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8-HIGH GEAR
GAY HEALTH WARNING: BRIGGS DISEASE
By Don Clark, Ph.D.
There is an infection spreading in our Gay community. particularly in California, that must be stopped. Its nature is such that the first symptoms may go unnoticed untii enough damage is done and the Gay person is too weakened to fight the disease successfully. It is caused by a poison that is odorless, colorless. and tasteless. We Gay people are spreading it: it is causing severe damage, and we must stop it. We must know the source, the symptoms, and how to counteract it when the first symptoms appear
The first symptoms are: (1) feelings of frustration and discontent; (2) heightened awareness of the defects of Gay friends, lovers, or Gay people seen in public; and (3) negative thoughts, feelings and behavior directed against loved ones and self. The climate that has fostered this disease is the Gay political defeats in the past months combined with a catalyst the upcoming Briggs initiative. If we can identify this disorder and learn to defend against it now it will help us to protect our mental health for decades to come. It might help to think of it as Briggs Disease and the odorless, colorless, tasteless substance that invades our minds can be thought of as toxic agent.
We have no statistics on how many members of our community have been afflicted so far, but I am in touch with many Gay-oriented mental health professionals and we are in
unanimous agreement that there has been an upswing of selfhatred and distrust of other Gay people reminiscent of the bad old days of ten years ago. Worse, we are more poorly prepared to deal with it as a community because we have been on a healthy winning streak during the past decade and many of us, particularly younger Gay people, do not have strong defenses developed to combat the insidious assault on self-esteem and Gay worth represented by Briggs Disease.
I have conferred with several colleagues and here are the steps we suggest to stop the spread of this disease:
1. Alert every Gay person that you know. Tell them how this silent disease is spreading and warn them that it is a killer;
2. Notice how many lovers and friends you know are having more difficulty than usual with their Gay interpersonal relationships;
3. Be on the look-out for the symptoms of heightened feelings of frustration and discontent. Talk about these feelings with a Gay friend and get help in recognizing them as the first symptoms of Briggs Disease.
4. Be alert to negative thoughts, feelings, and behavior directed against any Gay person. Announce that you suspect it is associated with Briggs Disease. Try to counteract with an immediate accounting of what you appreciate about the Gay person who has beer. the victim of the assault.
5. Remember that the insidious disease could kill us and
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that is spread from one Gay person to another, and we can stop it. Do everything you can tr bolster the self-esteem of your self and other Gay people whom you know. This is not a year to make negative decisions in Gay relationships.
This health warning is not issued lightly or in jest. It is not written tongue-in-cheek. The
upcoming Briggs initiatve on the
November ballot is dangerous. It is a lesion of public consciousness that is symptomatic of a sickness in our society that will destroy one group after another within the society, just
as the human body sometimes develops a disease that causes it to destroy its own vital parts until life fails or the disease is arrested.
We are the first group being attacked in this epidemic disease, but we will not be the last. We can stop ourselves from being destroyed by not cooperating in spreading the
Briggs Disease within our own
community. I believe it is my ethical responsibility as a Gay oriented
professional and as a Gay mental health
citizen to issue this HEALTH warning in the troubled autumn
GAY THESPIANS
A group of gay theatre artists have formed an organization to promote gay theatre, entitled the Gay Theatre Alliance. These women and men have explained the need for the group with a Statement of Purpose:
Recognizing the need for communication and support among gay theatre artists, a group of lesbians and gay men have joined together to form the Gay Theatre Alliance (GTA) to foster and promote the development of gay theatre. The Alliance is open to all people who seek to expand awareness and understanding of gay lifestyles through theatre.
The GTA plans to unite and represent all regions of the country (as well as other nations) in a communications network providing resources and information to theatre companies, playwrights, producers,
and all individuals interested in gay theatre. To facilitate communication, coordinators are serving as contact persons for each region of the country. Per-" sons or groups wanting more information or wanting to join GTA should contact the coordinator for their region. In the Northeast, the coordinator is
Terry Helbing, 51 West 4th Street, Room 300, New York, N.Y. 10012; (212) 598-2597. In the Southwest, the contact is Deborah Rose, 1801 North Kingsley, No. 206, Hollywood, CA 90027; (213) 464-2817, and in the Northwest, Allan Estes, 235 Page Street, San Francisco, CA 94102: (415) 621-3911. People in other regions who are interested in serving as coordinators should contact GTA at one of the above addresses.
of 1978. Certainly, the public health agencies will do no more to protect our mental health now than they have ever done in troubled times they fear offending the sources that fund them. But we Gay people can cooperate to keep ourselves alive as we have done for decades and centuries past.
TOUGH
RIGHTS RIGHTS LAW
The City Council in Berkeley, California unanimously ap. proved the toughest and most comprehensive gay rights bill in the United States. All nine members of the council voted for the ordinance which forbids discrimination against gays in housing, employment, use o city facilities and services credit, education, and services from retail outlets.
Violators of the new law could be forced to pay up to $400 in damages, as well as attorneys fees and other court costs Unlike other gay rights or dinances this one gives uctim means to take direct action through small claims and civil
courts.
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