League student,
gay activist, writer,
really nice guy--may
not be able to afford
tuition. Ideas, patrons,
suggestions ... write
soon to: AMR, 76
Undercliff, Millburn, NJ
07041.
GWM, ITALIAN, 25
Good-looking, niceguy looking to makefriends. Live on L.I.
work on Wall SI. Want
to meet other niceguys
who are interested in asincere, discreet andcaringfriendship,lunches,dinners,
movies, walks, hanging out, or just doing
nothing
together.
Would like to hearfrom all-any age, race.
Married, bi, o.k. too.
Write with photo andphone-- you've got
nothing to lose--(penpals o.k.) P.O. Box 483
Wall SI. Station, New

PLAYMATESWANTED
Butch-fem couple in
Manhattan, ages 40 &35, seeks lesbian singles or couples for wild
fun and adventure.
Join us for fantasies,
erotic games, lightbondage. No drugs,
no pain. Outweek Box
1020
DEFINITION
Progressive hunk (34,6', 175) with postmodern affectations
seeks supple articulations of body andthought-or at least former--withbrawnyfriend(s). len
joydancing, activism, safe
hot sex, cycling, sun,beauty, grace & all theusual stuff.
Send
photo and the rest to
P.O. Box 1366, NY, NY
10025.
Photo
retumed, if requested.

York, NY 10268.
DADDY
ENEMASII
Ass-play tool Safe,
gentle, sensual anderotic I I cater to shy,curious guys & beginners too. Get readyfor the red, bulging
bag, hose and nozzlebriefs down, bottoms
upl All questions
answeredI Ph/ph. Rick
P.O. Box 45 Caldwell,
NJ 07006. Cum on, try
one soonl
SEEKING GREATTOP
Tall(6'4"), goodlooking
bottom seeking tall top
for fun times, definite
adventure and passionl Me:30's, cleanshaven, brown hairgreen eyes,185,gym
shape, prof. You:30's40's, in shape, attractive, non-smoker, andpassionatel Zip yourletter, photo, phone to:
Outweek Box 1045
GB & BRITISH
GBM, age 30, 5'11",
135 Ibs., lonely in NY
seeks GWM top withor without moustache.
Honesty
is moreimportant than looks.

No games or drugs.
Write Box 149, NYC,
NY 10185.
NEW TO NYC AREA
GM Puerto Rican 27,
5'11", 210 Ibs., enjoys
music, quiet evenings
and cuddling. Looking
for friend to show me
NYC, send photo andphone number to OutWeek Box 1156.
REGULAR GUY
GWM, 38, seeks simi
lar fun relationship.
Average looks/build,
decent, stable, shy.
Like theatre, classicalmusic, blonds. Closet
Romantic, more turnedon by chest size thancock. Honest letterand photo (a must!) to
P.O. Box 3182, Ridgewood, NY 11386.
SUPERHUNG W/M,
35, good looks, average build, looking forguys hung super longor thick for safe fun.
I'm in midtown and amvery discreet. Scott,Box 6559, NYC, NY
10163.
EAT, EAT, EAT
and eat some more. I'll
feed you to yourhearl's delight. We will
watch your belly andtits grow to perfection.
Has this been yourdream or fantasy? I
will make it happen. I
have alot of experience in this area.
Answer today withphoto and phone anddetailed letter. You
have everything
togain. Serious replies
only. P.O. Box 20053
London Terrace Station, New York, NewYork 10011.
EDUCATORlWRITER
Lesbian Professional:
35, !?'3", slim, nicelooking, immaculate.
Mature,rational,
strong, responsible,
yet affectionate, warm,compassionate. Wouldlove to meet a feminine gay professional
female, 27-36, who isalso attractive, very
slim, healthy, graceful,intelligent (a mustl),
responsible, honest,
loving,sensitive,
romantic and sentimental. No bi's. P.S.
Please be 99.9% of
these qualities to reply.
Honesty is sacred.
Note/phone/photo.
OutWeek Box 1189.

FREE
GAY PHONE SEX
Tired of huge phone bills? Want to meet new friends, or maybe a fantasyman
over the phone? For the next week, you canonfor FREE. Just call

The

·BuddySystem® ( 212) 319-2270. When the computer asks for a membership

MILDLY KINKY
GWM, 52, attractive,
5'10", 145, versatile,code, dial 9, 2, 9, 2, to be connected for FREE and ANONYMOUSLY to thenext caller. Be 18 and pay, local tolls, if any at all, to New York City.

