March, 1990 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE Page 11
WE ARE EVERYWHERE
by John Hubert
Cyprus-The Gay Liberation Movement of Cyprus is challenging the ban in Cyprus on male homosexuality by taking a case against the Cypriot government to the European Court of Human Rights. Cyprus, an island nation of 1 million inhabitants in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon, requires a prison sentence of between five and 14 years for anyone convicted of homosexual practices, even between consenting adults.
The GLM's complaint was filed in early 1989 with the European Human Rights Commission, the first step in the procedure. At the request of the Cypriot government, the Commission recently extended the deadline for the government to respond.
As the case may yet take many months, or even years, to be resolved, the Gay Liberation Movement of Cyprus and the International Lesbian & Gay Association have called for an international letter protest campaign. ILGA asks that groups and individuals write to Mr. George Vasiliou, President of the Republic of Cyprus, Presidential Palace, Nicosia, Cyprus, pointing out that the ban on male homosexual relations is a violation of fundamental human rights, and in breach of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The letters should call for the Cyprus govern-
ment to introduce legislation granting homosexuals full equality in law immediately.
Copies of letters can be sent to Alexander F. Modinos, President, Gay Liberation Movement of Cyprus, P.O. Box 1947, Nicosia, Cyprus, and also to the ILGA Action Secretariat; c/o GLF Koln; Schulz; Bizmarckstrasse 17; D5000 Koln 1; West Germany.
Vienna, Austia -The International Lesbian & Gay Association World Conference in Vienna in July, 1989, accepted 36 new organizations as full members, including seven groups from the U.S. This record growth for the ILGA also included new memberships from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
U.S. memberships more than doubled with the joining of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the National Gay Rights Advocates, the Denver Women's Chorus, the World Congress of Lesbian and Gay Jewish Organizations, Lutherans Concerned, and the Gay Democrats Political Action Committee of Chicago.
The 12th Annual World Conference of ILGA will be held in Stockholm, Sweden from July 1 to 7, 1990. For more information on the 1990 Conference or
for a free brochure "This Is The ILGA" and membership details for groups of individuals, write to the ILGA Information Secretariat, c/o RFSL, Box 350, S101 24 Stockholm, Sweden. The 1991 ILGA World Conference will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Mexico-Over 20 gay, feminist, and support groups have formed a national coalition, "Mexicanos Contra El SIDA” (Mexicans Against AIDS). Their goal is to coordinate the efforts of nongovernmental organizations with awareness and prevention, support to people with AIDS, human rights abuses, and fund-raising.
Their first project was a national conference held in Mexico City in October, 1989. Latino groups and other interested individuals are encouraged to get involved. Write: Apdo. 40-287; Col. Hipodromo Condesa; Mexico, D.F. 06140; Mexico.
Singapore The Lion of Judah Metropolitan Community Church, an affiliate of the lesbian and gay led and oriented Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, has started offering services for gays and lesbians in Singapore. For more information about the Singapore church, contact
Rev. Dusty Pruitt; UFMCC; 5300 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 304; Los Angeles, CA 90029.
Thailand A fine way to get a feel for Thailand is through Midway Magazine, a 148 page Thai/English bilingual monthly magazine published in Bangkok, Thailand. Focusing on Thai gay males, issue #12 has 34 pages in full color, plus 14 articles or features in English. Many Bangkok bars are highlighted with descriptions and pictures of their events and bar-boys. Copies are available for $6.00, postage included, from International Wavelength, Inc.; 2215-R Market St, No. 236; San Francisco, CA 94114.
Argentina The Comunidad Homosexual Argentina, the national lesbian and gay group of Argentina, is requesting supplies of publicity material about AIDS in Spanish, supplies of condoms, and financial help so they can pay their office rent and resume publication of their magazine Vamos a Andar. Material contributions and money orders made out to Alejandro Salazar, the CHA President, can be sent to their office address: CHA; Rodriguez Pena 681, 2do Piso, Depto 4; CP 1020 Buenos Aires; Argentina.▼
AIDS and tourism in the Riviera: Government rests in the shade
by Ed Santa Vicca
The French Riviera. A loose definition extends it from Marseille on the West, through St. Tropez, Cagnes, Nice, Monaco and Menton to the far east. It is the closest thing to paradise some people will ever know. Sunny skies and blue. Palm trees. The clear and cosseting Mediterranean Sea. A choice of pebbly or sandy beaches. Even nude beaches. Beautiful, streamlined and bronzed bodies. Furs, jewels, money. And more money. Quiet places when you want to be alone. Loud, busy places when you need the world by your side or when you want to be seen.
International in scope and flavor, the Riviera draws the universe of humanitythe rich and the super-rich; the poor, the homeless, the illegal aliens; those whose dream has come true, those who continue to dream, and those who never knew how. Like any would-be paradise, it has its share of broken dreams: the people who "lost it all" at Monte Carlo, or to thieves, or to their spouse, or to alcohol, or to drugs, or to AIDS.
