June, 1989

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 13

WE ARE EVERYWHERE

by John Hubert

Mexico-The

Grupo Orgullo Homosexual de Liberacion (Gay Pride Group for Liberation) reports that a bomb exploded outside their offices in Guadalajara, Mexico on March 23. No one was injured, and damage was minimal.

GOHL is currently in the middle of an intensive campaign against AIDS, and suspects that a far right group is responsible for the bombing, possibly in relation to the AIDS campaign.

GOHL is requesting that letters of protest and support be sent to Mexico's president, asking him to investigate the bombing thoroughly and to guarantee the protection of GOHL members and the lesbian and gay citizens of Guadalajara.

Write to: Presidente Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico. Copies of letters should be sent to GOHL, Apartado Postal 1-1693, Guadalajara, Jalisco 44100, Mexico.

Seven years old, GOHL is one of the most accomplished groups in Latin America. Its offices in downtown Guadalajara house the Gay Community Center and its popular disco, Boop's. Recently, in cooperation with the International Lesbian & Gay Association, it began publishing the ILGA Latin

American Information Bulletin in Spanish. The third issue, just published, is 74 pages and covers news from throughout Latin America, plus an upto-date listing of groups. Write to GOHL for further information.

Chile-The Colectiva Lesbica Feminista Ayuquelen of Santiago, Chile, has been awarded a grant from the European Human Rights Foundation in the amount of 5,000 Dutch guilders (about $2,500 U.S.). The grant was made by the International Lesbian & Gay Association, headquartered in Stockholm.

Ayuquelen is the only homosexual group in Chile. It has tried, so far unsuccessfully, to start a male or mixed group. Due to numerous death threats against CLA members in recent months, the International Lesbian Information Service in Amsterdam has set up a special worldwide network to respond to anything that might happen in Chile. It also keeps in regular contact by phone. Ayquelen can be contacted at CLA, Casilla 70131, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile. They appreciate all letters of support.

Colombia-The four-year-old Colectivo de Orgullo Gay (Gay Pride Collective) has just published issue 14 of its informative magazine, De Ambiente. Due to present conditions in Columbia and the lack of financial resources, this is their first edition in almost a year. The

NSIDE THE WASHINGTON LOBBY

by Laura Markowitz

and Chai Feldblum

A Homosexual Conspiracy

It is an unfortunate fact of life in Washington these days that whenever Congress or the federal government tries to do something about AIDS, such efforts often face distortion by members of Congress who are homophobic or have puritanical sexual attitudes.

Even when other public health issues, such as unwanted pregnancy or fertility, are brought up, conservatives try to transform these health issues into political issues. This is happening with the current debate over a survey on sexual practices that the federal government wants to undertake. Our responsibility is to bring the debate back to the real issues public health and scientific knowledge and not let conservatives change the agenda.

Information used by researchers in developing projections for the level of HIV infection in this country, and in developing strategies to halt the AIDS epidemic, is at least 40 years old – data derived from the original Kinsey sex studies. The need for updated information on the sexual behavior and practices of Americans has been consistently recognized by all organizations working to fight the AIDS epidemic. All AIDS reports, even the one issued by President Reagan's commission, have called for such studies.

The National Institute of Child Health and Development, part of the National

Institutes of Health, conducts social science surveys routinely, and it proposed developing a survey that would ask a random sampling of the public about their sex lives. NICHD contracted with a respected group of researchers at the University of Chicago to develop survey questions on all aspects of sexuality, including such "taboo" topics as orgasm, masturbation, oral sex and anal sex.

The survey came under fire from right-wing members of Congress. Rep. William Dannemeyer, R-Calif., wrote to his House colleagues: "The NICHD study, from its inception, was never about child health, AIDS or sex. This study has always been about politics, power politics. Imagine the political landscape if any one demographic group were to increase their ranks from 10 percent of the population to 15 percent or 20 percent. This is the exact reason why the purveyors of laissez-faire sexual attitudes want to use tax dollars and the federal cloak of scientific legitimacy to produce this work. AIDS has nothing to do with it, except as a thinly-veiled excuse. This study represents the politics of sex and the politics of the homosexual movement."

