\font\rm=cmss12 \font\bf=cmbx12 \font\it=cmssi12 \font\sans=cmss12 \parskip=8pt plus 2pt minus 1pt \parindent=8pt \baselineskip=12pt plus .1pt minus .1pt \def\lline#1{\line{#1\hfill}} \def\brk{\vskip8pt\smallskip} \def\bar{\brk\hrule width\hsize height3pt\smallbreak} \rm \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} There's some new NBC TV series, made in San Francisco, ``Midnight¨ Caller'', that aired starting 25 Oct. I don't have a TV so I know¨ nothing about it. One particular episode will go like this:¨ there's a nasty bisexual man who knows he's infected with the HIV¨ virus, deliberately fucking and infecting his women lovers. (I¨ suppose if he was fucking guys no one would care, so they made it¨ women.) The producer, John Perry, told the {\it Sentinel} (SF newspaper)¨ ``Every episode will leave you with a thought provoking¨ process.'' I'm sure. (This is the same studio, Lorrimar, that¨ brought you gems like ``Cruising'', another gay-exploitation¨ movie.) This is just too much. It's one too many outright assault. It's¨ plain and simple, saying ``oh those AIDS faggots, see? this is¨ what could happen, there are people like that out there!''. The¨ argument is that since potentially {\it anyone} could do that¨ (remember: we are all potential criminals at all times) we must¨ control them, its for our own good, see. \brk \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} This morning someone pointed a gun at me. He called me a¨ ``faggot''. (No, this is not an anti-gun article; I think¨ everyone should have guns, except cops.) My car was getting a new muffler (all by itself). I walked down¨ to pick it up. I waited for the light; crossed Folsom St. Wait¨ for the light; cross 5th St. (There's lots of traffic, see; new¨ Nordstrum's opened, new consumer shrine only two blocks away.¨ Billboards all over the city timed to the opening: ``THE FANTASY¨ IS REAL'' (impressionist woman-with-wings) ``Dining, shopping at¨ Nordstrum's'') Light changes, I walk, cars go. Late model clean¨ bright red fashionable ``sporty'' toyocar makes left turn, behind¨ me. I glance briefly at the car, absolutely ordinary event (safe¨ distances, etc) The guy is looking at me. He says ``Fuck you faggot!'', so of¨ course social obligation, I flip him off. He pulls into the bus¨ stop, yelling ``come over here faggot!'', etc. I flip him off,¨ he's still yelling. I wave no-like, I shut up, keep walking,¨ don't look back for a minute or so. (ie. remove myself from this¨ nuts life.) What the fuck is his problem? Gee, I must look like¨ some silly nelly queen to him: I'm 6 foot 4, black leather¨ jacket, 1/4" buzzed hair, dark round shades, grungy black jeans¨ rolled up, Docs, haven't shaved or showered since Thursday¨ morning, in other words, I ain't pretty; plus, fer shits sake, I¨ just woke up! I glance back, he's gone, driven off to wherever he's going.¨ Adrenalin time: but I keep walking, I only have to go one block¨ to get my car. Deep breaths, I start to cool out. I'm not stupid,¨ so I watch for the idiots car, it's all one way streets it's¨ easy. Zoom! There he is: pulls over, opens door, yells more¨ generic ``faggot'' shit, then while sitting in the drivers seat¨ (neatly combed \& cut black hair, dark aviator glasses, plain¨ dark T-shirt) waggles a gun at me, nice new long barrel medium¨ caliber autoloader, maybe target pistol. I'm standing beside a¨ van, wierd, but I get angry not scared; plus he obviously doesn't¨ know what he's doing with that gun, it's pointing all over but at¨ me. I say something stupid then bolt quick as shit to video store¨ doorway, then have the presence of mind to look for a license¨ plate, etc, but he was gone. Now comes the {\it real} adrenalin. Stupid shit it is too; great¨ I'm sure for rolling in the mud gnashing teeth and limbs locked¨ arm to arm with a mortal enemy, but pretty useless shit in an¨ urban environment when I need my fucking brain, I can make my¨ body follow as I need thank you. Endorphins instead, please. Great, I'm in the muffler shop waiting to pay for and drive away¨ my car. Here I am in the throes of full-blast adrenalin, panting¨ and shaking, microsecond reflexes, predator body motion, trying¨ to smile to the other customers, ``Oh hi, I'm just here to pick¨ up my car, ha ha.'' Yow! \brk \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} So NBC wants to film this particular episode, the part where the¨ guy gets shot by one of his victims, in a gay neighborhood. The¨ script, leaked to ACT-UP (``AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power'' --¨ gay political activists who put their energy and asses on the¨ line for all of us -- gay or not -- and in SF here has lots of¨ homopunks and punk gays) leaked allegedly by an NBC employee with¨ decent ethical standards. (Thank you.) Revenge killing at the end: guy gets blown away, Health Dep't¨ shows up in full body ``radiation'' type suits, seal the body¨ into a bag marked ``DANGER: BIOHAZARD''. This is so sick, so horrible, so dangerous it's almost beyond¨ belief. