Date:         Tue, 5 Mar 1996 19:58:07 -0500
From: PRCenter@AOL.COM
Subject:      L.A. G&L Center Responds to Youth & HIV Report

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News from the:
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services
1625 N. Schrader Blvd.
Los Angles, CA 90028

CONTACT:  Jim Key or Mike Ausiello
                  PH: 213-860-7357
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L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center Demands White House
Report on Youth and AIDS Include Gay and Bisexual
Youth in Recommendations

     LOS ANGELES, Mar. 5, 1996 -- The White House office of AIDS Policy today
issued an historic report, "Youth and HIV/AIDS: An American Agenda,"
requested by
President Clinton.  The document, the first federal report of its kind,
acknowledges
that gay youth are most at risk for HIV-infection and the problem of
homophobia in
prevention programs.  Shockingly, however, the report completely ignores gay
and bi-
sexual youth in its list of action steps for the President.
     "The fact that the body of the report specifically acknowledges the
deadly
impact of HIV among gay and bisexual youth is historic and must be applauded.
 But
the government's own statistics speak for themselves," said Lorri L. Jean,
executive director of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, home of the Pedro Zamora
Youth HIV Clinic.  "Sixty-three percent of the reported AIDS cases among men
under
25 are from unsafe sex with other men.  However well intended, the report's
recommendations for government action turn a blind eye to gay and bisexual
youth.
     "We know that to be effective, prevention programs must directly
confront
homophobia and specifically address the unique issues affecting gay youth.
 Failure
to do so leads directly to increasing the infection rate among this most
at-risk
population.  That is why we are today demanding inclusion in the report's
action
steps specific recommendations regarding gay and bisexual youth."
     Several AIDS service organizations, including the L.A. Gay & Lesbian
Center,
contributed to the 14-page report, which examines the growing infection rate
among
youth, the factors that lead to infection, the need for prevention programs
in schools,
the need to encourage HIV-testing and provide care, and the need to include
adolescents in research.
     It also responsibly highlights some of the issues which lead to the
infection of
gay and bisexual youth, mentioning the isolation and lack of role models for
gay
youth, the void of peer support, and the importance of removing homophobia
from
prevention programs.  It conspicuously avoids these issues, however, in its
list of
federal recommendations that are to serve as examples for "states, regions,
and
communities across the country."
     The recommendations include:
** Including young people in HIV prevention programs
** Creating a DHHS advisory forum of infected youth
** Encouraging HRSA to include young people on its planning council
** Encouraging the CDC to include young people on its planning councils
** Continuing Federal government support of HIV prevention programs in
schools
** Continuing NIH enrollment of adolescents in clinical trials
** Encouraging the Public Health Service to develop clinical practice
guidelines for
   adolescents with HIV
** Including data related to adolescents in clinical trial data from NIH and
FDA
** Federal government support for expanded access to testing and counseling
for
   young people
** Collaboration among CDC, HRSA and Substance Abuse and Mental Health
   Services Administration on substance abuse treatment and prevention.

     "Pedro Zamora, whom our Youth HIV Clinic is named after, said it very
well
before he succumbed to AIDS at the age of 22," said Jean.  "He said: 'If you
want to
reach me as a young gay man, especially a young gay man of color, then you
need
to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and
relate to.
I will be much more likely to hear the message if it comes from someone to
whom I
can relate.'
     "The White House is to be commended for undertaking this landmark
report,"
Jean continued, "but it is not enough to make recommendations that talk about
youth
in general.  Gay and bisexual youth are disproportionately affected by HIV
and any
action to curb the growing infection rate must not only mention them, it must
include
programs tailored to them.  We will not let Pedro's words be forgotten nor
let his HIV
prevention efforts be in vain."
     The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center urges the addition of the following
recommendation to the report:
     "All programs, in an effort to provide HIV services for youth, should
acknowledge, support and be responsive to the needs and lives of young gay
and
bisexual men.  Government institutions, schools, and other entities engaging
in HIV
prevention, testing and treatment efforts should directly confront homophobia
and its
impact on the health, welfare and self-image of young gay and bisexual men."
     "Where young people are involved in the design and development of
marketing
and provision of HIV prevention and treatment services, the majority should
be
comprised of young gay and bisexual men, including youth of color, reflective
of the
incidence of new infections among this population."
     The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center is home to the Pedro
Zamora Youth HIV Clinic, the nation's first peer care clinic specifically
serving gay,
lesbian and bisexual youth.  It offers educational, medical, legal,
psycho-social and
HIV-prevention services -- all at minimal or no cost to the clinic.
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