HIV Funding and Bush Administration

I see it has been reported that funding for a federal grant program to help city and states fight rising HIV infection rates within minority communities has been suspended only days before the Center for Disease Control released a report calling for a “heightened response” to the “major health crisis” of HIV/AIDS in African American communities.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Minority_AIDS_initiative_threatened_by_funding_0426.html


But more ominous and not reported anywhere that I can find is the fact that 60 sites of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)* have been de-funded, arguably the organization in which the best research on HIV and AIDS has taken place. That is 60 US sites in Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and other locations will no longer be able to offer HIV-infected persons the latest drugs and treatment approaches. At 60 sites seasoned HIV researchers, study nurses, and support staff will be left without positions. This is immoral! All because of budget cut-backs due to the Iraq war. Of course gay folks and other minorities, especially gay folks and others with HIV, have always been considered disposible by Republican administrations, beginning the Reagan himself. I would hope that if these cutbacks were more widely known, there might be some outrage expressed!

As many of you know, I previously worked at the HIV Clinic at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and had 700 patients with HIV and AIDS. Many of them participated in various clinical trials at various stages of the investigative process. Now all those patients on the prairie and upper midwest will need to go to Chicago or Denver for the closest study. This is so wrong!


*From the ACTG website http://aactg.org/index.asp

"The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the largest HIV clinical trials organization in the world, plays a major role in setting standards of care for HIV infection and opportunistic diseases related to HIV/AIDS in the United States and the developed world. The ACTG is composed of, and directed by, leading clinical scientists in HIV/AIDS therapeutic research. The ACTG is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases."

Ellen and Laura Dern remember Ellen's Coming Out Episode

Ellen DeGeneres & Laura Dern Recall 1997 TV Smooch

NEW YORK (AP) - Ten years after they kissed on the "Ellen'' show, Ellen DeGeneres and Laura Dern reunited Monday (4-23-07) on DeGeneres' syndicated talk show to reflect back on the smooch and its aftermath.

DeGeneres, 49, made pop-culture history in 1997 by coming out of the closet in real life while her sitcom character did likewise. In her character's coming-out episode, Dern shared a smooch with the comedian during a guest stint on the ABC series as a lesbian love interest.

Dern, 40, recounted Monday how she couldn't get an acting job for more than a year afterward. "There was certainly backlash, I guess, (that) we all felt from it,'' she told DeGeneres, who said she was sorry and "had no idea'' that Dern was snubbed in Hollywood.

Not getting work felt "awfully terrifying,'' recalled Dern, who said she's grateful for the "extraordinary experience and opportunity'' to be a part of the groundbreaking episode, which also guest starred Oprah Winfrey, Demi Moore and Melissa Etheridge.

May 13 OUUT Movie BEFORE STONEWALL

"Before Stonewall"

This documentary by Greta Schiller takes a look at the sometimes oblique American acknowledgment of homosexuals in the decades before a historical flashpoint in 1969. Late that year, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village was stormed by police and its patrons arrested -- resulting in two days of rioting. Allen Ginsberg and other celebrities talk about past police tactics, witch-hunts, censorship, and historical "cleansing" operations that violated human rights and civil liberties -- such as routing gays and lesbians out of the State Department. A certain openness about sexual preferences started appearing in the 1920s and accelerated during World War II, eventually culminating in the organized movements of the 1960s and later demanding an end to discrimination. Older and younger generations of gays and lesbians present different viewpoints on a variety of topics, and conflicts or disagreements between gays and lesbians are outlined. The seriousness of the subject of discrimination is balanced with humor, which makes this documentary more accessible to straight audiences unfamiliar with the topic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Running Time:
87 mins
Complete Cast:
Allen Ginsberg
Barbara Gittings

Oppose Focus of the Family "Love Won Out" Campaign

Several weeks ago, Omaha PFLAG was notified that Focus on the Family’s one-day Love Won Out conference will come to Omaha on April 14.The anti-gay conference goes from city to city, drawing crowds of 1,000 or 1,500. Here, the host is Trinity Church at 156th St. and W. Dodge Rd. A lineup of speakers will try to make the case that, as the Love Won Out web site puts it, change is possible and “you don’t have to be gay.” That message unfortunately is welcomed by many parents who become confused and frightened when their child comes out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The Love Won Out message is wrong, and it is harmful.

In response to Love Won Out -- An ecumenical worship service at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 13, at 1st Central Congregational Church, 36th and Harney Sts., that will be joyful and affirming. Spiritual leaders of at least eight congregations will take part. A young man who went through the agony of “reparative therapy” at Trinity Church in an effort to change his sexuality will give his witness. The River City Mixed Chorus and First United Methodist Church ’s choir will sing.

Please join me at the church!

Link to Omaha PFLAG site: http://www.pflag-omaha.org/president.html