6 -- ‘Our’. ‘IN T'=Hia.':Mour~iTlAiilr~is 7 ‘June 

OP-ED

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continued from page four

church youth groups, and the
Boy Scouts (one could argue that
these are cults by the word’s def-
inition), they find themselves
drawn toward other cults, most
often those existing on the
fringes and margins. Lacking
these, they may create their own,
complete with their own systems
and codes of behavior. Not all of
them are entirely harmless, how-
ever, as we can clearly see in the
case of the Trenchcoat Mafia.
~ Organizations like Outright
Vermont around the state have
worked hard to provide young
people with safer alternatives,
despite protests of the religious
right and conservative school
administrators. They recognize
that coming out in a school envi-
ronment is an incredibly chal-
lenging thing to do, and that it
leaves kids vulnerable to risky
behavior such as substance
abuse, crime, date rape, unwant-
ed pregnancy, and unsafe sexual
practices. These groups under-
stand that queer youth are often
struggling with their own inter-
nalized homophobia, trying to
overcome those demons at the
same time as they are trying to
come to terms with their homo-
sexual, bisexual, or transgen-
dered identities.
As a community, GLBT peo-
ple need to remember our own

confusion and vulnerability early
in our coming out processes. We
need to recognize that we often
made decisions that might have
actually reinforced and amplified
homophobia’s effects on us. As
adults, some of us continue to do
just that without fully under-
standing the motivations behind
our actions. Too ofien, we’re
content to blame our behavior
(and the reactions it provokes) on
the homophobic society at large,
and we let our own actions and
behavior pass without reflection.
Most of our actions and
behaviors can withstand that
kind of criticism, as we have
seen again and again in debates
with the religious right. Without
such self-analysis, however, our
constantly evolving community
risks becomingjust another trend
or fad, something more like a
cult and less like a culture. We
risk making mistakes that could
have been avoided, and miss
opportunities for self-evaluation
when they present themselves.
The tragedy at Columbine
High School is one such opportu-
nity. We need to be very present
in the ongoing discussions ofthat
event, even though some of the
details may make us uncomfort-
able. We need to process our
grief, register our outrage, and
work toward solutions that make

schools safer for all individuals,
no matter how they choose to
define or differentiate them-
selves.

This may very well mean
working with groups who have
not traditionally been our allies
on such matters. It may also
mean working with groups, per-
haps even our own, who have in
some way contributed toward
the creation of an environment
in which kids like Klebold and
Harris could lose their respect
for the inherent worth and digni-
ty of all life. We need to resist
the urge to assign total responsi-
bility elsewhere, because in
doing so we risk taking a quick
trip down the road toward apa-
thy.

One of the main messages
that came from Columbine High
School is that we must not
assume that these problems
don’t exist within our own
schools or within our own com-
munities. We’re well aware that
they do. With that in mind, let’s
resist the urge to judge one
group or another based on what
has just happened in Littleton.
Instead, let us consider how
both we and they might be
judged by our responses and
subsequent actions toward pre-
venting such tragedies in the
future. V

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 V VERMCNVS FORUM FOR LESBIAN. <iAY BISEXUA ’ AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES

' UT IN THE MOUNTAINS

Zip

1 etters 

wife who was infected by an
extra-marital relationship.
(Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report 1996; 45: 181-185). In
light of the effective screening
procedures already in place and
because there is no scientific or
medical basis for excluding gay
donors, such a ban would be a
discrimination.

Secondly, it would force

directed donors, men who wish,

to father children with a woman
they already know, to freeze their

sperm, quarantine it for 6 months

and, be retested for HIV before
their sperm is used for insemina-
tion. Given the fact that only 1
out of 6 men (16%) have sperm
that survives the freezing process
well enough to meet the World
Health Organization’s minimum
standard of fertility, this second
rule will effectively prevent 84%
of gay men from the possibility
of having children. The only way
that some of these 84% who have
minimal survival after freezing
may use their sperm is by expen-
sive and invasive high tech fertil-
ity methods. The price for these
methods range up to $12,000 per
attempt with very low success
rates. Health insurance rarely
covers this and most will not
have the money for such expen-
sive and otherwise unnecessary
procedures.

The FDA denies they are dis-
criminating on the basis of sexu-
al orientation. They do acknowl-
edge that they exclude “men who
have had sex with other men in
the last five years” (MSM).
“Now, that does not discriminate
against gay men per se, but I can
see how someone might interpret
it that way,” is’ a standard
response.

On May 7, 1996 Tom Spira,
MD, Assistant Chief for Medical
Science for the CDC, said, “I
would not, categorically, want to
exclude them (gay men) since we
have appropriate testing. If you
do so, I believe, you gain a false
sense of security.” Charles
Schable, Chief of the AIDS diag-
nostic Laboratory at the CDC,
said, “If one is freezing the sperm
and retesting the donor after six
months the only reason to apply
that criterion GVISM) to semen
donors is homophobia.” Both
men stressed that they were
speaking for themselves and not
the CDC as the CDC has a policy
advising against gay donors
(MSM). Letters from the CDC
admit they have no scientific evi-

_ dence to support their policy but

are simply following the “advice
of a consultant panel.”

The FDA does not have to
come up with new sperm banking
regulations at all. A California
Health Department
Subcommittee has completed
work on proposed regulations,
not yet enacted, which follows
scientific evidence, protects pub-
lic health and does not discrimi-
nate. California has already
enacted a Health and Safety code

(Division 2 — Chapter 4.2 Section .
specifically ’

1644.5), which
allows the use of fresh or frozen
sperm for directed donation as
long as the donor has been appro-
priately screened and insures
both our health and our rights.
Dr. Solomon ignored the
“Califomia Plan” in devising the
FDA’s regulations.

The FDA’s regulations would
override California laws and
would be a program of mass ster-
ilization by regulation. They will
deprive lesbians of the choice of
having children with gay men.
Banning gay men from being
donors perpetuates the myth that

AIDS is a gay disease. To protest ‘

these proposed regulations and to
support the “California Plan”
please write to the Department of
Health and Human Services
which oversees both the FDA and
the CDC.

Secretary Donna Shalala

US Dept. of Health and

Human Services .
200 Independence Avenue,
SW , .

Washington, DC 20201

877-696-6775 (toll free)

hhsmail@os.dhhs.gov

Please send us a copy of your
letters at: leland@gaysperm
bankxom

Sincerely,

Rober Kim, Staff Attorney

American Civil Liberties
Union of Northern California

Jennifer Pittman, Policy &
Program Associate

Gay and Lesbian Medical
Association -

Leland Trairnan, Executive
Director

Rainbow Flag Health Services

& Sperm Bank

Kate Kendell, Executive
Director ,

National Center for Lesbian
Rights .

Maura Riordon, Executive
Director Sperm Bank of
CalifomiaV = '

ited on the final report.

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

In the May story “Vermont’s RBA,” we mentioned that
among possible future programs the RBA is considering is
a queer youth apprenticeship program in partnership with
Outright Vermont. We’d like to re-emphasize that no such
partnership or program yet exists.

In “Diverse Responses to Diversity Report,” also in the
May issue, we were mistaken about Russell Plato’s role on
Middlebury College’s HRC. Plato did sit on the committee,
but resigned from it and specifically asked to not to be cred-