HIT now recommends that you take the test

Joseph Interrante, executive director of Health Issues Taskforce (HIT) has announced changes in the organization's HIV Antibody Testing Policy. HIT is now encouraging anonymous, voluntary testing by individuals who may have been exposed to the virus.

The policy change results from recent developments in the monitoring and treatment of HIV-related conditions. These developments indicate that early knowledge of HIV infection and treatment for resulting conditions can make a difference in many individuals' ability to live with HIV.

"When the HIV antibody test was first developed, there was little that people infected, but asymptomatic, could do beyond general health maintenance," said Interrante. "Since that time, meaningful options and choices have become available. These include AZT, which can slow the development of AIDS, and aerosolized pentamidine, which can prevent HIV-related illnesses such as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, the major cause of death among persons with AIDS.

January, 1990

"Of course, treatment options are meaningless without viable access to them," said Interrante. "Access in this context must include access to the drugs themselves, to complete and comprehensible knowledge about possible treatment side-effects, and to the medical care necessary to assess and maintain an individual's health."

"Access also means drugs which are affordable and the existence of public/private mechanisms to ensure that treatment and care are available to

Judge Hampton censured for anti-gay remarks

by Robin Kane

The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a strongly worded public censure against Dallas Judge Jack Hampton on November 28, saying that anti-gay comments he made to a reporter in December 1988, "were destructive of public confidence" in the judiciary. Public censure is the second most severe form of discipline the Commission could have taken, next to recommending his removal from the bench.

"I'm real happy about [the censure]," said David Bryan, legal director of Texas Human Rights Foundation. "A public censure is a grave penalty to any judge."

Complaints against Hampton began last year when he gave a 30-year prison sentence, instead of a life sentence, to

Richard Bednarski, who was convicted of brutally murdering two gay men. In an interview with a reporter from the Dallas Times Herald following the sentencing, Hampton said of the victims, "These two gays that got killed wouldn't have been killed if they hadn't been cruising the streets picking up teenage boys." He also told the reporter, "I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level... And I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing a prostitute."

Following those comments and additional ones Hampton made to an Associated Press reporter, the Texas Human Rights Foundation filed a complaint in 1988 with the Commission. The Foundation, a gay organization, charged that Hampton had violated several provisions of the state code of judicial

Naval Academy suit dismissed

Joseph Steffan's suit against the U.S. Naval Academy for discharging him for being gay has been dismissed by a New York judge. The suit by the highly commended midshipman was dismissed at a November 6 hearing on whether Steffan should be forced to answer questions about his sexual activity.

At the direction of his attorneys, Steffan refused to submit to government demands that he state whether he had engaged in homosexual conduct before or after being discharged from the Naval Academy. Despite the fact that Steffan had never been accused of sexual conduct and that his statement that he is gay was the only issue presented at the two administrative board hearings held prior to his discharge, Judge Oliver Gasch ruled that Steffan could not go forward with the suit unless the questions were answered.

Steffan filed suit in December 1988, after he was discharged from the Naval Academy in Annapolis less than four weeks before he was to graduate with honors. The suit challenges the constitutionality of military policy which requires automatic discharge solely on a statement of one's homosexual orientation.

The judge was unpersuaded by arguments that the information the government now demands is not relevant to the constitutionality of a discharge based on a statement of sexual orientation alone, and that to compel Steffan's answer would violate the Fifth Amendment.

Steffan said that he was disappointed that the case was dismissed. "But, I was prepared from the start for a long, tough fight. We will appeal and I believe we will win."

Sandy Lowe of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Steffan's attorneys, said, "We will appeal the dismissal. Sexual conduct has never been an issue in this case, and the judge's dismissal of the entire suit is unfair and legally improper." A twenty-week investigation conducted by the Naval Investigative Service failed to turn up evidence of sexual conduct by Steffan, she noted.

Lowe continued, "The government's demands for this kind of information is unfair and puts the due process rights of all military personnel in jeopardy. If the government is allowed to compel Steffan to answer these questions at this late date, the military could discharge anyone for any reason and come back after the fact and compel new facts to justify their original action."▼

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conduct, including one prohibiting public comment on a case which is still pending and one which requires judges to conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public confidence in the judiciary. The Texas Supreme Court then appointed a special master, former district Judge Robert Murray, to hold hearings on the charges against Hampton.

The public censure issued by the Commission is largely a rejection of the October 31 report by Judge Murray. After holding two hearings on the charges, Murray issued his findings that, while Hampton had made all the comments attributed to him, he would be, nevertheless, "impartial in any case involving a homosexual or prostitute as a victim" and he did not cast discredit on

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 5

all regardless of ability to pay," continued Interrante. He added that social services to support the psychological and material needs of people living with HIV must also be included.

According to HIT's HIV Antibody Testing Policy, testing is only supported if it is voluntary, anonymous and inclusive of comprehensive pre-test and post-test counseling. They oppose both reporting of names of those tested to public health officials and mandatory testing of individuals or groups. ▼

the judiciary. Murray did, however, find that Hampton made a technical violation of the code by commenting on a pending case since Bednarski was appealing the decision at the time.

The Commission, which is not bound by the master's recommendation, agreed with the master's findings regarding the timing of the public comment. However, the Commission wrote that it "emphatically rejects" the idea that it was simply a technical violation. The Commission said that Judge Hampton's lengthy, offthe-bench discussion of the case with the reporter would definitely decrease the public's perception of his fairness.▼

Reprinted with permission from the Washington Blade.

Loophole foils Massachusetts rights law repeal

Supporters of the Massachusetts state gay rights law, which was signed into law on November 15 by Governor Michael Dukakis, claimed a major victory when Massachusetts Attorney General James Shannon ruled that the attempt to place the stature on the ballot for repeal in 1990 was unconstitutional. Opponents of the law has hoped to rescind it by placing it before voters in the coming election.

In a prepared statement, released on December 7, Shannon stated that the gay rights law could not be subject to the referendum process because it includes language which exempts religious institutions from its provisions. The Massachusetts constitution states that matters pertaining to religion cannot be subject to referendum.

"We're elated by the Attorney General's ruling", said David LaFontaine, Lobby director of the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights. "We were very confident that we would have beaten back the repeal attempt, but we would much prefer concentrating our energies moving forward. Overturning the discriminatory foster care policy, for instance, may now become top priority." Gay rights supporters noted the irony that the religious amendment, which was

added on by opponents, proved to be the legal undoing of the repeal effort. Opponents have vowed to challenge the attorney general's ruling, but political analysts believe the Massachusetts Supreme Court will very likely uphold Shannon's decision.

The effort to repeal the Massachusetts gay and lesbian rights law is being spearheaded by state senator Ed Kirby, former governor John Volpe, and an organization called Family First. But there have yet to be signs of any effective grassroots organizing by these opponents.

The Massachusetts gay and lesbian civil rights bill was first filed in 1973 and was finally signed into law November 15 after a contentious seventeen year battle.

Massachusetts is the second state to have a lesbian-gay rights law. Wisconsin passed a statewide law in 1982.

Popular support in Massachusetts has grown dramatically in the last several years, and the effort to enact the law has become one of the state's major news stories. A recent Boston Globe poll revealed that 70 percent of Massachusetts voters support the law, while only 21 percent favor repeal.▼

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