Re* Wockner
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1989
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AnotIier Voice, AnotUer Choice ...
Kellogg Shareholders Stunned by
Gay Speech at Battle Creek Meeting
CEO May Respond to Gay "Noise Level "
by Rex Wockner
'Compound Q' Approved
For Testing in Humans
Phase I Trials May Start in as Little as Two Months
The 800 Kellogg cereal company share¬
holders assembled in Battle Creek, Michi¬
gan, April 28 couldn't believe their ears
when 70-year-old shareholder Joseph Nor¬
ton of Albany, New York, rose, announced
that he was a relative of the original Kellogg
family, added that he was a gay male, and
then chastised the corporation for its 1988
use of a Nut 'N Honey Crunch TV commer¬
cial that gay activists say promoted violence
against the gay and lesbian community.
"We believe the company
should be opposed to
pulling a gun on anyone's
head for any reason."
—Joseph Norton
"Some of us gay males have been rather
upset by this commercial," Norton said. "We
believe the company should be opposed to
pulling a gun on anyone's head for any
reason."
The ad, which finished its TV run last
October, featured a group of cowboys who
drew guns on their trail cook after he told
them there was "nuttin', honey" for break¬
fast — a play on the cereal's name, Nut "N
Honey.
Gay activists — in particular Chicago's
Coalition Against Media/Marketing Preju¬
dice [CAMMP]— have argued that the com¬
mercial implies that one man calling another
"honey" is cause for violence. Kellogg has
repeatedly said it doesn't understand or share
CAMMP's interpretation of the ad.
After Norton's four minute presenta-
See KELLOGG page 4
by Garey Lambert
The FDA has approved Compound Q
(not to be confused with an earlier substance
called Coenzyme Q) for testing in humans.
Compound Q, now called GLQ223, works
by attacking and killing the cells infected by
HIV, not by attacking the virus itself. Ac¬
cording to reports of in vitro (laboratory)
studies conducted over the past two years,
GLQ223 attacks only T-4 lymphocytes and
macrophages infected by HIV while leaving
Koop Steps Down From
Surgeon General Post
Mason to Tap Temporary Replacement
by Cliff O'Neill
WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a short three-
sentence letter. Surgeon General C. Everett
Koop, he of spectacles, uniform and Lincoln-
esque beard, informed President George
Bush May 4 that he will be retiring his post
in July, four months before his term of office
is up. Koop has reportedly been angered by
Bush's decision not to name him Secretary of
Health and Human Services and hence has
decided to leave his post early.
"Effective July 13, 1989, 1 will be on ter¬
minal leave status," Koop wrote Bush in his
short letter. "I will be on terminal leave
through September 30, 1989 and will enter
retirement status October 1, 1989.
Lauded by the new right and blasted by
liberal Democrats and gay and lesbian acti¬
vists for his strong conservative background
when he took office in 1981, Koop stunned
both camps by speaking out in favor of ex¬
plicit AIDS education and condom usage
when he released his landmark report on
AIDS in 1987. Since then, gay and AIDS
activists have embraced the former pediatri¬
cian as a proponent of reasonable AIDS ef¬
forts. Conservatives have labeled him a
Benedict Arnold and a puppet of the "homo¬
sexual lobby."
The day after his 1986 State of the Union
Address, ihcn-President Ronald Reagan
See KOOP STEPS DOWN page 13
healthy cells alone. It also apparently inhib¬
its the ability of the virus to infect healthy T-
4 cells. In the short summary of information
about GLQ223 in the AmFAR directory,
GLQ 223 has been shown
to wipe out the virus in
one injection."
—Paul Volberding
the drug was totally effective in destroying
infected macrophages and in inhibiting in¬
fection of T-4 lymphocytes by HIV. Re¬
searcher Michael McGrath conducted in vi¬
tro studies that found "virtually unde¬
tectable" p24 antigen levels five days after
administration. That means that HIV, the vi¬
rus itself, was "virtually undetectable" after
five days. "At day 21," says the report, "total
inhibition of p24 expression was observed as
compared to marked expression of p24 in
mock treated controls." That means no virus
after 21 days. All of these tests were con¬
ducted in vitro, and were summarized in
AmFAR’s A1DSIH1V Experimental Treat¬
ment Directory (Vol.2 No. 3, December
1988). The full report is contained in an arti¬
cle by Michael McGrath and other,
"GLQ223: An Inhibitor of Human Immuno¬
deficiency Virus Replication in Acutely and
Chronically Infected Cells of Lymphocyte
and Mononuclear Phagocyte Lineage," Pro¬
ceedings of the National Academy of Scienc¬
es, USA, April 15, 1989. By destroying the
infected T-4s and macrophages, GLQ223
destroys the reservoirs in which the vims
hides and replicates, thereby killing it. It is
not yet known whether GLQ223 will be ef¬
fective against other cells that HIV is known
to infect; notably
В
cells (antibody produc¬
ers) and monocytes.
Also, no information on why GLQ223
discriminates between healthy cells and
those infected by HIV has been made availa-
See AIDS UPDATE page 17
News
Pro-Choice Rally . p 3
Act UP Seize BW . p5
South African Celebration . p 7
Across America . p 9
Queer Musings From Capitol Hill-
The Women's March . p 14
Peter Madden's Dance Process at
Theatre Projeet...p 25
red Women . p 15
AIDS Update . p 17
Steve Gavin Speaks . p 18
AIDS Frontline-Johns Hopkins ....p 19
Claim Life and Live . p 34
WS0
™ Sbwebohemian Festival . p 21
Eric Miller on Art-Blast Furnaces., p 22
Kleist At Center Stage . p 29
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