(212)(

Leave YourFREEAD at(212) 308-2525(718)_ (914)(516)·t

CLASSIFIED ,INFORMATION70

OUTTWEEK

September

18, 1989

95Q:for·the first minute, 500 for each additional minute.

'YI
HERZOG from page n

attorney are appealing the "no probable cause" discrimination finding.
This week's hearing comes a year
and a half after the memo initiallycalled for such action, and, not surprisingly, Herzog is having a hard time
getting witnesses to testify on her
behalf. "It's like Watergate," Herzog
said. "People are afraid it will jeopardize their jobs to testify." Dorman,
Herzog's attorney, explained that thenature of the case makes her reluctant
to subpoena witnesses on Herzog's
behalf. "It is a hostile atmosphere andyou can't tell people that they won't
be retaliated against," she said.
Conflicts of Interest
Since this is the first E04 case tocome this far in the legal process,procedures aren't established and corporation counsel could "throw awrench" into the works at any time
based on the procedural ambiguity,
according to Herzog and her lawyer.
Yet the procedural questions are only
one aspect of a larger problem. Herzog points to larger forces and conflicts both within the case and the city
agency structure.
Barbara Gunn has moved on tobigger things, now heading up the
Mayor's Office of Operations, which
oversees budgeting and managementof all city agencies, including the
Human Rights Commission. Gunn
said that there is no conflict in her
mind regarding her position with theoffice of operations and being thechief respondent to Herzog's case. "In
one way it's been a positive thing,"
she told OutWeek. "I have first-handknowledge of the staff needs they
[HRC]have."
Further thickening the quagmire
are the connections between the two"opposing parties," the corporation
counsel and the HRC. The corporation counsel represents city agencies,
including the Human Rights Commission, in any outside dispute. In effect,
the same legal team must act as prosecution and defense, undermining the
traditionally adversarial relationshipnecessary for a proper trial.
HRC attorney Franke said there isa "manifest conflict" in this arrangement. But Corporation Counsel attor-

72

OUT'YWEEK

September 18. 1989

ney Tom Roberts said that neither
agency has power over the other andthat the arrangement is "necesary theway the system's set up."
But this unholy trinity has left
Herzog with the feeling that justice is
impossible to obtain. "As long as
Koch is in power, I doubt I'll ever geta fair shake," Herzog said, noting that
all the HRC commissioners as well as
the two main respondents, Gunn andParks Commissioner Stern, are all
Koch appointees. She is convincedthat the whole process is designed tocover up any discrimination in city
agencies, rather than do away with it.
As far as the HRC goes, Herzog isfrustrated, discouraged and not without an edge of cynicism. ''They n~ver
intended to do anything with theclaim," she said, pointing out that evenafter the HRC delivered its findings to
Koch with lengthy recommendations,nothing happened. "The HRC doesthings as slowly as possible to stop
people from making waves," she said.
Meanwhile,
Herzog, who is$32,000 in the hole for legal fees,
doggedly continues to try to establish
real meaning for the city'S legislation
agaipst discrimination against gays
and lesbians. If she wins, she will
receive back pay for the promotions
and pay increases denied her, but her
legal fees are not reimbursable
regardless of the outcome. "All mymoney is tied up in this," she said, " I
can't give this up. I decided to stayand fight and that's what's driving
them crazy."...
The hearing, going on this weekat 52 Duane Street, 6th Floor, is open
to the public.

AZTfrom page 18

drug. In light of recent findings thatAZT may be used effectively by as
many as 650,000 HIV infected
Americans, activists also suggested
that the company's market is now
greatly expanded and that a pricereduction would make the drug more
widely available to these people.
"Interesting Numbers"
The company, however, contested those numbers.