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong, the implied ``facts'' are¨ just plain, wrong. I'll leave the information-getting up to you but listen to this¨ doo-doos: you have to WORK HARD to get AIDS. Like, use a needle¨ that has the blood from someone who has AIDS still in it; getting¨ fucked in the ass by a guy with AIDS who comes. That's about it.¨ Women getting it from men sexually is very uncommon. Men getting¨ it from women sexually is, I believe, just about unheard of. Most people are totally and completely ignorant of what the fuck¨ is going on. Do you really know what AIDS is? Do you understand¨ how information is transmitted in this culture? Do you know how¨ your brain soaks up the shit you are immersed in? \brk \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} In California, there is this state Proposition \#96, which¨ stated, basically, if you are arrested for any reason (say at a¨ protest or whatever, or you're a sex worker or other undesirable)¨ and there is ``reason to believe'' you ``may'' have transmitted¨ ``bodily fluids'' to a police officer, (like if he claims you bit¨ him) you can be detained for HIV antibody testing. They detain¨ you, they administer the test, they tell you the results. Results¨ are not confidential. \par \lline{1.\quad ``Reason to believe'' means their whim} \lline{2.\quad ``may'' means at the cops whim} \lline{3.\quad ``bodily fluids'' (see below)} \lline{4.\quad you obviously do not have to be gay} [As an example of the very specific mis-information being spread,¨ ``bodily fluids'' used to be a euphemism for, mainly, cum: semen¨ and the lubricating fluid produced by the male testes. Also,¨ blood and direct by-products, plasma, clotting-factor VIII used¨ for haemophiliacs, etc. So-called family newspapers (and nearly¨ everyone else) just plain doesn't like to say ``cum''. Now it is¨ used to mean everything, including spit and sweat and tears.¨ Medically, in regarding HIV virus transmission, it does {\it not}¨ mean spit, tears, sweat, etc. Is that plain enough for you? See¨ how this works?] \brk OK, so when/if you go to a demonstration, (``Food Not Bombs'',¨ Greenpeace, Earth First!, whatever) there's always a slight,¨ maybe minimal, chance you'll be arrested. Some people push their¨ luck more than others. Normally getting arrested under such¨ circumstances is no big deal; you're out pretty quick, on bail or¨ personal recognizance. (I've never been arrested, and hope to¨ keep it that way.) This adds a new dimension to political dissent, no? OK, so you,¨ reading this, you may not be gay, and you're probably HIV¨ negative (ie. uninfected). That does not matter. YOU CAN STILL BE¨ TESTED. Explain to your friends, when the paper says ``\dots¨ those arrested at today's demonstration were detained for testing¨ for the deadly AIDS virus\dots''. Try to explain that they test¨ people to terrorize, it doesn't mean they really didn't have any¨ reason to test you. Oh I forgot: Though we'll still get to vote this Nov. 8 on Prop.¨ \#96, it's already been implemented; it went through the state¨ legislature or something, I don't understand the process. This is¨ pretty much in effect now, in California. I will only briefly mention Proposition \#102, which says: there¨ will be no anonymous HIV testing in CA; all results will be made¨ available to authorities, and HIV positives (ie. infected) will¨ be {\it required to provide lists of all sexual contacts} to the¨ authorities. This is to be voted upon Nov. 8. the last ``poll'' I¨ recall (don't you love those mysterious polls?) had it posted at¨ 72\% in favor of Prop. \#102, though previous ``polls'' on¨ similar state propositions said similar things, but were¨ resoundly defeated anyways. Now do you get what this is all about? \brk \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} I'm walking with Duke down Haight St., we're going into Mendel's¨ so's I can buy paint pens to finish my HOMOCORE logo on my¨ jacket. New crop of skinheads talking amongst themselves as we go¨ by: ``\dots man, there's lotsa fags in this town\dots'' \brk \lline{\bf