Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 46, Ed. 1 Friday, March 14, 1997 Page: 4 of 64
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214/754-8710
(Individual Extentidns listed below)
fax214/969-7271
E-MAiLdvoice@ix.netcom.com
3000 Carlisle St., Suite 200
Dallas, Texas 75204
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Weekdays
Nows ft Fditnrial_
Dennis Vercher, 113
EDITOR
Tammye Nash, 117
John McCoy, 118
STAFF REPORTERS
Contributors:
Steve Waren
FILM CRITIC
Erin McClendon
THEATER CRITIC
David Taffet
TRAVEL FEATURES
Jere Becker
TRAINER'S ROOM
Meryl Cohn
MS. BEHAVIOR
David Bianco
PAST OUT
Timothy Nasson
FEATURES
Charlie Green
Tony Hamilton
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Advertising_
Robert Moore, 112
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Leo Cusimano, 114
John Arnsdorff, 115
ACCOUNT
REPRESENTATIVES
Greg Hoover, 123
CLASSIFIEDS
Graphics_
K.R. Murphy, 119
ART DIRECTOR
David Davis, 125
GRAPHIC ARTIST
Administration_
Don Ritz, 110
CONTROLLER
Larry Mosely, 110
ADMINISTRATIVE ASST
Affiliations
nQ
L£j ^.T3,p‘por rTt
Associate Member
The Associated Press
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Viewpoints
Puritanism lives in anti-science stance
Hardly a day
goes by without
new testimony to
the power of tech-
nology. Advances
in microbiology
and immunology
draw researchers
closer and closer
to the causes and long-sought cures of
diseases such as AIDS.
Still, as recent reports bear out, the
rise of science and its ever-growing
capacity to answer the fundamental
questions about the world continue to
face stiff challenges. Adherents of cre-
ationism still sneak tracts attacking evo-
lutionary theory into public school sci-
ence curricula. The know-nothings' leg-
islative victories abound, including
abstinence-only sex education pro-
grams which deride condom use and its
effectiveness at thwarting both unwant-
ed pregnancy and AIDS.
A recent article in the Washington
Post drove home the point that
advances in the laboratory sadly
haven't translated into progress in the
work of lawmakers. A panel convened
by the National Institute of Health con-
cluded, "The behavior putting public
health at greatest risk may be occurring
in legislative and other decision-mak-
ing bodies."
Well-organized opponents of honest
sex education and proven AIDS preven-
tion programs like needle exchange for
IV drug users wield enormous clout in
legislative chambers. They pay little
heed to the consequences of restrictive
policies or their cost in human suffer-
ing. One would think that President
Clinton would express public concern
at the chasm between scientific enlight-
enment and political cowardice. He,
however, seems to be focused on
designing school uniforms. But, will the
children in those neat outfits live far
into adulthood?
Lawmakers, including President
Clinton, are passing the buck on AIDS.
If needle exchange programs in
Connecticut can reduce needle-sharing
— a primary means of HIV transmis-
sion — by almost 80 percent, shouldn't
there be a hearing at the federal level?
And, if frank, factual sex education pro-
grams have had dramatic impacts in
slowing HIV/AIDS in countries like
Thailand, Switzerland, and Australia,
shouldn't they have an opportunity to
work here, too?
With the president's help, "absti-
nence-only" sex education is spreading.
The 1996 Clinton welfare reform law,
roundly decried for snipping the feder-
al safety net, actually scraped together
$50 million in inducements for local
public school teachers to stick their
heads in the sand about teenage sex.
The hefty sum goes solely for sex edu-
cation programs that stress refraining
from sex and deriding condom use.
Abstinence-only programs leave
teens ill-equipped to protect themselves
or each other from AIDS. As the NIH
panel made clear, half of new HIV
infections hit those under 25.
While the continuing failure of
politicians to respond reasonably to the
AIDS epidemic is upsetting, it is not
surprising. Hostility to science and its
power at providing answers to puz-
zling problems runs deep in American
culture. Science, during my lifetime,
seems to have eclipsed the supreme
authority of religion. Many of the clergy
resent this dethroning, much like many
Puritans of America's 17th-century past
deplored the rise of a secular state.
Indeed, the current controversy over
AIDS policy recalls Cotton Mather, the
fiery Puritan minister from colonial
times, who extolled the "wonders of the
invisible world," even as the micro-
scope began to shed light on the epi-
demics Mather deemed as heaven-sent.
