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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE July, 1989

PWAS no longer barred at border

The Bush administration has changed its immigration policy to allow some foreigners who have AIDS or HIV into the United States a limited period of time.

Under the new policy, announced by the Justice Department, HIV-positive people will be admitted into the country for up to 30 days to attend scientific conferences, obtain medical treatment, conduct business or visit family.

Vic Basile, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, welcomed the move, but said it falls far short of allowing free travel in the United States for HIV-positive people.

"It is encouraging to see this as the first policy action on AIDS from the new administration," said Basile. "However, people with HIV infection still can be excluded from entering the U.S. and will be admitted only temporarily and for selective purposes. If the government will allow some people with AIDS into the country, why should it not allow others?"

The policy change comes in response to an international uproar caused by the five-day detention of a Dutch official last April by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The official, Hans Paul Verhoef, came to the United States to attend the Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation Conference/National AIDS Forum in San Francisco. He was detained by customs officials because he has AIDS.

Following a hearing, local immigration officials ruled that Verhoef could enter the country and attend the conference, but INS headquarters in Washington, D.C., blocked that decision. Finally, an immigration judge ordered Verhoef admitted on bond.

The incident sparked widespread criticism of U.S. policy, which violates international standards formulated by the World Health Organization with U.S. participation. It also raised concerns about plans to hold the Sixth Inter-

national AIDS Conference next year in San Francisco, as well as other scheduled meetings.

Organizers of the Fifth International AIDS conference in Montreal last month also concerned that thousands of foreigners, many with HIV infection, might be prevented from travelling through the United States on their way to or from the conference.

"The United States does not import AIDS," said Robert Bray, HCRF communications director. "We have the largest number of cases in the world. Restrictive and paranoic immigration policy does nothing to control the epidemic. It only contributes to the spread of AIDS by limiting the free exchange of information and discouraging infected people from seeking testing or treatment."

Members of Congress, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Gerry Studds, D-

Gay Methodist magazine wins award

Open Hands, a Christian magazine focusing on lesbian-gay concerns, received two prestigious awards from the Associated Church Press at its May convention.

The "Living and Loving with AIDS" issue of Open Hands (summer 1988) received an Award of Merit for the best "in-depth coverage of a current issue" among magazines with fewer than 10,000 subscribers.

In the category of "general excellence,"Open Hands was one of two magazines with less than 10,000 subscribers to receive honorable mention. The ACP's Award of Merit is considered to be the most coveted honor in religious journalism.

In conferring the Award of Merit for Open Hands' AIDS issue, the judges

said: "The tragedy of AIDS is treated in this single issue in such a well-informed, clear manner that the reader will likely keep this as a resource book.

"The range of stories-from personal anecdotes to articles on the impact of AIDS on various groups-provides a wealth of information about a disease that has been plagued by misinforma-

tion."

In awarding Open Hands the honorable mention for overall "general excellence," the judges also said: "The coverage is wide-ranging, presenting many aspects of the subject and addressing controversial issues with restraint and professionalism. Articles often compellingly written and thought-provoking."

Gay fund awards grant to NPR

The Fund For Human Dignity has awarded a $5,000 grant to the National Public Radio News and Information Fund.

The award marks the first time a gay service organization has assumed sponsorship of nationwide news programming.

The grant helped underwrite reporting in June on NPR's award-winning "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition," which are broadcast daily on more than 300 public radio stations.

"We wanted to show our thanks and support for National Public Radio as one of the few news sources that has fairly and consistently reported on gay and lesbian issues," said Sherrie Cohen, executive director of the fund, a national organization encouraging and providing better information about gay and lesbian lives.

"NPR was one of the very first to give attention to the emerging AIDS epidemic, and to continue tracking the story in both its scientific and human dimensions," said Cohen. "NPR has also been courageous in objectively covering other diverse issues that affect gay and lesbian lives, from parenting to politics to poetry."

Jane Couch, NPR vice president for development, welcomed the grant, saying "This is a very tangible vote of confidence in NPR reporting and acknowledges our commitment to accurate, timely and balance presentation of the news. We are very appreciative of this support.