~The difficulty we have with thisis that nobody really has any hard
numbers about how many people
have HIV infection," stated Brown.
"Those are certainly interesting numbers, but I don't know that anybody
has got anything really solid that they
could base all that on."
The activists contended
that
given the preliminary numbers, thecompany could make financial projections and act accordingly.
"I think everyone knows thatthese are soft numbers," added Levi,"but they give you a range fromwhich they can do a worst-case scenario and then determine their pricefrom that."
Burroughs' Brown stated that, by
the end of September, the company
will evaluate the numbers of people
seeking HIV antibody tests and early
treatment to reevaluate AZT pricing,although he made no promises about
a definite timetable.
Cost and Dosage
Burroughs Wellcome representatives also argued that since recent
studies indicate that AZf can be equally effective at half the normal dosage
level, the total cost of therapy has
already been reduced substantially.
Calling that an "incredibly absurd
argument" against price reduction,
Levi added, "$30 million from the federal government could help twice as
many people."
Currently, activists are lobbying
the Senate for an extension of a stopgap funding program intended to provide treatment drugs to low-income
AIDS patients nationwide who are noteligible for state Medicaid programs.
The program in most states is expected to run out at the end of September.
Both Burroughs Wellcome andthe activists left open the possibilityof a future meeting, although theactivists were cynical that they would
be interested in making the trip to
Raleigh without assurances that thecompany was ready to make a pricereduction.
"It really comes down to a lowering of the price," said Barr. "There areother issues we can discuss with Burroughs Wellcome, but not until the
price comes down."
...

I

:.-

_22

5_

~

_

_2

'

preparedwithby Rick X

information

The Gay & Lesbian
New YorkAN

EVENTS~

from
SwitchboardofFor more Information
or referrals, torap, or to volunteer, call the GLSBCALENDAR

daily, noon to midnight,

212-777-1800

Send ca1endar Items to.
Rick X, Going Out
Box 790
New York, NY 10108

Items must be received
day to be Included
Ingweek's

by Mon-In the IOlIowIssue.

DEMOCRA11C AND REPUBliCAN
PRIMARIES TODAY!
YALE GAY AND LESBIAN ALUMNI/ AE presents Jim Seymour,expert on TIbet and China, discussing Amnesty Internationaland Chinese politics concerning
Tibet and student activism (theBeijing massacre was 100 days
ago today); at Columbia University's Earl Hall; 7:30 pm; member
info 724-9113
WNET-TV/13 MOther Faces ofAIDS,'
examining
the background and impact of AIDS in
America's minority communities;
8 pm (also broadcast In Spanish,
Saturday, 9/16)
CELLBLOCK 28 Leather
Partywith Hands-On
Prc.Juctlons,safe-sex
party; 28 Ninth Ave(below 14th St); 8 pm - 3 am;$10; 733-3144
WOMEN'S COUPLE DANCINGClasses
Begin for an 8-weekseries including
Swing, Cajun,
Schottische, Two-Step, more; nopartner needed;at the Center,
208 W 13 St; 8:15-9:15 pm; $10
per c1ass/$64 for eight classes;

7181972-7366

HARLEM WEEK OF PRAYER ONAIDS Individual
AIDS Awareness Workshops
In Harlem
Churches;
info 862-5970
FOUNDATION FOR TIlE SELFHEAIlNG AIDS-RELATED EXPER-74

OUT~WEEKIMENT(SHARE)Free
Introductory
Evening, in anticipation of the Sept. 20-24 Who
Heals program for discoveringthe "healer within"; with Niro,founding director of SHARE whoreversed her ffiV status from positive to negative,
and Amitabh(Robert Birnbaum, PH.D. in clinical psychology
UC, Berkeley),transformational
therapistandhealer; at 441 Lafayette St; 7:309:30 pm; 46Q.8074
GAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS
Eroticizing
Safer Sex Workshop, to learn the how-to's ofplaying more safely while meeting other men; at the Center, 208
W 13 St; 8-10 pm; free, no registration required; 807-6655, TDD
645-7470

VILLAGE BOWLING LEAGUE
Tournament,with 22 4-person
teams,
social/competitive;atBowlmor Lanes, 110 Univeristy
Place; 8:30 pm; info 873-0154(eves), lanes 255-8188
GAY MALE S/M ACIlVISTS Welcome Back Meeting,to sharesummer stories and make plans
for the coming year; at the Center, 3rd Floor, 208 W 13 St; 8:30
pm; $5; 727-9878
STEPHEN HOLT SHOW Interviews Charles
Busch on His
Bed, on Manhattan
Cable TV
Channel 17D, 9 pm (repeats on
Paragon, 9/16)
EAGLE

BAR

Movie

Night:

