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Navy calls bomb message 'inappropriate'
by Randy Dotinga
Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
 

The U.S. Navy didn't exactly apologize, but it did please gay organizations by announcing that it's acting to prevent sailors from writing "inappropriate" messages on bombs bound for Afghanistan. 

Last week, an Associated Press photographer on the USS Enterprise shot a picture of a bomb on which someone had written "High Jack [sic] This Fags." 

The AP, which distributes stories and content to hundreds of American newspapers, withdrew the photo on Oct. 12 after receiving complaints. At least one newspaper, the London Metro, ran the photo, which was released a day earlier. It remains on the Internet at Yahoo News. 

Numerous news organizations published stories on the photo controversy after it was reported by the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network. 

The Navy told its commanders this week to make sure that no such incidents happen again, wrote Rear Admiral S. R. Pietropaoli in an Oct. 17 letter to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group. 

Pietropaoli didn't directly apologize but said the message on the bomb was "inappropriate." He added that while there's no Defense Department policy on what can be written on bombs, "we do, however, expect oversight and leadership on the scene to ensure such actions are appropriate. … The U.S. Navy does not tolerate discrimination of any kind." 

In e-mail discussions, some observers scoffed at the statement and said it's ironic because the military frowns on gays and lesbians. 

However, representatives of the Human Rights Campaign and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said they're happy with the Navy's response to the photo. 

"The letter was a welcome clarification, and we are pleased the Navy has stated that this type of anti-gay behavior has no place in our armed forces," said HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch in a statement. 

Posted October 19, 2001 
 

Berlin's gay mayor prepares for re-election
by Erik Kirschbaum
Reuters

BERLIN -- He is Germany's most famous homosexual, having outed himself in spectacular fashion just hours before a newspaper was about to reveal his secret. 

But Klaus Wowereit, the incumbent mayor of Berlin running for re-election on Sunday, wants to be known for something else: rescuing Germany's largest city from the brink of bankruptcy. 

Wowereit, 48, was an obscure back-bench politician in the local assembly before his revelation in June that he was gay. Rather than hurt him, the frank confession turned him into a national celebrity overnight. 

"I'm gay and that's a good thing," Wowereit told his Social Democratic party (SPD). The second part of his remark -- "und das ist gut so" -- has been repeated countless times on news and comedy shows, and become a cult phrase. 

Wowereit became interim mayor a week afterwards following the collapse of the city's ruling coalition when the SPD walked out on its Christian Democrat (CDU) partners. 

He has since downplayed the gay issue -- avoiding it as far as possible and keeping his partner out of the public eye while at the same time enjoying his newfound prominence. 

In an interview with Reuters, Wowereit said his main aim was to rescue Berlin from the edge of bankruptcy and clean up a fiscal mess: a staggering $35 billion in debt. He also wants to make the long-suffering SPD in Berlin the top party again. 

"The people in Berlin know how enormous the financial problems here are," he said. "Politicians need to figure out that it's time to tell the people the truth. Our situation is disastrous. We need the courage to tell people how dramatic the situation is and not try to put a positive spin on it all." 

But conservative commentators have criticized Wowereit for avoiding concrete proposals on how to deal with Berlin's woes. 

"His political program is as empty as the city coffers," wrote the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. 

"He hasn't accomplished a thing since his interim government took over four months ago," wrote Focus, a weekly news magazine. 

posted October 18, 2001
 

Chat room issues unsettled, AOL targets STDs
by Randy Dotinga
Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

Amid concern about outbreaks of syphilis linked to online chat rooms, America Online (AOL) has announced that it's planning a campaign to educate its members about sexually transmitted diseases. 

"If we can help provide our members with health information, that's a valuable service," said AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein. 

But it's not clear if AOL will specifically target chat rooms, and a high-ranking health official in San Francisco is insisting that clear and blunt warnings be issued to gay men who chat online in his city. 

Medical officials have blamed chat rooms for several outbreaks of syphilis among gay men. In July 2000, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that gay men who contracted syphilis in San Francisco were 8 or 9 times more likely to have met partners in AOL's M4M chat rooms than in other places like bathhouses and clubs. 

Chat rooms allow Internet service members to type messages to each other that can be viewed either privately (one-on-one) or by everyone in the room. AOL has as many as 16,000 chat rooms online at any one time, while Gay.com chat rooms play host to as many as 20,000 people at once. 

While some gay chat room visitors look to find friends and conversation, many are looking for anonymous sex. They swap pictures, ask about each other's sexual interests -- which many make perfectly clear in online "profiles" -- and plan to meet offline. 

Chat rooms are "an incredibly efficient way of finding sex," said Dan Wohlfeiler, former education director of the Stop AIDS Project in San Francisco, in a recent interview. 

Just this year, 16 men in San Francisco who frequent AOL chat rooms have become infected with syphilis, said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of STD Prevention and Control Services at the city's Department of Health. Officials learned about the latest case last week. 

Syphilis cases not limited to San Francisco 

Syphilis outbreaks related to AOL chat rooms have appeared in Philadelphia, Texas and Missouri, Klausner said. Cases have also been linked to chat rooms at Gay.com. 

Klausner said AOL officials have ignored his attempts over two years to discuss the issue of chat rooms and health. Phone calls and e-mails were not returned until recently, he said. 

But in an Oct. 4 letter to Klausner, AOL spokesman Weinstein said his company supports gay health. AOL has long worked with AIDS organizations, including Gay Men's Health Crisis and the Global Business Council on HIV & AIDS, he said. 

He added that AOL brought safe-sex counselors into its chat rooms through a partnership with PlanetOut.com. Now, AOL is offering to provide free AOL accounts to San Francisco public health officials for safer-sex education programs. 

AOL has spent a year developing ways to educate its members about health issues like STDs, and it will place public-service announcements about STDs on the service, Weinstein said in an interview. The messages will target both heterosexuals and homosexuals among the service's 31 million members. 

"We haven't gotten into where those would go," Weinstein said. "We have hundreds of content areas across the service." 

Klausner wasn't impressed by AOL's response, which he said was vague. He wants to see AOL take specific action by posting this message: "Recent syphilis cases have occurred in persons meeting partners in SFM4M chat rooms. Members who have met recent partners in the SFM4M chat room should see their doctor or visit San Francisco City Clinic [www.dph.sf.ca.us/sfcityclinic] and get a medical evaluation for syphilis. Members are reminded that syphilis is transmitted through direct sexual contact. Safer sex practices like condom use are encouraged." 

Weinstein, however, said AOL hasn't decided if any announcements will be posted in chat rooms. 

At Gay.com, officials welcome cyber counselors who spread the word about STDs, said Rhona Berenstein, vice president of client and customer services. Gay.com is already working with San Francisco's Stop AIDS Project, the Center for AIDS Prevention, and local health departments, she said. 

"We are open to expanding our efforts in this area and favor partnering with non-profits already doing this important preventive work," she said. 

Posted October 22, 2001