Dannemeyer said the survey was really a design of the "homosexual lobby," which wanted to show that there are more gays and lesbians in the country than anyone ever thought. They could do this, asserted Dannemeyer and his friends, because no straight person ever would want to answer the types of questions the survey was asking, so a disproportionate number of people

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16-page issue in Spanish can be requested for a contribution of $5 U.S. cash, to help with mailing and printing costs, from CORG, Apartado Aereo 37272, Bogota, Columbia.

CORG reports that the everyday threat of violence against gay people in most Columbian cities still is its major concern, with most deaths due to military or police related "clean-up Columbia" hit squads. The government so far has been unable to control these human rights abuses against homosexuals and other minority groups. Letters to Dr. Virgilio Barco Vargas, Presidente, Casa de Narino, Carrera 8 No. 7-26, Bogota, D.E., Columbia, will be most helpful. Copies to CORG will be appreciated.

For free translations of your letters into Spanish, write to John Hubert, Paz y Liberacion, Box 66450, Houston, Texas 77266.

Morocco-The popular magazine Kalima was suspended (censured) for one issue due to a plain-speaking and direct article about male prostitution in Marrakech. So far homosexuality is not a theme for debate or discussion in Morocco, only of condemnation and silence.

Turkey-Gay Hotsa, of Bilbao, Spain, reports that gays in Turkey are making some progress. While gays and transvestites are still the object of police raids in

responding to the survey would be homosexuals.

Dannemeyer was not alone in agitating against the sex survey. Other conservatives joined the chorus and letters began pouring into the government agencies that would be reviewing the survey.

One agency that received letters was the Office of Management and Budget. Any time a government agency creates a form to be sent out to the public, the form must go through the OMB for approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act. That act is supposed to ensure that the government is not generating unnecessary paperwork, such as duplicating the work of another agency.

Usually OMB approval on a form like the sex survey would be taken for granted. But because of the furor already raised over the survey, informal concerns from OMB were relayed to NICHD about the survey's questions. In response, NICHD revised the survey before officially submitting it and dropped some controversial questions, including ones about oral sex, masturbation and female orgasms. Apparently, questions about female orgasms fell victim to the concern that they could not be of direct help in dealing with the AIDS epidemic.

The revised survey was resubmitted for OMB approval in February. But the conservatives' letter-writing campaign and pressure from some members of Congress urging OMB not to approve the "homosexual" survey had created suspicion about the survey.

Istanbul and Ankara, a two-year-old gay group associated with the Radical Party is bringing about change. Last summer, seven members went on a hunger strike which was covered by the media and supported by the international gay and lesbian movement, headed up by a protest campaign of the International Lesbian & Gay Association. As a result, homosexuality has come into public discussion in this Islamic country. For the first time, the potent Turkish press has opened a discussion about gays.

Correspondencia is a 30-page, English-language magazine featuring news and analysis of the women's movement in Mexico. The magazine is published by Mujer a Mujer/Women to Women in Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas, and costs only $5 for four issues.

Organized by lesbians, this 4-year-old group focuses on the overall Mexican women's movement, with the goal of bringing U.S. women and Mexican women closer. Women to Women also features three or four eight-day exchange trips to Mexico during the year for activist women. Write to them at Box 12322, San Antonio, Texas 78212, or at A.P. 24-553, Col. Roma, 06701 Mexico, D.F., Mexico, or phone 512-735-2629.

To counter some of this pressure, 43 member organizations of the National Organizations Responding to AIDSincluding the AIDS Action Council, the ACLU, the American Psychological Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Red Cross and numerous other "mainstream" organizations-sent a letter urging OMB to approve the survey. Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill, also organized a letter to OMB, signed by six members of Congress, stressing the importance of the survey.

OMB Director Richard Darman responded to these concerns by giving his personal attention to the survey. Darman apparently talked to Dr. Louis Sullivan, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of NIH, about the survey and sent him a follow-up letter April 6. Darman told Sullivan that OMB had concluded it did not have authority under the Paperwork Reduction Act to stop the survey completely. But he said he had serious problems with it and he recommended that Sullivan personally review the questions before approving the survey.

The next day, Sullivan issued a short press statement in which he said he would direct NIH to conduct "a thorough review and revision of the proposed study.” He affirmed his stand to do what was needed to contain the spread of HIV infection but noted that his initial review of the survey indicated "potential problems with the tone and content of the questions." So far, however, Sullivan has not done anything Continued on Page 16

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