Rocky Horror Show; 142 11th
Ave (at 21 St); 11 pm; 691-8451

SCRABBLE PLAYERS CLUB GameNight; newcomers asked to bringa board; at the Center, 208 W 13
St; 8-11 pm; 570-9369
A DIFFERENT LIGHT BOOKSTORE presents
Christopher
Bram,readingfrom his third
novel, In Memory of Angel Clare,
548 Hudson St (btwn Charles andPerry); 8 pm; free Oimited seating!); 989-4850
RIDICULOUS lHEAlRICAL COMPANY presents the openingof
Big Hotel by Charles Ludlum,with and directedby Everett
Quinton,"an eveningof lust,intrigue,and mayhem
in thelobby and environs of The Big
Hotel"; at One Sheridan Square; 8
pm; will play six weekend-s(through 10/22), WED-SUN at 8pm, extra show every SAT at 11
pm; info 989-6524, tix 691-2271
MUSICAL lHEATRE WORKS presents the openingof Midsummer Nights, in which "luscious
California
girls and muscularbeach boys abound on surf board
and motorcycle, all to a rollicking
rock 'n roll score and a script not
at all faithful to Shakespeare's"; atTheatre at St. Peter's Church, 54
St & Lexington Ave; 8 pm; $20;
688-6022 (through Oct. 1; TuesSun at 8 pm, Sat & Sun matinee
at 3 pm)

September 18, 1989

CENTER'S NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF LESBIAN AND GAY ffiSfORY
Photographic
Exhibition:

Transformallons:
CrossDressers a"d Those Who Love
Them, Mariette Pathy Allen's
photographs
which caused the
NY Post terrible
angst even
before they'd heard of Robert
Mapplethorpe;
opens
today,
through Oct. 31; at the Center,
208 W 13 St; 620-7310 (Allen willappear with a panel discussion
on 9/28)
CENfER STAGE sees Tennessee
Williams'
Orpheus Desce"dlng, with Vanessa Redgrave; atthe Neil Simon Theatre; 8 pm;$48; 620-7310

PYRAMID aUB presents Thursdays at the Queer-Amid,withhost Ru-Paul,rock and funkmusic by DJ Rick Sugden, special
acts Pebbles and the Beach andTabbool; 101 Avenue A (btwn 6& 7 Sts); dancing from 10 pm - 4
am, shows at midnight and 1 am;$5; 420-1590

FI/.IIAr-_.

-

PEOPLE wrm AIDS COAUTION
Singles' Tea, for PWAs, PWArcs,
ffiV+s; 222 W 11 Sf, 3-5:30 pm;
532-0568
ASSEMBLERS TO ADORE TIlE
SPIRIT OF TIm GOD/DF.SS join
for a Full Moon RitualandMeditatIon
at the Center, 208 W
13 St; 7-7:30 pm; $1 (for the Center); 620-7310
SfATIONS COllECTIVE Tributeto Pat Parker,
an evening ofmusic and readings by and about
the pioneering Black lesbian writer; at the Center, 208 W 13 St; 7
pm; $4; 7181638HD415
MEN OF All. COLORS TOGE1HER Consiousness
Raising Session: Racism
and Sexism
In
Lesbianand Gay Organizations; at the Center, 208 W 13;
7:45 pm; 222-9794, 245-6366
CONFERENCE FOR CATIlOLICLESBIANS CENTER GROUP presents Dr_ Elisabeth
Koenig,speaking
about Julian of Norwich, a 14th century anchoress(hermit), known as a contemplative and spiritual guide; at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; 8-10 pm;$10; 7181353-7323
CELLBLOCK 28 Hot Ash Party,
at the private safe-sex leatherman's and J.O. club; 28 9th Ave(btwn 13 & 14,St); 8 pm - 3 am;$10; 733-3144
VILLAGE BOWLING LEAGUE
Tournament,with 22 doubles
teams, money league; at Bowlmor Lanes, 110 University Place;
8:30 pm; info 873-0154 (eves),
lanes 255-8188

A DIFFERENT LIGHT BOOKSf ORE presents Martha Barron
Barrett,
discussing
her latest
book, Invisible Lives, compiled
from over 120 interviewsofwomen-loving women; 548 Hudson St (btwn Charles and Perry);
8 pm; free Oimited seating!); 9894850

Wcstbcth Complex, near West St);
1-5 pm; members $8/non-members $10; member Info 741-2247

