being lesbian’ or gay when they grow up,” Golombok said. “The evidence from this study does not support this myt .” Michael Bailey, a Northwestern University psychologist who has studied the sons of gay men, said the finding that most children from lesbian families grew up to be heterosexual adults fits in with previous studies. Golombok also found that adults who had grown up in lesbian families were more likely to have had a sarne-sex relationship at some time than were adults from heterosexual families. That’s probably because their upbringing made it easier to pursue such relationships if they were so inclined, Golombok said. (Burlington Free Press) Gay Census ‘96: 1-800-GAY-VOICE CHICAGO -- Overlooked Opinions, the Chicago-based gay market research furn has announced the launch of GayCensus ‘96 -- the single largest assessment of the lesbian and gay population of the United States and Canada ever undertaken. “Nothing like GayCensus ‘96 has ever been done. We anticipate reaching in excess of 1 million lesbian, gay and bisexual adults across the U.S. and Canada in the next 3 months alone,” explained Jeffrey J. Vitale, Overlooked’s CEO. The 10-minute survey covers basic demographics as well as a wide variety of questions including discrimination, political beliefs, consumer behavior, and general opinions. There is also an optional section for individuals who happen to be I-IIV+ or have AIDS. GayCensus will be heavily promoted all across North America with media buys, direct mail and through the use of local and regional coordinators. “Grass roots organizing is important for this type of project. With the help of our community at the local level, Overlooked will be able to reach the vast majority of the lesbians and gays across North America. We want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to be counted -- that’s what GayCensus is all about,” explained Vitale. ‘‘It will take nearly a year to tabulate the results. When the results are tabulated, a great many questions will be answered once and for all. The data promise to be fascinating. It will help the lesbian and gay community better understand itself, and it will help the political, educational and commercial sectors develop relationships with our community. It all begins with a i phone call.” Gossip: Al Gore a ‘Beauty’? WASHINGTON, DC -- An unnamed White House aide has -told gossip columnists that although Al and Tipper Gore showed up for a Halloween party dressed as “Beauty and the Beast,” it wasn’t exactly what the “second family” had at first planned on doing. According to the unidentified aide, the Vice President had initially wanted to go as “Beauty” accompanied by Mrs. Gore as the “Beast.” The reports indicated that the Gores were finally convinced to go in the more conventional costumes only after political advisors suggested the public might not quite be ready “for a vice president who is a cross—dresser.” (News—Telegraph) Vatican publishes morals handbook VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican, seeking to lead adolescents not into temptation, issued a sex education guide to help Roman Catholics save their children from sin. Without wanting to take away from them their rightful autonomy, parents must know how to say “no” to their children when it is necessary, the handbook said. The handbook, compiled by the Pontifical Council for the Family after several years’ study, urges parents to steer children away from society’s negative influences and a secular banalisation of sex by teaching the facts of life at home. The Vatican reiterated Pope John Paul’s hard line on AIDS. Parents must refute the promotion of so—called “safe sex” or “safer sex”, a dangerous and immoral policy, based on the illusory theory that a condom can provide sufficient protection against AIDS, the Vatican said. Parents must insist on abstinence outside marriage and fidelity inside marriage as the only true and sure education to avoid infection. The handbook singled out masturbation as a particular sin, calling it a grave disorder, characteristic of immaturity, for which there was no moral justification. It gave parents no tips about what to say to teenagers on the subject. On homosexuality, it advised parents not to raise the issue at all before adolescence and to seek expert advice if necessary. It reiterated a Church blanket ban on homosexual. sex, which it said was against the laws of nature. It said parents should not let their children come into contact too early with realistic and graphic scenes of childbirth in case they frighten girls off having children. Before adolescence, parents may gradually explain the immoral character of abortion, either surgical or chemical, the guide said. By late adolescence, they can move onto natural birth control and God’s plan for procreation. Erotic material should be kept well out of reach, it added. (MALEMAN F unzine) AmFAR ads ask ‘what if’? NEW YORK -- An advertising campaign by the American Foundation for AIDS Research (A1nFAR) asks Americans to consider what would happen if Pope John Paul II, President Bill Clinton, or House Speaker Newt Gingrich had AIDS. “If the Pope had AIDS, he’d need more than just your prayers,” reads one of the ads, which ArnFAR officials have decided to post only in New York City. The other two, with Clinton (“If the President had AIDS, he’d need more than just your vote”) and Gingrich (“If the Speaker had AIDS, he’d run for his life”) are being used in other cities ' across the nation as well, according to United Press International. Catholic figureheads and organizations voiced strong objections to the ad targeting the Pope, which ArnFAR decided to limit to the New York City area after initially planning to use it nationally. ArnFAR chair Mathilde Krim'said the campaign emphasizes the “universality of the need for research. Speculating that the Speaker of the House, the President, or the Pope would also need a cure if they had AIDS is not, in any way, disrespectful.” (The Washington Blade) V March '1 996 From the ulitzer an multiple Tony Award-winning American musical composer/lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, who created such unforgettable works as Gypsy, West Side Story, Follies, Company, ‘ Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd-The Demon Barber of Fleet Street & A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.