Saturday, 22 October 88} Look, right now it's 2:00AM, I can't fucking sleep. I am {\it¨ fucking wired}. The only thing that keeps me cool headed at all¨ is my wonderful boyfriend Michael is coming down to visit me from¨ WA state next week (we met at the '88 Toronto Anarchist¨ Gathering) that homopunk makes me happy! They really are planning on filming that ugly thing. This script¨ is no accident, it's pure exploitation of the worst kind, oh, its¨ just a bunch of faggots I guess, huh? ``\dots thought provoking¨ process.'' Yeah right. Oh, people say, but some people {\it do}¨ do that, so it's not like they're lying or anything. Right. Hey,¨ a black guy raped a white lady, well, they're like that, you¨ know? NBC got a restraining order against ACT-UP and specific ACT-UP¨ people; they are quite intent on filming this thing. (At Gilman¨ St. Project we couldn't get a restraining order against some¨ people who had been harrassing us at the club over a period of¨ months.) If they just show up they get arrested, no questions¨ asked. The mayor doesn't want to ``interfere with their First¨ Amendment rights''. (I didn't know that included the intentional¨ spreading of outright lies.) It's not gonna happen. People are not going to let it happen.¨ This ain't Politically-Correct demonstrations guys, this is my¨ life, and your lives, literally, there are assholes out there¨ looking for someone to hate, to vent their slimy thoughts on.¨ Faggots are real handy. Think you have to actually {\it be} gay?¨ Who's next? I mean, like what am I going to do, personally, about this¨ filming business? It can't happen. Yeah, sure they can just do it¨ somewhere else, in some other city, but this means we should¨ allow them to do it in our own neighborhoods? Well, maybe someone¨ there will give them a hard time too. ACT-UP has so far done a¨ really good job, on a few minutes notice they show up and make¨ noise and diversions that effectively stops the filming. Hence¨ the restraining order. This filming can't happen, in gay¨ neighborhoods no less; there's good ole boys driving around¨ looking for fags to beat up, all they need is an excuse and a¨ good TV shot of an actual street with homos on it to make it¨ easier. There aren't ``gay'' issues vs. straight ones. Sexuality is part¨ of {\it your} personal human freedom. The very fact that you¨ might get uptight and upset thinking about different kinds of¨ sexuality means that {\it you were taught well, you believe the¨ lies, you will do their job for them}, we're put into smaller and¨ smaller categories until no one will defend their own neighbors¨ and friends, and therefore themselves. Do you, or I, have to get killed by some fag-basher to make a¨ fucking point or what? Do you understand what this is all about¨ yet? \brk \lline{ -- Tom Jennings} \bar \brk Update 14 Nov 88: California proposition \#102 was defeated, 2 to 1 margin, ie.¨ overwhelmingly. So much for those ``polls'': this is the third¨ time they did this, I don't see how it's just an ``error''.¨ (Props. \#64 last year, \#69 this, were both predicted to {\it¨ pass} by a landslide; both were {\it defeated} that way) One week¨ before the election, Governor Deukmejian endorsed 102, on a¨ Friday, late in the afternoon, presumably timed to help thwart¨ efforts to counteract it. Huge spontaneous rally (homopunks did¨ sound and lights) blocked Market St. and really pissed of the¨ cops etc. The governors endorsement backfired; luckily, it made a¨ lot of people look at 102 and see the horror it represented. \#96 however passed, by a big margin. Some ``gay'' people and¨ groups said ``no opinion'' or supported 96, since I guess it¨ ``won't apply to them''. Right. Not just yet, anyways. After \#102's defeat, one of its authors said ``\dots people are¨ now pressuring me to do legislation that will call for mandatory¨ testing of all members of certain groups''. The Chronicle called¨ it ``Son of 102''. \brk Another ``Midnight Caller'' episode, supposedly already filmed¨ and awaiting broadcast, is something about ``child molesting''¨ with either a lesbian subplot or a lesbian molester. And the Dead¨ Kennedy's ``Penis Landscape'' record album insert was thought to¨ be obscene?! Update 1 Dec 88: Lorrimar Studios said that they will not be making any changes to¨ the script, that it will air as it is. This is after they had¨ talked to ACT-UP and other gay groups, who gave to them the full¨ reasoning why and how the script is dangerous and misleading.¨ Violence will follow it's airing. Do you understand how this¨ works? I'm sure they do. \bye