This Way Out; 77

I am very pleased that the ethics committee has moved quickly. We don't release profit margins to act up or to anybody else. Of course there are lesbian and gay Jews. Of course the young people in your congregation some of them are going to grow to be lesbians and gay men. That's just is. There's Orange County, there's Urban Gay Parade! Yay! Welcome to This Way Out, the International Lesbian and Gay Radio Magazine. I'm Greg Gordon. And I'm Lucia Chappelle. Pride clashes with prejudice in Southern California. New York Stock Exchange closed by unwelcome acting up. And International Bridge Tournament finds person with arc down one and vulnerable. All that and more because you've discovered this way out. I'm Sandy

Dwyer. And I'm Anuel Nunez. With NewsRap, a summary of some of the news in and affecting the gay and lesbian community for the week ending September 17, 1989. A Korean -born lesbian, Jan Suk Bon Sama, has been denied entry into the United States by immigration officials. Bon Sama, who was adopted by a Dutch couple, had hoped to attend an International Asian Lesbian retreat in San Francisco. However, when her flight from the Netherlands landed at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport on August 28th, immigration officials detained her overnight and deported her the next day. The INS contains that Bon Sama was trying to enter the U .S. permanently. It was at the same INS checkpoint that Hans Paul Verhoff, a person with AIDS, also from the Netherlands, was detained in route to an International AIDS conference in San Francisco. Bon Sama is the fifth gay or lesbian tourist who has protested deportation from the Minneapolis St. Paul Airport this year. Lesbian and gay activists fear that there are many more that are going

unreported. Preliminary results of the unsanctioned tests of the promising AIDS drug, Count Pound Q, have been released by a project in form of San Francisco. Dr. Larry Wates, one of the physicians involved in the study, said that early results showed evidence of significantly decreased viral activity among 14 San Francisco patients who were involved in the study. In addition, there was a slight increase of the immune system's T4 helper cells. While Wates said he was encouraged by the results, he cautioned that the full effects of Count Pound Q will not be known until all the data is analyzed and all the patients in the study are evaluated in the months to follow. The conduct of U .S. Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, one of only two openly gay congressmen, will be investigated by the House Ethics Committee. Thelma LeBrec and Steve Katz of the Associated Press filed these reports. By a show of hands, the House Ethics Committee has decided to take up the case of Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank. Ethics Committee Chairman Julian Dixon made the announcement to

reporters. We voted a preliminary inquiry in the assertions regarding Mr. Barney Frank. Dixon would not give a tally on the vote, although another Massachusetts congressman on the Ethics panel, Democrat Chet Atkins, has excused himself from the case. Congressman Frank had asked for the investigation after admitting that he hired a male prostitute, then later fired him after suspicions that the man was selling sex from Frank's apartment. Thelma LeBrec, Capitol Hill Okay, I'll set. Before a crush of microphones, reporters, and cameras, the Massachusetts congressman promised to cooperate fully with the Ethics Committee. I am very pleased that the Ethics Committee has moved quicker. I asked for this couple weeks ago now, in particular, when I saw what I believed to be very inaccurate charges floating around a couple of new ones have come up. In accurate charges have been made that I look forward to refuting, and I think the Ethics Committee is the best place to refute them, so I'm glad they're giving me that opportunity. Frank admits hiring a male prostitute for sex, then employing the man as a personal aid. But he denies allegations he knew the

