Gay Peoples Chronicle

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AIDS Panics Indianapolis Officials

By SEBASTIAN MELMOTH

Cleveland health officials, Council President George Forbes, and the Plain Dealer have sharply criticized the panic-stricken behavior of Indianapolis offiials who rushed an AIDS victim here on a one-way bus ticket.

The man they deported was arrested by Indianapolis police who suspected him of stealing a bicycle. At the Marion County jail he told Deputy Sheriff Terry A. Dale that he had been diagnosed as having AIDS in Houston, where he had received treatment. He had come to Indianapolis because two sisters lived there.

Apparently unaware of the precise mechanisms involved in the transmission of AIDS, the deputies who booked him wore rubber gloves and gauze masks, and destroyed the pens he used to sign documents. They threatened bodily harm if he were to cough at them.

Fearful that he would spread AIDS throughout the county jail the Marion County sheriff passed word ' of the man's condition on to Municipal Judge John D. Dow-

ner.

Equally fearful that he might contaminate court personnel, the judge decided not to press charges against him. Rejecting all the other alternatives open to him, Judge Downer ordered the man

to leave Indianapolis and placed him in the custody of two deputy sheriffs with orders to take him to the bus station and buy him a oneway ticket to Cleveland, his original home.

The Indianapolis officials felt that these actions discharged all their responsibilities. They did not contact Cleveland health officials.

His treatment in Cleveland, which enjoys the advantages of more sophisticated legal and medical establishments, was very different. Through the Health Issues Task Force and the American Red Cross, housing was found for him. He was directed to the AIDS Clinic at University Hospitals.

Dr. V. Diana Richardson Cleveland Commissioner of Health and Chairwoman of the city AIDS Task Force, expressed further anger because the Associated Press released the victim's name over the wire services, violating the general practice of not naming someone who has not been formally charged with an offense.

Further evidence of the value of Ohio's state program for AIDS education' provided by a New York Times story from Kokomo, Indiana where officials have barred a 13-year-old hemophiliac with AIDS from attending school, fearing he will infect his fellow students.

United Way Contributions For Gay Groups

BY BILL OLDS

Members of the lesbian/gay community can designatė their favorite service organization when completing their annual contribution forms for United Way this October.

Any group with the status of a 501(c)(3) non-profit human health care service agency is eligible to receive your pledge. Although several organizations in northeast Ohio have 501(c)(3) status, a recent check with United Way officials indicated that only the GEAR Foundation (Gay Commun-

ity Center/Northeast Unio Lesbian/Gay Hotline) has previously been approved. Its agency account number is 050660.

To designate the group of your choice, simply list its name and number on your pledge: e.g. GEAR Foundation #050660.

re-

An organization may ceive contributions by requesting acceptance and submitting proof of its status to: Bruce J. Hyer, Associate Executive Director, Finance and Administration, United Way Services, 3100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland OH 44115.

GEAR officer Ken Gibbons chats with Shanna Blessing, newly appointed executive director of the Foundation.

CWRU Shows Gays in Castro's Cuba

BY ROB DAROFF

Whatever your political views or sexual orientation, "Improper Conduct," playing at CWRU's Strosacker Auditorium Tuesday, September 10 at 7 and 9:30 pm, is a must

see.

"Improper Conduct" is a filmed investigation that sheds strong light on the Cuban Revolution's dark side. Twenty-eight Cuban exiles, all victims of their homeland's oppression, tell

their incredibly moving, revealing stories. Much of the testimony comes from gay men, whose presence embărrassed the ultra macho image the Castro regime sought för itself. Effeminacy was view-

as counter-revolutionary

and could bring charges of "moral impurity." For those interviewed in the movie, such charges meant spending time in one of the country's forced-labor camps.

All the more disturbing, "Improper Conduct" shows us vividly what can happen even here in the United States when anti-gay conservative politics is taken one step further.

In Cuba, the hypocrisy and insanity of the Castro Government draws a sharp contrast with the courageous determined voices of the 28 exiles. Their stories are frighteningly real, but they reveal a piece of the world that for our own sake, we can neither ignore nor forget.

BWMT/DRS Offers Vacation Prize

BWMT/Cleveland and the Discrimination Response System are offering a weekend for two in New York City as a door prize at the November 9 Anniversary Dinner. The winner need not be present. Donations will be used to

support programs for eliminating discrimination against gay people in northeast Ohio and the Midwest region. Tickets are available through BWMT/DRS members.

ANDREW PETER BEEBE, PH.D.

PSYCHOLOGIST

2460 FAIRMOUNT BLVD. SUITE 323

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO 44106

(216) 229-4290

1836 Euclid Avenue, Suite 206 Cleveland, Ohio

JOY B. SAVREN Attorney at Law

Divorce/Dissolution

771-6597

GENERAL PRACTICE Power of Attorney Custody/Support Landlord/Tenant Personal Injury⚫ Traffic/DWI

Criminal Wills

NO CHARGE FOR INITIAL CONSULTATION

OVEN PRODUCTIONS

PRESENTS:

Person

with Opening Act HUNTER DAVIS

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6

7:30 pm

Allen Memorial Library, Ford Auditorium Case Western Reserve University Campus, 11000 Euclid Ave. $7 Advance $9 Door C S W/E S/C COM