GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

SECTION B

MARCH 11, 1994

Evenings Out

by Charlton

Harper

Gil Kudrin won't

give you the shirt off his back, but he'll be happy to sell it to you.

Kudrin is an AIDS activist with Night Sweats and T-Cells, a custom screenprinting shop that also markets its own line of AIDS awareness T-shirts. Night Sweats grew out of "shooting around ideas for T-shirts back when Magic Johnson came out that he was HIV," says Michael Deighan, a professional screen printer. Deighan and Honey Lazar, a local volunteer worker, not only wanted to create shirts that "said the things that weren't getting said" about AIDS and HIV, but they also wanted to provide employment for those in the HIV spectrum who couldn't work elsewhere, or were under-employed. "We never approached this as a way to make money," says Deighan. "Having AIDS is not cheap. It can be a slide into poverty for many people. Not only was it important to help people who needed work, but we also give people a purpose. We had one guy working with us who hadn't worked in several years. This was a way for him to become productive again.” And it doesn't take a lot of skill or experience with screening. Deighan says there's always something that needs to be done, things like answering phones and taking orders.

Night Sweats can print a message or logo on just about anything, from mugs to clothes to key chains. But their line of AIDS Tshirts is the central focus. It's hard to ignore the power of the omnipresent T-shirt, especially when it comes printed with a message like, ALL I WANT IS THE CURE AND MY FRIENDS BACK. One especially subtle shirt features the words YOU ARE HERE and AIDS CURE, seperated by a labyrinthine maze.

Owen, an HIV positive man who works with Night Sweats, knows how potent the shirts can be. "You never wait in line wearing this shirt," he laughs, pointing to one that says "HIV+". "When I wear it I start out at the beginning of the day very concious of what I'm wearing. By the end of the day I've forgotten I have it on until I see the reaction of someone who reads it. The Tshirts put the message in someone's face who might ignore it otherwise. It's a great forum for presenting a viewpoint."

Lazar and Deighan established a partnership two years ago with the initial goal of selling a few dozen shirts to friends. When

selling a few dozen shirts to friends. When Kudrin entered the picture,

he brought along dreams of sell-

ing more. Word about Night Sweats has gotten around locally. The shirts have been sold at Cleveland gay events like Pride, “Dancin in the Streets" and the annual NOCI picnic. The Clifton Web carries a few of the shirts, but Kudrin says that "local retailers just can't sell a lot." Instead "we're really concentrating on ASOs [AIDS service organizations] around the country," he explains, "There are literally hundreds of thousands of AIDS T-shirts done around the country for all these different groups. We would like to see these groups think of us when they're taking bids for jobs. We're hoping that ASOs will know that when they are doing business with Night Sweats, they're working with the

Talking about the big picture gets Kudrin going. A recent ad in the Advocate and a feature about the print shop in Plus magazine have helped pull in that necessary national attention. But expensive advertising rates in national magazines like the Advocate prevent a big marketing assault. Instead, they have to rely on word-of-mouth and appearances at major gay or AIDS events. Kudrin pushed the Night Sweats message last summer in Houston at the National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference. Night Sweats products have also been seen at Boston Pride, the 1993 March on Washington and the last display of the entire AIDS quilt in D.C. in 1992. A friend of Kudrin's in San Francisco is acting as West Coast sales rep. and they are now doing busi ness in London.

Deighan says that Night Sweats is always getting calls from people who've seen the shirts somewhere or heard about the group, but couldn't track them down. "I just had a woman get hold of me who said she had seen our shirts in 1992 and she just found us in 1994." The upcoming Stonewall 25 celebrations in New York are presenting their own complications says Kudrin. "Well it's around $4,000 to get a vendor's booth. If we can't come up with the money, or get a reduced rate, we'll have to

An image that's 100% positive

get a reduced rate, we'll have to sell on the street. That's got problems. The weather, safety. And competition on the streets is fierce. These are the financial realities to our mission that challenge us."

Though not everyone involved with Night Sweats is in the HIV spectrum, all proceeds go to the HIV community, mostly in the form of salaries to employees with AIDS. It's a distinction that makes Night Sweats unique in the midwest, says Kudrin, if not the country. Night Sweats also contributes 10 percent of their proceeds to ASOS like the Free Clinic's AIDS early intervention program, and scholarships for people to attend the monthly Ohio AIDS Coalition weekends.

Deighan and Kudrin are excited about the future. A new line of shirts will feature endorsed words and texts by Larry Kramer, Adrienne Rich and Paul Monette. "Adrienne Rich has always been one of my favorite poets," says Deighan, "She was the first person we approached, asking for her permission to use her work on our shirts. I'm really happy about that." There will also be two or three shirts that address homophobia

and some of the

Aus

and

shirts will be translated into Spanish. The next non-garment project will be a condom wallet with a Night Sweats logo. "People have asked us 'don't you have a safe-sex message?' This," says Kudrin, holding up a wallet prototype, "is our safe sex message."

At Night Sweats, prevention goes beyond T-shirts and condom wallets. They're working to prevent a future where people are tossed aside as useless because of HIV status. Owen knows it. "My hope is," he says, "that right now I work full time and I don't need help. But I'm thinking of tomorrow. I may end up on disability and need something to do.”

"What we're about," Kudrin spells it out, "is making a difference for people with AIDS. There's not a lot I can do for my friends with AIDS. We're building a future so that someone can see us and say 'wow, I don't have to sit here and die."

How often is the future built on 100% combed cotton?

For more information on Night Sweats and T-Cells call 800-859-8685.

HONEY LAZAR

Wearing some of the compa (in front) and Michael Deigh booth at th

Fasanella

ts & T-cells Washington