CREATIVE FAIRES, LTD. New
York RenaissanceFestival,
open today and Sunday (finalday); featuring All's Well Tbat
Ends Well on the Globe Stage,
Tales of the Decameron on theHarlequinStage, and Tales ofRobin Hood and Tbe Queen's
Polly which "unfold around you·;
Renaissancefoods and crafts,
dancers
and gypsies,
witchescoven, specialty
acts, a living
chess game, ·trlal and punishment,·
costumecontestsaresome of the featured attractions;in Sterling Forest, reachable via
Short IJnc Bus from Fort Authority 036-47(0), Iv NYC 10:15 am,
Iv Sterling Forest 6:15 pm; $12
adult4/$10 scnio~$5
kids age 612; info 914/351-517J(Edaor~note: gays and lesbians
havebeen welcomed by the Festival'spress office even though homosexuality was a capital offense
throughout this period)
CENTER
KIDS
OutingIn
Westchester
County,at thehome of one of the members, forlesbian and gay parents and theirchildren; RSVP by 9/14, 620-7310
WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK
Crafts and Antiques
Fair; 764-

6330
WOMEN AHour Asamu Nogudo Garden
Museumtrip;
353/0073,201/481~0

CONGREGATION B'NAI JESHURUN Shabbat Spiritual GatherIng for people with AIDS andtheir loved ones;
luncheon,music, conversation, study, worship servicc; 257 W 88 St; 2 pm;
free; 787-76fX)(also 10128, 11/18,
12/16)
WNET-1V/13 MOtras caras delSIDA,· en espanol, examlnando
106 problemas de las minoriciadcs
en los EE.UU. en cuanto aI epidemio del SlDA (AIDS); 2-3 pm
NONSMOKING LESBIAN NETWORK Dinner
and
Show,
718/998-2536 till 10 pm
GAY &: LFSBIAN UNION AT NEWYORK UNIVERSITY
Back toSchool Dance,with DJ Karinw.ud; Loeb Student Center's Eisner &: Lubin Auditorium,
566
LaGuardia Place (off Wash. Sq.
South); 9 pm to 1 am (doors
close at midnight);
photo ID
needed to enter, $5 generaV$3
student ID/free to NYU students;

998-4938
GAY ACTIVIST ALLIANCE IN
MORRIS
COUNTY
17th
Anniversary
Celebration:
Under the Big Top, with foodand dancing; at the Morristown
Unitarian
Fellowship,
21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown,
NJ; 8 pm to midnight; $15 (byadv.ance ticket only); 201/2851595

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

Ann Street

Adult Entertainment Center
21 Ann Street (btwn. Broadway & Nassau.St.)
New York City I (212) 267-9760
Mon.-Fri.: 7am-11pm I Sat.: 10am-11pm
Sun.: 10am-7pm

STEPHEN HOLT SHOW Interviews Charles
Busch on His
Bed,
Manhattan
CableandParagonCable Channel
16c,
11:3OamGAY MEN'S HEALTH CRISIS
Workshop:,to ·reaffirm theImportance of safer sex, and feci
confident
about
sayingyes,
whether you're Into casual sex orserious ·dating, and no matter
what yourstatus is·; at theCenter, 208 W 13 St; noon - 6
pm; register 8Q6.6655, TDD 6457470

mv

ACT-UPILONG ISLAND Demonstration of Outrage for Homeleu PWAs In Nassau County, at
Lydia· Hall, Freeport,
LI; 1 pm(press conference
at 2 pm);

51613~662,
SAGE

516/997-5238

LavenderandLace
Sodal; at the Lesbian and Gay
Synagogue, 57 Bethune 5t (In the

CREATIVE FAIRES, LTD. New
York RenaissanceFestival,
final day (see Saturday, Sept 16)
WOMEN ABOUT Horseback
riding In Pompton
Plains, lIij;
353/0073, 201/481~40
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF NEW YORK Home·comlng Sunday, beginning theyear with two worship services
every Sunday; at the Center, 208
W 13 St, 10 am; and, as before, at
135 W 4 St (east of 6th Ave), 7
pm; child care/Sunday
schooloffered at 7 pm service; 242-1212
22; $50; register 431-7777

LARGE SElECTION
OF ALL·MALE
VIOEOS I MAGAZINES I SCREENING BOOTHSNOVElTIES• • ••• • •I PERIOOICALSVIOEO RENTALSI TOYS I ETC.

I MEMBERSHIPTOWN t'IIKO ML[5,September 18, 1989

PLANS

N:.

