HEALTH WATCH

DECEMBER 9, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

The UTCRACKE

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain

by Michael Lederman, M.D.

AIDS has been recognized in the United States since 1981 and despite 13 years of intensive investigation, we still have a long way to go-both in terms of understanding the pathogenesis of this disease and also in terms of highly effective therapies. Frustration with the slow pace of scientific research has led some people to question the role of HIV-1 in the pathogenesis of AIDS. Others have even questioned the importance of sexual contact or contact with HIV-1 infected blood in the development of AIDS.

A mini-industry has been established of "professional speakworkers" who write books and articles and tour the country promoting their views that HIV does not cause AIDS. One of these charlatans-Dr. Robert Willner-has gone so far as to inject himself with the blood of an HIV-infected person "to dispel the myth of HIV and AIDS." Why do these quacks have an audience? How about wishful thinking? If these guys are right, who needs safer sex?

Let's say it again: HIV causes AIDS, AIDS is due to infection with HIV. HIV and AIDS are spread through sexual contact with an HIV infected person, through exposure to blood or blood products from HIV infected persons, and from an HIV infected mother to her newborn baby. The data in support of these points are clear, convincing and unequivocal.

It is unfortunate that ACT UP has offered Dr. Willner a forum in Cleveland. By doing so, they are putting their well-earned cred-

ibility as AIDS activists on the line. Giving this man a forum is a terrible idea.

First, this sort of nonsense diverts attention from the real issues: people are dying, the epidemic continues to spread and our ability to treat and prevent AIDS is not yet adequate. Second, well-articulated attacks like those of Duesberg, Willner et al that are loaded with misrepresentations and halftruths will diminish confidence in official public health recommendations for those who are most vulnerable to propaganda-the undereducated and the young. What if one teenager contracts HIV-1 and AIDS from having unprotected sex after hearing Willner say that it's okay? Yes, ACT UP encourages safer sexual practices, but that's not Willner's

message.

Scientific progress is frustratingly slow but the answers will not be found by putting our faith in the mindless ramblings of gadflies. Progress in medical care is made by careful attention to the scientific method, through well-designed clinical trials of agents developed as a result of painstaking laboratory studies. Remember: whatever progress has been made in AIDS care and research has come to us this way, and not from Willner, Duesberg and the other curtain pullers. ✔

Dr. Lederman is principal investigator of the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland. He has been involved in AIDS research and care since 1982. For information about treatment trials for AIDS, call 216-368-AIDS (368-2437).

SUZANNE LOWNSBURY/OLIVIER MUNOZ

PHOTO: R. CHOURA

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Continued from page 1

compared it to nearsightedness.

"I will accept propensity," he said. "But I also think at that point that becoming celibate is an option."

Acknowledging that there are different schools of thought on whether homosexuality is a choice, Gingrich said, "I would sidestep the issue as a public policy matter, because I feel very confident about the bias in favor of heterosexual marriage and heterosexual couples raising children." But he would not agree that most gays do not choose their orientation.

Gingrich's comments to the Blade echo what he has said in other forums about homosexuality. He also said he has no trouble being friends or working with lesbians and gays. In fact, one of his younger sisters is lesbian.

Candace Gingrich, 28, said her sexual orientation is not a secret, but she has not

previously discussed it publicly. She told the Associated Press that her brother's response was that "I have every right to live my life the way I want to."

A gay Republican group pointed Wednesday to Gingrich's "Contract With America" as evidence that the GOP is moving away from the far-right social agenda that has historically repelled gay voters.

"Among all minority groups, the gay vote showed the greatest shift toward the GOP in 1994," said Rich Tafel, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans. "This demonstrates that gay voters will vote Republican when the party focuses on the core issues of economics and crime, and does not engage in gay-bashing."

Tafel cited exit polls conducted for the New York Times, which showed one in three gay, lesbian or bisexual voters voted Republican on Election Day. In 1992, one in four voted Republican, the polls found.

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