Baltimore Alternative, October 1991

5 м ALTERNATIVE October 1991 ▼ Volume 6, Number 10 ▼ Serving The Baltimore /Washington Community Since 1986 Possible Biological Link Discovered for Sexual Orientation BY JONATHAN MITCHELL _ SPECIAL TO THE ALTERNATIVE he long-standing debate over what causes homosexuality has been renewed with the recent announcement that a scientist may have found a biological basis for sexual orientation. Psychologists and neurologists have waged a tacit, yet deliberate battle trying to prove or disprove that homosexuality is a product of physical or environmental causes. In the discussion over nature-versus-nurture, much of modern research on the subject has been skewed towards the latter. However, a recent study of 41 people conducted by Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, found that a portion of the brain thought to control male sex drive was different for heterosexual and homosexual men. LeVay was studying a portion of the endocrine sys¬ tem. a chemical network in the body that is affected by the release of various hormones from the brain. These hormones, which regulate many different bodily func¬ tions, are largely controlled by the hypothalamus. Using brain tissue samples taken from 41 people See LEVAY STUDY, page 20 Governor Schaefer Demands Mandatory AIDS Testing BY JOHN ZEH _ THE ALTERNATIVE t the first meeting of his new AIDS advisory council September 19, Gov. William Donald Schaefer reiterated his plans for unprecedent¬ ed legislation to require HIV testing of Maryland health-care workers and their patients. The Governor told his Council on HIV Prevention and Treatment that he can’t ignore public fear about AIDS. "Let me make it clear,” he said at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, "I’m for testing. There can be no mistake about it.” Most of the 23 panelists oppose mandatory tests, but several new members seemed to support Schaefer. Gay, lesbian and AIDS activists attacked the plan as unjusti¬ fiable and costly, saying that chances of becoming infected are minute. One panelist predicted defeat due to costs. The council's new chair also pegged the unique plan as misdirected. The legislation is a top priority for the Schaefer administration, said Robert W. Eastridge, deputy secre¬ tary for public health services. A draft may be discussed at the council’s next session October 7 even though the See SCHAEFER page 6 NATIONAL Bergalis Calls for Testing of Health Care Workers BY CUFF O’NEILL _ THE ALTERNATI VE/WASHINGTON imberly Bergalis, the young Florida woman who supposedly became infected with HIV from her dentist’s office, testified before a House panel here September 26, calling for mandatory HIV testing of health care workers and hos¬ pital patients. Though largely lost in the frenzy surrounding Bergalis’s testimony, two panelists of HIV infected individuals later opposed those moves. Pushed through a throng of television and still cam¬ eras in a wheelchair, the gaunt Bergalis made her brief statement to the House health subcommittee. “I'd like to say that AIDS is a terrible disease,” said Bergalis from her wheelchair. “I did nothing wrong, and I’m being made to suffer like this. My life has been taken from me. Please enact legislation so no other patient or health care provider will have to go through the hell that I have. Thank you.” George Bergalis, Kimberly’s father, expounded on his daughter’s comments with a blistering condemna¬ tion of Congress, federal health agents and AIDS See BERGALIS, page 7 i i i