AIDS on the Riviera! Who would have thought? Certainly not the French. Certainly not the mayor of Nice, nor the Chamber of Commerce. Nor the tourists. Nor the dream makers. No. Just as in the U.S.A., no one was quite ready for it. And how ready they are, even now, is debatable.
AIDS remains a mystery for most of the population. A silent mystery. They think they understand it, but not completely. They know it can be fatal, but of course not for them. And the universal questions are here as well. What should I do? How do we control it? How do we educate others? Which of my intimate behaviors must I change? Why doesn't the government do more? But, more pitifully: What does this mean for the tourism economy?
Tourism brings in millions of dollars cach-year to Nice and the surrounding
areas. At the same time, Nice and the other municipalities that comprise the region of the Alpes-Maritimes, remains the highest per capita center of AIDS in France.
As of the end of January 1990, over 650 diagnosed cases existed in the region. Of these, almost half (46.9 percent) were I.V. drug users, while slightly over one-third (35.3 percent) were homosexual. This profile makes Nice unique within France; and it poses a challenging range of problems for health care providers, politicians, those who are seropositive or diagnosed with AIDS, and those who love and care about them. Although AIDES-Cote d'Azur, a local chapter of a national AIDS service and education organization, has been in existence for a few years, its profile and its advances have been limited. It has provided some educational efforts to the community, as well as buddy training; and it offers limited services to those in the HIV spectrum.
Like any volunteer organization, AIDES suffers the problems of finding committed volunteers who are harmonious in their view of the organization's goals; problems of public and private funding; problems of visibility with the public and with the government; problems of identifying and serving those who need the organization; and the problems of "burn out."
The politics of City Hall, until recently, have been to not publicize information of AIDS, nor on AIDES Cote d'Azur. Certainly not any statistics on AIDS in Nice. Consequently, the local newspaper has provided a bare minimum of information to the public. Now that the situation has reached crisis proportions, the mayor has finally (January 1990) created an office space staffed part time-to work on the situation, and to work with those who need care or information. How cooperatively AIDES and City Hall can work together remains to be seen, -since-part-of-the
intrigue revolves around the politics tourism, and the very real drug economy that exists on the Riviera.
So how do people get information of AIDS? For children and adolescents, some information is available in the schools. The general population must rely, for the most part, on the information presented by the general media. Gai Pied Hebdo, a national gay weekly magazine similar to The Advocate, has provided extensive coverage on AIDS for its readers. Not all gay men read it, however. No similar and regular source of information exists for the IV drug users of the Riviera, whose numbers are extensive.
There are drug treatment centers where some information is available. There is also a clinic (free), for the testing of sexually transmitted diseases. Anonymous testing for seropositivity is done upon request. Information on AIDS is posted throughout the clinic, brochures are available and the staffwith the exception of the physicians, who maintain a profile of arrogant omniscience, and who scoff at any question posed to themare quite friendly and approachable.
The gay men and IV drug users with whom I have spoken seem more informed, more attuned, more responsible than the general population and they appear to be more aware, and to have changed their behaviors, than their counterparts in the U.S.A. But then, the social rituals of gay men and of IV drug users are different here. Gay men are more likely to meet each other through social introductions, rather than through anonymous sexual environments or bars and discos.
The same seems to be true for IV drug users, who are more vested in their particular ethnic or socioeconomic peer group. Exceptions to both cases are found mainly among the poor, the homeless and to what some here refer to as the criminal population.
The general population, for better of for worse, puts a lot of faith in condoms. Surveys of sexual behavior and infidelity in France bear out the sane use of condoms. But there is a difference between sane use and faith. Since prostitution is legal, and tourists are many and since condoms are readily available in street vending machines, grocery stores, etc.— somehow, all three come together in a constant rhythm of desire, economics and sexual energy. And, of course, perspectives on sex, safe sex, condoms and AIDS vary among the different age groups of the population, with Nice and the Riviera having a significant retired population.
Although medical predictions here prophesy the curbing of the spread of the HIV virus in the 1990s, it is difficult to accept this as truth, since at least for this region-the government and the general population neglected any significant educational or precautionary measures in the 1980s.
Given anticipated economic and consequent social change in Europe in the 90s, due to the lowering of trade barriers, AIDS will likely play a significant role in the political development of social and health care policy in France and Europe, and with any international agreements with the United States.
Meanwhile, the seropositives, the PWAS, families and significant others are finding a dearth of resources to deal with the day-to-day issues, problems and needs of a diagnosed population. For them, the quality of life seems to be diminishing and no one-not even the politicians are willing to come forward and promise a better tomorrow.
Yes. The sun still shines. The palm trees still wave in the wind. And the Mediterranean remains its own beautiful shade of blue. But for anyone living the reality of seropositivity in Nice, the dream has been altered; and the happy, carefree Riviera they once knew now exists only on postcards and the other promotional products of tourism.▼