Page 6 GAY PEOPLES CHRONICLE January,1989

REVIEW:

MEN'S CHORUS

by Tom Z.

This is me partying excessively. This is me donning gay apparel. This is me stumbling through the cold and arriving at Lakewood Civic Auditorium on December 18 just in time to hear the North Coast Men's Chorus.

What an awesome responsiblity this is. "I love to come to these things and snub the Chronicle staff," a young man says to me.

I lied to get this review by saying I go to chorus concerts all the time. This, however, still does not get me in free.

I really don't know what to expect and am very impressed to see more than 750 people pass through the doors.

The first set moved well--highlights being the arrangement of "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" (you could have heard a pin drop), and the rousing version of "Amen" featuring soloist Geno Taylor, who brought the house down and received a standing ovation by a few in the audience who probably weren't even members of his immediate family.

=IVING WITH AIDS

by Joseph Interrante Director of Education Health Issues Taskforce

Getting the Facts on Oral Sex

This column discusses recent findings about saliva and HIV (the virus that can lead to AIDS and other illnesses), and examines their implications for our understanding of the risks involved in oral sex for men and women. It contains some sexually explicit language. If you don't want to read that, then stop after the first three paragraphs. I hope you will continue reading, however, because safer sex means understanding why certain acts may be risky.

A recent study by the National Institute of Dental Research (1988) adds to the evidence that giving or getting the virus through saliva is very

After a brief intermission, the second set featured a Caribbean carol complete with auxiliary percussionists. The "Gentlemen's Blend" brought an overwhelming response with a fourpart rendition of "Mr. Santa," a slightly more open-minded version of "Mr. Sandman."

The audience participation segment worked quite well---as we know, choreographed participation is risky, and doesn't always produce. The guy next to me fell into a grade-school chorus flashback and started jamming counterpoint fa-la-la-la-las. (Liz Fraser, eat your heart out.)

The show closed with the mandatory "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," then to the lobby for a reception.

Normally I am wary of shows like this because I fear they will be too cute. But the concert turned out to be great entertainment that got me into the holiday spirit faster than the Partridge Family Christmas Songs album.

Kudos to everyone involved in this thoroughly enjoyable, professional presentation. Here's hoping the next is standing-room-only. ▼

difficult. Researchers incubated HIV in saliva for one hour at 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit--standard body temperature). They found that the HIV was unable to infect human blood cells. The study concluded that saliva contains a factor that inactivates (in a sense "kills") the HIV virus.

This confirms a 1986 Harvard study that suggested that Immuglobulin A (IgA) in saliva can neutralize HIV. Added to what we already know---that the virus is not found in the saliva of every person with HIV-related conditions, and that saliva has a very low amount of the virus---these studies reinforce what AIDS educators have been saying all along. Put simply, it is very, very, VERY difficult to give or get the virus through saliva. This means that kissing, even deep (French) kissing, is very low risk.

FERRON

by Michele Smeller

Clad in a stylish black suit and lightly tanned boots, Ferron electrified a near-capacity crowd on Friday, November 18th at Peabody's Downunder. Joining Ferron on stage was Novi, whose alarmingly red viola named "Stinky" beautifully balanced Ferron's raw vocal & guitar music.

The duo opened the show with a new upbeat & political song about standing up and being counted. After a few exchanges with members of the audience, Ferron launched into a ballad, defined by a friend as "a story with real people, furniture, geography and events that happen in order. Quipped Ferron, "How many of your events happen in order?"

Throughout the first set Ferron mixed old and new, playing a few songs from her popular release Testimony and others from Shadows on a Dime and two as yet unreleased. Just before her break Ferron had the entire crowd singing in a four part harmony to "Willow Tree."

Audience participation continued in the second half as Ferron belted "Bellybowl". The audience accompanied her by jingling keys and

What this evidence means for oral sex, whether performed on a man or a woman, is less clear. Some publications and organizations have claimed that studies about saliva prove that saliva will "kill" any HIV it touches. But the studies do not prove that. From research on babies who seem to have been infected through breast feeding, it seems that some kinds of oral transmission are possible.

So what does this mean for oral sex? For so-called "passive" partners, people on whom oral sex is performed, studies reinforce the lowrisk nature of oral sex. The likelihood of infection from their partners' saliva is very low. For so-called "active" partners, risk depends upon the situation.

The questions the saliva studies do not answer are: how much saliva does it take to neutralize the

singing along. During the set she played more new songs, one a ballad she called "Ain't Life a Brook Ten Years Later From the Other Side," and "Harmless Love."

Though she was pressed for time, Ferron stayed to sign autographs and answer questions from admirers.

The openness and candor she displayed on stage, as well as her honest and sometimes haunting music makes Ferron a treasured artist in our community. Though her lyrics tend to be vague, she obviously makes a statement through her stage presence and her whole persona. Ferron is not afraid to say who she is and what she stands for. Her music speaks to many of us and tells the tale that most of us experience.

Though we don't hear from her often, and making records is a high-cost process, it's worth anybody's money to purchase her music and see her when it's possible. Heck, this reporter even traveled to Madison, Wisconsin in July to hear her. Ferron's songs can make you laugh, they can make you cry, but mostly what they do is make you feel like you have a friend. A friend in Ferron.

amount of HIV found in infected sexual fluids? And how long would one have to "incubate" these fluids in saliva to neutralize them? (Remember that this new study incubated HIV in saliva for an hour. Does it take that long? Or does saliva neutralize the virus on contact, or in a few minutes?)

These questions sound ridiculous, I realize, but they are important if we try to apply the studies to oral sex. We do not know how easy or difficult it is to give or get HIV through vaginal fluids.

We know vaginal fluids contain a low amount of HIV (though more than saliva); we don't know if HIV is found in the vaginal fluids of every woman with HIV-related conditions. Saliva may play a role in reducing whatever risk there is in oral Continued on Page 13.

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