prostitute used his Capitol Hill apartment to run a prostitution ring. I'm really looking forward to having a forum in which I can document, frankly, some of these inaccuracies, in which I can show any parking tickets that anybody got in my car for personal purposes I paid. My handwriting will be testifying, other people will be testifying as to the validity of what I've said, so I'm pleased that I'm moving so quickly. Frank was asked what impact the scandal might have on his political career. In fact, the politics of this situation are going to depend in part on the outcome of the Ethics Committee. He says he doesn't know how long the committee will take in its investigation of him. Steve Katz, Capitol Hill. Proposed legislation in the Soviet Union would guarantee Soviet citizens and visitors with AIDS the right to receive medical and social help. If approved, the law wouldn't pose criminal penalties against those medical and pharmaceutical workers who felt provide services. The proposed law also prohibits random mandatory HIV testing. The Belgian soldier who was arrested for the murders of two gay men last January in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, was found guilty and has been sentenced to life in prison. Rudy Van Den Boer, a chauffeur for the Belgian Embassy in Washington, D .C., left his job without notice last January after a fight with his male lover. Van Den Boer appeared in Fort Lauderdale, where in two separate incidents, he picked up his victims at a bar, took them to the beach, where they were later found shot in the head. During the trial, he said he murdered the two gay men to impress his lover. An international bridge champion and member of the US team has been denied a visa to attend a bridge tournament in Perth, Australia, because he is a person with AIDS -related complex. Peter Pender was told by the Australian consulate in San Francisco that his application had been turned down because of his illness. The consulate had demanded certification from his physician that he was physically able to travel and questioned him about his sex life during the last seven years. Pender said he had cooperated fully with the consulate.

He said that he intends to go to the tournament to help defend the US title, even if he has to swim. And finally, actress Jiaja Gabura made an interesting comment during her criminal trial in Beverly Hills, California. Jiaja was stopped by a police officer who discovered she was driving without a license and had failed to re -register her role's voice. She compounded the problem by leaving the scene and then slapping the officer in the face when he caught up with and arrested her. Discussing the possibility of going to jail on the misdemeanor charges, Jiaja said, QUOTE, I have claustrophobia and would be very unhappy in jail. And besides, they are all lesbians in jail, and I am so scared of lesbians. Can you imagine being in jail with all those women? UNQUOTE, which just goes to prove that some people's egos know no bounds. Lesbians, after all, do have some taste. That's news rep for the week ending September 17, 1989, written by Sandy Dwyer of News, serving the Greater

Los Angeles area, with contributions from other gay and lesbian publications and broadcasts throughout the world. Remember, an informed community is a strong community. Find out what's happening in your area by monitoring your local gay and lesbian media. For this way out, I'm Sandy Dwyer, and I'm Manuel Núñez. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. All that we both are sure, I'm being more... In a well -orchestrated demonstration, ACT UP NEW YORK, closed down the New York Stock Exchange on September 14. Mark Albert, at WBAI, has this report. Two activists with fake ID were able to get onto the trading floor and blast fog horns while five others unfurled a banner from the members gallery reading cell welcome. The action marked the first time the New York Stock Exchange was closed since the late

1960s when Abbey Hoffman and Jerry Rubin threw dollar bills onto the trading floor from the visitor's gallery. Trading stopped briefly as broker scrambled for the cash. Burrows welcome the British pharmaceutical corporation has a 17 year patent on AZT, the only approved drug to slow the advance of HIV infection. After the seven men were arrested, over a thousand people converged on Wall Street to protest the drug company's refusal to lower the price of AZT, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power or act up organized the demonstration. Vincent Goliostro was one of the demonstrators. Burrows welcome flatly refuses to lower the price of AZT. It costs between eight to ten thousand dollars a year and 35 % of the infected population is either without insurance, you know, without Medicaid and cannot afford to take the drug. And given the fact that the new research on AZT has shown it to be effective on HIV positive

people who are asymptomatic. The demand for this drug and the need for this drug will be greater if people choose to go on it. Goliostro says if other companies were allowed to produce AZT, the price would come down dramatically. Kathy Bartlett is the spokesperson for Burrows welcome in Triangle Park, North Carolina. Burrows welcome God at the patent because we're the ones that turn this chemical into a medicine. The patent is awarded by the patent office based on the innovative work done by Burrows welcome scientists. We're the ones that identified the potential of AZT, we're the ones that proved that it was effective in a clinical trial funded entirely by this company and we're the ones that brought it to patients as a therapy and record time. Carrying signs reading boycott act of fed and suit of fed which are two other Burrows welcomes products and AIDS is big business but who is making a killing. Demonstrators charge that Burrows welcomes profits have soared 80 % and the value of

