No More AIDS, No More War 0-,.,..p.,.2;

risk "hurting the families" of the people
stationed in the Gulf. (Members of my
extended family are already in the Gulf, and
it hurts enough to know that they've been
sent there in the first place.)

Maybe the problem with AIDS is that
it's something of an invisible killer. You
can't put a picture of the AIDS virus on a
poster like you can with Saddam Hussein
and rile up the public temper to the point
where we're willing to let our sons and
daughters die to make the world a safer
place. As long as the AIDS virus goes
uncured, the world won't be a safer place,
with or without Saddam Hussein.

America, your gay sons and lesbian
daughters have been fighting for their lives
for years now, fighting for ALL our lives in
the hopes of freeing this country from the
terrorist grip of AIDS. Our casualties have
now gone beyond those tallied in most
major wars, and there is no sign of ceasefire
on the horizon. We've tried being polite and
using diplomatic means to draw attention to
this growing crisis, but the rhetoric of war-
fare gets us more
attention in the pub-
lic eye. America, it
seems, values ac-
tion over discus-
sion, weapons over
words, violence

the American mind, at least as we let it be
decided by media and corporate entities. A
recent trip to Burlington's newest retail
video store led to the discovery that any
movies with a homosexual theme are lo-
cated in the "Offbeat" section. Women in
chains being treated as sex objects by leer-
ing men, mutilated bodies piling up in
senseless gore - these images are judged by
mainstream culture to be "acceptable,"
even for the "impressionable children" who
must be sheltered from any and all evidence
of non-traditional lifestyles. The American
Family Association, arch enemy of the gay
movement, spends a great deal of time fer-
reting out even subtle depictions of gay life
in TV programming in order to protect the
children of America, ten percent of whom
are going to grow up gay anyway.

But where is the AFA when the bullets
fly and the knives flash, when the blood is
spilled and bones are broken on network
TV? And why have they not done more to
help stop a disease which has devastated a
huge number of families, American fami-
lies, in its unending
arresting of lives?
No, instead, they're
busy making sure
we don't know that
Cole Porter was a
homosexual, that

over compassion. we don't see "homo-
I don't regard sexual loversascar—
the pop star Ma- ing, sensitive, ra-

donna as a cultural
philosopher, but
she painted a pic-
ture of America in
red, white, and blue
when she observed
recently that
"people are willing
to go to a movie and
watch someone get
blown to bits for no
reason at all (but)
nobody wants to
see two girls kiss-
lng or two men
snuggling." This comes after MTV refused
to air her "controversial" video for "Justify
My Love," which featured scenes of same-
Sex cuddling that the singer admitted might
have been "too strong" for the MTV audi-
ence.

Gay love (not gay sex, friends - just
33)’ love) still equals filth and perversion in

ACT UP "Die-In” in Burlington on December 1

tional men" (the
words they used to
condemn the TV
miniseries "People
Like Us"), that we
don't find out more
about AIDS, and
that our nation's
sons and daughters
continue to die be-
cause we continue
to discount those
deaths.

America, it's
time to grow up. A
life is a life. That's a simple lesson. It's easy
to learn. Every death from AIDS in this
country should hurt us every bit as much as
every death in the Middle East. We should
be working hard to avoid war-like conflict,
even to the point of abandoning war-like
rhetoric, as we seek to find solutions to both

 

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1

the AIDS and the Gulf crises. That requires '

January 1991

 

effort on both sides, it's u-ue, but then again,
so does aggression. We must all strive to be
the "caring, sensitive, rational" men and
women that the AFA find so offensive
when "gay" is added to the list of adjectives.

We must end both wars, at home and
abroad, for every life saved, no matter
whose, lessens the hurt we all feel and the
guiltwemustallcarryinourheartstoknow
that we could have done more — that we
could be doing more — to prevent those
deaths from happening.

Join The Fight!

Su port
The ermont

Coalition of Lesbians
and Gay Men

in their work to pass legislation
guaranteeing equal rights to Les-
bians and Gay men in Vermont
and insuring protection for
People With AIDS and HIV+
persons. Contribute to our cause
and add your name to our mailing
list. We need your help.

CI Yes, I want to be a part of
making Vermont safer for Gays
and Lesbians. Add my name to
your mailing list.

D Accept my contribution
of to help with ex-
penses and general coalition
building efforts.

See Address on Resources Page

Name
Address

Phone
THANK YOU!

21