President Clinton — and many other
politicians of both parties — would not
seem to be Mather's soulmates. But
their deference to sex education huck-
sters and neglect of students' needs for
honest, pragmatic sex education place
them in the long shadow of the worst of
the Puritan tradition.
Even as I hope to see the next millen-
nium, I marvel at the innovations that
have transformed my life during three-
quarters of this century. I hope that the
young people of today will enjoy long,
healthy lives well into that century.
Today's policy on AIDS should be one
that they — and not just the politicians
— can live with. T
Marvin Liebman.
Independently
Speaking
LETTERS
We welcome letters from our readers. Send let-
ters to the Editor, Dallas Voice, 3000 Carlisle,
Suite 200, Dallas TX 75204, or FAX to 969-7271,
or e-mail to dvoice@ix.netcom.com. Please
include a daytime telephone number so we may
contact you for confirmation. Your name and city
will be printed at the end of your letter. Concise
letters are more likely to be printed; all letters are
subject to editing. We do not print unsigned letters
or letters sent to other publications; we also
decline to withhold the letter-writer’s name.
Ellen’s ratings ploy
As a gay man in Dallas who has been out
for more than 25 years, it really upsets me
when I see fellow gay men and women who
think Ellen DeGeneres is doing the gay com-
munity some type of favor by coming out
on her sitcom. This is nothing but a big pro-
motional hype for ratings. There has been a
season-long promotion where it is batted
about like some secret with constant hint-
dropping; then finally comes the fanfare
and the character announcing her sexuality.
All to the tune of the ratings game. This is
nothing but exploitation of gays for ratings
and money, and 1 say we don't need that
type of publicity.
When we come out, let's do so because
we can stand on our own and not because
someone is making a buck or exploiting us.
Obviously, Ellen is more concerned with
saving her sitcom by exploiting being gay in
an attempt to generate enough controversy
to stimulate ratings. Don't forget about
Roseanne's famous same-gender kiss — the
big hype went on and on, and when
Roseanne finally did kiss the other woman,
she made a face and wiped her tongue on
her sweater in disgust. She got the ratings
hype and then trashed us with one pass on
her sweater sleeve.
Greg Stephens
Dallas
Women in leather
Thanks to Dallas Voice and staff reporter
Tammye Nash for a thoughful article about
women's issues and the leather community.
As co-chair of NLA-Dallas, I appreciated the
opportunity to provide positive images of
the leather lifestyle.
1 wish to offer one correction and one
clarification to the story, however. First, the
NOW chapter I co-founded in 1972 was in
Arlington and drew mostly Tarrant County
women. 1 don't want to take credit for the
Dallas efforts that came later. Second, I'd
like to amend my statement that "Women
are fully supported in the leather communi-
ty." It's my experience in the National
Leather Association that women are more
fully supported than one might find in other
subcultures where men and women work
and play together. But there certainly still
are leathermen who are not at all pleased to
have women in their "space."
Having said that, though, I think many
leatherwomen will also tell you that they
owe many of their first ventures into the
leather scene to the leathermen who sup-
ported them. 1 particularly want to
acknowledge the Dallas Eagle for creating a
comfortable space for leatherwomen in this
town.
Lynda Blakeslee
National Leather Association-Dallas
Discrimination within community
I have lived in Dallas since 1982 and 1
noticed discrimination against lesbians long
before I noticed it in regards to gay men. 1
would walk into a club with a female friend,
turn around, and find she was still at the
door being harassed. I have never been
harassed entering a mostly-lesbian estab-
lishment. So I don't understand why every-
one is acting as if this discrimination has
just started; if is merely worse now than it
ever was.
And let's not place the blame on hetero-
sexuals, as one recent letter-writer did. We
constantly discriminate against our own.
We discriminate against gays that are fat,
minority, HIV-positive, etc. It seems that if
we don't meet certain physical attributes,
we are treated badly — male or female.
If we can't stop the discrimination
among ourselves and respect each other, no
one else is going to respect us, either. So stop
blaming everyone else for the discrimina-
tion within our own community, something
that has been going on for a very long time.
Mark Miller
Dallas
4
MARCH 14, 1997
DALLAS VOICE
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Vercher, Dennis. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 46, Ed. 1 Friday, March 14, 1997, newspaper, March 14, 1997; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616225/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.