Cohen also noted the future-oriented significance of the grant. "By encouraging NPR to continue its work, and by helping to pay for it, we wanted to send a clear message that the gay community supports intelligent journalism that lessens ignorance and fear," she said.

"This is a new, mature attitude toward education on the part of the gay community. We thought it was important to demonstrate this on the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, the event we celebrate as a turning point in the struggle for fairness and human dignity."

The grant to NPR is part of the fund's Positive Images Campaign, an effort to promote better understanding and coverage of gay and lesbian issues in the media.

For more information, contact Ed Mickens, The Fund For Human Dignity, 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, 212-529-1600.

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Oppression

Continued from Page 2

dying. So what if women only make 62 cents for every dollar men make. They don't need it. Men have families to support. Never mind that the majority of heads of households are single women.

Oppression is fear. We have to be kept afraid to be kept in the system, to be controlled. We live in debilitating and constant fear of being "found out" and losing our jobs, our families, our friends.

Oppression begins early on in our lives with misinformation and biased history, before we're able to sort out the untruths and inaccuracies. And it's reinforced as we grow older by people and institutions that we know, love, and trust: Our families, our churches, our schools, our local newspaper, our government.

We've been told our whole lives in both subtle and blatant was that white men are the ones who deserve to be in power, women are second to men, blacks are untrustworthy, hispanics are lazy, the differently-abled are mentally retarded, the poor have only themselves to blame for their misfortunes.

There must be some bit of truth about what they say about queers. If it's not me creating this distrust, it must be some other gay people.

As lesbians and gay men we keep the cycle of oppression alive in ourselves and our communities as we continue to feed the oppression within ourselves, as we continue to oppress other gays and lesbians, and as we continue to oppress others who are oppressed themselves through sexism, racism, disablism, clas-

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Mass., John Miller, R-Wash., Eliot Engel, D-NY, Bruce Vento, D-Minn., and Martin Sabo, D-Minn., and leaders of the scientific community called on the Bush administration to change its policy, at least insofar as it applied to temporary visitors.

In addition, HCRF and other national organizations concerned with rational AIDS policies lobbied the administration to revise its policy before the Montreal conference began.

"The administration has recognized the global embarrassment that would result if the U.S. could not host international scientific AIDS meetings that included people with HIV infection," said Basile.

Basile promised HRCF would “continue lobbying the administration and Congress for free travel and immigration rights for persons with HIV infection."▼

dividuals, churches and libraries across the christian spectrum.

The Associated Church Press is an association of more than 175 religious newspapers and magazines in the United States and Canada. Its membership includes Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and nondenominational publications. Open Hands is the only member with a specific focus on lesbian-gay religious

concerns.

Information about Open Hands can be obtained by writing Open Hands, Box 23636, Washington, D.C. 20026. Annual subscription, $16.▼

sism, and the many other "isms."

We are limited and injured by the issues we're dealing with. We must make a conscious choice to deal with these issues for ourselves, not for anyone else.

We are also at a point in the struggle for lesbian and gay rights where we must make another, more difficult choice: To continue the struggle alone, or reach out and gather strength by working with other oppressed groups.

Homophobia is the last, hardest stumbling block of all oppression. It's hard for a black person who has been told all his life that homosexuality doesn't exist in the black community. It's hard for the feminist struggling for equal rights to embrace the lesbian who has "discredited" the women's movement for decades. It's hard for the differentlyabled person who sees homosexuality as an illness, a disease, a perversion. These are difficult stumbling blocks to overcome for all of us -gay or straight. But stereotypes are not based on fact, they're not on the person as a whole. Rather, they focus on one perceived quality.

-

We need to work at both being accepted by others and respecting the differences in all of us.

We must be intolerant of racism, classism, sexism and all the other isms. This means never, never accepting prejudices.

We need to open our eyes and stop acting as if gay people are the only group oppressed. We have to come to the realization that we are also capable of being oppressors. ▼

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References

RAY KEMSKI