welcomes stock has gone up 40 % since the release of the drug. While the company insists that it must recoup its research investment in AZT, AIDS activists are demanding that Burrows welcome open its books to find out just how much it costs to make the drug and how much is profit. Again, Kathy Bartlett. We don't release profit margins to act up or to anybody else. That's proprietary information on this is a highly competitive industry and no pharmaceutical industry would give out that type of information. Actup activists argue that a cut in the price of AZT would encourage insurance companies to cover its costs and increase the chance that Congress will extend a $30 million subsidy for AIDS drugs that expires this month. Activists also say that treating people in the early stages of HIV infection with AZT will significantly reduce long -term healthcare costs. Actup spokesperson Vincent Goliostro says no one should profit off AZT except people with AIDS. The demand is that AZT be free,

the money or your life policy has got to end right now. For WBAI News, I'm Mark Albert in New York. Why do they have the go? Why do they have the power? Do they have the friends at the top? Why do they have the jobs at the top? We've got nothing, always had nothing, nothing but holes and millions of them living in holes, dying in holes, holes in our bellies and holes in our clothes. We want our rights and we don't care how. We want our revolution now. You're listening to this way out, the

International Lesbian and Gay Radio Magazine. With Greg Gordon, I'm Lucia Chappelle. Jews around the world will soon be observing Rasha Shana and Jan Kapoor, a traditional time of reflection and reconciliation. From AIDS and focus, here's Mike Alkalay. It's taken a long time for America's 6 million plus Jews to become aware of and concerned about people with AIDS. Most U .S. Jewish communities still tend to ignore the AIDS crisis. But as David Mandel reports, a few do give care and support to Jews who have the disease. Rabbi Yoel Khan, of one of San Francisco's gay synagogues, Shara Zahav, he broof her golden gate, says it's ironic that society has irrationally victimized and ostracized both Jews and people with AIDS. He says Jews should know better than to shun their own people who happen to have AIDS. We have known a history of government denial of our needs because we were an unpopular minority whose needs were seen as

secondary or not important and some of Jewish people went to their deaths and generations passed because governments didn't care. Talking about AIDS is largely taboo in most Jewish communities. That's why no one knows how many Jews have the disease. David Glasberg is a Jew with AIDS. He says AIDS should be regarded as a Jewish issue because some Jews have the disease. People with AIDS are people in their community that they know but don't know that they're ill. And there's a tremendous amount of that people can do just by talking about it and supporting others. And Glasberg says that's exactly what San Francisco's Jewish community is doing. He says everyone he's met has given him care, love, and support. That's unlike other cities such as Miami where says Glasberg, his relatives can't talk about AIDS with anyone, even their rabbi. I asked them if they've talked to their rabbi for support, they said no. And I said

wise as well, he might not understand. Most religious Jews believe in the biblical precept that homosexuality is an abomination. Even non -observant Jews reflect the general public's negative attitude toward gay people and Jewish humor often pokes fun at gays, calling them figalas or fairies. San Francisco's Jewish AIDS project coordinator Andy Rose says he talks to Jews openly and frankly about homosexuality. Look, let's be real about this. Of course there are lesbian and gay Jews. Of course the young people in your congregation some of them are going to grow to be lesbian and gay men. That just is. It doesn't really matter how you feel about it. That is how it is. Rose says as far as Jewish AIDS projects are concerned, San Francisco's is unique. We're the first Jewish community that made it enough of a priority to hire a social worker in a program coordinator specifically to include and involve Jewish people with AIDS and to raise consciousness in the Jewish community so that the level of awareness would go up and the level of stigma and isolation would go down. Every week

