Salon.com > Cliff Rothman

Egypt’s free pass

Sat, 23 Mar 2002 22:43:00 +0000

What is the difference between a persecuted Afghan woman and a persecuted Egyptian gay man?

The first rightfully elicited an urgent denunciation via first lady Laura Bush in a special radio address Nov. 17. The second has elicited ongoing silence by the administration since the campaign of arrests and prosecution of gay men solely on the basis of sexual orientation was launched in Egypt last May.

And while the quick trials, hard-labor prison sentences and reported torture of gay Egyptian men have elicited an international outcry, the White House has been jarringly silent. But George Bush's indifference to the civil rights and human rights of gay men has a long, unblemished history going back through his governorship of Texas, where his record on AIDS and civil liberties was a source of rancor to gay activists and the state health-care infrastructure. That apathy has continued up to and including the administration's recent denial of compensation to same-sex partners of victims of Sept. 11.

In defense of Andrew Sullivan

Sat, 02 Jun 2001 08:00:00 +0000

I would tell you my sex handle on America Online, but unfortunately, AOL deleted it. Oops. Too dirty. Most gay men I know have sex handles on AOL, or at least alternative anonymous names where they peruse cyberspace for LTRs (long-term-relations) or, ahem, short-term relationships. As someone has said, the Internet is like the new, more efficient gay bar.

I can't speak for heterosexuals, because I don't go trolling in heterosexual chat rooms. But judging by the steamy names of the chat rooms, they are also a pretty horny bunch.

Evidently, so is prominent gay editor, author and columnist Andrew Sullivan, who advertised for sex on AOL and on a sex Web site. Horrors. Sullivan, the stalwart gay conservative who has been an outspoken critic about what he decries as loose gay morals, irresponsible sex, excessive AIDS activist tactics and so on, was outed for his outri sexual preferences by several gay journalists last week, in what has become a media firestorm.

Why won't George W. Bush talk about AIDS?

Fri, 19 Nov 1999 17:00:00 +0000

Since George W. Bush took office as Texas governor, 9,921 Texans have died of AIDS and 19,532 new cases have been diagnosed. Texas ranks fourth in the country -- behind only New York, California and Florida -- for reported AIDS cases.

In those 60 months, Bush has never said the word AIDS publicly in either a health, social or policy statement, according to leading AIDS organization leaders on a city, county and state level, reporters covering the governor's office, and gay community leaders.

"To the best of my knowledge he has never even said the word AIDS, in any form," says Rep. Glen Maxey, the state's only openly gay legislator. Echoes Don Maison, executive director of AIDS Services of Dallas: "Through the context of funding on AIDS and HIV and through two legislative sessions that we've been through with him, there's no AIDS record."

"AIDS? He's never mentioned the word," says Harry Livesay, the former director of advocacy and public policy for Bering Community Service Foundation, an AIDS service organization in Houston. Livesay founded the HIV policy group that brings together the state's agencies to work on HIV and AIDS policy.