Bay Windows - National News, December 2, 1999
Scott A. Giordano, Bay Windows staff

Texas Governor George Bush, the leading Republican presidential candidate, flunked with an F, while Democratic Vice President Al Gore received an average grade of C from the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (Lambda).

Bush's failing grade results from his push for so-called "abstinence education," which Lambda claims is based on subjective moralizing rather than effective HIV-prevention methods. Gore's average rating came because Lambda claims the vice president has retreated from his previous strong record on HIV/AIDS issues when he sided with pharmaceutical companies to block South Africa from producing affordable, generic versions of HIV drugs for its citizens.

Lambda issued an additional 20 grades to a wide range of groups and individuals, directly and indirectly, involved with AIDS work.

For example, the U.S. Supreme Court received a C grade for its mixed rulings regarding the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Lambda specifically noted that the nation's highest court affirmed ADA protections for people on Social Security and those in state mental health institutions, yet it dramatically scaled back the law for workers whose disabilities can be alleviated.

Congress also received a C grade because Lambda praised federal legislators for approving a bill to let people receiving Medicaid and Medicare to keep their coverage when they return to work, but then criticized legislators for their continued insistence for abstinence education and for their failure to pass legislation to provide medical privacy.

"World AIDS Day is an opportunity to assess efforts against AIDS," said Lambda Executive Director Kevin Cathcart. "This year, we find hope in a national resurgence of activism. But people's lives continue to be endangered by callous and compromising public officials."

Many of Lambda's exemplary grades were given to street activists and advocacy organizations working to eliminate the spread of HIV and reduce rates of HIV infection.

Among those who received an A grade are: Coretta Scott King, for encouraging African-American leaders to respond to the growing HIV infection rate in the African-American Community; Housing Works, a New York AIDS-service organization that specializes in housing and other services; California inmate activists Beverly Henry and Judy Ricci; San Francisco transgender outreach worker Veronika Cauley; California HMO reformer Tom Swann; and people participating in the first large-scale clinical trials of an AIDS vaccine -- which includes more than 100 volunteers through Boston's Fenway Community Health Center (FCHC).

"In 1999, we witnessed a new wave of street activism: small but well-organized," said Lambda AIDS Project Director Catherine Hanssens. "Persistent and very vocal activists had a powerful impact on some very important national issues and policies."

Also receiving an A grade are The National Urban League, Gay Men of African Descent and more than 100 other signatories to last April's joint statement directed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and other public health agencies, asking them to reject name-based HIV reporting.

"The courage and resourcefulness of these activists [and organizations] is a lesson about the power of individuals to win change," Cathcart said. "Hopefully, their work will inspire others until the AIDS crisis is truly over."

In addition to Bush's failing grade, others who received a failing grade include New Jersey Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman, for jailing a needle-exchange activist, and the New York City Board of Education, for installing on school computers Internet filters that block safer-sex information.

Founded in 1973, Lambda is the largest and oldest legal organization that specializes in gay and lesbian issues, with regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago and New York. This is Lambda's fourth consecutive year it has released an AIDS Day report card.

(For a complete copy of the 1999 World AIDS Day Report Card, visit Lambda's web site at http://www.lambdalegal.org)
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