from page 2 goon outgrow. Some have thrown caution to the wind and live openly with a friend or lover. At any time, however, they may lose k meir job or apartment without any legal : recourse. The worst consequence, how- l ever, is the constant gossip which is re- ‘ peated about them. fimhinfite is a way of . life here; it is a most vicious from of gossip. 1 Several friends are intrigued by the book I j|_(§ Qgming Home; gggming-g 211]; l mm. They are very moved by the letters and at least one young man is writing such 1 aletter to his father and giving him a copy of the book. Others said they would like to write such letters, but would never dare I give them to their parents or friends. On a more personal note, I would like i tocontact Barry (age 64) who was living in l Vennont when he wrote his letter for the above named book. I, too, came out in my l sixties and would like to share experiences ll with him; I have a lot of questions. If he is i . still in Vermont and reads OITM, I would cl like to hear from him. 5 Tom F. Sousa t (ed note: Barry, contact OI'I‘M for the l address). l' I To the Editors: Iread the article by Mimi DeSouza on “lesbians and AIDS” in the January 1989 M issue with interest. I agree that there is not enough written or discussed about lesbian sexuality either in the medical literature or within the lesbian community. I do not agree, however “that lesbians have to be justas careful as gay men and heterosexu- l als when engaging in sexual behaviors.” ‘ It is true that safe sex pamphlets and W medical literature do not, in general, speak Iolesbian sexual practices. We do however, t know how this virus is transmitted. If indi- ° vidual women think about what they do ‘ during sex they can evaluate their own 3”‘. relative risk. This virus is found in large enough concentrations to be risky in se- §;§%&%*%§%;z§§ DESKTOP PUBLISHING STUDIO TYPE 8x DESIGN/WORKSHOPS/SELF-SERVICE men, vaginal secretions, blood and breast milk. In order to catch this virus it has to enter your blood stream. So we need to think about what we do and how this would get vaginal secretions, blood or breast milk into our partners blood stream. The first thing to remember is that if neither of you have the virus you can do anything you want. So far lesbians have been lucky and there are not many with HIV infection. I believe that if your lover has not had sex with a man in over 5 years; does not use drugs by needle; did not receive a transfu- sion of blood or blood products before 1984; and has not been inseminated with untested semen, your risk is very low. Now on to sexl! Ms. DeSouza writes that since lesbians were excluded from studies about oral sex the “knowledge (from these studies) can not be taken as scientific fact, only conjecture.” I, of course, agree that lesbians should be in- cluded in scientific studies, butl think that if it is low risk for a man to have oral sex with a woman it is probably low risk for a woman to do the same. Swallowing vaginal secretions will not get you sick. The virus does not go from the stomach to the blood stream. It can theorectically go through a cut in the mouth or gums. But in the studies of men who have had oral sex with women the risk seems very very low. Similarly, although we do not have studies of lesbians who get vaginal secretions on their hands during sex we do have epidemiologic infor- mation about men who get vaginal secre- tions on their hands during sex, and again therisk is very very low. Sex which leads to vaginal or anal bleeding can be risky but only if blood, vaginal secretions, or breast milk from someone else gets in through those cuts, or the blood caused by the cuts gets through the skin of a partner. We need to empower lesbians and other women by giving them clear informa- tion to make sexual choices, not confusion (Continued on page 15) 863-1884 187 ST PAUL STREET May1989 Walter Zeichner M. A. Howard Russell M. A. Cand. Are Pleased to Offer Therapy Group for Gay Men For information call: Walter: 863-5510 or Howard: 482-2434 Workshop: Women Loving Women Exploring Love and Relationship Deanna Alpert 0 CCSW M Pathways 323 Pearl Street Burlington, VT 05401 Insurance 8620836 Benefits Accepted N4 Integrity 10th Anniversary Pany! May 6th Evening starts at 5:15 pm Social Hour 6-7 pm Potluck starts at 7 pm Compline After dinner See Calendar for more info.