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RECKLESScontinued from page 58

three lonely Parisian women, one ofwhom feeds and houses him, and ofcourse falls in love with him.
Barbino's ingratitude to them borders on the insane, yet they continue
to fawn over him, and are tearfulwhen he abruptly ditches them tohead over to England.
There is at flfSt glance a frightening quality
to someone
like
Barbino who has become so worldly
at such a young age .. But as Aldo
Busi demonstrates, Barbino conceals
great passion, sensitivity and idealism. Moreover,· Barbino is able to seehimself with a clarity and ingenuousness that few wouldn't envy. "I havenever for an instant wished to be.
anyone other than myself," Barbino
says, coming as close to a personal
revelation as he ever makes. And
thanks to AIdo Busi, while one mustacknowledge that it would be disastrous to know an individual like
Barbino in real life, it has been amarvelous reading experiencetohave encounteredsuch a tormented-and tormenting-youth.
~
RELENTLESSLYSO continued from page 56

vengeance. For Dietz, the personal
and professional finally blur together
when he (wearing the police jacket of
Buck's father) kills Buck in his own
living room and receives gratitude,
not only from the viewing public andhis own family, but from Buck himself. Personally addressed to Dietz,
Buck's last telephone directory message reads "Thank you."
While this film might frighten
some viewers into keeping theirphone numbers and addresses unlisted, I find it frightening for slightly different reasons. It is not simply thatthe film masks police violence as family protection, or that the film imagines the police as a familyhich
parents not only law and order, but
crime itself-but
moreover that thispolice family maintains order byimagining not only criminals, but thepolice themselves, to be everywhere.
How perfectly logical then that thepolice surveillance unit-which hopes
to entrap Buck-jokingly
describes
him at one point as "a government
official waiting for a homosexual ren-

78

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

dezvous.·
The police machinery
which protects the family by entrapping psychopaths
not surprisingly
turns out to be the same machinery
which preserves the family by entrapping gays and lesbians.
~
OUT OF CONTROL from page16

into past fiscal misconduct is un-·dertaken. Character assassinations
are plannedand discussed.
No
one attends Carol Greitzer's workshop on littering.
As usual, it is the opposition thatunifies the disorder. Ted Koppel
phones and says he is coming to ourconference. Ted Koppel from Nightline. Oh my god. He wants to interview us for one of those comic-relieffrom-global-disastersegments.
Microphones are stationed. Cameras
are focused. The conference, for onceis stilled. We lick our lips.
"So all you folks think you aremayors of New York City," chortles
Ted Koppel, in his comfortable, masculine way.
The' hall echoes as thousands ofoutcast voices respond in unison:"That's right, Ted.""Oh, come on, you people. You
had your chance at the polls.""No we didn't, Ted.""Look. Fun's fun, but there is
only one mayor of New York City. It'sin the City Charter.""We changed the City Charter,
Ted."
Ted Koppel seems hurt andangry. He steps out of character.
"Why, you people aren't comic reIief-you're-you'rerude. Racial minorities, homosexuals, welfare eases,
immigrants, ecology nuts: Grow up!
Our democratic electoral system willcontinue to prOVide jobs, justice, freedom and dignity for everyone, just as
it has for generations.""Not while we're mayor, Ted!"
Ted Koppel goes away mad,' and
we don't get to be on Nightline.
And all of us mayors are left
to reflect on the awesome responsibilities that Iie before us. Because, by the time you read this,none of us will have been electedmayor. Yet.
~JUST SAY NO from page 43

ing people of different ages,' races,sexual orientations.
Resistance takes many forms.
Working the system does not imply
subscribing to the institution. If weplay into their schemes, we encourage
the same ideological principles whichgovern our oppression, our invisibility,
and the violence against us as lesbians. You tell mom that you're justlike her, that you're married, that she
doesn't have to accept lesbians or lesbianism, but if she can jUst see herself
in your pseudo-heterosexual, familial
scenario, everything will be all right.
That leaves the rest of us lesbians tobe seen as difficult, unacceptable, disease-spreading, sex-crazed, pathological, unstable, adolescent, unfocused,unsuccessful, slutty perverts. Insteadof the same old, predictable "validations" on their terms, we should use
our gender socialization as the basis
for critique and challenge.
One last point on the "inside-out
approach" for people who want thebenefits heteros enjoy when they tie
the knot. It is a fact that thousands ofqueers got "married" at the mass wedding in October, 1987, Washington,
D.C. and others are doing it in individualized, private settings with alternative rituals and personal input on
the vows. So, what about healthinsurance and other "benefits" ofbeing married? The state certainly
makes provisions for people who follow their rules. But, remember, lesbian marriage is not in any way
sanctioned or legally legitimized by
the state. You say, "There's domestic
partnership
now in some parts of
Wisconsin, Maryland, and California.
That must be a radical thing, I mean,
Ronald Lauder's against it." Koch's
admirable (but miserably late, slimy
and politically motivated) support for
bereavement leave aside, the healthinsurance stuff is a: basic problem of
the economic system in this country.
For example, if we had socialized
medicine, everyone would be guaranteed health care, in which case tile"benefits· rationalization
becomesmute. God forbid I would have to bemonogamous to be treated in a hospital. Our system was built to be dismantled; we can always get around it. ~(for finding other gays and lesbians to dance with)