San Francisco's synagogues cook large Jewish meals for people with AIDS that would make most Jews mouths water. Rabbi Yoel Khan says just tasting that homemade chicken soup can be a high point in the life of a Jew with AIDS. I get these phone calls about how the chicken soup is running out but these are not enough to work because the new batch is coming and everything we've ever said about the mythology of chicken soup is so true for these individuals. For the most part American Jews with AIDS are isolated from their Jewish communities. Khan says Jews throughout the nation must reach out to these people and welcome them into their homes and hearts. It is simply not true that we don't know anyone who is affected by AIDS. Rather they are there and they are silently hiding, scarred, waiting for someone to let them know that it is okay to speak about their pain. Jews in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and a few other cities are actively involved in helping people with AIDS. And the

most liberal wing of the Jewish community known as the Reform Movement has taken the lead in educating Jews about the AIDS crisis and what Jews must do to help stop it. I'm David Mandel in San Francisco. Equal Equal Equal Equal Equal Equal

Equal Equal Equal Equal About 30 Christian fundamentalists and some police officers tried to spoil the party for an estimated 8 to 10 ,000 lesbians, gay men, and their friends during a lesbian and gay pride weekend in the city of Santa Ana, California. This way out Sandi Dreyer and Gabriel Antolović were there. Violence erupted September 10th at the first lesbian and gay pride festival in Parade ever held in conservative Orange County, California, the home of homophobic U .S. representative William Danemiar and homophobic state representative Robert Dornin. Strong opposition from anti -gay religious fundamentalists was led primarily by Reverend Lou Sheldon, head of the traditional values coalition based in Anaheim. Despite his efforts, the city of Santa Ana refused to revoke the permit. While there was what was described as minor shoving and pushing

between anti -gay fundamentalists and festival goers on September 9th, it was during the Parade on the 10th that a melee broke out that resulted in six arrests. The parade began with optimism, enthusiasm, and pride. Disorange County, deserve the day Parade! Yes! I guess so. This way out, Gabriel Antolović, who was on the scene, spoke with one of the organizers, Bob Hansen. What made you think of this and what made you think you could get away with it? Well, we needed something positive, something very gay and something very open in Orange County and I had the energy and I wanted to do it and I knew there was a lot of support for it and we found the right people and we did it. Everybody's here and we're having a great time. We're here! We're here! We're not going shopping! We're here! We're here! We're not going shopping! But also on the scene at the park entrance, waiting, we're about 30 sign -carrying anti -gay fundamentalists. Three pants, dynamite!

Jesus said, repent! Don't ask the taxpayers to cure you, cure yourself. Three pants, dynamite! Be ashamed of your sin. You didn't die for you to the flunch you were sinned around. You get AIDS. You are sick. You will eventually die, shrivel away with AIDS and go to hell. Get the car! Get the car! Get the car! Get the car! Get the car! Unlike most gay and lesbian pride parades held around the United States, police did not restrict the anti -gay religious fundamentalists to a definite compact area but allowed them to roam a wide area along the parade route with less than a dozen police on hand. As a result, there was direct confrontation between the two factions as the parade passed by. You need to be ashamed of you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. The stage was set for the more directly

-confrontational gay and lesbian groups. With no barricades separating the religious protesters in parade participants and scattered police, act up Los Angeles, confronted the fundamentalists with slogans and chants of their own. Cheering and shouting About a dozen police and several dozen volunteer parades security people then formed a human line to separate them and force act up to continue marching. Dis Website Department It was about 10 -15 minutes later when about 30 members of the street action group, The Orange County Visibility League and ACT UP LA returned to the parade route to stage a kiss -in in full view of the anti -gay fundamentalists. When the police, including three mounted horse patrol officers, tried to stop the kiss -in, the activist staged an impromptu sit -in and began chanting. The