MEN&WOMENWOMENMONDAYPrivate Eyes 12 W 21 St.

midnight)

206-mo (preppie; male strippers, 2-4-1 till

TUESDAY
Hatfield's 126-10 Queens Blvd., Kew Gardens, Queens
718/261-8484

TUESDAY'Love Machine Broadway at 17 St. 254-4005 (at the Underground)
Tracks 531 W 19 St. 627-2333

WEDNESDAY
Qub Iafayette 428 Lafayette St. (Scott Currie & R. Couri Hay)
Private Eyes 12 W 21 St 206-mo (Dallas and Sanker's CLUBBAD)
SpectnJm 802 64 St. Brooklyn 71&"238-8213(free admission all night)

THURSDAY"Boybar 151/2 St Marks PI 674-7959 (has a new wave drag show)'Copacabana 10 E 60 St 755-0610 Oast Thu. of the month has Susanne
Bartsch party)

WEDNESDAY
Bedrock

121 WOodfield Road, West Hempstead, 11516/486-9516

THURSDAY
Bedrock 121 Woodfield Road, West Hempstead. 11 516/486-9516

FRIDAY
Bedrock (West Hempstead, LI)
Cheeks 2000 Long Beach Rd. Island Park, 11 516-431-5700
Octagon 555 W 33 St 947-0400 (Shescape, 645-6479)
Tracks 531 W 19 St. 627-2333 Oast Friday of month)
Visions 56-01 Queens Blvd. Woodside 718/846-7131"Pyramid 101 Ave A 420-1590 (Queer-Amid)
SpectnJm 802 64 St Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (free admission all night)

FRIDAY"Boybar 15 1/2 St Marks PI. 674-7959
Columbia Dances Earl Hall, 116 St & B'way 854-3574 Ost Friday of
every month)
Funk. Inc. 428 Lafayette St.
Private Eyes 12 W 21 st. 206-mo (preppies and young professionals)
Spectrum 802 64 St Brooklyn 718/238-8213 (mlf strippers)
Tracks 531 W 19 St. 627-2333

SATURDAY"Boybar 151/2 St Marks PI. 674-7959
The Center 208 W 13 St. 620-7310 (2nd and 4th Saturdays) resuming
9/23
Private Eyes 12W 21 St. 206- mo (Club Chicago for Men, preppies)
Sound Factory 530 W. 27 St. 643-{)728(non-alcohol, House music)
Spectrum 802 64 St Brooklyn 7181238-8213 (guest performer night)

SUNDAY'Mars Westside Highway at 13 St. 691-6262 (Chip Duckett's "Mars
Needs Men" night)'Pyramld 101 Ave A 420-1590 (Hapi Phace and Drag + Variety Show)
Spectrum 802 64 St. 718/238-8213 (show; free admission)

EVERY NIGHT
Monster 80 Grove St. at Sheridan Square 924-3557• (TVswelcome)SATURDAY
Bedrock .121 Woodfield Rd., West Hempstead 516-486-9516
Silver Ilnlng
175 Cherry Lane, Floral Pk, 11 516/354-9641 (a.k.a"The Lining")
Stan 836 Grand Blvd., Deer Park, L.I. 516/242-3857

SUNDAY
Bedrock (West Hempstead, Il)

EVERY NIGHT
CUbby Hole, 438 Hudson Street 243-9079
Duchess n, Sheridan Square 242-1408

All Phone numbers are area code 212 unless otherwise indicated.

NOTE:
Party events are subjeC1to change.

Send corrections/additions to:
RickX
Box 790

NY, NY 10108

September 18. 1989

OUTTWEEK

79

OutWeek Crossword
by Phil Greco
Edited by Gabriel Rotello
9. Area (abbr.)
10. South Yemen capital
11. Da Vinci's __Lisa
12. Woolf's Between the __B. Seethe
17. Village neighbor
18. "Here's __in your eye"
24. Charging
25. "I __parade"26. Biblical character
27. Lubricate
29. Actor Ames
31. Britten piece
32. Bee Gee's album
33. Eagle's __34. Totals
35. Musical about Anastasia
36. __
law
37. Guitar accessory
39. Ear section
42. __
shirt
43. Loud orator
46. Black stone
47. Prior to (abbr.)
48. Cassini's namesakes
50. Bombeck, et al
51. They __With Their BootsOn

SOLUTION IN NEXT WEEK'S OUTWEEK ON SALE TUESDAYACROSS
1. Beame and Lincoln

5. Koch, e.g.
10. Cup
13. Britten's The Turn Of The __14. Love
15. __
Holliday
16. Painting by Michelangelo
19. NOW goal
20. Infant
21. Merkel, et al
22. Stir fry utensil
23. Cocteau's __of a Poet
28. Margarine
30. Actress Anderson
31. Gerald Ford slogan
34. __
sex
36. Noel Coward extravaganza
38. Unbutton
39. Talisman
40. War god
41. Novel by Willa Cather
43. Nursery rhyme Jack
44. __
Anything
45. Black, to Shakespeare80

OUTTWEEK

September 18, 1989

52. Hunk, e.g.
53. Charlie Chan's comment

40. American Indian
47. Baldwin's Tell Me How LongThe TraMs __(2 wds)49. Stein's first novel
52. Identical
55. Brook
56. Geller
57. Book by Baldwin
63. Purpose
64. Wilde's The Importance ofEarnest65. Hill nymph
66. __
matrix67. Heads of hair
68. Edges

54. Going To __The Man
58. Huge multinational
59. Variant of reus
60. One, to Roehm
61. Compass dir.
62. Prefix with dent or cot
SOLUTION TO lAST WEEK'S PUZZLE
ISSUE'17 I',·,,'i"r;:"Miy''''
I' HER, •A I LIT
10 I E I SIR
E

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LAH.Ior.TSAR
AR

DOWN
1. Colorless, comb. form
2. Book by Colette
3. Moray
4. Fly __5. Finish
6. Part of speech (abbr.)
7. Damned If-- Don't
8. FortII 12

EO ___

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Hot Shot byErlchConrad

TASTYTIM, worldwide club celebrity, OJ and one of
the most beautiful tidbits on earth, can currently be seen
in Lynn Redgrave's new film G,tting It Right. Tasty guards
the doors at London's hottest new club "Kinky Gerlinky:
the monthly event that 'drags' out the best of London
nighdife. But he also loves New York, particularly drink
tickets, late hours and very large cocktails.

82

OUTTWEEK

September 18. 1989

Photo by Lizzerd Soufjk

Tasty is currently working on the new disco sensation Storm. Essential statistics we know you can't
live wjthout are: Fave color - pink gin; top role model Karen Carpenter; and hot vacation spot - the Betty
Ford Clini<:.
In a world starving for beauty, Tasty Tim is everythingfrom soup to nuts. Enjoyl

Gay Cable Network
Thursdays

Pride & Progress

September 14

10:30 pm

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

From Campaign Headquarters of Tom
Duane & Dave Taylor on Primary Eve.

11 :00 pm

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

Sundays

Men & Films

September 17

11 :30 pm

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

Jake Corbin Rides Bareback

Mondays

Be My Guest

September 18

10:00 pm

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

Sybil Bruncheon Meets The Joker
Episode #14
The Conclusion

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

Cleve Jones.

Robin Tyler. Sally Fisher, Creator the AIDS Mastery.

• The Experience Seattle'

Manis Kight'

River City Democratic Club, Sacramento.

Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Assembly at Microsoft·

National Gay & Lesbian Spirituality Conference, Oct. 6, 7, 8, Washington DC'

The Experience San Francisco'

MECLA •

Harwy Fierstein'

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TakeYour lell SlePI
whateYer tbat may be, in the process of fully coming out

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in a National Coming Out Day event in your community

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