police ignored the sit -in, turning their attention back to the parade. One of the religious fundamentalists walked into the center of the sit -in. By the time two other fundamentalists walked in and finally dragged the creature out, several hundred people had gathered around the sit -in. They followed those fundamentalists yelling and chanting. The police, calling for reinforcements, tried to separate the factions and clear the area, but they were spread too thin. And in another area, there was a direct confrontation between religious fundamentalists and pro -gays. It was at that point that the fundamentalist leader, Ruben Chavez, and two of his followers struck out at came in and lesbians and were arrested. In an attempt to restore order, the police ordered everyone to lay down their signs, saying the signs could be considered a weapon. Lesbians and came in, put theirs down. The fundamentalists did not. Gabrielle and Talovich was in the middle of that group, and as the police attempted to clear the

area, you will hear her in mid -settings as she is hit with a police baton. The gay people are objecting to the fact that the police are not confiscating the Christian signs, but they want the gay people to cut their signs down. Should the gay people have constant food back here? So the gay people are not backing down. Get rid of the sign, Bigger. Get rid of the sign, Bigger. Get rid of the sign, Bigger. The police have brought the hosers in to try and stop a potential riot. Again, just to reiterate. The gay. That's the match numbers. We're back. We're back. The police are now bashing into the gay people and trying to push them back away from the Christian signs.

A large group estimated at approximately 500 people were now involved in the melee and several hundred followed the fundamentalists who were trying to regroup, still carrying their signs. 30 to 40 police who had arrived at this point formed a line separating the two groups and began a sweep of the area using their batons on anyone in the way, including two gay men who were leading as ordered. They were about five to eight feet away with their backs to the police line when an officer ordered their arrest. At the moment they're attacking a particular gay rights person and it looks like it's actually being hurt by the police. You have three policemen on your back and it's being handcuffed. Let them go, let them go, let them go, let them go. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured during the melee. The crowd of approximately 500 people finally dispersed. It was later when the police did a final sweep of the area that the sixth person, a non -gay man who had marched in the parade, was arrested while

sitting under a tree with his friends. Allegedly he refused to move when ordered to do so by the police. Now that violence against gay men and lesbians is escalating across the country and is becoming well documented, the danger of anti -gay bigotry is beginning to be recognized by some of the non -gay media. The Los Angeles Herald Examiner published an editorial two days later saying, in part, there are also dangerous repercussions from publicly accepted bigotry. Just as in the deep south, where legitimated racism unleashed the brutal force of communities on peaceful black protesters, d 'Anna Myers and Dornin's hatred undoubtedly encouraged the attacks on a gay pride parade in Santa Ana. Homophobia has been called the only respectable prejudice left. The silence from the rest of the political establishment over such hatred can only be construed as consent. And right now, that silence is deafening. With Gabriel and Tolovich, I'm Sandy Dwyer reporting for this

way out. Thanks for choosing this way out, the International Lesbian and Gay Radio Magazine. This week, Sandy Dwyer and Manuel Nuñez, Felma LeBreck, Steve Katz, Mark Albert, Mike Alcalae and David Mendel, and Gabriel and Tolovich contributed program material. Some of the

music you heard was performed by the original London cast of Cabaret, Judy Collins, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Simon and Garfunkel, and Kim Wilson composed and performed our theme music. Satellite distribution of this way out is made possible through a grant from the Chicago Resource Center. Additional funding support has been provided by the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the Imperial Movie Capital Court of Hollywood, and a donation in Loving Memory of Vaughn Gepford. As always, we'd like to hear from you with any comments, suggestions or questions you might have. Address to this way out post office box 38327 Los Angeles, California 90038. This way out is produced by Greg Gordon, and Lucia Chappelle, and we thank you for listening on WUSB Stony Brook, KFAI Miniapolis St. Paul, and Radio 2RSR Sydney, among others, and for supporting this local community radio station. Now y 'all stay tuned!